How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?

PSALM 13   from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

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.

David experienced many highs and lows in his life, both great victories and severe hardships and failures. His relationship with God was formed during his many hours spent as a shepherd, away from other men, alone to develop a personal relationship with God. God said of David: 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'

What we can learn from David is that if we have fellowship with God, if we have a close personal relationship with Him, it is okay to express our frustration and dissatisfaction with our life circumstances. God is not offended by our feelings. We are created in His image. Jesus says in John 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  So we worship and fellowship with God in spirit. Yet being created in His image, we are made flesh also, so we feel things apart from our spiritual awareness.

Jesus became flesh like you and I, first so that He could become the perfect sinless sacrifice for our sins. But He also in living as a man understands our emotions and feelings. He cried out to the Father: "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?"(Matthew 27:46)   If Jesus, God in flesh, felt abandoned and forsaken, if David, a man after God's own heart felt as though God had forgotten him, then surly, we too will experience times when we feel that way. In those times it is okay to express our true feelings to God. That's part of worship in spirit and truth. We need to know and trust God well enough to be honest with Him. It's not as if we could ever hide anything from Him any way.

What we find is that as we are open and honest with God, expressing our fears and our frustrations to Him we find comfort and peace in His presence. When we turn from God and try to find comfort in the world we are easily led down wrong paths. In Psalm 62 David says:  Truly my soul finds rest in God;     my salvation comes from him. ² Truly he is my rock and my salvation;     he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.... The peace and comfort we find in God is beyond what anything or anyone else could give us, it is beyond even what we can comprehend. Philippians 4:7 says:  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

In today's text David then says: Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes.   It is okay to ask God for an answer, to ask Him to reveal Himself and His plan or purpose for the situation. Jesus says: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.(Matthew 7:7)

David ends this psalm saying: 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.  When we turn to God in our difficulties and troubles we quickly see and remember God’s goodness and His lovingkindness. In Psalm 91 David says:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
² I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
³ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴ He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

It is dwelling and abiding in the presence of God that brings us peace, comfort and protection. If we will dwell in His presence, abide in Him and in His love, peace and grace, we will find that the times when we feel troubled and abandoned will quickly pass. God is not offended by our honesty. He waits patiently for us to come and rest in His presence and His covering.