Bottle in the midst of Smoke

Psalms 119:83
(83) For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; yet do I not forget thy statutes.
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As the bottles in the East are made of skin, it is evident that one of these hung up in the smoke must soon be parched, shrivelled up, lose all its strength, and become unsightly and useless. Thus the Psalmist appeared to himself to have become useless and despicable, through the exhausted state of his body and mind, by long bodily afflictions and mental distress.
------ Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

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Because, though his affliction was great, yet it had not driven him from his duty, and therefore he was within the reach of God's promise: Yet do I not forget thy statutes. Whatever our outward condition is we must not cool in our affection to the word of God, nor let that slip out of our minds; no care, no grief, must crowd that out. As some drink and forget the law (Pro_31:5), so others weep and forget the law; but we must in every condition, both prosperous and adverse, have the things of God in remembrance; and, if we be mindful of God's statutes, we may pray and hope that he will be mindful of our sorrows, though for a time he seems to forget us.
---- Matthew Henry's Commentary

Surely David is expounding the feelings of the children of God in the midst of life. So much awesome Revelation is coming from the heart of David and is available to us in the middle of our trials. Such strength, such encouragement from the heart of the man after God' heart. David is telling us that he felt like a "BOTTLE in the midst of SMOKE" This is what the NT refers to when it says we are "IN THE WORLD" but not "OF THE WORLD". This is what Apostle Peter exhorted the Church when he said:

1 Peter 2:11
(11) Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

The SMOKE is the influence of the world. SMOKE chokes the breath out of people. The danger of house fires is NOT just the fire burning, but the danger of choking and dying from SMOKE inhalation. SMOKE finds a way to get through the cracks. SMOKE leaves it's dirty aroma and contaminates anything nearby. SMOKE darkens the lungs. SMOKE sucks the oxygen out of the environment around it. Doesn't the WORD of GOD give us a really good object lesson of the world. So we are surrounded by this WORLD. We are IN THIS WORLD, but we ARE PILGRIMS. That means we are BOTTLES in the midst of the SMOKE. The danger of this, is if the BOTTLE becomes empty. As long as the BOTTLE is full, the smoke cannot enter it. As long as the BOTTLE is full, breath remains, oxygen remains, SMOKE is refused. The danger is when the BOTTLE becomes empty. Then the smoke darkens it, pushes against the outside of it until the inside of the BOTTLE COLLAPSES. Then the SMOKE begins to invade. The only answer to fixing the collapsed bottle is for the life giving OXYGEN to fill it back again.

Psalms 22:15
(15) My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

Psalms 32:3
(3) When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

Job 30:30-31
(30) My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.
(31) My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

Proverbs 17:22
(22) A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

Psalms 102:3-4
(3) For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
(4) My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.

When the BOTTLE collapses, and our heart is smitten, it can absolutely cause you to forget to eat your bread. The Word of God can become distant, our pray life dry, and our vision dim. The key to victory is to remember how good God has been, to begin to meditate on the mercy of God, begin to eat. A sick person always needs to EAT. That BOTTLE must get filled again to push back against the SMOKE.

The REMEDY to re-filling the BOTTLE

Psalms 119:87-88, 92-94
(87) They had almost consumed me upon earth; but I forsook not thy precepts.
(88) Quicken me after thy lovingkindness; so shall I keep the testimony of thy mouth.

(92) Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.
(93) I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.
(94) I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts.

Romans 12:1-2
(1) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
(2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Isaiah 54:6-17
(6) For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
(7) For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
(8) In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
(9) For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.
(10) For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
(11) O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
(12) And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
(13) And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
(14) In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.
(15) Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
(16) Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
(17) No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

Jude 1:17-21
(17) But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
(18) How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
(19) These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
(20) But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
(21) Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.


Remember - the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, but the VIOLENT take it by FORCE. The devil is no match for the Holy Ghost. Greater is HE that is IN ME, than he that is IN the WORLD.