November 15
Reading: Psalm 13
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
The Psalms is the prayer book of the Bible. You can really see this in Psalm 13. This psalm is short and intensely personal. In every verse David speaks in the first person.
I can think of many times in my life when I have prayed this prayer, maybe using different words, but essentially the same prayer. It is a cry of desperation to the Lord. It is the prayer of someone who has prayed many times and feels like God is not listening. It is actually a great comfort to know that David, a man who had a heart after God, so often felt like God was not listening to him.
The first two verses of this psalm contain a question. As you can see, there are actually four questions, but the questions are essentially the same question. This is not unusual in the psalms or in our honest prayers. When we feel something deeply, we say it many times over. This is what kids do with their parents. This is what we do with God.
How long, O Lord (Yahweh)?
How long?
How long?
How long?
Have you ever felt forgotten by the great I Am, the self-existent, timeless God?
Then the next two verses (vss. 3-4) are a request, the only request in the psalm. David is praying for an answer, just a little attention from God, Yahweh. David is languishing and his eyes are dim without God. He is fearful of death without God answering. He is concerned his enemies will triumph if God does not show up.
The final verse is a statement of faith. David is hanging on to the truth that he knows and remembers. This is the only thing for us to do when it seems like God is not answering our prayers that we keep praying. We do not stop praying! We keep trusting in the truth that we know about God, His love and His salvation.
The word translated “steadfast love” in verse 5 is a familiar Hebrew word. We find it often in the psalms. It is the Hebrew word “hesed” and refers to God’s covenant faithfulness. To talk about Yahweh’s Hesed is to talk about the fact that He chooses His special people to love and makes promises to them and always keeps those promises because His love is a commitment. It is like marriage, God’s “hesed.”
David remembers this in prayer at the end of the psalm, even though he has yet to have an answer from God. We need to remember this as well.
Sooner or later, God will answer. God will save.