Reflections on Psalms 13

 Psalms 13(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by David for the music leader.) How much longer, LORD, will you forget about me? Will it be forever? How long will you hide?
   
2. How long must I be confused and miserable all day? How long will my enemies keep beating me down?
   
3. Please listen, LORD God, and answer my prayers. Make my eyes sparkle again, or else I will fall into the sleep of death.
   
4. My enemies will say, "Now we've won!" They will be greatly pleased when I am defeated.
   
5. I trust your love, and I feel like celebrating because you rescued me.
   
6. You have been good to me, LORD, and I will sing about you.

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David began this Psalm with the question, "Lord, how long will You continually forget me?" and concluded it with the words, "But I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance." Though there is a significant difference in David's tone between the question and the statement of trust, nothing transpired in between them to bring this change. David simply chose to trust in the Lord's faithful love even though it seemed to him that the Lord had forgotten him. And in this choice, he anticipated that the conclusion of this situation would result in his singing to the Lord "because He has treated me generously."

In verse two David asked of God, "How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day?" This is a question he could well have asked of himself as well. He asked it of God wondering when He would deliver him from his enemies so he could put aside his concerns. But he might also have asked himself how long he would store up his concerns rather than trusting them to the Lord and leaving them with Him. This too is a part of trust. Because our heart is assured that the Lord's deliverance will come, we put aside our concerns because we know God will keep us from the dangers that feed our concerns.

It is a mark of David's close relationship with God, though, that enabled him to take his frustration to the Lord and question His lack of response to David's prayers for deliverance while also stating his assurance that God would indeed deliver him. He knew that God's love was broad enough to embrace his doubts and frustrations and allow him to voice what the Lord already knew was in his heart. The same is true of David's statement of the danger he was in, telling the Lord that unless He answered David's prayer he would otherwise "sleep in death." The Lord already knew this and didn't need David to inform Him nor provide motivation for Him to act. It was David's need to voice it that was involved, and that too was okay with the Lord.

This open exchange between David and the Lord is one of the big reasons we are so drawn to the Psalms. We see ourselves in David's anger and frustration with the Lord as well as his doubts. We are emboldened by him to take these feelings to the Lord rather than holding them back and letting our anger grow causing us to withdraw from the Lord. But we are encouraged by David's persistent trust in the Lord despite these emotions and come away from the Psalms renewed in spirit.