Psalm 13

THE QUESTION OF HOW LONG? – O LORD!

Introduction:

Along with another couple of the psalms we find that Psalm 13 is the fifth shortest out of the 150 Psalms with Psalm 117 being the shortest with just 2 verses! Then we have Psalm 131 and Psalm 134 being the second smallest with just 3 verses and Psalm 123 being third with 4 verses and Psalm 125 fourth with 5 verses.

It could be argued that having penned the 176 verses of Psalm 119 the psalmist wanted a rest with some short songs of ascent and the good Lord allowed this!

Proposition:

The first four verses show us the weakness of the human side within all of us before we like David in the last two verses show our faith and trust is in the Lord God of Heaven and Earth, who will always show mercy to those that love Him and have committed their lives into His keeping.

This psalm then serves as a type of question that goes through all our minds and hearts:

    How long O Lord before you heal me?

    How long O Lord will the evil man prosper?

    How long O Lord before you come?

    How long O Lord before you avenge us? (cf. Revelation 6:10)

How long then to whatever the saints request is! The answer is of course it must be in God’s perfect will and timing. His wisdom and understanding is way beyond ours and so we must rest in total surrender to His Lordship, grace and favour.

Body of Teaching:

We can divide this little psalm then into 3 parts:-

1. SORROW –

David’s Seeming Abandonment – verse 1.

Verse 1 – How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? For ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

It just seemed to David that God had forgotten him and also forsaken him! Next we have:

David’s Sorrowful Abasement – verse 2.

Verse 2 – How long shall I take counsel in my soul’ having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

For the fourth time (the number of the earth) David cries out to the Lord – How long?

David had been brought low by his feelings and his foes!

2. SUPPLICATION –

David tells the Lord he is overwhelmed by his emotions – verse 3.

Verse 3 – Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death!

When something or someone overwhelms us we can no longer solve the problem ourselves. We need help and our help is in the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth! (cf. Psalm 121:2-3). Just as with His coming, we need to all look up in all manner of ways!

The situation then is so intense and heavy on his heart that we now see how ….

David tells the Lord he is overwhelmed by his enemies – verse 4.

Verse 4 – Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved!

Every saint of God needs to remember that we are in blood covenant relationship with our Lord Jesus and so the battle belongs to the Lord. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. Our enemies are now His enemies and all our problems are solved through Him.  This is one of the greatest of many benefits and blessings that we have within this eternal covenant from our great God and King. We have a Father and a big Brother and the enemies of Israel will shortly find this out to their own cost! They truly will reap what they have sown in coming against the apple of His eye. How people deal with or speak to Israel will depend on whether it is the blessing or the curse as Abraham was promised and we have a covenant keeping God.

Finally then this second part of this psalm is all about the power and privilege of prayer.

3. SONG –

David breaks into song as was his way because of God’s salvation – verse 5.

Verse 5 – But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.

This is a statement of faith, an expression of David’s discipleship.

David is quite simply singing because of God’s sufficiency – verse 6.

Verse 6 – I will sing unto the Lord; because He hath dealt bountifully with me.

Is this not true for us all. Can we not all bear witness to the many times the Lord has rescued us, provided for us, kept us out of harms way until He calls us home. Amen.

Conclusion:

We don’t need to go into long prayers about woe is me for the Lord is swift to listen and then to act on our behalf. His timing is perfect and we do well to remember that if there is no battle then there can be no real victory. It is about God with us – Immanuel. So short or long, any trial or testing, any worldly tribulation will only serve to strengthen our prayer life and our resolve to fight the good fight. We are resting in a finished work, we are a called and chosen people and at the end of the day we win – its as simple as that! He has conquered and vanquished death and Satan!

                        Hallelujah.

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