Psalm 13

1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Key Verse:
1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

Key Outline:
1. v. 1-2 The complaint
v. 3-4 The petition
v. Thanksgiving

Key Observation:
David is again crying out to his God, feeling forgotten, praying, and giving thanks for His good answer.

Memory Verse:
5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

Devotion:
The years that David spent running from King Saul come to mind here, though we are not given any clue about when it was written. I can imagine David coming to the end of himself time after time. At the time that he finally started to emerge as the king that God had long promised, was perhaps the worst of all times. David, fighting for the Philistines, was desperate to avoid fighting his own country, and had narrowly avoided the fight. Leaving the battle scene, they found another in Ziklag. They managed to rescue their wives and children and destroy their enemies.

I see the providence of God so much in evidence here. David did not wish to fight his own people; it was the Philistines whose heart God moved to forbid him to fight. David wished to save his wives and children; God brought him an Egyptian slave to betray the Amalekites. David wished to be king, but refused twice to take Saul’s life. As this was going on, Saul was perishing in battle. David was about to be offered the kingship of Judah.

Whatever the reason for writing this psalm, David, trained in the faith thusly could be certain of the providence of God. He knew his God. He knew God’s faithfulness because God had long built David’s faith. He could sing unto the Lord because he knew the Lord would deal bountifully with him. Time after time God had saved him: from the lion, from the giant, from Saul himself, and in the end God would wrest this evil and turn it into Providence.