How Long Wilt Thou Forget Me?

I love the Book of Psalms. I quote this book more than any other in the Bible. Psalms, for the most part, is the story of David and his inner struggles with this life and sin, of his ever pressing need to be with God and David’s strong desire to please our Lord.

Psalms is very fearful, tearful, and honest. Hardly a verse goes by that we can’t personally relate to. No, Psalms is rarely all happy, happy, joy, joy. And that’s one of the reasons why folks avoid it. Even the British comedy troupe Monty Python made light of this fact. In the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, God derides King Arthur for, “those miserable Psalms, they’re so depressing”.

All too often the pages of Psalms reveal our own personal sentiments, thoughts, and emotions towards our Lord. Anything that gets that personal will naturally make us uncomfortable. But that’s what it’s supposed to do. Psalm 13, although brief, showcases all of these inner struggles and emotions.

Psalm 13

1) How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

2) How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

3) Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

4) Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

5) But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

6) I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Commentary

Psalm 13 starts off with a very familiar question that all of us have pondered. It’s a plea to God, “How long?” followed up with a rather snarky, “Forever?” Being hurt physically, emotionally, or spiritually can cause a person to want to strike out anyway they can. We should never be offended when someone under duress says something injurious.

David’s great goal was to be in God’s presence. Here we see that God has hidden His, “face from me”.

If we can’t find council and comfort in God, we attempt to find those things in our self. Having, “sorrow in my heart daily” tends to compound the issue. But God allows the separation for a reason. Yes, it is sin that separates us from Him, but what sin? Maybe that’s what God wants you to figure out and is why He has left you to your own devices. Its important to remember that although God has allowed the space, God is by no means gone or unaware of you and your problems. Have faith in Him, which is probably what the problem is all about in the first place. Faith, or a lack there of.

“Lighten mine eyes”, now there’s the personality of David coming through! David is asking God to open his eyes, to enlighten him as to the way of truth and righteousness. Lighten my eyes is more than a request, it’s a realization and a confession. It’s telling God, “I can’t do this thing under my own power and will. I need you God!”

Verse four is about the enemy. A very real and worldly enemy. David is worried that in his downtrodden state, that his enemies will think they have defeated him. This thought would empower his foe, and is the last thing David wants to have happen. He also makes it clear that his detractors delight in every misstep of his.

David then says something interesting. He says that he has trusted (past and present tense) God’s mercy and that his heart shall (future tense) rejoice in God’s salvation.

David has tasted of God’s mercy. Whether we realize it or not, we all have. If you are alive then you have experienced the mercy of God! We need to understand this and continuously glorify God because of it.

David has total faith in God. He knows that God will deliver him out of his current situation. He knows this down deep in his heart, in the inner man, his spirit and soul.

And just like that! “I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” In a twinkling of an eye everything changes. Everything that happens is for the benefit of God’s elect. Whatever the experience is, it is there to grow us, fine tune us, strengthen us but ultimately, bring us closer to God, closer to perfection.

Bill Hitchcock