Psalm 119:83 states, “For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.” “What an affecting picture of misery...
We might plead the word of promise with God, and humbly press His own truth upon Himself...
Alfred Edersheim wrote a major life of Christ called "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah." Edersheim's Jewish heritage gave him interesting insights into many of the beliefs and ways of life during the time of Christ. In his book (Vol.11, p.12), he wrote of the Jewish traditions concerning the defilement of hands and the accusation that Jesus did not keep these traditions (as recorded in Mark 7:1-9).
I was seeking last night for a word of encouragement from the Lord and He gave me this. Psalm 119:83 ? ?For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.? Bottles in Bible times were most often made of animal skins. In the smoke, they would dry out and lose their softness. Troubles to the saint are like smoke to the bottle. We cannot see the way to go and we dry out and lose our ability to adjust. But we still have the compass of God?s precepts. We must not forget them. They will keep us on solid ground even when we are in the smoke.
According to an article in Thursday's "Wall Street Journal," earlier this year on the day Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacifice his son on Mt. Moriah (a son they claim was Ishmael), 25,000 sheep in Brussels, Belgium, had their heads turned to Mecca and were sacrificially killed by having their throats slit so that they would die from the shedding of their blood. Many of the Muslims will be eating their sheep for lunch that same day. Although home slaughters are illegal in Belguim, Muslims now make up over 15% of the one million people in the city of Brussels.
