Psalm 119:81-88

⁸¹ My soul faints for Your salvation,
But I hope in Your word.

⁸² My eyes fail from searching Your word,
Saying, “When will You comfort me?”

⁸³ For I have become like a wineskin in smoke,
Yet I do not forget Your statutes.

⁸⁴ How many are the days of Your servant?
When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?

⁸⁵ The proud have dug pits for me,
Which is not according to Your law.

⁸⁶ All Your commandments are faithful;
They persecute me wrongfully;
Help me!

⁸⁷ They almost made an end of me on earth,
But I did not forsake Your precepts.

⁸⁸ Revive me according to Your lovingkindness,
So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.

In this stanza, the psalmist despaired of his life but kept his eyes on God’s Word.

like a wineskin in smoke (v.83) — black, shriveled, no longer of use. Apparently describing what happens to a wineskin when dried out in smoke.

As a reflection of his humanity (rather than sinfulness), the psalmist here gives unbridled vent to the emotional distress occasioned by him by those who persecute him for seeking to live in accordance with God’s law (vs.84-86; cf. 2 Timothy 3:12). The depth of his distress—indeed, his despair—is vividly portrayed by his self-comparison to a windskin which is blackened in the smoke (v.83), and by his reference to being persecuted to the point of feeling as if he is almost destroyed (vs.86-87). — Wechsler, page 285.

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Every test, and all tests, however sharp, to weaken the Messiah’s affection for, and confidence in, the Scriptures not only failed but helped to make more manifest His faith in them and His trust in their Author. … He Himself said that man lives by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.— Williams, page 394.