by Jerry Senn
Psalm 13
1 “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
This psalm is an honest cry of David’s heart from the pit of despair. He felt, at that moment, abandoned, forgotten—in a spiritual dry place. The enemy seemed to have the advantage and he feared defeat.
It is my belief that every believer has at times shared David’s situation, as expressed in this psalm. To say otherwise would be less than honest in my case. Both pits and peaks plagued even our Lord Jesus. (See: Psalm 22:1).
But, relief comes only when we lift up our eyes and remember our Father’s “steadfast love,” so that even in the down, dry times, we can rejoice in our salvation (deliverance). We can even “sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with us.“
I have been helped by this little psalm and I hope we all will be lifted in our faith by pondering and embracing its message. There is always a song to sing if we allow our faith to be expressed.