The Way

How Long?

Draft, under review

Ps 13:1–6

1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?

2How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me?

3Consider me and respond, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death,

4lest my enemy say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes rejoice when I fall.

5But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation.

6I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.

Berean Standard Bible. Read the full chapter

Theo-approved pending final check (theo-review-2)

Reflection

Ps 13 is short, but it covers enormous ground. It opens with the same question four times (Ps 13:1–2). David's complaint has layers. God seems to have forgotten him, God's face seems hidden, his own thoughts give him no rest, and his enemy is winning. Lament in Scripture is never vague. It names the pain specifically, before God.

Notice who David addresses. He does not complain about God to others. He complains to God, and that is itself an act of faith. You only cry out to someone you believe can hear. The Psalms make this kind of prayer canonical. Lament is one of the most common kinds of psalm, and Jesus prayed a lament psalm from the cross (Mark 15:34; Ps 22:1).

Then come the petitions (Ps 13:3–4). He asks God to look, to answer and to give light to his eyes, because he fears death and he fears his enemy's gloating. Then, with no recorded change in his circumstances, he turns to trust in the Lord's loving devotion (Ps 13:5). The pivot rests on God's chesed (covenant love), not on David's feelings.

The psalm ends in song, because the Lord has dealt bountifully with him (Ps 13:6). That may be memory of past mercy as much as present relief. Lament is not the opposite of trust. It is the road trust walks when the night is long.

Word study: verified (STEPBible)

batach (Hebrew, Strong's H982): to trust, to feel secure, to lean confidently on. It is used in Ps 13:5 and often in the Psalms (Ps 56:3–4; Prov 3:5).

Cross-reference trail

  1. Ps 22:1: The lament Jesus prayed from the cross.
  2. Ps 42:5: Talking to your own soul in lament.
  3. Lam 3:21: Hope by remembering.
  4. Hab 1:2: Another prophet asks how long.
  5. Rev 6:10: The question asked in heaven itself.

Go deeper

  • Question tree: Lament: Crying Out to God, trials.lament, starting with trials.lament.q1 (proposed route /ask/trials/lament/#q1)
  • Pathway: Grief & Loss, content/pathways/grief-and-loss.md

Prayer

Lord, I don't understand how long this will last; hear me, and teach me to trust Your steadfast love tonight.

Go deeper