Praise You in the Storm

Psalm 13

Today’s Psalm is another short song written by David.  It is, once again, most likely a Psalm we can all relate with as it is a feeling we may have had at a particularly trying time in life.  It is a song with varying emotions which begins with crying out in despair and anguish, but concludes with joy and hope.  It was more than likely penned at a low point in David’s life; some have suggested he was fighting a life threatening illness or others suggest it was penned during the time of when he was fleeing from the pursuits of King Saul who was trying to kill him.  Whatever the situation he was facing it is apparent that he is in utter despair and at the end of his rope. 

          

David begins his song by asking God “How long?” four times.  The repetition shows that David is at a point of being unable to bear or endure the situation(s) he is facing.  He asks God, “How long YHWH will you forget me, how long will you hide your face from me, how long must I take counsel in myself and how long must I watch the enemy exalt over me?”  Initially one would think David is having a crisis of faith as he wonders if God is even around or even cares.  I should make it known that David is not questioning the existence of God nor does he literally think God has forgotten about him.  Remember this is a poem or a song which is intended to express a pure feeling or a raw emotion.  His song is not intended to be a theological treatise of God in any sense; he is just being real and open with his emotions and feelings. 

Questioning God was a practice many men and women of the Bible did over the centuries and still do today.  For example Abraham questioned God when He promised Abraham’s wife would one day bear a son.  Job questioned God when he lost everything that was precious to him. Elijah questioned God’s whereabouts when he flees for his life from Jezebel.  The Israelites continually questioned God in times of calamity.  It is disheartening to read about the struggles these people faced but they should also bring comfort to us.  Why?  Because we see what many consider some of the greatest people of faith having struggles and they had the guts to cry out to God with these tough questions to express their true emotions.

There are people who actually believe questioning God or voicing their true emotions and complaints to God are wrong, disrespectful and irreverent.  I could not disagree with them more.  God is not taken back, intimidated or offended when we bring our raw unfettered emotions to him.  In fact I believe He welcomes cries of despair and the raw emotions we express to him.  There are times in the Bible when God does get frustrated with the people who lack trust and faith in Him; especially in those times where he has assured his faithfulness in the situation.  There are many accounts in the Old and New Testament where God and Jesus responds to peoples cries of despair in exasperation and saying, “How many times do I have to prove myself faithful to you?” 

David, the Psalmist, is voicing his question to God by asking, “How long do I have to endure before you will intervene and take control of the situation?”  He feels alone and abandoned by God (yet he knows He’s there) and he is in despair as he faces his enemy at the moment.  The last thing anyone wants to feel when they are in the midst of a trial, a calamity or despair is the feeling of being alone and abandoned.  Yet this is how David feels and he is begging God to divinely intervene. 

In verse 3 he continues by asking God to consider or look favorably upon his request.  In other words, “God, hear my prayer!  I have made my request known and I implore you to give it consideration.  Give me the hope I need to know that I will emerge victoriously over my enemies for your name sake; lest my enemies think they have won.”  Thus far in the first three verses we see a complaint has been filed (How long O LORD?), a request has been made (consider and answer me), now the Psalmist waits with great expectation.  He does not have a shallow hope that God may pull through for him; he is expecting God to hear his prayer and respond in the appropriate manner. 

Verse 5 is the turning point as it goes from lament to confidence.  In despair David is faced with a choice; he can choose to continue in one of two ways… 

1. He can allow his feelings to dictate his relationship with God and stew in misery and anguish.  
2. He can remember the nature of His God and trust in His loving kindness.  He can believe God will hear his prayer regardless of what he is feeling and expect God to work.  

He chooses to not allow his feelings hinder his faith.  His choice is something we can all benefit from.  It is so easy to let our feelings or emotions determine our relationship with God.  However it is also very difficult to not allow our feelings and emotions determine our faith in God.  In other words if we feel down in the dumps we feel as though God is far away and when we feel happy we feel God is close.  This is not to imply that we should never listen to our feelings and suppress them so that we become emotionless rocks.  We should instead learn from David as he writes “But I have trusted…”  David will not allow his feeling of despair to dictate his faith.  The remainder of the Psalm shows us that although David is in great despair, he feels alone and hopeless but he will still trust in God’s steadfast love.  God has not failed him at all and he will trust Him to continually not fail him.  Instead of looking at the circumstances around him or the overwhelming feelings he has he will focus on the character of God (his steadfast love).  He will focus on God’s loving kindness and the many times He has shown David his steadfast love.  Not only will he focus on God’s character but also on his salvation.  In the OT salvation means being saved from physical and spiritual danger.  His rejoicing is a bit premature since nothing has changed from the opening of the song to the closing.  Instead he believes that God will deliver him from his enemies.  

I don’t know about you, but I need to be more like David in response to his feelings.  There are so many times in life where I get very anxious because maybe finances are tight, circumstances aren’t working the way I planned them and I find myself crying out to God.  I submit my concerns and feelings to him and inevitably I come to the realization that God has not failed me yet and He is not about to begin failing me.  We can all greatly benefit from the Psalms of the Old Testament because they are relevant to us today.  

Gerald H. Wilson writes in his commentary of Psalm 13 of three helpful responses to the question “How we can regain a sense of God’s presence when we feel as though we are all alone and far from his presence.”  I paraphrase what he writes… 

1. Voice your complaint.  Be honest with God.  When you are feeling overwhelmed, alone, abandoned or completely disconnected with God, then tell him.  One could do this through prayer, journaling, or writing your own Psalms, poems or songs.  Wilson even suggests that you can do this audibly. 
2.  Take the focus off of yourself.  When you begin to have the feeling of abandonment and despair then turn your attention to others and serving them.  When you focus on your problems then your problems are always before you.  When we take the focus off of self and start thinking and praying for others then we in turn grow closer to God and bless others and our problems begin to melt away.
3. Keep connected to the body of Christ.  None of us should ever have to face life or difficulties alone.  This is why Jesus established the Church.  We are called to love and encourage one another, and we are to bear one another’s burdens.  When we gather together we can pray together, worship together, cry together, laugh together, and lift one another up.  Many of us have the natural tendency to think that when faced in a difficult situation we need to keep it to ourselves and go through it by ourselves because we don’t want to be a burden to others.