Psalms 119:82
Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me?
Original Language Analysis
כָּל֣וּ
fail
H3615
כָּל֣וּ
fail
Strong's:
H3615
Word #:
1 of 6
to end, whether intransitive (to cease, be finished, perish) or transitive (to complete, prepare, consume)
עֵ֭ינַי
Mine eyes
H5869
עֵ֭ינַי
Mine eyes
Strong's:
H5869
Word #:
2 of 6
an eye (literally or figuratively); by analogy, a fountain (as the eye of the landscape)
Cross References
Psalms 69:3I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.Psalms 119:123Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.Proverbs 13:12Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.Isaiah 38:11I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.Psalms 86:17Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.Deuteronomy 28:32Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.Lamentations 2:11Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city.
Historical Context
The exilic and post-exilic communities knew prolonged suffering. Their eyes 'failed' watching for restoration promised through the prophets. This vocabulary of yearning appears in Isaiah 21:3-4 and Daniel 8:27—physical affliction from spiritual burden. The godly aren't immune to exhaustion; they simply direct it toward God.
Questions for Reflection
- How do you express honest anguish to God while maintaining trust in His promises?
- What does it mean for your eyes to 'fail for His Word' rather than fail from abandoning hope?
- When God's comfort is delayed, how do you avoid either presumption or despair?
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Analysis & Commentary
Mine eyes fail for thy word, saying, When wilt thou comfort me? (כָּלוּ עֵינַי לְאִמְרָתֶךָ לֵאמֹר מָתַי תְּנַחֲמֵנִי)—kalu (fail/grow dim) intensifies the previous verse's fainting: physical eyes weaken from weeping and watching for God's imrah (word/promise). The cry matai (when?) echoes the 'How long?' laments throughout Psalms (13:1, 35:17, 94:3). Tenachameni (wilt thou comfort me) from nacham seeks divine consolation.
This models lament's honest anguish—not stoic endurance but raw petition. Jeremiah's weeping (Lamentations 2:11) and Paul's tears (2 Corinthians 2:4) demonstrate that godly suffering includes emotional expression. Yet the psalmist's eyes fail for God's word, not from abandoning it—he watches for the promise, not away from it.