My soul longs for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
My eyes long for your promise;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten your statutes. Psalm 119:81-83
David felt invisible to God. Like wineskin in smoke, he felt he could not be seen. God wasn’t noticing him or his needs. He cries out for comfort, “Hey, I’m down here, please look. ”
Do you feel invisible at times? Do you feel as if the world is going on around you but, like a ghost in the movies, people are whisking by without even realizing you are there? You can’t get anyone’s attention and your soul is screaming out inside, “Hey, look over here. I have needs, too. ” It is like you are buried in smoke, hidden in the haze. Invisible hands doing the work without recognition. Being taken for granted. Attending to everyone else’s needs and hurts yet no one is even noticing yours.
But the truth is you are never hidden from God’s love. This is the God who compared himself to the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep or the widow who turns her house upside down looking for a lost coin. Here is the God who knew you before you were knitted in your mother’s womb and loves you so deeply He took your place on the cross and died so you could live. He is not turning away from you now, or ever. He can see through the smoke and take hold of His child. It is just sometimes we are crying out so much inside that, like a child lost in a department store, we do not realize our parent has found us yet. In fact, our Heavenly parent has never taken His eyes off of us.
Even in his despair, David knew this. He has hope in the Word of God. He knows God keeps His promises and he longs for it. He doesn’t forget God’s statutes. He knows deep down that all is good – that God is there, even in the smoke.
