Psalms 13:1 - Meaning and Application

David is in distress here, pouring out his soul before God. His prayer is short, but his method is worth noticing, because it gives both direction and encouragement. His troubles draw out complaints, and the afflicted are free to lay out their grief before the Lord (Psalm 102 title). It eases a troubled heart to speak its sorrows, especially before the throne of grace, where we can go with confidence to one who is touched by the troubles of his people and knows their weakness.

Notice first what David complains about. He speaks as if God had been unkind to him, and that was his weakness. He thought God had forgotten him, forgotten his promises, forgotten his covenant with him, and forgotten the former love he had shown him. He felt as if God had forgotten that he was even in the world, needing help and rescue. Zion said the same thing, “The Lord has forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14), and Israel said, “My way is hidden from the Lord” (Isaiah 40:27).

This does not mean that a godly person truly doubts God’s power, goodness, or faithfulness. It is the voice of fear when it gets the upper hand. Yet when that fear comes from a deep desire for God’s favor, it may be wrong and blameworthy, but it will be forgiven, because a better and calmer judgment will soon correct it. God hid his face from David, so David lost the inward comfort he usually had in God. In this, David was a picture of Christ on the cross, crying, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” God sometimes hides his face from his own children and leaves them uncertain about their standing with him. They often feel that more deeply than any outward trouble.

David also complains about his own misery. His mind was full of care, and he says, “I take counsel in my soul.” He was at a loss, without any trusted adviser, and kept trying to plan how to help himself. But none of his plans seemed likely to work, so he felt driven to constant agitation. Anxious care is a heavy burden, and good people often place too much of it on themselves.

He was also burdened with sorrow, which filled his heart: “I have sorrow in my heart daily.” He had a settled tendency to sadness, and it wore on his spirit. It troubled him not only at night, when he was alone and silent, but also during the day, when conversation and work usually lighten grief. Each day seemed to bring new reasons to weep, as if the clouds returned after the rain. For God’s people, sorrow can sometimes become daily bread. Our Lord himself was a man of sorrows.

His enemies made things worse. Saul, his great enemy, and others under him, were lifted up over him. They mocked his distress, took pleasure in his sorrow, and expected a full victory over him. David felt this as an insult to God, since it seemed to dishonor both God’s power and God’s promises.

Then David turns to God with a question: “How long will this go on?” Long trouble tests our patience, and often wears it down. When affliction lasts a long time, it is easy to think it will last forever. Then discouragement can harden into despair, and those who have gone long without joy begin to lose hope. He asks the Lord to tell him how long he will hide his face, and to assure him that it will not last forever, but that mercy will return in the end. That assurance would make his present troubles easier to bear.

His complaints then lead him into prayer. We should never allow ourselves to complain unless our complaints are fit to be brought before God and drive us to our knees. He asks God to consider his case, hear his cry, and enlighten his eyes. That means, first, strengthen my faith, for faith is the eye of the soul, helping it see above visible troubles and through them. It means, second, guide my steps, so I may notice and avoid the traps laid for me. It means, third, refresh my soul with the joy of your salvation. When the spirit is lifted from heaviness, it is said to brighten the eyes (1 Samuel 14:27; Ezra 9:8). He is asking God to remove the cloud of sadness and make his face cheerful again.

He also pleads his relationship to God: “O Lord my God.” Then he presses the danger, because he needs quick help. If God does not soon brighten his eyes, he believes he will die, “I shall sleep the sleep of death.” Nothing is more deadly to the soul than losing God’s favor, and nothing is more restoring than its return. He also fears his enemies will win. If he falls, they will say, “We wanted this to happen,” and Saul, and even Satan, will be pleased. Their pride would be fed, because they could say they had prevailed, that they had gotten the better of him and of his God. Their malice would also be fed, because they would rejoice at his fall. David cannot bear the thought that God’s holy name should be trampled on in that way.

Then, almost at once, his prayer turns into praise. “But my heart shall rejoice, and I will sing to the Lord.” What a sudden change this is. At the start of the psalm he is sinking into sadness and fear, but by the end he is rejoicing in God and filled with praise. This shows the power of faith, the power of prayer, and the blessing of drawing near to God. If we bring our cares and griefs to the throne of grace and leave them there, we may go away like Hannah, no longer sad (1 Samuel 1:18).

God’s mercy is the support of his faith. David knows his situation is bad enough to seem hopeless, until he remembers the endless goodness of God. Since he has mercy to trust in, he is comforted, even though he has no merit of his own. In earlier troubles he has trusted God’s mercy and never found it failing. That mercy helped him in the right time, and his trust in it supported him until then. Even now, though God hides his face and fears are pressing from every side, he still trusts in God’s mercy, which is like an anchor in a storm. He may be tossed, but he will not be carried under. He still commits himself to that mercy, confident that it will finally do him good. God takes pleasure in those who hope in his mercy (Psalm 147:11).

His faith in God’s mercy filled his heart with joy in his salvation, because joy and peace come by believing (Romans 15:13). When a person believes, he rejoices (1 Peter 1:8). After he trusted in God’s mercy, he was fully sure of salvation, and he knew that his heart, which had been grieving day by day, would yet rejoice in that salvation.

Though sorrow may last for a long time, joy will return. His joy in God’s salvation would also fill his mouth with songs of praise (Psalm 13:6). He says, “I will sing to the Lord,” and he means he will keep singing in memory of what God has done before. Even if he never recovered the peace he once had, he would die blessing God that he ever had it.

God had dealt generously with him in the past, and God should receive the glory for that, no matter how he might deal with him now. David would also sing in hope of what God would do for him at last, because he was sure that everything would end well, and end well forever. He speaks of this as if it were already past, “He has dealt bountifully with me,” because by faith he had already received the first sign of salvation, and he was as certain of it as if it had already happened.

When we sing this psalm and pray through it, if we do not have the same complaints David had, we should thank God that we do not. We should fear and pray against his withdrawing from us, sympathize with those who are troubled in mind, and encourage ourselves in our most holy faith and joy.