A Psalm for Long-Term Trials

Psalm 13:1-6

When we’re going through a tough time, we often flip through the Psalms and look for a verse or psalm to help us. This approach is not unhelpful, just as there may be value in grabbing a generic medication from Walgreens when you’ve got a fever. But a more meaningful approach would be to get a prescription from your doctor that targets your symptoms precisely. The same is true with the Book of Psalms.

Did you know there are different types of psalms?

• Some are for praise, with the purpose of offering praise to God (like the Hallel[ujah] psalms, Psa 113-118, or the final psalms, Psa 145-150).
• Others are for instruction, to give spiritual guidance on how to live (like Psa 1 about “the blessed man”).
• Other psalms are for lament, to express thoughts and feelings in response to the difficult problems of life.

When we wrestle through a problem in our lives, we may know enough to find a lament psalm that offers comfort by helping us feel that our struggle isn’t unusual, bringing us basic spiritual relief. But let’s take this approach a step further.

Did you know that different lament psalms focus on different problems?

For instance:

• Psalm 38 is a good place to turn when you’re experiencing consequences for sins.
• Psalm 55 is a good psalm for when a close friend has betrayed you.
• Psalm 70 is a good prescription when other people are out to get you, and so on.

This in mind, let’s turn to Psalm 13. Let’s read this short psalm and see if we can figure out what kind of problem or situation it focuses on specifically.

What’s fascinating about this Psalm is that it gives us no clear details about its historical background. From its heading, we know David wrote it and that he intended for the music leader to use it in public tabernacle and Temple worship. Yet we don’t know why it came about – that is, what problem in David’s life motivated him to write it in the first place?

Some psalms clearly tell us why they were written.

Thirteen psalms explain their historical situation in their heading:

• Psa 3 and Psa 63 – when he fled and hid from Absalom his son
• Psa 7 – when a man named Cush threatened him
• Psa 18 – when the Lord delivered him from Saul
• Psa 34 – when the Philistines refused to offer him protection as a refugee
• Psa 51 – when he repented of his sin with Bathsheba
• Psa 52 and Psa 54 – when men reported David’s hiding place to Saul
• Psa 56 – when the Philistines captured him in Gath
• Psa 57 and Psa 142 – when he was hiding in a cave
• Psa 59 – when Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house to kill him
• Psa 60 – when David felt as though God was not fighting with him in battle

Others refer to specific occasions like dedicating the Temple (Psa 30), a royal wedding (Psa 45), the Sabbath day (Psa 92), expressing gratitude (Psa 100), or when a person feels overwhelmed (Psa 102).

Psalm 13 doesn’t give us specific background details, but it doesn’t leave us without clues. When we read this psalm carefully, we see that David was experiencing a trial. We don’t know what it was, but we know something else. Whatever he was facing, it had been going on for a very long time and there was no apparent end in sight.

Having no detailed description of his problem is a blessing in disguise.

It shows us how to pray when we experience all sorts of problems – the kind that go on for a very long time with no end in sight. In this way, it’s a model prayer. So, remember this: Psalm 13 shows us how to pray when our problems don’t go away.

How long will I be unemployed? How long will my illness last? How long will it take for the doctors to diagnose my condition? How long will I be unmarried? How long will my treatment take? How long will I be unappreciated? How long will my spouse or child remain outside the faith or be resistant to God? How long will my financial debt continue? How long will this COVID19 outbreak last and when will it get back to normal? How long will do I have to live on such a tight budget? How long will I be misunderstood? How long will this person keep harassing or bullying me? How long must I wait for justice for a person who wronged me or someone I love? The list goes on. In times like these …

We may be tempted to “put a lid on” our sorrow and say nothing.

We feel an intense struggle going on inside and hope for relief, but we’re not sure what to do or say. Is it wrong to express what we’re feeling? Is it okay to tell God what we think, or should we wait to pray until we’re not frustrated?

When long-term trials trouble you, you need to talk to God. You should pray to him, as this Psalm shows – think “despair, desire, and depend.” First, express your deep despair. Then express your desperate desire. Finally, express your decision to depend on him.

Express your deep despair to God. (Psa 13:1-2)

In the first two verses of this prayer, David asks the same question four times – “how long?” This fourfold repetition reveals the nature of his struggle. It wasn’t the problem itself that bothered him as much as that it was going on for a very long time.

David emphasizes this struggle even more when he says “forever” and “daily.” “Forever” reveals a feeling of endlessness – would it ever end? “Daily” emphasizes the feeling of a daily trial with no reprieve – every morning he woke up and the problem was still there.

To make matters worse, it seemed like the Lord had forgotten him. David wasn’t doubting God’s existence, nor was he doubting God’s ability to guide him through or resolve his situation. He believed God could do either of these things. He doubted whether God would respond to his problem and do these things for him.

Which is worse? A God who isn’t there, or a God who’s there but ignores you?

The second scenario is especially painful because it feels like a personal rejection.

This song opens like a person knocking on a door, ringing the doorbell, or calling the phone of someone they know is there. You know he’s at home, but he isn’t opening the door. You know she’s on the other end of the line, but she isn’t answering the phone. Either she’s turned it off or letting it ring as she attends to other things.

David felt like God was ignoring him, paying no attention to his plight. Do you ever feel that way? The phrase “hide your face from me” portrays something like a king sitting on his throne in his throne room, but he refuses to give permission for one of his subjects to enter, make an appearance, and offer a request.

As this feeling of abandonment wore on, David resorted to his own counsel – his inner thoughts. As McGinniss explains, “The presence of continued suffering and the lack of divine help caused David to look inside his own soul for much needed relief.” When he did this, he found nothing but sorrow. He was unable to provide himself any relief. The only thing he could offer himself was more grief.

This is especially noteworthy because of who David was. When he wrote this prayer, he was either the future or reigning king of Israel. As king, he was the highest, most powerful, wealthiest person in his realm, the one whom all other citizens and even people and rulers of other nations would come to for favor, guidance, and aid. Yet here he was, helpless to meet his own needs under prolonged duress. He couldn’t make his problem go away.

No matter how powerful, wealthy, or wise we may be, we’re all helpless without God.

That’s why we despair so deeply when it seems like God is silent. So, David felt like God had abandoned him and self-help wasn’t an option. He felt “backed into a corner,” so to speak, and there was another person on his mind as well – his enemy. Though this wasn’t his primary concern, it was still a concern that intensified his struggle. He was concerned that his helplessness was giving his adversary an advantage – that his enemy was rising up and had already gained a more advantageous position.

This doesn’t mean his adversaries were the cause of his trial, but it does show that they were watching on the sidelines, waiting for him to fail. Then they would seize the moment, just as a grizzly bear snatches a weak baby elk from its mother at an opportune time.

Who was his enemy? We can’t say for sure, but we know there were many possibilities – from Saul to Absalom, Goliath to Joab, and many pagan kings and their armies.

When you feel like David and your trial(s) seems to last forever, you should express your duress and deep despair to God. Don’t hold it in, and don’t complain to others. Speak to God. After all, you know he’s there – you’re just not sure why he isn’t responding.

Speaking to God this way is being honest and it’s also a way to demonstrate your faith in God, even when you’re hurting. It’s certainly better than complaining to a friend or venting your frustrations to the world online. When you speak to God, you’re headed in the right direction. After all, he already knows what you’re feeling, so you might as well tell him.

Express your desperate desire to God. (Psa 13:3-4)

When you turn to God in your never-ending trials, you should do more than disclose your feelings of despair. You should also express your desperation. Ask for his intervention and request his aid. That’s what David did, which is one more evidence he believed God was there and was hearing him, even though he wasn’t responding in a perceptible way.

David’s faith is on display here when he once again names God directly, this time with greater force. He opened the first stanza by calling him “Lord” (or Yahweh). Now he opens the second stanza by calling him “Lord my God.” Adding God intensifies his appeal to God and adding my makes his appeal more personal. Despite his feelings of isolation, David doubles down on his own devotion to the Lord as his one and only God.

Here he makes his first request. He asks the Lord to consider and hear him. “Consider” means to pay attention to him and “hear” means to listen to what he has to say. He is asking for a personal audience with Yahweh, to enter his throne room. He is growing weary of being placed on hold. He wants God to pick up on the other end of the line.

We can sense in this request that David felt growing urgency. His desperation sounds as urgent as a call to 911. He asks God to “enlighten his eyes.” This wasn’t a request for enlightenment, as in requesting a greater intellectual understanding of his problem (like “please enlighten me”). Nor was it a request for a higher level of philosophical or spiritual liberation that removes a person from the cycle of reincarnation (as Buddhism teaches).

This was a way of referring to being reinvigorated and brought back to strength and health. It envisioned a person whose energy and life were dwindling so greatly that they had lost the sparkle in their eye and were almost dead. David felt this way – he felt like he was dying a long, slow death and was nearing the end of his ability to hang on. He feared that if God didn’t intervene soon, he would go to sleep and never wake up.

What made this feeling especially terrible was that his enemy would win. Here his enemy appears in his mind again, bigger than before, licking his chops, waiting for David’s demise. In fact, David admits that he was afraid of more than one enemy claiming triumph. He referred to “those who trouble me” and worried that when he died (in the near future, as he felt it would be) that they would rejoice when he finally tumbled over. In his imagination, he envisioned all his enemies gathering to celebrate his collapse.

What are we afraid of when we struggle? What might happen if we fail? What loose ends will we leave behind? What defeats will our death cement in time? Who will rejoice if we lose? Will anyone say, “I told you so! He wasn’t what he claimed to be!” Do worries like this get mixed into our trouble? Do we have any enemies, adversaries, or competitors?

This moment of transparency reveals the helplessness of David, the man who had killed a lion and bear with handmade weapons as a boy and had also killed the Goliath in combat.

Express your decision to depend on God. (Psa 13:5-6)

When we read the Psalms, we see that the David who slew Goliath had many fears. He didn't succeed because he was strong, but because he trusted in God who was greater than his fears. The final verses of this psalm show how he trusted in the Lord when feelings of isolation and desperation overwhelmed him.

After David honestly communicated (rather than suppressed) his despair and desperation to the Lord, he was able to focus on trusting in the Lord. There’s something helpful about verbalizing your fears and frustrations to God that prepares us to trust him with greater confidence and clarity. This wasn’t time to walk away or “throw in the towel.” It was time to dig into God even deeper.

These verses begin with a sudden shift in perspective. They begin with “but,” which in Hebrew is a strong, emphatic word that should be understood as something like, “Even though I feel so helpless and afraid, I’m going to turn in the opposite direction and trust in the Lord instead.” You could say, “But I, even I…” Think of it like a quick, sudden U-turn.

What’s fascinating here is that between Psa 13:4 and 13:6, nothing has changed in David’s plight. His problem is still going on, his enemies are still waiting for him to fall apart, and he still feels like he’s going to die. What’s more, he still feels like God is ignoring him. God hasn’t spoken or acted on his behalf in response to his prayer.

Nothing happened. The only change was in David’s heart.

There’s another important detail to notice here. It’s hard to see in our English translation, but the focus of the opening line in this final stanza is on your mercy. In Hebrew, it appears first in the sentence. It reads, “But in your mercy I have trusted.”

This mercy is the Hebrew word chesed. It’s an important word in the Old Testament that appears 245x. More than half of these occurrences are in Psalms (127x). Hesed “doesn’t refer to spontaneous, random kindness, but to behavior that comes from a deep sense of personal obligation and commitment, as a husband to wife, a parent to child, and so on.

It’s the sort of kindness, love, and devotion that Boaz showed to Ruth the Moabite when he married her. This example is especially helpful because it would have been meaningful to David since Boaz and Ruth were his grandparents (Ruth 4:17, 21-22). It demonstrated God’s loyalty not only to the nation of Israel but more specifically to David’s family line.

Another example of this occurred farther back in history when Joseph’s brothers betrayed him and sold into slavery. Then he was accused falsely by Potiphar’s wife and incarcerated for years with no end in sight until God showed his mercy (chesed) to him at last, arranging his release and exalting him to second in command over Egypt. “The LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy (chesed)” (Gen 39:21).

When ḥesed refers to God, it draws attention to the promises he made to his people. Consider what he said to Moses as the nation of Israel was being formed, “Keeping mercy (chesed) for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exo 34:7). David would have been familiar with this statement as he also would have been familiar with God’s covenant promises to Israel at the end of Moses’ life (Deut 28-32).

As David’s mind, emotions, and body made him feel that God had abandoned him (as I’m sure Joseph had felt many years before in prison in Egypt), he knew God was there and rested in his promise to love him. Though God seemed unavailable and disinterested at the moment …

David knew God would come through in the end, but with no deadline in mind.

If we feel that God needs to deliver us now, we should ask him to do that. At the same time, we should be able to praise him no matter what, even if the trial doesn’t go away because our faith should be in the loyal love and kindness of the Lord, not in changed circumstances and self-imposed timelines, even if we feel like we’re dying.

Despite his feelings and circumstances, David found confidence and hope in the character of God.

The questions of his opening lines remained unanswered and his fears of death in the middle lines were still there, but he found hope instead in God’s promise to love and preserve him and God’s promise is greater than our problems, no matter how long they last. The Lord who gives the promise is eternal and our problems are not.

As he meditated on God’s promise of love and loyalty to him, he shifted from lament and anxiety to praise. He, not his enemies, would be the one who rejoiced. He would no longer suffer privately with sorrow in his soul, but he would sing publicly from his heart to the Lord. Why? Because the Lord had proven himself faithful.

Spoiler alert! Later in David’s life, God did come through. 2 Sam 7:1 says, “The Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around.” Then in 2 Sam 7:15-16, the Lord said to David, “My mercy (chesed) shall not depart from him … and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”

At the end of David’s life, he wrote these words, “[The Lord] is the tower of salvation to his king, and shows mercy (chesed) to his anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore” (2 Sam 22:51).

Though we’re all sharing this ongoing challenge of COVID19 and self-isolation, we’re each facing other challenges as well, struggles that keep going on with no end in sight. So, remember that …

This psalm shows us how to pray when our problems won’t go away.

• Let’s learn to express and verbalize our feelings of despair to God with honesty rather than bottling them up, suppressing them, or trying to state them in a polished, nonchalant way.
• Let’s also learn to express our desires to him, even if they’re desperate desires for deliverance and even if they may not happen, at least when we want them to happen. Tell him what you want him or need him to do.
• Most importantly – let’s also learn to express our decision to trust in him, even if nothing has changed in our circumstances. We do not need more promises or interventions from God to know that he is there and that he is totally committed to those who’ve trusted him alone for salvation. He’s proven his love (chesed) to us through the death and resurrection of Christ and we know our future and eternity is secure in him – we will not be ashamed, and he will not let us down. No one – especially God – makes that kind of down-payment for us and walks away.

Let’s move from despair, to desire, to dependence when our trials last for a very long time. Though we know we need to trust God and praise him in our suffering, we shouldn’t skip over the first two elements of this prayer.

Here’s how we can pray:

“Lord, how long is this going to last? Every day I get up and nothing has changed. It’s really wearing on me and I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this. If feels like I’m gasping for air sometimes and like everyone is watching me. If you don’t bring an end to this trial soon, my life is going to be a waste!

But I know who you are. I know the promises you’ve made and what you’ve done in the past – in Scripture, in history, and in my own life. I know you love me and are committed to me no matter what, even if it feels like you’re not listening. So, instead of just thinking about my problems, I’m going to praise you. I’m going to sing about you and how good you are because you’ve been so good to me and I know you’ll come through in the end.”