Psalm 13 is a succinct and very
dear Lament Psalm of David. It speaks to us in our silence, when God appears
distant. We hear the psalmist declare with intense honesty before God: his
longsuffering pain and the enemy that consumes him. The psalmist fears most
that they will not live through this torment (which we can liken to involve a
mix of physical pain, mental disharmony, emotional distress, and dire spiritual
unrest). But, typical with nearly all of the biblical laments of the Psalter,
the psalmist has call to sing, eventually, having been saved (yet again) by the Lord’s steadfast love.
Verse 1
My God, how long? Have You forgotten me altogether? Will You
not reign for me that I would again do Your bidding? Have You forgotten that
call—Your call!—in my heart? I know that it was You that placed it there. But You
have hidden Yourself from me; when I seek You all is silent. I love it that I
can come before You, my God, and
declare this resonating prayer, but I fail for waiting, and I wonder where You
have gone. You seem very distant just now. I cannot remember when I last felt You
near me.
Verse 2
My God, how long must I bear this torment; this fractured sense
deep in my soul? Each day I awake I am reacquainted with my agony, and
uncertainty grips me in the certainty of pain. Each day the whisper of sorrow
remains with me. Each day I conclude the same as the last. God, I have a dog of a life. You know
the cause, O God of my soul. It is my enemy; that enemy that rules over me; the
enemy You allow, somehow for my good. It is hard for me to fathom. I wonder, God, how much longer?
Verse 3
I beseech You, my God, to consider me and to respond. If You
supply no light for my eyes I will vanish into the slumber of my ancestors. My
death is certain if You do not come.
Verse 4
And if You do not come what
is to become of me as my enemy hovers? My enemy will have prevailed. They love
it because I cannot endure.
Verse 5
But as I call upon You, as I
pray before You, my God, You arise
in my consciousness; I remember Your steadfast love; I remember trusting in
it—long ago.
[Later, possibly much later...]
Somehow, through the backdrop
of my prayer, and within the ensuing months and years, You did answer me,
because I trusted You. Again, I rejoiced in Your salvation and my heart was
glad.
Verse 6
Here, I will sing a song of
praise to my God. I will sing for
He has dealt lavishly with me. God
is my God—Three-in-One—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I pray to the Father,
in the name of the Son, empowered by the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
***
Agony and adoration is our dual
lot—those of the Faith. Our identification is by both.
All sad and painful journeys come
to peace for those who patiently trust God by prayer. That we have a God who
cares, who does hear us, is enough now and always. God vindicates those who
wait on Him.
© 2012 S. J.
Wickham.
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