Apply Psalm 13 In Our Life
There are many things that we as Christians believe that we cannot do. Perhaps one of the big ones is that we believe that we cannot question God. It is one thing to doubt God’s word and His promises like Zacharias who wanted to know for certain how he and his elderly wife would have a child (Luke 1:18), it is another to ask how things will be done like Mary (Luke 1:34). The truth of the matter is that God loves our questions, but not our doubt. All throughout the Bible there are examples of those who came before God to simply ask Him questions. Perhaps one of my favorite examples of this is found in Psalm 13.
How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.
In this very short psalm, there is a powerful example for us. The author of this psalm is in the midst of God’s discipline. This can be seen in the language that the author chooses in their opening. They are asking God how long will He hide Himself from the author. For a born-again believer we can grieve the Holy Spirit to the point that we would still be saved but only by the eternal grace of God. When this happens, we can feel as the psalmist that it would seem God has hidden His face from us, that there is something dampening our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
We see that the author is wrestling day after day with their thoughts, they no longer have the peace of God with them because they no longer are in the will of God. This further shows that the author is being disciplined by God. What I find interesting about this psalm is that it is an example of what can be seen in Philippians 4:6-7, “6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
In verses 1-2 of Psalm 13, we see the author is anxious. They are asking God how long until He remembers the author and how long until the author will no longer have sorrow and have his enemies triumph over him. Verse 3 we see the author turn to prayer and petitions asking God to answer him. I believe that the author is asking to be reminded of the hope that he has in God. This is what sets us apart from those who are not born-again believers, we have hope in a living God. When we are following Him, we can get through the most difficult challenges because we rest in Him and His promises.
This leads to peace that passes comprehension of those who are non-believers. We trust in the unfailing love of God and know that when we come before Him, He listens to us. We are given a peace to get through a situation that appears to be hopeless to others. And in the end, we know that it is not through anything that we have done and so we sing the praises of God and remember that He has been good to us.
Seek the truth and encourage one another,
Alex