How Long, O Lord?

The Mourning

This time of year, the holiday season is often called the ‘happiest time of the year’ We have Thanksgiving leading to Christmas and New Years. But what about when we are having a hard time. What about when we are struggling. Are we supposed to shrug off our trials, are we supposed to ignore our feelings and feel happy. What about when we feel as if we are going through an endless night.

Tonight we will be looking at Psalm 13. This is one of the Psalms of David who struggled at different times in his life. He struggled, he was attacked, he sinned, he stumbled, he was hunted, but God was always there.

How Long O Lord?

This Psalm begins with David crying out asking how long he will have to struggle. We do not know what is happening at this time. Some think it was when David was on the run from Saul or Absalom. Others think this was during a bought of illness or depression. Regardless it is a time God feels far away.

David calls out asking God how long this time will last four times. How long:

1. Will you forget me

2. Hide your face

3. Must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart

4. Will my enemies be exalted over me

We will go through times where everything feels like it is going wrong. Nothing can turn right. During these times even when it is small issues, with the darkness we are lost in, everything is amplified with in that.

This is made even more clear by the first statement. God doesn’t forget. When the Scriptures record God remembering and forgetting it is an action of holding close or turning out. David is asking how long he will be separated from God.

Application: In these times, let us feel those feelings.

Don’t ignore it, don’t just brush it off. Express it and work through it. Whether it is big or small. Let us follow the examples of the psalmist and write it out. We can bring it before God as we write. We can seek counsel from friends, family, or pastors.

Illustration: Historically some of the greatest church leaders are know to go through these depressions, namely Luther and Spurgeon. We know this because they expressed it. They brought these struggles to God.

I have gone through these times. There was a time in Seminary where it seemed everything was going wrong. One of my jobs came to an end due to funding. Naomi and I were having a hard time finding enough work. We had some tax issues, car issues, academic issues. These times will come, but it felt insurmountable. It was not until I brought it to God did I feel any relief. We need to bring these difficulties to God. We are not questioning his power but coming as his sheep to the shepherd.

Consider Me Lord

David makes specific requests here, he is asking for God to consider him and come to him, to help him. Whenever we are going through a hard time we bring requests to God. This is a good thing when done with the right heart. We are told to bring our requests to God. The first part of this request is to lighten his eyes.

Lighten my eyes

This has two meanings.

1. Bring me health

2. Give me wisdom

When going through a struggle we are often beaten down. Our bodies are worn, our minds are tired. These feelings make it harder and harder to hold on and stand up. This may be part of the trial, but it may also be that we are not taking care of ourselves. We come to God and asking for him to refresh us, he will sustain us for the mission to which he has ordained you. But we are also asking for wisdom. When we are surrounded by darkness it may be hard to see. To lighten our eyes we are made able to see the path. David is afraid without this he will parish. This should be a prayer on our lips when going through an unknown time or potential transitions.

Application: We must ask God to supply our needs. God has promised to aid us through so let us ask him to sustain our bodies and give us wise eyes.

Illustration: In the temple there were various pieces of furniture. One of these was a lamp stand. Each of these items had a spiritual representation, but also a practical purpose. What David is asking for is the promise of the lamp stand. God is light. He will show us the path and will give us the light we need to move forward.

Without this he is afraid that his enemy will celebrate over him.

Often when we are struggling this may be what we are feeling. We do not want our enemies to defeat this. Depending on what we are going through this may mean different things, but let us still hold to the Lord. Part of the fear is the appearance of the defeat over God. But there is no defeat over God.

Let us never fear this. We know it is not for us to worry. God is reigning, and we hold onto him, and his promised love.

Promised Love

After David’s bringing these struggles to God he does not end there and walk away. There is reminder of a promise that God makes to us. His love never fails. God is unchanging. He is love. For all of us whom are his, his love will always be there for us.

2 Chronicles 6:14 ESV

14 and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart,

His love is never ending.

There will be times like that which David is describing that we do not feel God. But we must remember this is not a separation. When we are regenerated in faith in Christ, we are indwelt by the HS. God abides with us at that point. He does not leave us. Now that does not mean we will not feel that way, but let us trust in his love, trust in his promises.

Our heart will rejoice in our salvation. This means a victory or act of God on behalf of his people. Most of the time it is seen in the OT it is referring to a physical salvation, but we now know it is a spiritual salvation. When we read this we can be encouraged that no matter what is happening around us, God’s steadfast love is with us and that we have this spiritual salvation in his name.

Application: David’s circumstances haven’t changed, but the Lord has changed him, and that occurred when David stopped looking at his feelings and his foes and by faith started looking to the Lord.

Illustration: Let us continue to sing our praises even when we struggle. We can take an example from Job. Everything was taken from him. His life was destroyed. His wife tells him to curse God and die. Even after in Job 13:15, he says “though he slay me, I will hope in him” Even when we are broken down, in the time which it is the most difficult to worship him or hope in him is the time to remember his promises. The second half of this verse says “yet I will argue my ways to his face.” We can bring our issues before him.

This means that the form of the poem, as well as the subject matter, moves from the tumultuous and emotional beginning (expressed in five lines), through an increasingly calm prayer (expressed in four lines), to a final expression of trust in God and harmony (expressed in three lines). Franz Delitzsch, one of the great nineteenth-century commentators on the psalms, wrote, “This song, as it were, casts up constantly lessening waves, until it becomes still as the sea when smooth as a mirror, and the only motion discernible at last is that of the joyous ripple of calm repose.”2

Conclusion:

We are never told not to struggle. In fact, it is ok not to be ok, we see several portions of scripture when the author is struggling. But, the question is should we stay there. We have a true blessing. Through the sacrifice of Christ we get to approach our God. We can come before our creator and savior and express our struggle, to ask for peace-laying our anxieties on the Lord, and be assured that his love endures forever.

I mentioned Spurgeon’s struggle with depression, he was once recorded saying, “I find myself frequently depressed - perhaps more so than any other person here. And I find no better cure for that depression than to trust in the Lord with all my heart, and seek to realize afresh the power of the peace-speaking blood of Jesus, and His infinite love in dying upon the cross to put away all my transgressions.”[1]

If you are suffering from a sense of feeling abandoned by God, which is what this psalm is about, I cannot tell you when the emotional oppression will lift. But it will lift. The curtain of your despair will rise, and behind the veil you will see the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, who has been with you and has loved you all the time.

In these promises, even when we struggle let us praise the name with God. Even in the time we feel lost in darkness let us take a moment to remember what he has done for us, in us and with us. In this time, let us remember that while we may feel that we are in the longest night of our lives, a star will rise in a few days that will show us the light of the world, the savior of the nations who will make all things new, and will redeem this fallen world. In Christ all pain will be healed and every tear will be wiped from our eyes.

[1] https://www.azquotes.com/quote/565241