The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Psalm 13:1-2,
"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide
your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every
day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?"
In this psalm, David asks five questions. All come from a heart that
is struggling. One of the aspects of Scripture I find so compelling is
the refreshing honesty and truthfulness from which it speaks. Whether
any of us admit it or not, we have all struggled, "wrestled" within
our own hearts. It is a part of our nature, living in this world that
is lost in its sinful rebellion against God. We all have sinful
natures and we all experience the downside of that reality from time
to time in various ways.
I suspect the enemies David faced as he penned this psalm were
political or military. He acknowledges his enemies caused him
struggles within his heart. Psalm 43 is a good example of this:
Vindicate me, O God,
and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.
You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
Often times our own "enemy" in David's last question of Psalm 13:2 is
ourselves. We can relate to Paul, who confessed, "I have the desire to
do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the
good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on
doing." Romans 7:18-19. These are personal challenges where we
disappoint ourselves and others and that can become quite dispiriting
and discouraging.
David, of whom Paul quoted God as saying, "I have found David son of
Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to
do." Acts 13:22, found relief from his discouragement. He goes on to
say in Psalm 13:5-6, "But I trust in your [the Lord's] unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he
has been good to me."
In the Lord David found not just relief, but beyond relief to joy as
he sings over the Lord's goodness to him. As David reminded himself in
Psalm 43, "Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within
me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my
God."
David had to wait for the Lord. He didn't find his relief from the
Lord immediately. This is why he asks the first question, "How long, O
Lord?" The Lord may have his own purposes for stretching us, growing
our faith in him, expanding our patience or whatever. But following a
time of testing, David found the Lord to be entirely faithful and his
source of deliverance and joy.
The Lord may be the last one we seek in the midst of challenge, of
failure, or of personal disappointment. However, as David points out,
he should be the first one to seek out when we are struggling, when we
are down. In the Lord we find an unfathomable love and an acceptance
through Jesus Christ where struggle turns to hope and hope leaps to
joy. When we are down, no richer source of encouragement can be found
than when we turn to our Lord. While others, as well as ourselves, may
be critical of us, condemning of us, judgmental of us and treat us
unkindly, the Lord extends his loving arms to those who embrace him,
and builds us up.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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