We Who Wrestle With God

Would you characterise your relationship with God as intimate? - Can you express to him openly? - Do you feel like you could ask Him anything? - When you strugle with doubt or uncertainty, do you feel that you could express that to Him? Or do you feel ashamed?

Psalm 13 is a demonstration on that kind of intimacy. It’s a Psalm of David, a man characterised as being after God’s own heart.

Context? David’s story.

Intense passage, but a reflection of who God is and who He is calling His people to be.

Jacob wrestled with God. Gen. 32:28. Israel “one who wrestles with God”. yis-ra “To strive, to contend with”; el “God”.

From Eden to now, God’s people have been gifted self-determination, the capacity to strive after and follow after God. He has never once ordered us to be puppets or robots, without emotion or individuality. Never! Yet, sometimes, we act as if once we become Christians we are now obligated to suppress or remove emotive response or honesty with God out of fear of sinning against Him! Maybe it’s because we treat faith as the absence of doubt. But that isn’t faith at all. True faith is belief inspite of doubt and uncertainty. A holding onto, knowing it to be true, in the midst of chaos and confussion. If that is true faith, then true relationship isn’t one absent to strife and conflict, but one that lasts and survives in the midst of conflict. To avoid conflict in relationship is to avoid honesty.

If we fail to be honest, we fail to be intimate.

We are called to wrestle, with him. David lays out a framework for us in how we contend with, without dishonouring, God.

v1-2 Accusing God: Expressing how you really feel

Psalm 13:1–2 (ESV)

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

How long- Will you forget me, God? x2

How long- shall the effort be mine? How long- shall my enemies win?

David’s story- considering what David is going through, (Saul or Absolom)- he is God’s anointed! We aren’t surprised by how David is feeling. What we might be surprised by is His honesty toward God.

David first accuses God of letting on his own. He is God’s anointed, but his circumstances make it seem like God has forgetton him- or abandoned him! Secondly he makes the point that it seems like it is up to himself to care, comfort and strengthen himself. Something God, in His covenant, promises to us. Thirdly, he questions how long God will allow his enemies, therefore God’s enemies, to hold the upper hand.

David expresses his anguish, his despair. It’s a prayer of lament. It’s expressing how we feel, in that moment. There’s no point in holding it in, trying to hide it, HE already knows how we feel!

We don’t do lamenting much (it’s not in the blood of our aussie culture!), but we are invited, like David, to come before the LORD and pour our heart, our emotions, out to Him. He will not punish you for your honesty, he already knows the truth! He wants your openness, your intimacy.

v3-4 Contending with God: Expressing what you really want

Psalm 13:3–4 (ESV)

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

David shifts from accusing God of abandoning him, to contending with God. There are things David wants; restoration and resolution. Restoration for his body, his soul, his mind; Resolution for the situation he has found himself in. David isn’t being rude about but he is pointing out that his problems and also God’s problems. Again, he is God’s annoited, chosen King of Israel- God has made promises to him, how does that add up if his enemies prevail over him? David can’t resolve, only God can and if he doesn’t they both have a problem!

So David pray’s a prayer, contending with God, he says- “this is what I need from you. You need to light up my eyes”. This phrase, “light up my eyes” is a reference to a story from 1 Samuel 14. The Israelites had been fighting for some time and were exhausted and becoming weak. Johnathon, King Saul’s son, ate some honey he found and it brightened his eyes. It mean to refresh, restore.

What David asks is simple: refresh my soul, restore my strength. In the midst of serious turmoil it’s all that he asks. Why?

v. 5-6 Praising God: Believing what is really true

Psalm 13:5–6 (ESV)

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The key word here, is “but”.

David is hurt, he is frustrated, he is probably scared… “but”

But, David knows who God is. He knows that God is God. He is eternal, everlasting, almighty, all-powerful, He is the beginning and end of all time. Our situations are not a reflection of His character. God is who He is, He is unchanging. David knows who His God is. Never once, despite the raw, emotional pouring out to God, David never once questions God’s character or His integrity. He doesn’t doubt His goodness, he doesn’t question His faithfulness, he doesn’t pick apart God’s power or capability.

In the first stanza, he asks “How long?” Knowing He is faithful, He will do it. David believes that. He cries out to God for restoration because He knows God isn’t the weak link, David is. David is struggling to hold on. “Restore me God, light up my vision so I can keep my eyes on you!” Look at what David says, I turst your steadfast love for you are trustworthy, I shall rejoice in your salvation for you are faithful and I shall sing because look at how you have loved me! The depths of his heart is pleading with God, “would you interrupt this suffering situation?” but it is also holding on to the truth of who God is.

This is David’s process of lament- honesty of how he is feeling, pleading for what he wants, acknowledging who God is (that is, what’s true).

If you have your bibles in front of you, you’ll notice as well that each of these sections have gaps between them. These are intentional. There is no guarantee that David wrote this Psalm all at once, he likely didn’t. Each gap represents a period of time with which David wrestled with God. He wrestled with his circumstances, he wrestled with the sin of the world. It may have been a moment of prayer between each section, it may have been weeks! The key is, David didn’t sit in his frustration. He didn’t stay in the hurt. That is a depiction of true faith. A trust and hope in God, in the midst of conflict.

*PAIS bitterness*

Let’s lament together. (I will lead people through a prayer of lament during communion reflection)

Communion. Point to Jesus.

Sing to the LORD for he has dealt bountifully with us!

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