Psalm 13

 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O Lord?

Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and hear me,

O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes,

Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

⁴Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”;

Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 ¹How long, O Lord?

Will You forget me forever?

How long will You hide Your face from me?

²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Four times the question is asked. “How long?” “How long Lord…,”, “How long will…”, “Will You forget me forever?”, “Will you hide Your face from me?”, “How long shall I have sorrow in my heart?”, How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Think about those statements, because in them is your and my plight, maybe not right now, but at some point, we will all face our greatest fears. For have you ever felt abandoned by the Lord? Have you ever felt that He has forgotten you? When your prayers go unanswered and you’re seeking His face does not produce the results you want. Have you ever hit the skids of depression and thought, when will this cloud of darkness lift? Or have you ever experienced your enemy, you know the one who says and spreads all kind of evil rumors about you, and yet who always seems to hold the favor of everyone, who always gets promoted before you, (who always seems to have all of life’s blessings come their way) even while working for and plotting your ruin behind the scenes. Then you can identify with this Psalm, with its cries for help, with its cries for justice.

Vs. 3-4 Consider and hear me,

O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes,

Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

⁴Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”;

Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

In stating his case David now asks the Lord to consider him, consider what is happening to him, to enlighten his eyes (which is to say to heal him), to undo all their plots against him, and lift the clouds of darkness from him, to restore the joy of the Lord to him, “lest I sleep the sleep of death”, lest his enemies say, “I have prevailed against him.” Lest they see him downtrodden and defeated and rejoice because he has been moved to despair by them.

Vs. 5-6 ⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Now if they thought by afflicting David, they would destroy him or his faith, truly shows how arrogantly stupid they all really are. For rather then destroying him or his faith in the Lord, all they have done is awakened it, awakened him to draw much nearer and deeper to the Lord. To once again find his strength and solace in the Lord, in rejoicing in His salvation and delighting himself in Him for all that He has done for Him. This then is the defense of everyone who believes in the Lord, who does not forsake His saints, but we are established with Him on His Throne forever! Whatever then happens to us in this life, is just fleeting and passing until we go Home to be with Him forever!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982):Thomas Nelson.