Psalms 119:84
in Psalms 119How many days must Your servant wait? When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How many are the days of thy servant? When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
KJV
How many are the days of thy servant? when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?
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This verse in Psalms 119
Commentary
7 notes on this verse"How many are the days of Your servant? When will You be avenged of them that persecute me?" [Psalm 119:84]. In the Apocalypse, [Revelation 6:10-11] these are the words of the Martyrs, and long-suffering is enjoined them until the number of their brethren be fulfilled. The body of Christ then is asking concerning its days, what they are to be in this world, and that no man might suppose that the Church would cease to exist here before the end of the world came, and that some time would elapse in this world, while the Church was now no more on earth; therefore, when he had enquired concerning the days, he added also respecting the judgment, showing indeed that the Church would exist on earth until the judgment, when vengeance shall fall upon Her persecutors. But if any one wonder why he should ask that question, to which when asked by the disciples, their Master replied, "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons;" [Acts 1:7] why should we not believe that in this passage of the Psalm it was prophesied that they should ask this very question, and that the words of the Church, which were so long before uttered here, were fulfilled in their question?
This site's exposition
My soul faints for Your salvation
on Psalms 119:81-88
The body gives out here: the soul faints, the eyes fail, the man is like a wineskin dried up by smoke. He asks how many days the servant must wait while the arrogant dig pits for him. What holds is the precepts he has kept.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
How many are the days of thy servant?....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
"How many are the days of thy servant?" i cannot hope to live long in such a condition, thou must come speedily to my rescue, or i shall die. shall all my short life be consumed in such destroying sorrows? the brevity of life is a good argument against the length of an affliction. perhaps the psalmist means that his days seemed too many when they were spent in such distress. he half wished that they were ended, and therefore he asked in trouble, "how many are the days of thy servant?"
"How many are the days of thy servant?" i cannot hope to live long in such a condition, thou must come speedily to my rescue, or i shall die. shall all my short life be consumed in such destroying sorrows? the brevity of life is a good argument against the length of an affliction. perhaps the psalmist means that his days seemed too many when they were spent in such distress. he half wished that they were ended, and therefore he asked in trouble, "how many are the days of thy servant?" like a hired servant, he had a certain term to serve, and he would not complain; but still the time seemed long because his griefs were so heavy. no one knows the appointed number of our days except the lord, and therefore to him the appeal is made that he would not prolong them beyond his servant's strength. it cannot be the lord's mind that his own servant should always be treated so unjustly; there must be an end to it; when would it be? "When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?" He had placed his case in the Lord's hands, and he prayed that sentence might be given and put into execution. He desired nothing but justice, that his character might be cleared and his persecutors silenced. He knew that God would certainly avenge his own elect, but the day of rescue tarried, the hours dragged heavily along, and the persecuted one cried day and night for deliverance.
How many are the days of thy servants - Dost thou not know that I have few to live, and they are full of trouble? When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? - Shall not the pride of the Chaldeans be brought down, the arm of their strength broken, and thy people delivered? In this verse there is none of the ten words used in reference to God’s law.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
How many are the days of thy servant? - I cannot hope to live long. I am sinking under my burdens. If I am, therefore, to see the accomplishment of my desires - my deliverance from my enemies and my troubles - it must be soon. This is not a desire to be told how long he was to live, as if it were an object of desire to know this, but it is a method of saying that he could not live long under these circumstances, and therefore he offered this earnest prayer that God would interpose and save him soon. When wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? - How long shall this be delayed? I look for this; I expect it; I rely on thy promise that it shall be done; but if done so that I shall see it, it must soon be done, for I shall soon sink into the grave. It is a prayer that God would come and do quickly what he felt assured he would do, in delivering him from his foes.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כַּמָּ֥ה | kamah | how many? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| יְמֵֽי־ | yemei- | [are] [the] days of | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| מָתַ֬י | matai | when? | H4970 → | 43 times |
| תַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה | taaseh | will you do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בְרֹדְפַ֣י | verodefai | in [those who] harass me | H7291 → | 143 times |
| מִשְׁפָּֽט׃ | mishpat | judgment | H4941 → | 422 times |
כַּמָּ֥הhow many?
kamahH4100 →752 times
יְמֵֽי־[are] [the] days of
yemei-H3117 →2304 times
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָservant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
מָתַ֬יwhen?
mataiH4970 →43 times
תַּעֲשֶׂ֖הwill you do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
בְרֹדְפַ֣יin [those who] harass me
verodefaiH7291 →143 times
מִשְׁפָּֽט׃judgment
mishpatH4941 →422 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 90:12So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:16–17
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Psalms 39:4
“Show me, O LORD, my end and the measure of my days. Let me know how fleeting my life is.
- John 9:4
While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
- Deuteronomy 32:29
If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.
- Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is supreme; so acquire wisdom. And whatever you may acquire, gain understanding.
- Ephesians 5:16–17
Through
Psalms 7:6Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
it leads to
- Psalms 35:23
Awake and rise to my defense, to my cause, my God and my Lord!
- Psalms 44:23
Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.
- Psalms 3:7
Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
- Psalms 35:23
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 119; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 6 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).