Psalm 13 - How Long Lord?

I remember when I was a child one of the first Bible stories I learnt was the story of David killing Goliath. It’s a wonderful story, and a true story, a story of courage and faith in the face of an oncoming giant.

The reality is however that as life goes on each one of us go through different ‘seasons’ and different experiences. There are times when we cope well with things and there are times when we don’t. There are seasons when things go well for us and we sail by, there are other seasons when life seems to land one blow after another and we barely seem to cope.

The life of faith is a life lived out ‘in season and out of season’ (2 Timothy 4 vs 2). In Psalm 13 David is no less a believer that when he faced Goliath, but in this Psalm David feels that God has forgotten him, and worse still he feels that God is actively hiding His face from him.

Day after day he is wrestling with his thoughts and sorrow is perpetually in his heart. David feels defeated. Where does David turn? At moments like this we can turn away from God or we can towards God. We can give up because we feel weak or we can allow our weakness to drive us towards the One who came to rescue us and lay down His life for us. In vs 3 David cries out: ‘Look on me and answer, LORD God. Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death’.

David decides to ‘trust’ (vs 5). I imagine David thinking back to his experiences of God bringing him through in days gone by. David also however digs deep into what God’s word tells him about God. The Bible reveals to us a God whose love is ‘unfailing’ (vs 5). David chooses to believe.

Pause for thought: David chooses to believe in a God who He cannot see. Somehow that choice opens a place for praise in His heart (vs 6). How do you feel today? What does this Psalm encourage you to believe about the LORD your God?