Psalm 119:139 Zeal

My zeal wears me out,
 for my enemies ignore your words.

Psalm 119:139

"My zeal wears me out" is a mild way to translate that phrase. It more accurately is "my zeal destroys me, exterminates me, ends my life."

I'm not sure David is trying to say this is a good thing. To use such extreme terminology makes me wonder if he's saying he's gone too far, over the deep end, gotten too wrapped up in his emotional reaction to the faithlessness he sees in his enemies.

Zeal is most often used in a positive way in the scriptures, including in the Psalms.

Zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

Psalm 69:0

This Psalm is also quoted in the New Testament, describing Jesus' zeal in cleansing the temple. Many of the biblical instances of zeal refer to the Lord's zeal.

But some of Paul's uses of the word stand as a warning about zeal:

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

Romans 10:1-3

Some people can be zealous about a wrong understanding of the scriptures.

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may have zeal for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.

Galatians 4:17-18

Paul had good reason to know the danger of misdirected zeal, describing himself...

...as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Philippians 3:6

Are you zealous for God's Word?

Are you sure it's God's Word your zealous for and not your own self-serving agenda?  It's easy to wrap yourself in a cloak of words from the Word while actually fighting battles of your own making.

As Paul said in Romans 10, make sure it's God's righteousness that's guiding your emotions and actions, not your own sense of rightness.