Trust God.

​I love the Psalms of scripture. One reason is that they put words on our experiences, and teach us ways to cry out and trust the Lord. The Psalms contain the balance of being specific about struggles, but broad enough to stay away from specific details. Psalm 13 demonstrates that David is in anguish and it seems like the Lord is silent to his pleas.

​13:1-2 Honest questions
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 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?

David has been wrestling with God in prayer, asking him to intervene in his troubles, but the Lord seems silent. Notice the interplay between the spiritual, personal, and circumstantial elements of David’s struggle. God seems to have turned away from David. It appears that he is in a place without any help. Can you relate to his situation?

• How long will I experience this unending pain?
• How long will my wayward child refuse to turn back to God?
• How long will this besetting sin be part of my life?
• How long will I be stuck in this dead-end job?

13:3–4 A (seemingly) illogical plea
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a hard time continuing to pray when God seems silent. David however, perseveres in prayer: “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God.” How do we have that kind of trust in God, especially when He seems silent? 

Verse 5 is the pivot point of this psalm. Circumstances have a way of unearthing all kinds of personal needs. David placed his trust in the Lord because he remembered the Lord’s steadfast love. This is one of the most profound promises of God. Our circumstances are not our anchor. Our feelings are not our anchor. Our understanding of how God has or hasn’t answered us is not our anchor. Our anchor is that God loves us with a committed, steadfast love that will not let go. 

Pastor Billy