Psalm Number 13

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/31/2011 3:39:51 PM

 

 

My Worship Time                                                                     Focus:  Psalm 13

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Psalm 13

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David: How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

 

            This psalm may very well have been written when David was on the run from Saul.  “There is hardly a step between me and death,’” this is from 1Samuel 20:3 when David was about to leave the house of Saul where he had been living.  Before he leaves he speaks these words to his brother in the faith, Jonathan. 

            Dr. Wiersbe writes in the introduction of this psalm:  “By the grace of God, David turned his suffering into songs and left those songs behind to encourage us in our trails (2Cor. 1:2-11).  In this brief psalm, David deals with his feelings, his foes, and his faith.”

 

            The Inward Struggle—His Feelings (vv. 1-2):  “1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David: How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?”

            David starts out this psalm by asking the question “How long, O Lord” and so do some tribulation saints as the same question of God in Rev. 6:9-10, “9  When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10  and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’”

            If this psalm was written when David was hiding from Saul then there were plenty of times when David must have been wondering about the day when Samuel came and anointed him as the next king of Israel, something that did not happen for many years after that day.  David was probably wondering how long it would be before this would happen, or maybe he began to question God as to if it was going to happen at all.  Joseph was probably asking the same question of God when he was in prison waiting for God to fulfill the promises that He had given to Joseph in a dream.

            We as believers can ask God “How long” if we are in fellowship with the Lord and are not living in sin, but we must remember feelings are not always something we should give into.  Dr. Wiersbe writes, “We must not deny our feelings and pretend that everything is going well, and there is no sin in asking ‘How long?’  But as the same time, we must realize how deceptive our feelings are and that God is greater than our hearts (1John 3:20) and can lift us above the emotional storms of life.”

            The Outward Danger—His Foes (vv. 3-4):  “3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 4 And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him," And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.”

            David asks the Lord for three requests:  The first was “Look on me.”  David wanted God to look upon him as David was the servant of God and was in trouble and needed the help and guidance of God. 

            His second request was that the Lord would answer him and also to send some encouragement to David.  It was a dry time in the prayer department for David and he needed some encouragement.  This encouragement was needed in both the spiritual and the physical realm.

            David’s last request is seen from the forth verse where he is concerned about the glory of the Lord, for if David would be die then his enemies would gloat and this would not bring glory to God because it was God who had David anointed to be the king over Israel.

 

            The Upward Look—His Faith (vv. 5-6):  “5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

            We see this in many of the psalms that David has written, for many of these psalms there is great encouragement at the end of the psalm as there is here.  We see a transition in the psalm indicated by the little word “but,” and this transition is from fear to faith, as David looks up to the Lord in faith.  David was no longer questioning the Lord but he was claiming His promises.  He knew that the Lord was more powerful than His enemies were.  David may have been on a rollercoaster with his feeling, but God was still on His throne and God never changes. 

            As we rely on the Lord it will lead to rejoicing in the Lord and his salvation (Yeshua).  Dr. Wiersbe points out “The word ‘bountiful’ focuses on the goodness of God and His generosity in dealing with His people in grace.”  Then NIV translates it “The Lord has been good to me.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Continue to trust the Lord even when feelings seem to want me to figure out things on my own, like David was trying to do in this psalm.  God is still on His throne and He will never change and all of His promises will come to pass just as He promised they will.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.       Trust the Lord in all aspects of my life.

2.       Continue to learn contentment.

 

12/31/2011 4:44:03 PM