Psalm 13 is very clearly a psalm about suffering. The subject of suffering is not one that we enjoy talking about, but it is absolutely necessary that we do so. The reason for this is because we will only react rightly to suffering if we have thought through the issue of suffering beforehand. The midst of a crisis is not a good time to think through what our proper response should be in the midst of a crisis. In those instances of suffering, we do not think – we react. And our reaction will reveal our hearts. If we have thought well about God and suffering, we will react rightly. If we have not, we will react poorly.
Thankfully, we have a clear example of the way David reacted in the midst of his own suffering in Psalm 13. And from David’s response, we can gain a better understanding of the way we should respond.
We come into the psalm in the middle of the psalmist’s complaint. Understanding that, the words of David might shock us a bit because they are so raw and almost accusatory toward God. David writes, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (13:1). The first thing we see very clearly is the repetition of the question “How long?” David is not just politely asking a question – there is a depth of emotion here that is striking. In verse 1, we see from David’s questions that he feels as though the Lord has forgotten about him. Even worse, he feels as though the Lord has consciously turned his face away and utterly refused to help. We are not given David’s exact circumstances, but whatever those circumstances are, David’s frustration and lack of understanding are directed to the Lord. In David’ mind, the primary problem is not so much his circumstances but the lack of aid from the Lord. And as a result, he is lamenting his circumstances to that Lord.
In verse 2, David continues laying out this lament before the Lord by reminding the Lord of his difficult circumstances. He writes, “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?” (13:2). He speaks of the sorrow that fills his hearts and the agony that fills his soul. Much like in verse 1, David is speaking as if the Lord has forgotten about these things and needs to be reminded. In some ways, David is taking it upon himself to bring to the Lord’s mind the suffering that he is enduring. And he goes on to remind the Lord as well of the enemy that is being exalted over him. Again, we are not told if this enemy is another person, another nation, sickness or anything else. But we do see that David is reminding the Lord of the fact that his suffering means the exaltation and victory of this enemy, and David is wondering just how long that will continue.
As we look at these first two verses, there are a few things that we should notice. First, we need to notice that David’s suffering – whatever it is – seems to have lasted for a long time. The sheer fact that David asks “How long…” indicates that this suffering did not begin the day before David wrote this psalm.
A second thing that we can notice is the fact that there is no mention in this psalm of any sin on David’s part. Again, we do not know David’s exact circumstances, but – like Job’s friends – we make a mistake if we immediately assume that David was being punished for some sin he had committed. We simply cannot make such a jump merely by looking at the text. As far as the text of Psalm 13 tells us, David is suffering for reasons that are outside of his control. If anything, he is lamenting to God about his situation for the very reason that he sees no cause for his present suffering.
A third thing that we should notice is David’s boldness in speaking to the Lord the way he does in this lament. David is honestly pouring out his thoughts and emotions to the Lord from the very depths of his soul. He has not glossed over his prayer for the sake of political correctness. The prayer was not even glossed over when it was included in the book of Psalms for millions and millions to read. David’s openness and honesty and emotion are things that we should notice, because they demonstrate a real and living relationship with God. In a very real sense, David is challenging the Lord. We will see in a moment that there are bounds to this “challenge,” but the challenge is there nonetheless.
Why must these three points be noticed? They must be noticed because they reveal to us a very important point about the way the world works – specifically the way the world works in relation to the people of God. The mere fact that David experienced this demonstrates to us that it is not out of the realm of possibility that a person who is following the Lord faithfully will find themselves in a time of great suffering. It is not unthinkable that this suffering could last for an extended period of time. And it is not unthinkable that – for reasons known only to him – God will choose to let that person remain in that suffering rather than rescue them immediately. This is a crucial and central piece of the Christian worldview. Christians do not believe that they are exempted from suffering – even unjust suffering. Christians do not believe that God is unable to deal with the suffering they experience. Christians believe that God can, and does, use even the worst evil imaginable to bring about his perfect plan.
That said, David’s experience – while it does tell us that Christians are not exempt from this suffering – also shows us that it is okay to dislike the suffering. It is okay to weep and hurt and wonder and feel emotions. It is even okay to express those emotions to God. God does not owe us an explanation, but he does tell us to make our requests known to him. May we be as bold as David in crying out to the Lord. May we also be as faithful as David in crying out to the Lord.
As we move to verse 3, we see David’s prayer continued, but we also see a clear difference in David’s tone. David begins verse 3 by saying, “Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes” (13:3a). We see here that David is still crying out to the Lord – just like in verses 1-2. But we also see that David’s tone is markedly different. Rather than accusing God – which is what it seems David is doing in the first two verses – David is now pleading with God. The emotion is still very evident in David’s prayer but the emotion has changed from accusation to supplication. Now, instead of wondering why the Lord has not rescued him, David is pleading with the Lord to do that very thing. His complaint that the Lord has not delivered him has led quite naturally into a plea for the Lord to grant him deliverance.
This transition is something we must understand. In the verse two verses we saw raw emotion flowing from David’s heart. In some ways, he was crying out as a person who was hurting because they felt betrayed and let down. But what we see in David’s prayer is that the questioning and wondering of verses 1 and 2 is not the end. The key when dealing with suffering is that pain and hurt is not the end. It is instructive that verses 1 and 2 are not followed by David declaring that he no longer has any use for God. Rather, those verses of doubt and questioning end in more faith. They end with David crying out again to the Lord. We see, in verses 3 and 4, a heart that understands that it has nowhere else to turn except to God. Even if the Lord, in his sovereign plan, has chosen not to deliver David up to this point, David understands that his faith can be placed in no one else. There is no other object for it. If he has no hope in God, he has no hope anywhere. We see very clearly in this middle part of the psalm that David is making very clear that he still puts his hope and faith in the Lord. He is still crying for deliverance.
David goes on in these two verses to (in essence) provide the Lord with a reason to answer him and help him. Notice the last half of verses 3-4: “Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken” [emphasis added]. Here we see David crying out to the Lord for deliverance as well as providing reason for him to do so. David wants to be delivered so that he does not die. More specifically, he wants to be delivered so that his enemies are not victorious.
As we think about this point, we have to read between the lines a bit. We must remember that those who are enemies of David are enemies of the Lord as well. Understanding that, David’s thought process becomes more clear. He obviously wants to be delivered so that he himself does not die. But also wants to be delivered because he does not want the enemies of the Lord to be victorious. It is instructive to remember that David’s enemies gloating over him is essentially the same as then gloating over God. As he pleads for deliverance, David is expressing his concern for the glory and majesty of God. Obviously, he desires to be delivered for his sake, but he also wants to be delivered for the Lord’s sake. He does not want the enemies of the Lord to prevail.
As we step back and consider what we can learn from this today, we must examine our own motives. David is crying out to the Lord for deliverance because he knows that he has no other place to go. He cries out for the sake of his own soul and for the sake of God’s glory as well. Likewise, as we endure suffering, it is imperative that we not be carried away in our emotion. As I said earlier, it is okay to hurt and wonder. It is not okay to turn away from the Lord because of that hurt. Rather, we should take that to the Lord, and then cry out to him for deliverance. If we cannot place our trust in the Lord, where can we place it? If there is no hope in him, there is no hope at all. And we can trust in confidence because of what we know to be true about God and his purposes. He will not let evil prevail, and he will not let his people be overcome by evil. God’s purposes are good, and we must trust in that and trust in him. More specifically, we must entrust ourselves to the Lord in the midst of suffering by crying out to him for deliverance.
As we come to the final two verses of this psalm, we see the hope that ties this entire psalm together. We have seen David express his lament to the Lord. It seems that the Lord has abandoned him. But then we saw David – in the midst of that reality – entrust himself once again to that Lord and cry out to him for deliverance. Why would David continue to entrust himself to the one who seems to have forsaken him? Why would he continue to trust in him? The answer to that question comes in the last two verses of the psalm. In many ways, the reactions of David make little sense without this last section. And in this last section we see David’s reason for trusting the Lord as well as his confidence in the Lord’s deliverance.
First, we see David’s reason for trusting in the Lord. He begins verse 5 by declaring, “But I have trusted in our steadfast love” (13:5a). David declares that he has trusted in the steadfast love of the Lord. He remembers that this is not the first time that he has been in trouble. Rather, the Lord has shown love to him in the past, and David actively remembers that love. He expands this thought at the end of verse 6 by saying, “…he [the Lord] has dealt bountifully with me” (13:6b). Here we see David get more specific. He is entrusting himself to the Lord because the Lord has shown him love by dealing bountifully with him. We are not given specifics, but we see clearly that the Lord has been good to David in the past. In essence, David is weighing the alternatives here. He recognizes that the Lord has been faithful to him in the past. In his mind, it makes no sense for the Lord to refuse to help him now. David knows the Lord is faithful to his people because he has seen that faithfulness in the past. The reason David is not going to abandon the Lord in the midst of this suffering is because the Lord has not abandoned him in the past. Once again, if there is no hope in the Lord, there is no hope at all.
Secondly, we see David looking to the future in confidence. After declaring his trust in the steadfast love of the Lord, David says, “…my heart shall rejoice in your salvation” (13:5b). If we read verse 5 as a whole, it becomes clear that David is pointing out the Lord’s past love in order to give him faith in the future salvation of the Lord. Likewise, in verse 6, David says that because the Lord has dealt bountifully with him, “[he] will sing to the Lord” (13:6a). Once again, we see David looking back to the past and using the past as fuel to provide hope for the future.
Once again, there is a key point that we should notice in these last two verses. It is imperative to see that there is no indication that David’s circumstances have changed at the end of this psalm. It does not seem that his new-found confidence flows from a change in his circumstances but rather from his knowledge of God. This is an important lesson in this psalm: David’s hope does not come from looking at his circumstances. It comes from looking at his God. He knows the Lord’s steadfast love for him, and he knows that the Lord has dealt bountifully with him in the past. It is the character of the Lord that gives him hope.
In like manner, this is the culmination of this psalm’s instruction for us as we deal with suffering. We have seen that Christians should expect suffering – perhaps even prolonged suffering. And we have seen that in the midst of that suffering, it is okay for Christians to hurt and to cry out to the Lord in the midst of that suffering. And we have seen that Christians must not simply stop at accusing God in the midst of suffering but they must persevere to the point of trusting in the Lord. But this will only happen if we understand the very thing that David understood – the Lord’s steadfast love will never be removed from us. That love is sure. Moreover, we must remember that the Lord has dealt bountifully with us. David’s hope comes from his looking to the Lord and not from his circumstances changing. Likewise, our hope comes from looking to our Lord and not from our circumstances changing. We do not entrust ourselves to the Lord because, by doing so, we ensure that we will never have hard times. We entrust ourselves to the Lord because we know that the Lord loves us and works out even the hardest of times and seasons for our good.
So the message of this psalm is simple but profound. Though we may suffer greatly in the midst of suffering and though it may seem like God has abandoned us, we know that such a reality is not the case because God loves us and designs even suffering for our good. But why would God do such a thing? Why would the Lord allow us to endure suffering? Why does it have to work like that? In short, we cannot answer that question because the purposes of God are not revealed to us in regard to that issue. We can answer by looking to the past and seeing story after story after story in which the Lord used suffering to bring about his glorious purposes. We can look at the story of Joseph and see that the horrible things Joseph endured resulted in his being in a position to sustain the lives of all kinds of people – including his own family. We can look at the story of Job and see that the terrible sufferings Job endured resulted in him having a better understanding of God as well as having the Lord restore everything that he lost and more. We can look at the passage we read earlier from Romans 5:1-11 and see that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Even in our own midst, we could go around this room and recount instances in which we – as individuals – have experienced various kinds of suffering and can now look back and see how that suffering resulted for our good. But more foundationally, we only need to look to the cross. It is fitting that we close with communion, because Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate instance of God using suffering and evil to advance his purposes. The suffering of Jesus on the cross was something that none of us will ever understand or experience. It was horrible. Likewise, what happened to Jesus was utterly evil. He never did anything wrong and yet he was punished for our sins – sins he did not commit. And yet, Peter can say that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23). That is, Jesus ordained and orchestrated the suffering and evil surrounding Jesus’ death for the purpose of saving us from our sins. That reality in itself should motivate us to remember that our suffering is never purposeless. The Lord designs it for our good. If we understand that reality, we can entrust ourselves to the Lord in any amount of suffering and know that we will be able to rejoice in our salvation when it comes. Amen.