Psalm 13

SLIDE 1 The story is told about a little boy who liked to ask the blessing before his family’s meals. One day, he asked to say the prayer before the family ate. His parents and siblings bowed their heads and closed their eyes. The little boy started the prayer, but then hesitated. Glancing toward his father, the boy implored, “Daddy, wake up and help me!”

I’m not sure why he thought his father would be sleeping during his prayer. Is that what he did when his father prayed? Have you ever wondered if God was sleeping when you prayed? It appears at least one psalmist did. We read in Psalm 44: SLIDE 2

Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. (Psalm 44:25)

It would certainly seem at times that God might be asleep or worse.

SLIDE 3 There’s a story told about the Christian reformer, Martin Luther, who once spent three days in a black depression after something that had gone wrong. On the third day his wife came downstairs dressed in her funeral clothes. Seeing the way she was dressed Martin Luther immediately asked her, “Who died?” His wife replied, “God died.” Luther rebuked her, saying, “What do you mean, God died? God cannot die.” “Well,” she replied, “the way you’ve been acting I was sure he must have!”

When things go wrong or when we experience great loss we might feel like we’ve been abandoned. Our reactions in those times can reveal in what or whom we are trusting.

SLIDE 4 Turn with me to Psalm 13.

The psalm begins with a note to the director of music and then tells us that it was written by David.

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

We might outline the psalm this way: SLIDE 5

In the first verses David expresses his felling of being ignored and we see his inward struggles

In verses 3 and 4 David prays, seeking God’s attention as he describes his outward dangers

Then, in the final two verses, David proclaims his trust in God ad he looks upward

In his commentary on the Book of Psalms, Charles Spurgeon wrote:

Whenever you look into David’s Psalms, you will somewhere or other see yourself. You never get into a corner, but you find David in that corner. I think that I was never so low that I could not find that David was lower; and I never climbed so high that I could not find that David was up above me.

This insight is relevant to Psalm 13 because the psalm contains both the heights of ecstasy and the depths of despair. David experienced both as he goes from perplexity to praise and from sinking to singing. Joseph Parker remarked:

This psalm begins with winter and ends with summer; it begins with low muffled tones of sorrow and ends with a rapture of praise.

What caused this dramatic turnaround? The answer is found in the midst of the psalm – prayer. Casting his burdens upon God, David found his heart elevated out of the prison of worry to the paradise of worship. When discouraged and perplexed, David called upon God for his deliverance and soon found his heart filled with rejoicing.

Let’s start reading with verse 1 as we hear David question God about his problems.

1 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? (Psalm 13:1-2)

David doesn’t accuse God of being asleep or taking a vacation or just being too busy for him, but David does begin the psalm wondering why God hasn’t answered his prayer. Four times in the first two verses he asks God, “How long,” and David asks four questions that extend that question.

In the first question, David asks how long will God forget about him. Has God forgotten him? No of course not. God chose David to be king. When no one but his family knew about him, God sent Samuel to anoint him to succeed Saul as king. It was God who called David a man after his own heart. Later, God would promise David that he would have a descendant on the throne forever. God was talking about the Messiah who would be a descendant of David. No, God had not forgotten about God, but that’s the way David felt. David may have realized God hadn’t forgotten him, but it felt that way. Like David we may sometimes wonder if he has forgotten about us, but God hasn’t forgotten about us either.

Just a few weeks ago when we were looking at Psalm 11 I read the comment Jesus made about sparrows when he said: SLIDE 6

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29-31)

If God knows every sparrow and has every hair of our head counted, he has not forgotten about us.

SLIDE 7 Second, David asks why God has hidden his face from him. Does God really hide his face from people? Since God is spirit I don’t think he has a face to hide, but the Bible writers use this anthropomorphic description of God to illustrate God’s favor or displeasure. For example, in the familiar priestly blessing found in Numbers 6 we read: SLIDE 8

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

The Lord’s face looking upon and shinning upon his people was a sign of his pleasure and blessing. Thus, God hiding his face wasn’t a good thing. In Deuteronomy 31 God warns what will happen when his people turn to idols. SLIDE 9

And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed.

And what will be the result of God turning his face? SLIDE 10

Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us? (Deuteronomy 31:17)

When God turns his face bad things happen and his blessings stop. Because of the problems he was having David wondered if God had hidden his face from him. Have you ever wondered if God has turned his back on you?

SLIDE 11 Third, David wonders how long his sorrow will continue. You remember the old say about how time flies when you’re having fun. The opposite is also true; time seems to drag by when you’re miserable. We don’t know how David had been experiencing his difficulty, but it probably wasn’t anywhere near as long as he thought it was. However, when you don’t feel good you want it over as quickly as possible. What was taking God so long? We have to remember that God’s timetable isn’t our timetable and that even when we think he’s late, God is right on time.

And then fourth, David asks how long his enemy will have victory over him. How long will he have to suffer defeat? David figured that since God was not longer blessing and protecting him, his enemies were gaining the upper hand. And really, David wasn’t as concerned by what his enemy was doing as he was about what God wasn’t doing.

We may feel that way too. However, it’s a dangerous thing to give in to our feelings, because feelings are deceptive.

When Jacob heard the news about Simeon being left as a prisoner in Egypt, he gave up and announced that everything was against him when actually God was causing everything to work for him. We shouldn’t deny our feelings and pretend that everything is going well, but at the same time, we must realize how deceptive our feelings are and that God is greater than our emotions. This is a lesson that all believers must learn because even when storm clouds roll in and hide the sun the sun is still shining.

In verses 1-2 David is complaining, but in verses 3-4 David is praying as he describes the outward danger of his enemies.

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. (Psalm 13:3-4)

A pilot was flying a plane-load of passengers when suddenly the rudder malfunctioned. He radioed the control tower in a panic and shouted, “The rudder has malfunctioned! What shall I do?” The air traffic controller radioed back, “Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me: Wings flap . . . check. Velocity . . . check. Altitude . . . check.” The pilot made the appropriate adjustments and the aircraft continued on course.

Not five minutes later, however, the starboard engine stalled. The pilot radioed the control tower and shouted, “The starboard engine has stalled! What shall I do?” The air traffic controller radioed back, “Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me: Wings flap . . . check. Velocity . . . check. Altitude . . . check.” The pilot made the appropriate adjustments and again the plane continued on course.

However, not five minutes later, the pilot radioed the control tower a third time. This time he shouted, “Mayday! Mayday! Both the engines have gone! What shall I do?” The air traffic controller radioed back, “Keep calm, Captain. Just repeat after me: “Our Father . . . which art in heaven . . . hallowed be Thy name....”

What do you do when you find yourself in such a situation beyond your control? You pray as David did. He asked God for help. In verse 3 David makes three petitions. First, since David felt that God has turned his face, David asks God to look on him and his problems.

I remember when Sarah and Jacob were small and I wanted to get their attention when they were busy doing something else. I’d turn them around and say, “Look at me.” Then I knew I had their undivided attention. David wants God’s undivided attention. “Look on me,” David says.

Second, David asks God to answer him. This isn’t the first time David has prayed about his problem. He’s brought it to God before. However, he hasn’t heard anything from God. In times like that we just want an answer even if it’s not the answer we’re looking for. David just wants an answer from God.

And third, David asks for light. Right now everything seemed dark. He needed some light, some insight from God on how to handle the situation.

In verse 4 David gives one of the reasons for his request. He was afraid if his enemies triumphed over him that they’d gloat. And it wasn’t just David’s reputation that was a stake though; it was God’s as well. Everyone knew of David’s trust in God. Remember what David wrote in Psalm 11 when his friends were advising him to run and hide. David replied that he took refuge in God so why should he run. God was protecting him. Therefore, if David’s enemies won they were defeating God whom David served as well. Since it was God who had chosen him to be king, God’s name would be ridiculed along with David’s. So David asks God to help even as we should.

That’s what Joseph Scriven encourages us to do in his hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Scriven asks: SLIDE 12

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

SLIDE 13

Can we find a friend so faithful,

Who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do you have problems you can’t solve? Take them to God in prayer.

Does it really work though? Will God really answer our prayers and do something to help? David thought so.

SLIDE 14 In the final two verses of the psalm David expresses his trust in God. This transition to praise starts with the little word, “but.” That first word in verse 5 is important. David is saying that even though he feels like he’s been abandoned by God he will still trust in God.

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. (Psalm 13:5-6)

The word “but” becomes the bridge that leads from complaint to praise. David has told God about how he feels ignored, he has made his request to God again asking for an answer, and then David ends by stating his trust in God.

Do you see what David is doing? Even in his deep pain and his sense of abandonment he is anchoring his soul to who God is and what God has done. David’s complaints are not a dead end of self-pitty, but are a bridge that leads him to God’s character. David Owens comments:

This is the beauty and effectiveness of the lament and the place of the “buts” “But God” marks the place in our journey where pain and belief coexist. “But God” is how we gain the confidence to ask boldly in spite of the sorrow and grief we feel. “But God” reminds us that sorrow doesn’t have to disappear before we ask God for help. The weight of our questions and doubts, and the pain and sorrow we feel can cut us off from God. These things can cause us to stop asking God for help. We must not allow that to happen – we must learn to make “But God” our favorite words.

Despite his problems David will trust in God and offer God praise.

In verse 5 David was talking to God. In verse 6 David turns his attention to those listening. Even though he’s talking to God in verse 5, it’s for the benefit of those around him. He’s declaring to those around him about his trust in God. The world needs to hear that from us as well. Our friends need to hear about our trust in God. And those that don’t believe in God especially need to hear about our faith. If they don’t have faith in God where do they turn? What is their source of help?

I was talking to my cousin last week about her daughter Christy who has been in and out of the hospital. I’ve been asking for your prayers. My cousin said that Christy has been receiving cards from friends and co-workers but it didn’t sound like very many of them were Christians. They were wishing her well, but there was no trace of faith in God and no hint of prayer. “I hope you feel better.” “I’m sending good thoughts your way.” How do someone’s hopes or good thoughts help anyone? It’s nice to receive a card and know someone think about you and cares enough to write, but the only hope we have is in Jesus. David wants to make sure people know that when he needs help he turns to God. And he tells them about what God has done for him:

I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me. (Psalm 13:6, NLT)

Has God ever done anything good for you? Has he ever helped you? Has he ever answered a prayer? Who have you told?

SLIDE 15 Tino Wallenda, the famous tightrope walker and father of the Flying Wallendas talked about teaching his children to walk tightropes. He said:

At one time or another I have taken each of my four children on my shoulders as I have walked across the wire. In those situations the children really can’t do any balancing: I’m the one who has to balance and support them. People have asked my children, “Aren’t you scared?” My children said, “No.” And when they were asked why they weren’t scared, they answered, “Because that’s my daddy.” They aren’t afraid because they have confidence in me, their daddy.

Tino Wallenda concluded:

And I have confidence in my heavenly Father. I know that he will take me all the way across this chasm of life until I meet him face to face.

The better we know our heavenly father, then the more confidence we have in his ability to carry us on his shoulders across the tightropes of life, even when the wind is blowing, and even when the rain is falling and even when it doesn’t seem we will ever get across it and through it. Like David, let’s choose to trust in the Lord.