How Long, Lord?

Psalm 13

Have you ever felt like God has forgotten all about you?  Have you ever been in a trial or problem that just never seems to end, no matter how many prayers are said?  If so, you can relate to this psalm which David wrote. He was in the midst of some very trying times in his life, and for a moment when he wrote this psalm he felt alone and abandoned.  However, he did not allow these feelings to remain. By the end of this short psalm, David was singing praises to the Lord. Let’s look at David’s cry and prayer to the Lord.

As we read in the Old Testament, David spent many years fleeing for his life from King Saul.  He spent many years where he could not be at home with his family, or could only be home momentarily.  As we can imagine, this must have been very difficult and discouraging for him. Surely he wondered how long this must go on.  The words “how long” occurs four times in the first two verses. This shows the depth of David’s distress. He felt that God had forgotten or forsaken him. David was in a triangle of himself, his enemies, and God. With God seemingly gone, he felt at the mercy of his enemies. Thus, in verses 1 and 2, David was on his face, on the ground, focusing on his problems and their depth and length.

It may feel as though God has hidden Himself from us.  Like David, we may feel impatient with how long it seems to take for God to act. Sometimes God may be testing us to see if we will continue to follow Him, staying true to His Word, no matter what we may feel.

Was David going to stay in this position of despair?  No! His remedy at this time was to focus on God’s love, remembering past blessings, and deliberately praising the Lord.  In verses 3 and 4 we see that David has gotten up from his position of despair, and is now in a position of prayer. He is on his knees, taking his burdens to the Lord, dependent on Him.

David prayed to God, and found strength.  By the end of this psalm, he could speak of hope and trust in Him.  Through it all, David affirmed that he would continue to trust God no matter how long he had to wait for His justice to be realized.  As he finished this psalm in verses 5 and 6, David is on his feet, rejoicing and singing praises to God.

When we are in the middle of our depressing and trying times, we can sing praise to God like David did.  God gives us songs in the night (Job 35:10) in the middle of the dark night of our trial. Also, in the middle of the literal night, our trials often seem to loom larger. Singing praises to God at this time is good to do. Demons will flee when we praise the Lord.

During our trials we need to remember the character of God.  As believers, we need to rest our faith and trust on God’s character, not on our circumstances. Can we praise the Lord no matter how long our trials last? Would we be able to praise Him even if our situation never changes?  Let’s follow the lesson that David gives in this psalm, trusting and praising the Lord.