Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

PSALM 13: HOW LONG LORD? The Choice to Rejoice

This psalm expresses the anguish of David’s soul, his sincere prayer and finally his trust and song of faith. It is a jewel and model of how we are to approach the Lord through our human distress, our di- vinely empowered prayer and our choice to rejoice! It is easily divided into three sections:

I HOW LONG ? 1,2 II RESTORE THE LIGHT ! 3,4 III UNFAILING LOVE ! 5,6

INSCRIPTION :

“ For the choir director (chief musician): A Psalm of David.”

There is no certain situation in David’s life that fits this psalm although the time he was rescued from being hunted by Saul fits the circumstances of the prayer. “ He (Saul) and David were now on opposite sides of a mountain. Just as Saul and his men began to close in on David and his men, an urgent mes- sage reached Saul that the Philistines were raiding Israel again. So Saul quit the chase and returned to fight the Philistines.”(1 Sam. 23:26-28) I HOW LONG ? 1,2 • “ O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?” • “ How long will you look the other way?” • “ How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day?” • “ How long will my enemy have the upper hand?” In our spiritual life we face prolonged seasons of attack upon our faith and there is something in our human nature that wants to know how long it will last. David was pressed to the limits of his ability to endure and Saul had the ‘upper hand’ as his army pursued him. David was filled with sorrow and he wrongly assessed that God had forgotten him and looked the other way. What was being worked out in his heart? Could David realize that centuries later, millions of people would be reading, singing and praying his words as they faced the same ‘How long’ question in their own lives? The trial will last as long as it takes to fulfill his purpose and not a moment longer. In many instances the time is prolonged because of our impatience and it is certain that God is waiting for us to affirm our trust in him by our praises and rejoicing: “ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.” (Rom. 5:3,4) God’s process is more im- portant to him than the moment his promises are fulfilled. The remaining ingredients found in this psalm are necessary for us to experience his victory.

II RESTORE THE LIGHT ! - 3,4

“ Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die. Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, ‘ We have defeated him!’ Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.”

When we face a spiritual crisis our perspective becomes the determining factor of success or fail- ure. How we view what is happening to us will either deflate and destroy our faith and let our enemy tri- umph over us or give us new life, enthusiasm and victory. The prayer to ‘ restore the light to my eyes ’ is in reality a prayer for revelation. Let me see the situation as you see it Lord; give me new eyes of faith that are filled with life and light. It has happened many times in the scriptures. 1. Jesus opened the eyes of two of his disciples as they traveled together to Emmaus. The disci- ples did not know that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead: ‘ Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.” (Lk. 24:31) Their perspective changed dramatically.

27