My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!

-Psalm 119:28

The language utilized here is arresting. In the New American Bible it is rendered, “my soul weeps because of grief…” and in the King James, “my soul melteth for heaviness…” But in expressing sorrow or weeping or melting is the idea of dropping, leaking, or dripping out. In other words, the psalmist here is dissolving away in his tears and his strength was poured out like water. His soul was turning to liquid as if it were wax set to a flame. He was losing his composition due to the heaviness of his heart and the afflictions he was facing. And here we see a man who has a great burden, one beyond his ability to bear. And this is indeed not a foreign feeling for some of us. The feelings of being helpless, stuck, defeated, or brought low and without the ability or opportunity to climb out of this hole of despair. How many of us have become despondent due to prevailing circumstances and the actions of those around us? How many of us have been brought under heaviness again and again unable to move because of sorrows? Here the Lord expresses a human reality through his psalmist for our benefit, that we may know that in a sinful world sorrow can be crippling at times. 

The psalmist continues to drive us to God’s word for comfort, however. Here we must again observe the power and transcendent nature of this word. We mustn’t hold God’s word lower than he requires of us, or spew sentiments that his word is not helpful in times of trouble, or that we need the inventions of man to pull someone out of the ditch. The psalmist is keenly aware of the power of The Lord, and that his word is no less powerful. And here, observe, we are met with a brilliant promise and reminded of the grace of God. David is aware that after he has suffered a little while, the word Himself will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish him (1 Peter 5:10). And this promise is for all those who believe in Christ, the Word. The hope of the psalmist in his state of burden and sorrow lies not in himself, or his past, or in man's methods, but in God's word alone. 

S.D.G.