By Andrew Williams -April 11, 2021
How long, O Lord ? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord , Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalms 13:1-6 NKJV
This is a Psalm of David which encourages us to trust in the Lord for salvation.
The Place Of Distress -Disconnected From God
HOW LONG, O LORD ? WILL YOU FORGET ME FOREVER? HOW LONG WILL YOU HIDE YOUR FACE FROM ME?
For me these are questions coming from someone who has lost connection with his God. It seems as if the relationship is broken, or that there is something that is happening that is keeping the writer from hearing from God. Also this seems to be a heart to cry from David, as he seeks to connect with his God in a more meaningful way.
I believe that at times we all feel as if God is not hearing us, that He’s hiding Himself from us, and we are wondering when will God show up and when will God answer us?
From experience, I believe that these are the times when we should examine ourselves and see if we are in right standing with God. God is always here for us, but at times we fail to see/hear Him because of things we are doing that disconnects our fellowship.
Inadequate Counsel
HOW LONG SHALL I TAKE COUNSEL IN MY SOUL, HAVING SORROW IN MY HEART DAILY? HOW LONG WILL MY ENEMY BE EXALTED OVER ME?
How long should I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart daily? For me this signifies that David was just thinking as best as he could and using his knowledge to figure out his situation. And in doing this all he was getting was sorrow. There was no solution to his problem.
When one takes counsel in his soul all he is doing is working things out in his mind. This is not the same as seeking God’s counsel which is taking spiritual counsel. God’s spiritual counsel gives solution and brings peace to ones heart.
How long will my enemy be exalted over me? To me this is a cry of someone who cannot see the Lord in his troubles. It is also a legitimate cry for someone who is serving the Lord and wondering why his God is not coming to his rescue. For each of us every day we go through something, and we wonder why God is not showing up. We also cannot understand sometimes why it is that we go through these troubles. But let us just remember that Jesus did not say that He would get rid of all of our troubles, but that He would be with us through them all.
The Petition
CONSIDER AND HEAR ME, O LORD MY GOD; ENLIGHTEN MY EYES, LEST I SLEEP THE SLEEP OF DEATH; LEST MY ENEMY SAY, “I HAVE PREVAILED AGAINST HIM”; LEST THOSE WHO TROUBLE ME REJOICE WHEN I AM MOVED.
In the previous verses David has highlighted his problems, but now he cries out further to God. He asked God to consider him and to hear him, because he thinks that if God doesn’t he will die or his enemies will prevail over him. As children of God, it is our privilege and it is our right to cry out to God to help us in our times of need. We need not fear, or be distraught in the face of persecution because we have a God who will supply all our needs.
All we need to do is state our case, have faith in our God, put our entire trust in Him, and wait for Him to do what He knows is best in our situation.
The Place Of Trust
BUT I HAVE TRUSTED IN YOUR MERCY; MY HEART SHALL REJOICE in Your salvation.
Trust God, in all things. He does not lie. He is our savior, our redeemer , our friend. He is our Father and He cares for us and will protect us.
When we are in a right relationship with Him we have no greater thing to do than to just worship Him and rejoice!
The Place Of Praise
I WILL SING TO THE LORD , BECAUSE HE HAS DEALT BOUNTIFULLY WITH ME.
By verse 6 we see David giving praise to God, thanking Him for dealing bountifully with him, but nowhere does it state that God has already answered his prayer, or that his situation has changed. What we can see is that as he has prayed to God, he moves from a place of not knowing whether God is present with him, to laying out his concerns, to declaring his faith in God, and finally praising God.
My guess is that as he has gone through this process, he remembers how God has acted in previous situations in his life, and he reaches to the point of faith and praise based on those past incidents.
Oh how great it is to know exactly who our God is, how He acts, and how He always looks out for His children.
Conclusion
Let us continue to have faith in our God regardless of our situations. It is okay to state exactly how we feel to our God, but let us never forget who He is, and let us put our faith and trust in Him, and praise Him through our circumstances.