Psalm 13

Psalm 13

A Psalm of

Distress... And... uplifting

Encouragement  and  Comfort

~

A Psalm of David

Check out all our psalm pages: here

Verses 1-2

How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever?

how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

having sorrow in my heart daily?

how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

HOW LONG?

Most of us have asked God that question.

When

Problems, Trials, and Tribulations

come,

I cry out to God,

"HOW LONG?"

During difficult times,

it sometimes feels like God

is far away.

It feels like he is hiding or ignoring me.

Sometimes

it feels like God is tuning me out -

the way we sometimes do,

with a fussy baby

while we are preparing his bottle.

My mind and my faith
know God is with me
but my emotions
tell me otherwise.

Only when I SEE

my problems being solved

and my trials winding down,

do I

emotionally perceive

that God is there.

Verses 3-4

3 Consider and hear me,

O Lord my God:

lighten mine eyes,

lest I sleep the sleep of death;

4 Lest mine enemy say,

I have prevailed against him;

and those that trouble me

rejoice when I am moved.

God invites us to pray to him with words like:

Consider...

hear me...

listen to my cry...

In verse 3, David cries out,

"Help me or I'm going to die."

Whether this is reality or it just feels that way,

this psalm is written

to help us not to feel so alone and isolated.

This psalm comforts us

as we realize

that others have felt this way

- and -

God himself inspired these words

to show

he understands our emotions

and he understands the tight places

we sometimes find ourselves

experiencing. 

Verse 5

5 But I have trusted in thy mercy;

my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

 

David is gaining strength

from remembering his past dedication

to God

while

declaring that he will continue

to stay steady

in trusting God.

David is also nailing down his commitment

to rejoice and praise God

when

God saves him from this situation.

Many people pray fervently when in trouble,

but when the deliverance comes,

they forget to praise and thank God.

Verse 6

6 I will sing unto the Lord,

because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

In the previous section,

David promised to praise God

for his salvation

when

the salvation comes.

In this verse,

he is saying that

he will not wait till his salvation

to praise God -

because

there are many great things

that God has already done for him -

things that are worthy of praise!