Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 13:1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? forever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
1. How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me for ever? (R.V.) Feeling, not logic, shapes the sentence, combining two questions into a self-contradictory expression. He is tempted to deny faith’s confession (Psa 9:18), and assent to the sneer of the godless (Psa 10:11). He is ready to ask, ‘Wilt thou forget me for ever?’ but he thrusts the thought away with ‘How long?’ which implies a termination. In the words of Luther, ‘hope despairs and yet despair hopes.’ Cp. Psa 79:5, Psa 89:46.
wilt thou hide thy face ] In anger or indifference. Cp. Psa 10:1; Psa 10:11; and contrast Psa 4:6, Psa 11:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1, 2. A reproachful expostulation in the hour of despair.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? – literally, until when. The psalmist breaks out into this cry in the midst of his troubles. He had apparently borne them as long as he could. It seemed as if they would never come to an end. We may presume that he had been patient and uncomplaining; that he had borne his trials long with the hope and belief that they would soon terminate; that he had waited patiently for deliverance, uttering no words of complaint; but now he begins to despair. He feels that his troubles will never end. He sees no prospect of deliverance; no signs or tokens that God would interpose; and he breaks out, therefore, in this language of tender complaint, as if he was utterly forsaken, and would be forever. The mind, even of a good man, is not unfrequently in this condition. He is borne down with troubles. He has no disposition to murmur or complain. He bears all patiently and long. He hopes for relief. He looks for it. But relief does not come; and it seems now that his troubles never will terminate. The darkness deepens; his mind is overwhelmed; he goes to God, and asks – not with complaining or murmuring, but with feelings bordering on despair – whether these troubles never will cease; whether he may never hope for deliverance.
Forever? – He had been forgotten so long, and there appeared to be so little prospect of deliverance, that it seemed as if God never would return and visit him with mercy. The expression denotes a state of mind on the verge of despair.
How long – Referring to a second aspect or phase of his troubles. The first was, that he seemed to be forgotten. The second referred to here is, that God seemed to hide his face from him, and he asked how long this was to continue.
Wilt thou hide thy face from me – Favour – friendship – is shown by turning the face benignantly toward one; by smiling upon him; in Scriptural language, by lifting up the light of the countenance upon one. See the note at Psa 4:6. Aversion, hatred, displeasure, are shown by turning away the countenance. God seemed to the psalmist thus to show marks of displeasure toward him, and he earnestly asks how long this was to continue.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 13:1-6
How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord?
Distress and confidence
This little Psalm begins in agitation and ends in calm. However true it is that sorrow is but for a moment, it seems to last for an eternity. Sad hours are leaden footed and joyful ones winged. That How long, reiterated, betrays how weary it was to the Psalmist. Very significant is the progress of thought in the four-fold questioning plaint, which turns flint to God, then to himself, then to the enemy. The root of his sorrow is that God seems to have forgotten him; therefore his soul is full of plans for relief, and the enemy seems to be lifted up above him. Left alone, without Gods help, what can a man do but think and plan and scheme to weariness all night, and carry a heavy heart, as he sees by daylight how futile his plans are? The agitation of the first strophe is somewhat stilled in the second, in which the stream of prayer runs clear without such foam as the impatient questions of the first part. The storm has all rolled away in the third strophe, in which faith has triumphed over doubt and anticipates the fulfilment of its prayer. The sad minor of How long? if coming from faithful lips, passes into a jubilant key which heralds the full gladness of the yet future songs of deliverance. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Sorrow lingers
That which the French proverb hath of sickness is true of all evils, that they come on horseback and go away on foot; we have often seen that a sudden fall, or one meals surfeit, has stuck by many to their graves; whereas pleasures come like oxen, slow and heavily, and go away like post horses, upon the spur. Sorrows, because they are lingering guests, I will entertain but moderately, knowing that the more they are made of the longer they will continue; and for pleasures, because they stay not, and do but call to drink at my door, I will use them as passengers with slight respect. He is his own best friend that makes the least of both of them. (Joseph Hall.)
The relative changes of the immutable God
He is unchangeable. Job says, He is in one mind. James, With Him there is no variableness. And He Himself says, I am the Lord, I change not. In reality He is thus, but relatively He seems to change.
I. God as looked at through the soul in trouble. He seemed to be–
1. Forgetful. How long wilt Thou forget me?
2. As unkind. How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me? To turn away the face was the sign of aversion and displeasure.
3. As utterly neglectful. How long? Four times he repeats this. As if God was utterly regardless of him. So it seemed to him.
II. God as looked at through the soul in devotion. In the midst of his troubles he prays, Consider and hear me, O Lord, my God: lighten mine eyes, etc. As he prays the cloud withdraws, and he cries, My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. Prayer changes the night of the soul into morning, its discords into music, its dark and chilly November into a sunny and life-giving May.
III. Conclusion.
1. The power of circumstances to disturb the soul. While no man need be their creature, it is impossible for him not to feel their influence.
2. The rapid changes which occur in the mood of the soul. The Psalm begins in gloom and ends in sunshine.
3. The influence of prayer to elevate the soul. Prayer is the power that changes the whole horizon of our spiritual nature. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
What total desertion by God would mean
When the king removes, the court and all the carriages follow after; and when they are gone, the hangings are taken down, nothing is left behind but bare walls, dust, and rubbish. So if God removes from a man or a nation where He kept His court, His graces will not stay long behind; and if they be gone, farewell peace, farewell comfort; down go the hangings of all prosperity, nothing is left behind but confusion and disorder. (J. Staughton.)
Soul eclipses
I. The nature of such eclipses. It is quite true that God never ceases to love His children, but still the people of God are sensible of eclipses of the soul such as the Psalmist describes in this Psalm. God has not really deserted His children, but it seems as if He had. In providential matters they fail to recognise His hand; His consolations cease in their spirits, and they are full of darkness and bitterness.
II. The causes of these eclipses. Why does God thus appear to desert His people at all? The end of Gods discipline is to make His people feel their absolute dependence upon Himself. These eclipses teach us–
1. That God is the source of happiness;
2. The source of wisdom;
3. The source of strength; and
4. The source of life. Why does God hide His face so long? Simply because we are so slow to learn the great truths which He designs to teach.
III. The duty of the saints in these hours of darkness. Not discontent, and not despair.
1. Wait in faith.
2. Wait in prayer.
3. Wait in hope. When the trial is over your soul shall be deeper, brighter, and more fruitful. (W. L. Watkinson.)
A sigh and a song
The salute of this Psalm is a sigh, the adieu is a song. We sight the Psalmist prostrate before the mercy throne, wrapped in grim shadows of gloom, bowed in soul by the weight of a great sorrow, and howling How long? We leave him sitting in the stillness of a new confidence, enwreathed with sunbeams of gladness, pealing forth from harp and lip an exultant Te Deum!
I. Earliest inquiry (Psa 13:1-2). A fourfold inquiry. Can God forget? He hides His face, not willingly, but of necessity, that we may seek His face. And the longer, that we may seek it the more earnestly.
II. Devout and fervent entreaty (Psa 13:3-4). Trouble gives point, pathos, and power to prayer. Genuine entreaty comes from a soul that has–
1. A clear recognition of its personal relationship to God.
2. It is definite in request. It knows what it wants, and asks for it. Entreaty has aim, directness, special need; hence is definite in request–e.g., Jacob, Jabez, etc. Here it seeks the Divine attention. The Divine illumination.
3. Genuine entreaty has powerful reasons for what it requests. Lest I sleep, etc. This is from the self-side. Lest mine enemy say, etc. This is from the God-side. Prevailing against him would be injurious to the truth.
III. Entreaty rising into triumphant assurance and praise. Here we have trustfulness–
1. Well located;
2. Triumphant;
3. Exultant. (J. O. Keen, D. D.)
Gods forgettings
It is quite unnecessary to point thus: How long wilt Thou forget me?–For ever? as if there were two distinct questions. It is natural to a perturbed and doubting heart thus to express itself in a confused and almost contradictory manner. In its despair it thinks, God hath forgotten me; and yet out of the very midst of its despair there rises up the conviction, No, not forever; and then its hopelessness is changed to expostulation, How long wilt Thou forget me? We may, if we choose it, paraphrase, How long wilt Thou make as if Thou wouldest forget me forever? Gods anger, the hiding of His countenance, as Delitzsch observes, cannot but seem eternal to the soul which is conscious of it. Nevertheless, Faith still cleaves to the Love which hides itself under the disguise of severity, and exclaims, Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him. When we have long been crushed by sufferings, and no sign appears that God will succour us, the thought will force itself upon us, God hath forgotten me. For by nature we do not acknowledge that God cares for us in our afflictions; but by faith we lay hold of His invisible providence. So David, so far as he could judge from the actual state in which he was, seemed to himself forsaken of God. But at the same time, because the Light of Faith was his guide, he, with the eyes of his mind, looked through and beyond all else to the grace of God, far as it might seem hidden from his sight.–Calvin. Does he not portray in fitting words that most bitter anguish of spirit, which feels that it has to do with a God alienated, hostile, implacable, inexorable, whose wrath is, like Himself, eternal? This is a state in which hope despairs, and yet despair hopes at the same time. This no one understands who has not tasted it.–Luther. (J. J. Stewart Perowne, B. D.)
The continuance of trial
In laying forth his grief he beginneth at his apparent desertion; then speaketh of the perplexity of mind arising herefrom; and, last of all, he mentioneth the continuance of his outward trouble from his enemies. Whence learn–
1. Trouble outward and inward of body and spirit, fightings without and terrors within, vexations from heaven and earth, from God deserting and men pursuing, may fall upon a child of God at one time, and continue for a long time enough, as here. How long wilt Thou forget me; how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
2. When trouble is continued, and appearance of delivery is not, and God withholdeth inward and outward help, sense calleth this the Lords forgetting and hiding of His face. How long wilt Thou forget me, and hide Thy face?
3. The Lords children, in their resolution for faith and patience, do set to themselves a shorter period usually than the Lord doth for making them have their perfect work; therefore, when their hope is deferred, it makes their heart sick, and to cry out, How long?
4. When comfort trysteth not with our time, fear of eternal off-casting may readily slide in; and this fear a soul acquainted with God, or that loveth Him in any measure, cannot endure. Wilt Thou forget me forever? saith he.
5. Whatsoever sense do speak, or suggested temptations do speak, faith will relate the business to the Lord, and expect a better speech from Him. For in this condition the Prophet goeth to God, saying, How long, O Lord?
6. A soul finding desertion multiplieth consultations, falleth in perplexity, changeth conclusions, as a sick man doth his bed; falleth in grief, and cannot endure to live by its own finding, but runneth upon God for direction, as here we see it. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?
7. The enemies taking advantage (by the continuance of trouble upon the godly), against his cause and religion and against God, doth augment both the grief and temptation of the godly. How long shall mine enemies be exalted over me? (David Dickson.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PSALM XIII
This Psalm contains the sentiments of an afflicted soul that
earnestly desires succour from the Lord. The psalmist complains
of delay, 1-3;
prays for light and comfort, because he finds himself on the
brink of death, 3;
dreads the revilings of his enemies, 4;
anticipates a favourable answer, and promises thanksgiving,
5, 6.
NOTES ON PSALM XIII
There is nothing particular in the inscription. The Psalm is supposed to have been written during the captivity, and to contain the prayers and supplications of the distressed Israelites, worn out with their long and oppressive bondage.
Verse 1. How long wilt thou forget me] The words ad anah, to what length, to what time, translated here how long? are four times repeated in the two first verses, and point out at once great dejection and extreme earnestness of soul.
Hide thy face from me?] How long shall I be destitute of a clear sense of thy approbation?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
How long wilt thou forget, i.e. neglect or disregard, me? for ever I
how long wilt thou withdraw thy favour and assistance?
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. The forms of expression andfigure here used are frequent (compare Psa 9:12;Psa 9:18; Psa 10:11;Psa 10:12).
How long . . . for everShallit be for ever?
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever?…. When God does not immediately deliver his people from their enemies, or help them out of an affliction; when he does not discover his love, communicate his grace, apply the blessings and promises of his covenant as usual; and when he does not visit them in his usual manner, and so frequently as he has formerly done, they are ready to conclude he has forgotten them; and sometimes this continues long, and then they fear they are forgotten for ever; and this they cannot bear, and therefore expostulate with God in a querulous manner, as the psalmist does here; but this is to be understood not in reality, but in their own apprehension, and in the opinion of their enemies; God never does nor can forget his people; oblivion does not fall upon him with respect to common persons and things; and much less with respect to his own dear children, for whom a special book of remembrance is written;
[See comments on Ps 9:18];
how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? his love, and the manifestation of it, from his person; his gracious presence, the light of his smiling countenance, which sometimes God hides or withdraws from his people by way of resentment of their unbecoming carriage to him; and which is very distressing to them, for they are apt to imagine it is in wrath and hot displeasure, when he still loves them, and will with everlasting kindness have mercy on them; see Isa 8:17. The Targum renders it, “the glory of thy face”.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(Heb.: 13:2-3) The complicated question: till when, how long…for ever (as in Psa 74:10; Psa 79:5; Psa 89:47), is the expression of a complicated condition of soul, in which, as Luther briefly and forcibly describes it, amidst the feeling of anguish under divine wrath “hope itself despairs and despair nevertheless begins to hope.” The self-contradiction of the question is to be explained by the conflict which is going on within between the flesh and the spirit. The dejected heart thinks: God has forgotten me for ever. But the spirit, which thrusts away this thought, changes it into a question which sets upon it the mark of a mere appearance not a reality: how long shall it seem as though Thou forgettest me for ever? It is in the nature of the divine wrath, that the feeling of it is always accompanied by an impression that it will last for ever; and consequently it becomes a foretaste of hell itself. But faith holds fast the love that is behind the wrath; it sees in the display of anger only a self-masking of the loving countenance of the God of love, and longs for the time when this loving countenance shall be again unveiled to it. Thrice does David send forth this cry of faith out of the inmost depths of his spirit. To place or set up contrivances, plans, or proposals in his soul, viz., as to the means by which he may be able to escape from this painful condition, is equivalent to, to make the soul the place of such thoughts, or the place where such thoughts are fabricated (cf. Pro 26:24). One such chases the other in his soul, because he recognises the vanity of one after another as soon as they spring up. With respect to the which follows, we must think of these cares as taking possession of his soul in the night time; for the night leaves a man alone with his affliction and makes it doubly felt by him. It cannot be proved from Eze 30:16 (cf. Zep 2:4 ), that like (Jer 7:25, short for ) may mean “daily” (Ew. 313, a). does not mean this here, but is the antithesis to which is to be supplied in thought in Psa 13:3. By night he proposes plan after plan, each one as worthless as the other; and by day, or all the day through, when he sees his distress with open eyes, sorrow ( ) is in his heart, as it were, as the feeling the night leaves behind it and as the direct reflex of his helpless and hopeless condition. He is persecuted, and his foe is in the ascendant. is both to be exalted and to rise, raise one’s self, i.e., to rise to position and arrogantly to assume dignity to one’s self ( sich brsten ). The strophe closes with ad – ana which is used for the fourth time.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| David’s Complaints and Prayers Turned into Praises. | |
To the chief musician. A psalm of David.
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.
David, in affliction, is here pouring out his soul before God; his address is short, but the method is very observable, and of use for direction and encouragement.
I. His troubles extort complaints (Psa 13:1; Psa 13:2); and the afflicted have liberty to pour out their complaint before the Lord, Ps. cii. title. It is some ease to a troubled spirit to give vent to its griefs, especially to give vent to them at the throne of grace, where we are sure to find one who is afflicted in the afflictions of his people and is troubled with the feeling of their infirmities; thither we have boldness of access by faith, and there we have parresia—freedom of speech. Observe here,
1. What David complains of. (1.) God’s unkindness; so he construed it, and it was his infirmity. He thought God had forgotten him, had forgotten his promises to him, his covenant with him, his former lovingkindness which he had shown him and which he took to be an earnest of further mercy, had forgotten that there was such a man in the world, who needed and expected relief and succour from him. Thus Zion said, My God has forgotten me (Isa. xlix. 14), Israel said, My way is hidden from the Lord, Isa. xl. 27. Not that any good man can doubt the omniscience, goodness, and faithfulness of God; but it is a peevish expression of prevailing fear, which yet, when it arises from a high esteem and earnest desire of God’s favour, though it be indecent and culpable, shall be passed by and pardoned, for the second thought will retract it and repent of it. God hid his face from him, so that he wanted that inward comfort in God which he used to have, and herein was a type of Christ upon the cross, crying out, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? God sometimes hides his face from his own children, and leaves them in the dark concerning their interest in him; and this they lay to heart more than any outward trouble whatsoever. (2.) His own uneasiness. [1.] He was racked with care, which filled his head: I take counsel in my soul; “I am at a loss, and am inops consilii–without a friend to advise with that I can put any confidence in, and therefore am myself continually projecting what to do to help myself; but none of my projects are likely to take effect, so that I am at my wits’ end, and in a continual agitation.” Anxious cares are heavy burdens with which good people often load themselves more than they need. [2.] He was overwhelmed with sorrow, which filled his heart: I have sorrow in my heart daily. He had a constant disposition to sorrow and it preyed upon his spirits, not only in the night, when he was silent and solitary, but by day too, when lighter griefs are diverted and dissipated by conversation and business; nay, every day brought with it fresh occasions of grief; the clouds returned after the rain. The bread of sorrow is sometimes the saint’s daily bread. Our Master himself was a man of sorrows. (3.) His enemies’ insolence, which added to his grief. Saul his great enemy, and others under him, were exalted over him, triumphed in his distress, pleased themselves with his grief, and promised themselves a complete victory over him. This he complained of as reflecting dishonour upon God, and his power and promise.
2. How he expostulates with God hereupon: “How long shall it be thus?” And, “Shall it be thus for ever?” Long afflictions try our patience and often tire it. It is a common temptation, when trouble lasts long, to think it will last always; despondency then turns into despair, and those that have long been without joy begin, at last, to be without hope. “Lord, tell me how long thou wilt hide thy face, and assure me that it shall not be for ever, but that thou wilt return at length in mercy to me, and then I shall the more easily bear my present troubles.”
II. His complaints stir up his prayers, Psa 13:3; Psa 13:4. We should never allow ourselves to make any complaints but what are fit to be offered up to God and what drive us to our knees. Observe here,
1. What his petitions are: Consider my case, hear my complaints, and enlighten my eyes, that is, (1.) “Strengthen my faith;” for faith is the eye of the soul, with which it sees above, and sees through, the things of sense. “Lord, enable me to look beyond my present troubles and to foresee a happy issue of them.” (2.) “Guide my way; enable me to look about me, that I may avoid the snares which are laid for me.” (3.) “Refresh my soul with the joy of thy salvation.” That which revives the drooping spirits is said to enlighten the eyes,1Sa 14:27; Ezr 9:8. “Lord, scatter the cloud of melancholy which darkens my eyes, and let my countenance be made pleasant.”
2. What his pleas are. He mentions his relation to God and interest in him (O Lord my God!) and insists upon the greatness of the peril, which called for speedy relief and succour. If his eyes were not enlightened quickly, (1.) He concludes that he must perish: “I shall sleep the sleep of death; I cannot live under the weight of all this care and grief.” Nothing is more killing to a soul then the want of God’s favour, nothing more reviving than the return of it. (2.) That then his enemies would triumph: “Lest my enemy say, So would I have it; lest Saul, lest Satan, be gratified in my fall.” It would gratify the pride of his enemy: He will say, “I have prevailed, I have gotten the day, and been too hard for him and his God.” It would gratify the malice of his enemies: They will rejoice when I am moved. And will it be for God’s honour to suffer them thus to trample upon all that is sacred both in heaven and earth?
III. His prayers are soon turned into praises (Psa 13:5; Psa 13:6): But my heart shall rejoice and I will sing to the Lord. What a surprising change is here in a few lines! In the beginning of the psalm we have him drooping, trembling, and ready to sink into melancholy and despair; but, in the close of it, rejoicing in God, and elevated and enlarged in his praises. See the power of faith, the power of prayer, and how good it is to draw 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, and our countenance will be no more sad, 1 Sam. i. 18. And here observe the method of his comfort. 1. God’s mercy is the support of his faith. “My case is bad enough, and I am ready to think it deplorable, till I consider the infinite goodness of God; but, finding I have that to trust to, I am comforted, though I have no merit of my own. In former distresses I have trusted in the mercy of God, and I never found that it failed me; his mercy has in due time relieved me and my confidence in it has in the mean time supported me. Even in the depth of this distress, when God hid his face from me, when without were fightings and within were fears, yet I trusted in the mercy of God and that was as an anchor in a storm, by the help of which, though I was tossed, I was not overset.” And still I do trust in thy mercy; so some read it. “I refer myself to that, with an assurance that it will do well for me at last.” This he pleads with God, knowing what pleasure he takes in those that hope in his mercy, Ps. cxlvii. 11. 2. His faith in God’s mercy filled his heart with joy in his salvation; for joy and peace come by believing, Rom. xv. 13. Believing, you rejoice, 1 Pet. i. 8. Having put his trust in the mercy of God, he is fully assured of salvation, and that his heart, which was now daily grieving, should rejoice in that salvation. Though weeping endure long, joy will return. 3. His joy in God’s salvation would fill his mouth with songs of praise (v. 6): “I will sing unto the Lord, sing in remembrance of what he has done formerly; though I should never recover the peace I have had, I will die blessing God that ever I had it. He has dealt bountifully with me formerly, and he shall have the glory of that, however he is pleased to deal with me now. I will sing in hope of what he will do for me at last, being confident that all will end well, will end everlastingly well.” But he speaks of it as a thing past (He has dealt bountifully with me), because by faith he had received the earnest of the salvation and he was as confident of it as if it had been done already.
In singing this psalm and praying it over, if we have not the same complaints to make that David had, we must thank God that we have not, dread and deprecate his withdrawings, sympathize with those that are troubled in mind, and encourage ourselves in our most holy faith and joy.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Psalms 13
HOW LONG, O LORD?
Verses 1-6:
The Believer’s Cry
Verses 1, 2 begin this brief Psalm with four cries of “how long?” This seems to indicate a prolonged trial in David’s life, much as those in the life of Joseph, Israel in Egypt, Job in broken health, and Paul with a thorn in his flesh. Things looked dark to David, as to each of these mentioned above. It seemed that his trials of testing would never end.
Thus he inquires longingly:
1) “How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever?
2) “How long will you hide your face from me?”
3) “How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having (being gripped with) sorrow in my heart daily?
4) “How long shall mine enemy be exalted above me?”
These were four forlorn questions, from David’s heavy heart. Hopeless perplexity and confusion weighed down his soul. The pain of his persecution and desertion by once trusted friends was now deepened by the fact that God’s face seemed turned against him. In this state of despair he cried for God as his counselor, his only source of true help, Isaiah 9; Isaiah 6; Deu 31:17; Job 13:21. He lamented, “how long shall mine enemy be exalted above me?” Luk 18:14 answers.
Verse 3 relates that David’s complaint was followed by a prayer of faith or trust. He earnestly called upon God to lighten his eyes, lest he should sleep the sleep of physical death from his grief and burden, Jer 51:39; Jer 51:57. He desired that the Lord restore to him vital power of life that had faded, was almost gone, as also expressed 1Sa 14:27; 1Sa 14:29; Ezr 9:8; Psa 18:28; Luk 2:32; Rev 21:23; Psa 76:5-6; Eph 5:14.
Verse 4 adds that if God does not sustain him his enemy will boast that they have prevailed against him and they would rejoice when he was dead, or removed from his steadfast walk with God, Luk 22:31; Deu 32:27.
Verses 5, 6 affirm that David had trusted in Divine mercy and his heart would rejoice exceedingly in God’s salvation, liberation of him from his present dangers; In faith he added that he would sing to the Lord for His bountiful help from Him, Psa 119:17; Psa 142:7; Zec 9:12; Isa 40:2.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. How long, O Jehovah. It is very true that David was so greatly hated by the generality of people, on account of the calumnies and false reports which had been circulated against him, that almost all men judged that God was not less hostile to him than Saul (270) and his other enemies were. But here he speaks not so much according to the opinion of others, as according to the feeling of his own mind, when he complains of being neglected by God. Not that the persuasion of the truth of God’s promises was extinguished in his heart, or that he did not repose himself on his grace; but when we are for a long time weighed down by calamities, and when we do not perceive any sign of divine aid, this thought unavoidably forces itself upon us, that God has forgotten us. To acknowledge in the midst of our afflictions that God has really a care about us, is not the usual way with men, or what the feelings of nature would prompt; but by faith we apprehend his invisible providence. Thus, it seemed to David, so far as could be judged from beholding the actual state of his affairs, that he was forsaken of God. At the same time, however, the eyes of his mind, guided by the light of faith, penetrated even to the grace of God, although it was hidden in darkness. When he saw not a single ray of good hope to whatever quarter he turned, so far as human reason could judge, constrained by grief, he cries out that God did not regard him; and yet by this very complaint he gives evidence that faith enabled him to rise higher, and to conclude, contrary to the judgment of the flesh, that his welfare was secure in the hand of God. Had it been otherwise, how could he direct his groanings and prayers to him? Following this example, we must so wrestle against temptations as to be assured by faith, even in the very midst of the conflict, that the calamities which urge us to despair must be overcome; just as we see that the infirmity of the flesh could not hinder David from seeking God, and having recourse to him: and thus he has united in his exercise, very beautifully, affections which are apparently contrary to each other. The words, How long, for ever? are a defective form of expression; but they are much more emphatic than if he had put the question according to the usual mode of speaking, Why for so long a time? By speaking thus, he gives us to understand, that for the purpose of cherishing his hope, and encouraging himself in the exercise of patience, he extended his view to a distance, and that, therefore, he does not complain of a calamity of a few days’ duration, as the effeminate and the cowardly are accustomed to do, who see only what is before their feet, and immediately succumb at the first assault. He teaches us, therefore, by his example, to stretch our view as far as possible into the future, that our present grief may not entirely deprive us of hope.
(270) It was the opinion of Theodoret that this psalm was composed by David, not during his persecution by Saul, but when Absalom conspired against him; and the reason which he assigns for this opinion is, “that the trouble which Saul gave him was before his great sin, and so he was full of confidence; but that of Absalom was after it, which made him cry out in this doleful manner.” — Bishop Patrick’s Paraphrase on the Book of Psalms.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE JUSTICE OF THE LORD
Psalms 11-13
HE can be truly trusted.
In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?
For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psa 11:1-3).
His knowledge is perfect.
The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lords throne is in Heaven: His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men (Psa 11:4).
His acts are vindicated.
The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright (Psa 11:5-7).
THE JUDGMENTS OF THE LORD
They distinguish the righteous and the wicked.
Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him (Psa 12:1-5).
His words will never fail nor pass away.
The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever (Psa 12:6-7).
The exaltation of the vile is the chance of the wicked.
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted (Psa 12:8).
THE MERCIES OF THE LORD
He is our Sovereign of the souls appeal.
How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt Thou hide Thy face from met How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily t how long shall mine enemy be exalted over met Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved (Psa 13:1-4).
He is the Person of the souls dependence.
But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation (Psa 13:5).
His blessing is the basis of our joy and rejoicing.
I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me (Psa 13:6).
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
INTRODUCTION
In this psalm we see a servant of God, long and sorely tried by the persecutions of unrelenting enemies, and, as it seems to himself, forgotten and forsaken of God, pouring out the agony of his soul in prayer. It is a long and weary struggle, it is a daily and hourly martyrdom; and wrestling with his despair, he can but cry (like the souls under the altar, Rev. 6:10), How long! And then calmer words of prayer rise to his lips (Psa. 13:3-4); and at last Faith asserts her perfect victory (Psa. 13:5). The rapid transition of feeling, from a depth of misery bordering on despair, to hope, and even joy, is very remarkable.Perowne.
SOUL ECLIPSES
(Psa. 13:1-6.)
We assert:
I. The nature of such eclipses.
Psa. 13:1-2. Rylands, commenting on this psalm, regards it as exclusively applicable to the Redeemer. In addition to the sufferings which human nature is exposed to, Messiah, during His sojourn on earth, experienced a peculiar calamity in the hiding of Gods face from Him. Then he goes on to say, God never hides His face from the redeemed; and speaks of The ill effect of the doctrine that God hides His face from His people. Now, it is quite true that God never ceases to love His children, but still the people of God are sensible of eclipses of the soul, such as the Psalmist describes in this psalm. God has not really deserted His children, but it often seems as if He had. It is true that God does not forget any one, yet it may be that, to the human spirit, it appears as if he were forgotten by God, and that the Holy One had veiled His countenance from him. Then he feels at once that he is forsaken by God, and that he is weak with reference to his enemies.Moll. And whilst the Psalmist deplores the withdrawal of the Divine face, he yet recognises, in the same moment, that it is only a seeming withdrawal. Phillips renders the passage, How long wilt thou be apparently forgetful of my troubles, and withhold from me Thy assistance? And Delitzsch explains: The dejected heart thinks, God has forgotten me for ever; but the Spirit, which thrusts away this thought, changes it into a question which sets upon it the mark of a mere appearance, not a reality: How long shall it seem as though Thou forgettest me for ever? Faith holds fast the love that is behind, the wrath; it sees in the display of anger only a self-masking of the loving countenance of the God of love, and longs for the time when this loving countenance shall be again unveiled to it. Thus, although God never really forsakes or neglects His people, it often seems as if He had done so. In providential matters, they fail to recognise His hand; His consolations cease in their spirit; and they are full of darkness and bitterness. And yet, as at midnight we know that the sun still lives, and will soon again shine on the earth; so in the saints deepest darkness, his faith penetrates through the gloom, and awaits the shining of Gods face.
Observe:
II. The cause of these eclipses.
1. Why does God thus appear to desert His people at all? Why does He veil His hand and His face? The end of Gods discipline with all His people is to make them feel their absolute dependence upon Himself. The aim of an earthly parent is to render the child independent, to teach it to live upon its own resources, to go by itself, to be sufficient in itself. Gods aim is the opposite of this, to teach us that we are nothing, and can do nothing in ourselves, and that our sufficiency is of Himself. These eclipses teach us:
(1.) That God is the source of happiness (Psa. 13:1). How deep the sorrow of the Psalmists soul! When God hides His face, we feel that the fountain of life is stopped. No matter what may be left, sorrow is in our heart daily. There is a flower which fades immediately a screen is interposed between it and the sun; and let Gods face be hidden from us, and the soul sickens as a drooping flower.
(2.) That God is the source of wisdom. How long shall I take counsel in my soul? David represents himself as meditating plan after plan.Speakers Com. He appears to be devising many plans in vain, like an unsuccessful general in an army.Wordsworth. This strikingly describes the helpless embarrassment of the sufferer.Perowne. When God hides His face, we know not what to do, how to act. We soon feel that He is the great Counsellor, and that we are painfully perplexed without His light.
(3.) That God is the source of strength. How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? (Psa. 13:2). David felt weak, and altogether at the mercy of his enemies. When the Spaniards had beaten the Mexicans in a great battle, the latter called in the assistance of their priests. The priests, after some consultation, said that the Spaniards were children of the sun; that they derived their strength from that luminary, and when his beams were withdrawn, their powers would also fail. They recommended a night attack, therefore, as one which afforded the best chance of success. As these Spaniards were supposed to draw their strength from the orb of day, so really does the saint draw his conquering strength from God; and when he is deprived of the light of Gods face his enemies prevail against him.
(4.) God is the source of life (Psa. 13:3). Sleep an eternal sleep.Speakers Com. Without God we feel that we perish. In Him we live, and move, and have our being. Great lessons are taught us in lifes dark hours. During eclipses, astronomers learn secrets of the heavens which they cannot penetrate in days of sunshine; and it is necessary sometimes that God should hide His face, so that we may see more clearly, and feel more deeply, these great truths and principles. I know that, as night and shadows are good for flowers, and moonlight and dews are better than a continual sun, so is Christs absence of special use, and that it hath some nourishing virtue in it, and giveth sap to humility, and putteth an edge on hunger, and furnisheth a fair field to faith to put forth itself, and to exercise its fingers in gripping it seeth not what.Rutherford, quoted by Spurgeon.
2. Why does God hide His face so long? How long, four times repeated. Is not the true answer, because we are so slow to learn the great truths which He designs to teach? We think that we have learned truths when they are not half-learned, and so God has to protract the eclipse. Tholuck well says: That the length of trouble is harder to bear than the strength of it; but it is only when long protracted that it leaves behind it the greater treasures.
III. The duty of the saints in these hours of darkness. Not discontent; not despair.
1. Wait in faith. O Lord my God (Psa. 13:3). And there is faith throughout. He is in perplexity and trouble, but not in despair. In the dark he holds to God.
2. Wait in prayer. Mark how the Psalmist pleads (Psa. 13:3). It is well for those who, although in the greatest anxiety, are driven by the feeling that they are abandoned by God to seek the grace of God.Moll. Resolve never to be dumb while God is deaf.
3. Wait in hope (Psa. 13:5-6). Coleridge said of himself, that he was an inveterate hoper. So should it be with all the people of God. Hope in Gods mercy, and tune your harp for a song.
Believer, despair not; for if God seems to have forsaken you, He is still strengthening you. As when the sun is eclipsed, though the earth wants the light thereof, yet not the influence thereof; so Gods supporting grace is ever with His deserted.Trapp. And when the trial is over, your soul shall be deeper, brighter, more fruitful.
You have been wretched; yet
The silver shower, whose reckless burden weighs
Too heavily upon the lilys head,
oft leaves a saving moisture at its root.
WORDSWORTH.
THE CHEQUERED LIFE
(Psa. 13:1-6.)
What changes we witness in the Psalmists life and experience! This psalm reflects as a mirror the changing conditions of his soul and history. In this little psalm David is seen as a fugitive and a conqueror, as despairing and triumphing, as weeping and singing. And it is largely thus with all the people of God.
Mark:
I. The vicissitudes of the outer life.
What contrasts of fortune you have in the life of David! A shepherd, a king; a king, a fugitive; and strange alternations of fortune throughout. Few lives present such marked contrasts as that of the Hebrew king, yet most lives know analogous variations. Our lives play up and down the scale between health and sickness, plenty and poverty, popularity and neglect, activity and solitude, fortune and disappointment.
II. The vicissitudes of the inner life.
In this psalm the writer passes from despair to exultation, from doubt to assurance, from lamentation to praise; and so might as easily pass back again, as indeed we see him do in other psalms. How constant the changes of the mood of the soul! We are ever changing from bright to dark, from low to high, from sweet to bitter, or the reverse. How extreme these changes of thought and feeling! We are conquerors, captives; kings, worms; strong as Samson, reeds shaken with the wind; singing at heavens gate, weeping on ruins brink. How rapid these changes! The Christian soul is a microcosm, in which you may see in an hour hope, fear, joy, sorrow. In Iceland, we are told, contradictory elements and phenomena are strangely blended. Snow is often blackened with ashes, ashes are white washed with snow; water flows under the lava, and there freezes and forms subterraneous glaciers. As in this strange land fire and frost are thus fantastically mingled, so in the Christian soul do day and night, summer and winter, snow and harvest, strangely mix in perpetual flux.
III. The aim of this discipline.
To purify and perfect us. Emptied from vessel to vessel, with each transition some of the dregs are to be removed, so that at length the wine of our life may run clear. The sharp and sudden contrasts are necessary to perfect us in the deep places of our nature. The Arabs say of the palm-tree that it must have its feet in the water and its head in the fire. And so the soul needs strong contrasts of experience to ripen it in the things of God. The continual variation of experience is necessary to touch and perfect us on every side of our manifold nature. As with a thousand changes of sky, and wind, and atmosphere God ripens the fruit of the orchard, so with countless variations of thought and emotion does God ripen the Christian heart in His love and likeness.
JEALOUS FOR GOD
(Psa. 13:3-4.)
The doctrine is taught here that Gods honour is bound up with the deliverance of His people. David deprecated failure in himself because Gods honour and cause would suffer through it (Psa. 13:4). Moved from my steadfastness or firmness, when I am overcome. Hitherto he had been able to hold out against them, now be began to despair, and to fear that they would accomplish their object by overcoming and subduing him. His ground of apprehension and of appeal was, that by his being vanquished the cause in which he was engaged would suffer, and that the enemies of religion would triumph.Barnes.
We learn here, then:
That Gods honour is bound up with the conduct of His people.
This should teach:
1. The necessity of circumspection in the saints. If we are moved, Gods cause is injured and His name profaned. And certainly it should be a powerful motive to restrain us from transgression, when we consider that as the conversion of a sinner brings glory to God, and causes joy among the angels of heaven, so the fall of a believer disgraces the Gospel of Jesus, opens the mouths of the adversaries, and would produce joy, if such a thing could be, in hell itself.Horne. Oh, what desolation is made by the fall of a righteous soul! Itself covered with darkness and desolation, infidels filled with scoffing, the Church clad in mourning, the Spirit of God grieved, and Jesus crucified afresh, and put to an open shame! O God! save the pious reader from such wreck and ruin!Clarke.
2. The strong ground of a believers confidence. God will not permit us to be moved if we are faithful, for this would dishonour Himself and His kingdom. What a plea in prayer!
Ah! suffer not my foe to boast
His victory oer a child of Thine,
Nor let the proud Philistines host
In Satans hellish triumph join.
Will they not charge my fall on Thee!
Will they not dare my God to blame?
My God, forbid the blasphemy!
Be jealous for Thy glorious name!
WESLEY.
3. A warning to persecutors. Persecuting saints, they aim a blow at God. As unskilful hunters shooting at wild beasts do sometimes kill a man, so persecutors, shooting at saints, his Christ, reproach Him.Trapp.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Psalms 13
DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
A Sorely Tried Believer in Jehovah Expostulates, Entreats, and Ultimately Exults.
ANALYSIS
Stanza I., Psa. 13:1-2, Expostulation; Stanza II., Psa. 13:3-4, Entreaty; Stanza III., Psa. 13:5-6, Exultation.
(Lm.)Psalmby David
1
How long Jehovahwilt thou forget me for ever?
how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2
how long must I lay up sorrow in my soul?[110]
[110] M.T.: How long must I lay up designs in my soul, sorrow in my heart by day.
how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3
Oh look well answer me, Jehovah my God!
light thou up my eyes lest I sleep on into death,
4
lest mine enemy say I have prevailed over him,
and mine adversaries exult when I am shaken.
5
But I in thy kindness do trust,
let my heart exult in thy salvation,
6
let me sing to Jehovah because he hath dealt bountifully with me,
and let me harp to the name of the Lord Most High.[111]
[111] Line preserved in Sep. and Vul.
(Lm.) To the Chief Musician.
PARAPHRASE
Psalms 13
How long will You forget me, Lord? Forever? How long will You look the other way when I am in need?
2 How long must I be hiding daily anguish in my heart? How long shall my enemy have the upper hand?
3 Answer me, O Lord my God; give me light in my darkness lest I die.
4 Dont let my enemies say, We have conquered him! Dont let them gloat that I am down.
5 But I will always trust in You and in Your mercy and shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord because He has blessed me so richly.
EXPOSITION
The keynote of Stanza I. of this psalm is, How long?from which, indeed, we cannot safely infer that the present trial had lasted for many years; but only that, to the tried one, it seemed as if it would never end. Time, to our consciousness, is relative: under stress and strain, minutes seem hours; hours, days; days, as though they would drag on their slow length for ever. Such has been the feeling of the psalmist; but his half-formed thought is corrected ere he utters ithence the broken construction of the first line. The very attempt to utter his complaint soothes his spirit, and he becomes measured and musical in the expression of his appeal to Jehovah his God, to whom his words reveal unmistakable nearness. We readily forgive his anthropomorphisms, for the sake of the vivid sense we thereby obtain of his accustomed personal fellowship with his God. We note the orderly progression of the singers thought, as he passes from the Divine mind to the Divine face as its manifestation; then from Jehovah to himself; then from himself to his enemy. On our way through the stanza we note the fine phrase lay up sorrow in my soul: the soul, or sensitive nature, which feels the sorrow caused by the trial; and includes the memory which stores it up, and renders the soul a treasure-house of experience. We also note the apt and characteristic restraint which in all probability points to King Saul as the enemy.
He who can thus remonstrate with Jehovah, can do more: he can ask his interposition. And so Stanza II. is prayer. It is moreit is argued prayer. It dares to tell Jehovah what will be the deplorable results of leaving the prayer unanswered. Two decisive petitions, Oh look well (or Look around) as if to take in the whole situation and answer mein what way he does not indicate, for he is speaking to one who knows the actual facts, and knows, as well his own gracious purposes; and then we feel how the petitioner lays hold of Deity by the name of promise and its appropriating synonym, Jehovah my God. Light thou up mine eyes, he adds, seeking for the invigoration which will cause his eyes to gleam with new health and hope: lestand this is the keynote of Stanza II., twice expressed and once implied. His apprehensions move outwards in enlarging circles; beginning with himself, he fears that answer deferred will mean death; then, thinking of his enemy, that answer deferred will mean his openly expressed boast; and, still further out from himself, that thereupon a whole chorus of adversaries will exult. The weight of these deprecations he leaves his divine Friend to estimate.
And now we come, in Stanza III., to the psychological problem of the psalm. Is it possible that the same singer can now thus early and thus suddenly mount from the depths of despair to so near an approach to exultation? We say approach advisedly; for, strictly construed, the language is still that of prayer. But it is easy to see that prayer is by this time lit up with joyful anticipation. In the very act of saying Let my heart exult, he is letting his heart ascend to the altitude of joy. Here, again, we are delighted with the orderly evolution of thought: on the objective side, kindness brings salvation, salvation is crowned with bountiful dealing; and on the subjective side, trust produces exultation, exultation leads to song, song calls for the harp. We are thus well-pleased with the completeness, in spirit and in form, secured by accepting the additional line preserved by the Septuagint and Vulgate. Moreover, we are thus led to a critical preference of Briggs over Delitzsch, which, for once in a way, is not distasteful. The latter, severely following the Massoretic Text, resolves the psalm into three decreasing stanzasfive lines, four, three; and then temptingly says, The five lines of lamentation and the four of supplication are now followed by three of joyous anticipation. The leading characteristicsof lamentation, supplication and joyous anticipationare a manifestly correct description of the psalm; but why anticipation should be less exuberant in language than lamentation and supplication, we do not clearly see, and, inasmuch as the shortening of the first stanza relieves the third question of the psalm of abnormal distinctions between soul and heart, as Briggs forcibly points out, and inasmuch as this emendation, together with the restoration of the last line from the old versions, levels the whole psalm into three equal stanzas, wefeeling that symmetry does count for something when sustained by other evidenceare constrained to say, Briggs has it.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1.
This psalm should be of real interest to all of usfor we have shared Davids dilemmawhy does God seem remote during a period of pain?
2.
Who was Davids enemy as described in this psalm?In what particulars did he have the advantage of David?What lesson is there in this for us?
3.
Just how did David imagine God would answer his prayer for light in the midst of darkness?
4.
What difference would it make if Davids enemies did gloat over his fall?
5.
David had a change of heart in Psa. 13:5-6what caused it?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) How long? . . . for ever?Comp. Psa. 74:10; Psa. 79:5; Psa. 89:46. The double question in the Authorised Version is unnecessary, though, as M. Renan (Les Langues Smitiques, 2 4) explains, it shows how ill writing the poet has begun on one plan, and finished on another. (Comp. Psa. 9:3.) Translate, How long wilt thou continue to forget me?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. How long Literally, Until when? A most natural outgushing of the heart under long continued sorrow and unrelieved oppression. Psa 94:3; Zec 1:12; Rev 6:10. Its occurrence four times in Psa 13:1-2, indicates the violence of the persecution, and the languishing strength of the sufferer.
Forget me for ever The “forgetting,” and “hiding the face,” was in appearance only, not in reality. The language is not that of doubt or complaint, but of simple suffering coming from the human aspect of affairs, and speaking of things phenomenally, as we would say. The whole Bible is full of examples where, with the sincerest piety and faith, the sufferer gives forth the voice of nature.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.’
Once again we are reminded that this is one of the Psalms dedicated to the Choirmaster, and from the Davidic collection.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘How long, O YHWH? Will you forget me for ever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart by day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?’
The psalmist has been at prayer over his problems but feels that his prayers are unanswered, and that YHWH has forgotten him, and has hidden His face from him, and he does not know why. It almost feels to him as though it is going to be for ever, and yet he does not really think so, for he asks how much longer he must wait.
So he is puzzled and wants to know how long this is to go on. His thoughts within him are in turmoil, his heart is filled with sorrow, and the reason is because his enemy seems to triumph.
‘How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart by day?’ The problem is such that it requires much thought during each day. It would seem that he had little to fear at night. This may suggest such a time as when David was hiding in the mountains which he and his men knew well. Saul would not dare seek him at night for he did not himself know the terrain. But once day came he pursued David with a vengeance, prompting David to constant use of his mind, and counsel from others, in order to avoid him.
This might well fit David when his controversy with Saul had been going on for some long time, when the searches were constant and he was beginning to feel that it would never end. It would fit any ruler who was being hard pressed by enemies in such a situation. It fits any who have a private enemy and feel that they are experiencing constant persecution and defeat in one way or another. It is a reminder of those times when God tests us by not responding immediately, so that we might learn to trust Him ‘in the dark’.
But in its own way it is also a cry of faith. The psalmist cannot believe that God can leave him in this situation for much longer. He is confident that at some stage God will act. But the question is, when?
How often we too might find ourselves in such a situation, and then we too must have the confidence that in the end God will act on our behalf.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psalms 13
Psa 13:6 I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
Psa 13:6
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
A Prayer for Relief in the Midst of Trouble.
v. 1. How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord? Forever? v. 2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, v. 3. Consider and hear me, O Lord, my God, v. 4. lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him, v. 5. But I have trusted in Thy mercy, v. 6. I will sing unto the Lord because He hath dealt bountifully with me,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE writeragain, according to the title, Davidis reduced almost to utter despair. He has undergone lengthened persecutionthe Divine countenance has been turned away from him (Psa 13:1); it seems to him that God has altogether forgotten him; he is in extreme perplexity and distress (Psa 13:2), and raises the cryso often raised by sufferers (Job 19:2; Psa 6:3; Psa 35:7; Psa 79:5; Psa 94:3, Psa 94:4; Hab 1:2; Rev 6:10)”How long?” This cry he repeats four times (Psa 13:1, Psa 13:2). He does not, however, quite despair. In Psa 13:3 he passes from protest to prayer; and in Psa 13:5, Psa 13:6 he proceeds from prayer to praise, having (apparently) through his prayer received an internal assurance of God’s help. The tone suits the time when he was “hunted in the mountains” by Saul (1Sa 26:20).
Psa 13:1
How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? God cannot forget, but man often feels as if he were forgotten of him (comp. Psa 42:9; Psa 44:24; Lam 5:20). David seems to have feared that God had forgotten him “for ever.” How long wilt then hide thy face from me! (comp. Psa 30:7; Isa 1:15; Eze 39:29). The “light of God’s countenance” shining on us is the greatest blessing that we know (see Psa 4:6; Psa 31:18; Psa 44:4; Psa 67:1; Psa 80:3, Psa 80:7. etc.). When it is withdrawn, and he “hides his face,” we naturally sink into despair.
Psa 13:2
How long shall I take counsel in my soul? or, How long shall I arrange plans? (Kay). Tossing on a sea of doubt and perplexity, David forms plan after plan, but to no purpose. He seeks to find a way of escape from his difficulties, but cannot discover one. Having sorrow in my heart daily; or, all the day. It is, perhaps, implied that the plans are formed and thought over at night. How long shall mine enemy be exalted ever me? A special enemy is once more glanced at. The allusion seems to be to Saul (comp. Psa 7:2, Psa 7:5, Psa 7:11-16; Psa 8:2; Psa 9:6, Psa 9:16; Psa 10:2-11, Psa 10:15; Psa 11:5).
Psa 13:3
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God (comp. Psa 5:1; Psa 9:13; Psa 141:1, etc.). David will not allow himself to be “forgotten;” he will recall himself to God’s remembrance. “Considerhear me,” he says, “O Lord my God;” still “my God,” although thou hast forgotten me, and therefore bound to “hear me.” Lighten mine eyes. Not so much “enlighten me spiritually,” as “cheer me up; put brightness into my eyes; revive me”. Lest I sleep the sleep of death; literally, lest I sleep death. Death is compared to a sleep by Job (Job 11:12), Jeremiah (Jer 51:39, Jer 51:57), Daniel (Dan 12:2), and here by David, in the Old Testament; and by our Lord (Joh 11:11-13) and St. Paul in the New (1Co 11:30; 1Co 15:51; 1Th 4:14, 1Th 4:15). The external resemblance of a corpse to a sleeping person was the root of the metaphor, and we shall do wrong to conclude from its employment anything with respect to the psalmist’s views concerning the real nature of death.
Psa 13:4
Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him. The triumph of David’s enemy over him, whether he were Saul or any one else, even the ideal wicked man, would be the triumph of evil over good, of those who had cast God behind their back over those who faithfully served him, of irreligion over piety. He could therefore appeal to Godnot in his own personal interest, but in the interest of truth and right, and the general good of mankindto prevent his enemy’s triumph. And those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. There would be a general rejoicing on the part of all his foes, if his arch-enemy succeeded in seriously injuring him.
Psa 13:5
But I have trusted (or, I trust) in thy mercy. I know, i.e; that thou wilt not suffer me to be overcome by my enemy. Thou wilt save me; and therefore my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation, whereof I entertain no doubt.
Psa 13:6
I will sing unto the Lord. I will exchange my cry of despair, “How long?” (Psa 13:1, Psa 13:2), for a joyful song of thanksgiving; because already I am cheered, I am revivedhe (i.e. the Lord) hath dealt bountifully with me. And this mental revival is an assurance of deliverance to come.
HOMILETICS
Psa 13:1, Psa 13:6
Despair turned to thankfulness.
“How long,” etc.? “I will sing,” etc. The last verse of this tender and beautiful little psalm contains the reply to the first. Despondency is turned into thankfulness; the prayer of anguish into the song of praise. Its music, beginning with a plaintive, pathetic minor, passes through a solemn strain of pleading prayer into the triumphant major of full-voiced faith and joy. This is the music to which many a Christian life is set. It is not a strictly prophetic psalm; but we may well suppose that it is one of those in which the “Man of sorrows” read his own experience.
I. DAVID‘S PATHETIC APPEAL. “How long,” etc.? Two questions run into one. It had endured so long, he felt as if it must go on for ever. The flame of hope flickered in the socket. Total darkness seemed at hand. Did David really think God had forgotten him? No; but he felt as if it were so. “Not that faith in God’s promises was dead in his soul, or that he no longer relied on his grace; but that, when troubles long press upon us, and no token of Divine help appears, this thought cannot fail to thrust itself into our mind, ‘God has forgotten me'” (Calvin). Causes of his despondency.
1. The long continuance of his trouble.
2. Prayer seeming to remain unanswered.
3. His foes’ exaltation.
4. Fear lest he should die before deliverance came (see 1Sa 27:1).
II. DAVID‘S JOYFUL THANKSGIVING. “I will sing,” etc. Light suddenly breaks out of darkness. What is the secret of this surprising change? Have his troubles ceased? Not at all. But that which made their worst bitterness is gonehis doubt of God’s goodness and truth. In the very act of prayer, his mind is led out of himself, and faith rekindled. “The grace of God, which is hid from carnal apprehension, is grasped by faith” (Calvin). Despair said, “Faith is an illusion. I have trusted and am forsaken.” Faith answers, “God is faithful. I have trusted; therefore I cannot be forsaken.”
HOMILIES BY C. CLEMANCE
Psa 13:1-6
Sorrow and trust; sighing and song.
This is one of those numerous psalms which come under the first division specified in our introductory homily. It belongs to those which give us an insight into the religious experiences of an Old Testament saintprobably Davidbut it matters not whose they were. For they are a precise reflection of the alternations of spiritual mood through which many a sorrowful believer since then has passed; yea, through the like of which many of our readers may be passing now. We can never be too thankful for such psalms as these, showing us, as they do, not so much the objectivities of Divine revelation, as the subjectivities of inward experience. Not that we are bound, in our experience, to find that which corresponds to every phase. By no means. Experienced nurses say that no two babes ever cried exactly alike; and certainly no two children of God ever went through precisely the same experience. Still, the course pursued by the early believers is a fine lesson-book for modern ones. We shall find our study of this psalm suggestive of much in the experience of believers and in the dealings of God with them.
I. HERE ARE REMARKABLE ALTERNATIONS OF MOOD AND EMOTION. There are seven notes in music; there are seven colours in light. If there are seven stages in religious emotion, surely this psalm notes them all. We have a believer:
1. Thinking himself shut off from God. “How long wilt thou forget me hide thy face from me?” It does not follow that God had hidden his face; and assuredly he had not forgotten the troubled one. Had it been so, the afflicted one had not survived to offer this prayer. Note: It is not in the midst of sore anguish that we can rightly gauge the mind of God towards us. We may be the objects of tenderest compassion even when our sun seems to be eclipsed.
2. Fearing his adversaries. (See Psa 13:4.) He was evidently surrounded by those who lay in wait for him. He could have faced them boldly had it not been for the hiding of God’s face. But that made him tremble, and no wonder.
3. Sorrowfully musing. (Psa 13:2.) What a tumult of agitation was he now passing through! And what a bewildered and bewildering host of troublous thoughts and queries seize the mind at such times as these!
4. Sinking under the pressure. (Psa 13:3.) The phrase indicates that the psalmist was at the very verge of despair. “Courage almost gone.” So that his spirit is failing or his bodily frame is giving way. The writer may mean either or both.
5. Trusting. (Psa 13:5.) “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.” The woe reaches its deepest and bitterest; and thentrust prevents absolute despair. The renewed heart clings to God, even in the dark. And he to whom our spirit thus clings will appear for us at the right time, and in his own wonder-working way.
6. Trust leads to prayer. The whole psalm is a prayer. One of the greatest blessings in life is to have a friend who will never misunderstand us; and by whom all our unintelligible and contradictory words will be pitied, and not blamed; who will bury our follies in his own love. But there is only One in whom all this exists to perfectioneven our God. He never misinterprets the language of broken hearts and bewildered soulsnever! We may always tell him exactly what we feel, as we feel it; or, if words will not come, then “our groaning” is not hid from him. He will answer us, not according to our imperfection, but will do exceeding abundantly for us “above all that we can ask or think.” The fourth verse may not and does not give us the highest style of pleading. But it indicates the burden on the heart. And whatsoever is a burden on a child’s heart is to the Father an object of loving concern, and maybe rolled over on to God (Psa 55:22; Psa 142:1-7).
7. Deliverance comes in answer to prayer. And thus it ever will be. So that he who moans at the beginning of prayer may sing at the end of it. “I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” Thus does this psalm run through the various shades or stages of emotion. Having gone down to the depths of the valley of anguish, the writer comes at length to stand on the heights of the mount of praise!
II. SUCH A REHEARSAL OF EXPERIENCE THROWS MUCH LIGHT ON THE SECRET DEALINGS OF GOD WITH HIS PEOPLE. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,” says the psalmist elsewhere (Psa 25:14). And this thirteenth psalm lets us into it. It teaches us:
1. That the child of God is the object of the Father‘s tenderest pity and love, even at the moment of tumultuous anguish and deep darkness of soul. The sun shines just as brightly on us, even when a film over the eyes obscures our sight of it. Saints are never nearer or dearer to the heart of God than when they are in trouble.
2. God graciously sanctifies the anguish, and makes it the means of quickening to intenser devotion. It is not when all is calm that prayer is at its best. Ah, no! It is when we are stunned, startled, half-paralyzed by some dreadful and unexpected trial, that we pray the most earnestly. It is quite possible that at such times words may fail; but God reads deep meaning in the tear, and hears heavenly eloquence in the sighs of those that seek him.
3. The anguish will be removed in God‘s own time. When the trial sent us has secured its needed end in the quickening of devotion, the strengthening of faith, and the improvement of the whole life, then will the pressure be taken off. Nor ought we to desire it otherwise. It is far more important to have our afflictions sanctified than to have them removed.
4. By the very trials through which we have passed we shall have learnt to be comforters of others. If the psalmist had known that the written experience of his sorrows and his songs would have gone down to hundreds of generations, to comfort sorrowing souls in all time, he would have been thankful for his trouble, sharp as it was. Note:
(1) It is only those who have gone through trouble that can effectually be comforters of others (2Co 1:6; cf. Heb 2:18).
(2) It is not to be supposed that merely because we have sorrow at one moment we shall have joy in the future. Only God’s mourners can expect God’s comforts. Mat 5:4 is for those named in Mat 5:3. The vast difference pointed out in Isa 50:10, Isa 50:11 should be reverently and anxiously pondered.
(3) It is only the renewed soul that can possibly thus trust, pray, and plead, when in the midst of anguish. The supreme concern of each is to accept peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ; to have sin forgiven, and the soul renewed. He who has first cast his burden of sin and guilt on an atoning Saviour, and who is being renewed by the Holy Ghost, may come every day and cast any care, and all his care, upon his Father, God.
(4) It is infinitely better to be in the depth of the valley of sorrow, as a good man, and to let our God lead us up to the height of joy, than, as a godless man, to be at the height of merriment and laughter for awhile, only to sink to the depths of despair.C.
HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH
Psa 13:1-6
From despondency to peace.
The soul may pass quickly from one emotion to anotherfrom fear to hope, from the gloom of despondency to the brightness of peace. Such a change finds expression in this psalm.
I. THE CRY. (Psa 13:1, Psa 13:2.) Under the pressure of affliction, hard thoughts of God arise. But if there be complaint of God, it is to be observed that the complaint is carried to God. Instead of sullen murmuring, there is meek confession. Instead of bitter resentment, there is affectionate remonstrance. There is not only the “taking counsel with his own soul,” which left him in deeper “sorrow,” but there is the going out of himself, to cast his cares upon God, whereby he finds relief,
II. THE APPEAL. (Psa 13:3, Psa 13:4.) Led by the Spirit, the child of God quickly turns his cry of pain into a prayer for spiritual help. The shadows were deepening; night, with its sleep of death, seemed near; but God was able to bring deliverance. Hence the urgent and passionate appeal. So when we are in peril let us cry to God. Our extremity is his opportunity. Our time of need is his time of mercy.
III. THE TESTIMONY. (Psa 13:5, Psa 13:6.) Help seems to have come to the psalmist as to Daniel; while he was yet “speaking in prayer” (Dan 9:20, Dan 9:21). So it often is. God is more ready to hear than we are to ask. “He waiteth to be gracious.”
1. The peace given is real. There may still be storm without, but there is calm within.
2. The confidence is comforting. Imagination no longer works by fear, but by hope, and brightens all the future. The soul that seemed about to enter the dark valley of the shadow of death, with the terrible fear that God was departed, now rejoices in the sunshine of God’s presence (Mic 7:9; Zec 14:7).W.F.
Psa 13:1
God’s averted face.
The hiding of God’s face is a sore trial to his people. If they did not love him, they could bear it; but as they love him so much, it is a great affliction. It may be said of such trials, that they are still harder to bear under the gospel. For the very fact that God once dwelt with mengoing in and out among them as one of themselves, loving them, and doing them goodmakes the mystery of his silence now the deeper, and our distress the greater. “Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled” (Psa 30:7; cf. Job 13:24).
1. This conduct on the part of our Lord seems alien to his nature. We expect a friend to show himself friendly. We blame a physician if he comes not at once when urgently summoned. We would call a father or mother unfeeling and unnatural who shut their ears to the cries of their own child.
2. Then this silence of our Lord seems contrary to his action when he was in the world. He was then easy of access, and ready to help. True, he at first refused the Syro-phoenician; but he gave her all she asked in the end. True, he delayed coming to Bethany; but he did come, in his own time, and turned the house of mourning into a home of joy.
3. Then, again, we have our Lord’s teaching and promises. We remember what is said, that we should “not hide ourselves from our own flesh” (Isa 58:7); how we are taught to show kindness to our enemies, and even to have pity on the very brutes (Deu 22:1 – 4; Mat 12:12); and “how much is a man better than a sheep!” We think also of the parables of Lazarus, and of the man who fell among thieves, and our hearts are in perplexity. “I weep because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far from me” (Lam 1:16). Besides, we remember our Lord’s promises. It cannot be that he does not know; or that he lacks the power; or that his love is waxed cold. Why, then, does he let us lie at his gate; or leave us half-dead by the wayside; or fail to come to us when we are “comfortless”? These and such-like thoughts rise and trouble us. Our hearts are like a tree, with its many branches, tossed and torn by the storm. But in the multitude of our thoughts within us, there are comforts still left to us. First, Christ is not changed. Next, he knows all that has come to us, and has pity. Then, he has his own gracious purposes in our afflictions. They are necessary for our good (Isa 59:2; Hos 5:15). Then we should not count such trials as strange, as we are under a spiritual dispensation. Christ is really with us still, in his Word and Spirit and the ministry of his people. He even comes at times to us, when we know him not (Mat 25:38). Then we should remember that he has, for a season, put a restraint upon himself. We may say, like Martha, “If thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” And this is true. But our Lord could not be here with us, as in the days of Iris flesh, and at the same time carry out his plans of discipline and training under the Spirit. Last of all, let us remember that these trials are temporary. They may end here. They will certainly end hereafter. Our Lord knew himself the pain of desertion; and he longs to have us with him, where there shall he no more hidings of his face, or crying, or tears. Let us, therefore, take the counsel of Elihu, “Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him” (Job 35:14; cf. Isa 8:17).W.F.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT
Psa 13:1-6
The agony of desertion.
Probably a psalm of David, composed at the time of Saul’s persecution. It expresses the agony of a mind that thinks itself deserted of God, in danger of death, and threatened by a formidable enemy. It is a long and weary struggle; and, wrestling with his despair, he breaks into a pitiful prayer, which is succeeded by the exercise of a returning faith.
I. DESPAIR. (Psa 13:1, Psa 13:2.)
1. He thinks he is for ever forsaken of God. The emphasis lies on the “for ever.” How much this implies of delight in the former friendship of God! Compare Christ’s cry on the cross.
2. Fruitless efforts of the mind to escape from its position. “Taking counsel,” etc. These issue only in continued sorrow of heart. One plan after another is revolved and rejected; one solution after another of his difficulties is thought of, and then dismissed; and he is left in despair. He is helpless and hopeless.
3. Personal danger from some enemy. (Psa 13:2.) Probably Saul. Internal and external causes combined to make him profoundly miserable.
II. BUT EVEN IN HIS DESPAIR HE PRAYS.
1. Look upon me (equivalent to “consider”). And do not continue to hide thy face.
2. Hear and succour (equivalent to “answer me”). And do not forget me for ever. This is hope out of despairthe single ray of light that shot into his deep darkness. There is something left for each of us.
3. Give a renewed power of life (equivalent to “lighten mine eyes”). Anxiety and sorrow had induced physical depression, and he apprehended that he would sink into the sleep of death. “Lighten mine eyes” here means, “Send back the tide of life, that my eyes may again be lit with life, and the deathlike drowsiness dispelled.”
III. PRAYER LEADS HIM BACK INTO TRUST.
1. He remembers the object of his former trust. “In thy loving-kindness have I trusted.” Not in his personal merits, nor only in the justice of his cause. Faith grasps the unseen as the pound of its trust.
2. He recollects the reasons of that trust. “Thy salvation,” which I have experienced in former times. God’s bountiful dealing with him. That had been the rule of the Divine conduct towards him. Faith draws hope out of experience.S.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Psalms 13.
David complaineth of delay in help: he prayeth for preventing grace; he boasteth of divine mercy.
To the chief musician. A Psalm of David.
Title. lamnatseach mizmor ledavid. This psalm was written by David, when, as Theodoret thinks, he was greatly distressed by his rebellious son Absalom. In the first four verses he represents his danger, and prays for deliverance: in the last, he expresses his assurance of obtaining it. The Arabic title of this Psalm is remarkable: “In this Psalm mention is made of the insolence of his enemies, with a prophesy of the presence of Christ.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psalms 13
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David
1How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? forever?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2How long shall I take counsel in my soul?
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3Consider and hear me, O Lord my God:
Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him;
And those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5But I have trusted in thy mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Its character. The Psalm begins with a strophe of five lines, a lamentation from a sighing breast, in which hope is in severe conflict with despair; then follows a strophe of four lines of urgent prayer; from which breaks forth in a strophe of three lines, faith in the Divine grace, with expressions of joyous personal participation therein. It is all expressed in language so true to life, and with the freshness of experience, that it is entirely inadmissible to regard as its subject the people of Israel oppressed by foreign nations (Rabbin., Rosenm., De Wette) or the suffering Christ. David can only apply as a type, so far as his experience is applied to the God-fearing sufferer and Christian martyr. [Perowne: The rapid transition of feeling from a depth of misery bordering on despair, to hope, and even joy, is very remarkable. Hitzig refers this Psalm to the time of Sauls persecution of David. Delitzsch likewise inclines to this opinion.C. A. B.]
Str. I. Psa 13:1. How longforever.The meeting together of the question, and the lamentation, in apparent conflict, in the words which begin and close the clause, is found likewise, Psa 74:10; Psa 79:5; Psa 89:46. Thus it cannot be merely an accidental want of exactness in the expression, nor can it be set aside by interpreting forever by entirely (Aquil., Rosenm.), which the language does not permit, but it is to be explained from the conflict in the Psalmists own feelings (Calv., Hengst., Hupf., Delitzsch), which Luther (although he incorrectly translates entirely, fully) very properly describes as an anguish of spirit which feels that it has to do with a God alienated, hostile, implacable, inexorable, whose wrath is eternal, where hope itself despairs, and yet despair hopes; and all that lives is the groaning that cannot be uttered, wherewith the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us brooding over the waters shrouded in darkness. [The punctuation of the A. V., How long wilt thou forget me? forever? is incorrect. Perowne: It is natural for a perturbed and doubting heart thus to express itself in a confused and almost contradictory manner.Well must David have understood what this was, when, hunted by Saul, he knew not where to betake himself; at one time seeking refuge among the Moabites, at another in the wilderness of Ziph; now an outlaw hiding himself in the cave of Adullam, and anon a captain in the service of the king of the Philistines; and amid all his projects, haunted by the mournful conviction I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul.C. A. B.]
Psa 13:2. Daily.[Barnes: Everyday; constantly. That is, there was no intermission to his troubles. The sorrow in his heart seems to have been not merely that which was caused by trouble from without, but also that which sprang from the painful necessity of attempting to form plans for his own reliefplans which seemed to be in vain.7C. A. B.]
Str. II. Psa 13:3. Make mine eyes clear.[A. V., lighten mine eyes] does not mean: illuminate mine eyes = my face; namely: with the light of Thy countenance (Geier, and most interpreters), but states the consequences and the work of the Divine glance of grace, namely: the strengthening of the vitality, whose mirror is the clear and cheerful eye, 1Sa 14:27; 1Sa 14:29. Their dimness shows the exhaustion of vitality, Psa 6:7; Lam 5:17. It is true Psa 19:8 speaks of enlightening the eyes by the Spirit and the word of God (Chald., Cocc., et al.), but this is not referred to here, where it has to do with enlightening with the light of life, as Job 33:30; Psa 38:10; Pro 29:13. [Delitzsch: The enlightening light to which refers, is the love-light of the Divine countenance, Psa 31:16. Light, love, and life, are related ideas in the Scriptures. He upon whom God looks in love, remains alive, he who is permeated with new vitality, obtains not to sleep the sleep of death.C. A. B.] The kind of sleep is indicated by the accusative. [A. V.: the sleep of death.] The ancient translations on the other hand have erroneously taken it as if death is not figuratively represented as sleep, but as a condition, to which, or into which, sleep might lead.8
[Psa 13:4. When I am moved.Barnes: Moved from my steadfastness or firmness; when I am overcome. Hitherto he had been able to hold out against them, now he began to despair, and to fear that they would accomplish their object by overcoming and subduing him. His ground of apprehension and of appeal was, that by his being vanquished the cause in which he was engaged would suffer, and that the enemies of religion would triumph.C. A. B.]
[Str. III. Psa 13:5-6. Tholuck: Whilst the thunder and lightning are still raging around him, David sings his song of praise, as Luther also says, While Satan rages and roars about him, he meanwhile sings quietly his little Psalm. The Septuagint has an additional clause, followed by the Vulgate and the English prayer book: Yea, I will praise the name of the Lord Most High. It is not found in any Hebrew MSS.C. A. B.]
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. It is true that God does not forget anyone, yet it may be that to the human spirit it appears as if he were forgotten by God, and that the Holy One had veiled His countenance from him. Then he feels at once that he is forsaken by God, and that he is weak with reference to his enemies. Whatever resolves he may make, he will not escape from his troubles. He fears the disfavor of God, and at the same time is anxious for his own life, and on account of his enemies shouts of victory.
2. Even a pious man may fall into such a state of anxiety of soul, especially if he is mindful of his sins whilst enduring these earthly troubles; if he experiences the nearness of Divine punishment in the dangers which threaten him; if he feels in his trials the hand of the righteous God chastising him; and if he recognizes his transgressions against Divine commands in the hindrances to his communion with God.
3. Yet; as long as the heart of man still retains faith in the Divine grace, despair does not gain the supremacy over his troubled soul. Fear may struggle for a long time with hope, as to whether this grace may still be referred to his own person, and glorify itself by it; but if such a man still earnestly prays, and can earnestly call upon the Divine grace, he will likewise learn again to firmly trust in that grace which alone affords help in dangers of body and necessities of soul; and fear is changed into assurance of salvation, just as lamentation into the praise of God. Mala enim, qu nos hic premunt, ad Christum ire compellunt (Gregory).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Man may be in great need on earth, so that he no longer knows how to advise or help himself; but so long as he can pray, he is not lost.Trouble of heart transcends bodily need; but the greatest trouble arises from anguish of soul on account of the wrath of God.It is well for those who, although in the greatest anxiety, are driven by the feeling that they are abandoned by God, to seek the grace of God! Under the experience of the Divine grace the lamentations of a man are changed into thanksgiving.According as Gods countenance is veiled against us or shines upon us, our life and our experience are darkened or brightened.
Starke:God has provided and appointed to every Christian his cross, so also how long it is to last, and he cannot forget us or our crosses. God only is the light in all our troubles, yes, even in death. We are much blinder and more foolish in our own adversities than in those of others.Sleep and death follow one another, and are brothers.He who does not receive the enlightening grace of God, cannot awake from the sleep of sin, but must go to sleep in death itself.The end of all the Christians troubles is joy. It is ungodly and inhuman to rejoice over the misfortunes of our neighbors; what a degree of wickedness, then, is it not, to rejoice over the undeserved disasters of righteous souls. He who rightly knows the grace of the Lord, His readiness to help, and His constant benefits, will hope, rejoice, and praise the Lord even under the cross.Calvin: Until God actually stretches forth His hand to help us, the flesh cries, His eyes are closed.
Selnekker: At first we should complain to God of our need and solicitude; then we should pray to Him for help and deliverance, and all this for His own glory and name sake; and finally we should thank Him for His gracious advice, help, and assistance.Franke: The chief thing, incumbent upon the children of God, is to possess their souls in patience.Frisch: See what thy faith can do, and what power it has to chase away the spirit of sorrow, and bring pleasure and joy to the heart.Roos: How do we come from darkness to bright light, from the depths into the heights, from straits into a wide room? By prayer and by a struggling faith, which God meets at the right time with His grace to help.Tholuck: There is a much harder trial in the length of sufferings than in their strength.Taube: As a child of God, man first feels what he is when left to himself.Diedrich: Not to perceive God is the most bitter death, and still to behold God, is life, even in the midst of death.
[Matth. Henry: In singing this Psalm and praying over it, if we have not the same complaints to make that David had, we must thank God that we have not, dread and deprecate His withdrawing, pity and sympathize with those that are troubled in mind, and encourage ourselves in our most holy faith and joy.Barnes: Afflicted, depressed, and sad, we go to God. Everything seems dark. We have no peaceno clear and cheerful viewsno joy. As we wait upon God, new views of His character. His mercy, His love, break upon the mind. The clouds open. Light beams upon us. Our souls take hold of the promises of God, and we, who went to His throne sad and desponding, rise from our devotions filled with praise and joy, submissive to the trials which made us so sad, and rejoicing in the belief that all things will work together for our good.Spurgeon: If the reader has never yet found occasion to use the language of this brief ode, he will do so ere long, if he be a man after the Lords own heart.We are all prone to play most on the worst string. We set up monumental stones over the graves of our joys, but who thinks of erecting monuments of praise for mercies received? We write four books of Lamentations and only one of Canticles, and are far more at home in wailing out a Miserere than in chanting a Te Deum.C. A. B.]
Footnotes:
[7][Hupfeld translates: All day long. Delitzsch translates, during the day, and contrasts with the night employed in making his plans, which during the day prove of no avail, and thus he continues in trouble day after day.C. A. B.]
[8][Perowne: Such is the fearfulness of the spiritual conflict, that it seems as if death only could be the end. He knew this who said, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death.Barnes: Death is often compared to sleep.It is only, however, in connection with Christianity, that the idea has been fully carried out by the doctrine of the resurrection; for as we lie down at night with the hope of awaking to the pursuits and enjoyments of a new day, so the Christian lies down in death, with the hope of awaking in the morning of the resurrection to the pursuits and enjoyments of a new and eternal day.C. A. B.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
Here the Psalmist is represented as crying out under grief of mind, from an apprehension of God’s having withdrawn his face. He accompanies his prayers with professing faith in God’s return, and concludes with praise.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
While we keep in view the person of our Lord, whose desertions of the Father for our sins, which he bore, made him eminently distinguished in this instance, as well as all others, for the greatness of his sufferings; we may very profitably make improvement of this Psalm, both in the complaint and cure, according to our own personal concern in what is here said. But, Reader! while we feel and groan under the many how longs in which we estimate the time of our exercises, do let us seek for grace to be looking more to Jesus, than be thus taking counsel in our own souls. Depend upon it, that our poring over ourselves, and what we feel in infirmities and the like, instead of looking, as we are continually enjoined, to the Lord, and casting all our care upon him who careth for us, is one sad cause, and a very great cause too, of all our misery. Psa 34:4-6 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Reasons for Praise
Psa 13:6
There is a reason for singing. The singing that has no reason is really not singing. Why do we sing? what moves the tongue to utterance? Is it because it is time to sing? then the song will be poor and formal. Is it because we are expected to sing? then will the very pith of the song go out of it. Do we sing because we cannot help it? then there may be strong, tender, heaven-seeking music.
‘I will sing unto the Lord, because….’ What a wonderful misconception there often is about singing! I must hear the words, or the song is lost upon me; I do not know enough about the seven notes and all their interminglings to be able to dispense with distinct articulation on the part of the singer. So to this singing man who comes today, who says, ‘I will sing unto the Lord,’ I say, Why? what are the words? we shall be delighted to hear your song if we understand your sentiment; what are the words? He gives us the words; we can follow this wondrous, sweet-singing man because he pronounces every word without slurring a single syllable. Now let us hear these words and say whether this is an old song, or a new one, or both.
I. ‘How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord?’ This is a line of experience worth tracing; this song is true to experience; therefore we wrote it and sang it and own it. We own what we absorb, we own what we appreciate; be it landscape or evening star or the first day of spring, which according to the calendar we have already reached, the bitter east wind notwithstanding: it is still spring, and spring will conquer. Here is a sense of being forgotten. It is a very homely word, but full of tears; it is a black jewel.
Here is a man who has sorrow daily. ‘How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?’ It is that perpetual getting up to sorrow, coming out of sleep to cry still deeper and bitterer rivers of tears. The morning is at hand, the bright vernal morning; rise, O slumberer! And out of the dream-sleep there comes a cry O how sad! ‘To awaken once more only to be reminded that I am God-forgotten and God-forsaken!’ That takes the sunlight out of the sky, withers the flowers, and chokes what would have been a song. Yet all the while this man is turning his eyes in the direction of the hills where the great sanctuary is and still looks up and still hopes.
We contrast the enemy with our weakness and not with God’s strength. There are times when I have nothing to do with myself, but look away; remove the hills that I may see further; roll these intercepting mountains into dust and sand, and throw them into the sea, lest they interrupt my view of God. What can a man be or do when he is forgotten of God or imagines so? What can a man do when God’s face is hidden? We are the creatures of environment and of circumstance to a very large extent, and a mighty man is he, a giant among the sons of God, who, when the environment is dead against him, can lift up his song or smite his harp with fingers that have music in their very blood.
II. Now the song will alter. The Psalmist says, ‘But I have trusted…; my heart shall rejoice’. ‘Trust’ who can define that term? That is the life of faith; that is the life I want to live. I cannot explain the mysteries, I cannot understand the miracles, I am lost amid gathering clouds of difficulties and inexplicable problems; but one thing I know, that I love the Saviour, and I am waiting for Him; and the moment He comes He will lead and I will tremblingly follow.
III. Now these are the words what is the ending? ‘I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.’ He has turned the darkness into light, mourning into joy, and He has opened the prison doors to my soul when it was bound. Thus we must come back again and again, back to the old grand line of experience. If you can say that all things are shaping themselves into a great temple built for God, you are not far from the Lord’s kingdom.
Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. v. p. 118.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
“Handfuls of Purpose”
For All Gleaners
“How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?” Psa 13:1
He who would see how swiftly the moods of the soul can change should study this thirteenth Psalm. In some half-dozen verses the soul goes through all the gamut of spiritual experience. The first tone is one of despair, the last tone is one of high song “I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.” This may be a parenthesis in the history of David; about that time when his life was in daily peril, when he dare scarcely close his eyes in momentary sleep, because his sleep might be his death. Nothing makes us more conscious of time than pain. The darkness is longer than the day. Deprivation always develops consciousness, and makes the soul feel the oppressiveness of a heavy burden. To a man in perfect health, engaged in the usual and happy avocations of life, there seems to be no time; he is wholly unconscious of any painfulness in the passing of the successive hours. But let a man be in pain, and every tick of the clock is an eternity. There is a quality of punishment, there is also a quality of time; the man who suffers is conscious of eternal torment; to tell him that his torment will be over in a few minutes is hardly to relieve his case at all, for every moment that comes is as long as a lingering day. It is instructive to remember, whilst we are consoling ourselves with the comforts of God, that in spiritual experience there are times of positive blankness and darkness. We are then inclined to blame God, because we think the action is wholly on his side. There are times when the soul is quite sure of its own rectitude, and then it begins to dwell painfully and almost resentfully upon the mysteries of divine providence. Instead of saying, How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? we should say, What have I done to bring upon me this sense of divine neglect? Is the divine Being capricious; has he gone away simply for the purpose of afflicting me, and making me feel my weakness and littleness? Have I grieved the Spirit of God? Has he not retired because there has been in my heart unexpressed rebellion against his dominion? Happy is he who is conscious that the divine face has turned away from him. When we suppose that God is still gracious to us, notwithstanding our self-contradictions and moral wanderings, we have lost that sensitiveness which is the truest test of real spiritual-mindedness. To miss God, to cry out for God, to desire his return, all these emotions have indeed their painful aspect; at the same time they should be accepted as proofs that the soul is still conscious of its need of God, and is restless until he returns.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
The Joy of Trust
Psa 13
“How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me.” ( Psa 13:1 ).
This psalm begins with winter and ends with summer. It is most noteworthy, as we have already seen, how the Psalmist often sings himself out of his trouble. The hymn begins in a low muffled tone expressive of sorrow, almost hopeless, and gradually the tone heightens until the closing verse becomes a burst of rapture and thankfulness. Surely it is well even for loneliest sorrow to try at least to sing. It is surely not unnatural for sorrow to create a kind of music all its own. It is pathetic also to observe how all musical notes will lend themselves to the expression of grief as well as to the expression of joy and victory. Our souls translate themselves into the music which they employ. The Psalmist is afraid that he will be forgotten for ever. It is right to express our momentary experiences as if they were the permanent facts of our life. Nowhere are we forbidden to utter our sorrows, or even our despair. The spirit of the Bible would rather seem to say to us, Speak out all that is in your hearts; keep back nothing; if you are weary and heavy-laden, say so in the most expressive terms, and if all the colour has been taken out of your sky, tell God exactly how dark the firmament is, and spare nothing in your description of the darkness and storm which make your soul afraid. God will thus encourage frankness both on the one side and on the other; that is to say, a frankness of sorrow, and a frankness of joy. It is often thought to be right only to express our happier feelings; but the Bible would seem to say that all other feelings are also to be expressed, that in the very expression of them a sense of healing and restoration may, as it were, steal into the soul. The Psalmist here appears to complain of neglect or forgetfulness. This discloses an aspect of the divine government which is not often sufficiently studied. We are prone enough to speak of God contending against us, opposing us, trying us by privations or by sufferings of actual pain; but in this case the Psalmist complains of neglect. Who can bear to be neglected where love is desired? Neglect is cold; neglect hurts by its very passive-ness. It is even possible that the soul might prefer obstinate controversy to cold neglect. There is hope of opposition that it may be turned into sympathy, but who can expect to make anything of neglect or forgetfulness? It is like fighting with death it is like endeavouring to charm the grave into sympathy. Terrible is the feeling of the soul as it begins to realise that it is no longer counted amongst the number of God’s elect; it is simply left out in the cold and darkness of the star-forsaken night, without home, without friend, without hope. What child could bear to think that all the household had retired to rest, and had actually forgotten his existence and left him beyond the household walls? The very fact that such neglect was possible would be an element in the distress which would embitter and discourage the soul.
“How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?” ( Psa 13:2 ).
The literal rendering of this verse brings before us the folly of mere plan-making. David is taking counsel in his own soul; inventing plans of self-deliverance; making up schemes of daily life and programmes of service and progress. He no sooner makes one plan than it is displaced by another. His schemes follow in quick succession, but the second always amends the first, and both give way to the third, and he finds that in much scheming is much disappointment; it brings sorrow into his heart daily. By day he is mocked by harassing thoughts: by night he reverses all his day-plans in dreams, and in the morning he awakes to forget both day and night in some new vision of possible self-deliverance. Thus the mind left to itself is self-tormented; being limited in range, it is continually checking its own conclusions and hesitating as to its own purposes. How true it is “without me ye can do nothing.” This is what Jesus Christ said to his disciples, and we feel it to be true in our own souls when we endeavour to invent plans for ourselves, and to make our will into a kind of divinity. It is curious to observe, too, how the Psalmist continually mixes up the right view and the wrong one, and how he is certain to fall into the wrong view the moment he turns away his complete attention from the living God. In this verse, for example, he occupies the wrong standpoint when he is wondering how long his enemy is to be exalted over him. When a man is truly living in God, he has no time to think about his enemy, nor any disposition to consider what that enemy will do. God occupies the whole soul with equal vividness at every point, and dominates in gracious sovereignty over every beating pulse and living thought. When a man looks at his enemy he may well be discouraged, because the enemy may be strong, rich, vigilant, stubborn, and altogether beyond his strength and resources: but when he looks at God, his enemy fades away into insignificance and invisibleness, and is therefore no longer an energetic factor in his calculations and outlook. It is no doubt painful that such a man as Doeg or Cush should be exalted over such a man as David; but the very fact that David is the man that he is should enable him to despise every enemy, knowing that God is not on their side because of their unrighteousness and self-idolatry. It is very much in our own hands whether we shall be troubled by our enemies or not. We may make them great by thinking much about them; or we may throw their power into distressing disproportion by omitting to bring into view the pledged co-operation and deliverance of God.
“Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death” ( Psa 13:3 ).
It has been considered by some of the most sober commentators that in this verse there is an indistinct reference to the possibility of suicide. David is afraid lest he should sleep the sleep of death. The temptation was very strong that he should put an end to all his troubles and sorrows by his own hand. Throughout the whole Testament there is a continual and all but inexplicable fear of death: “for in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? ” Sheol , or the grave, represented an infinite area, occupied by dead and forgotten men: it was the sphere of darkness and blind night: it was the region of silence: there was nothing about it of the nature of light, or hope, or expectation. The Hebrew mind turned away from it with shuddering and horror not to be expressed. Yet in this very verse there seems to be what may be termed at least a negative hope of immortality. It is as if the Psalmist made a distinction between one kind of sleep and another, namely, the sleep that might awake again, and the sleep of death. Man seems always to have been groping after immortality. His fear of death must be distinguished from a fear of mere pain, and in so far as it is a fear of death it is at least a negative argument in support of the doctrine of immortality. Why shrink from death? If it is the accepted end of all things, why not rather covet it, as the weary man might desire the rest of sleep? What is there to be afraid of in death, if it be the extinction of every faculty and every sensibility? To all these great questionings about death and the future we must bring the answer of Christ: “Jesus Christ hath brought light and immortality to light through the gospel.” By the power of Christ men are now enabled to say, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Account for these as we may, it is at least a pleasing completion of a wonderful process of intellectual development. This is a capital worthy of the historical pillar on which it is placed. The consummation is worthy of the process which has led up to it. We must contrast the expressions of Paul with those of David in order to see the superiority of Christianity over every preceding form of religion. Paul is not afraid of death: he has a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; when he has finished his course, he looks forward to the crown of righteousness; when he is assured that this tabernacle will be dissolved, he rather rejoices in the dissolution, because he has a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. It is impossible to conceive the biblical process of evolution to be inverted. We should have shrunk from a book which began with a revelation of man’s immortality and ended with the gloomy doctrine of annihilation; even where we could not put our argument into words, we should feel that such a process was an anti-climax, an irony of events neither to be credited nor tolerated. Account for it as we may, the biblical line is one of continual ascension and illumination; we go forward from Adam to Christ feeling that we are travelling on a broad, sunny, and upward road; to have gone from Christ to Adam would have created in the mind a wholly contrary and insupportable feeling. To know what Christ has done for the human race we must compare the experiences of the most mature of the Old Testament saints with the experience of the immediate apostles and followers of the Cross. The very tone of triumph in the voice of the latter shows what wonders have been wrought by the indwelling Spirit of God. This holy hope must never be surrendered. It is the light of morning; it is the crown of noonday; it is the star of night.
“Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me” ( Psa 13:4-6 ).
The Psalmist once more turns to his enemy, and therefore once more shows his littleness. But in this case the turning is only for a moment: for a new and happy inspiration seizes the spirit of David. Now dawns the summer. David thinks of mercy and salvation and the bountiful dealing of Providence. A remarkable succession of terms is employed, suggestive of argumentative completion and force: David “trusted,” “rejoiced,” and then “sang” “I have trusted,” “my heart shall rejoice,” “I will sing.” This is a process of education. It is wonderful how all these great processes square themselves with what may be called the natural logic of feeling. David does not begin with a song, but with holy trust. The moment the trust is established, joy begins to glow in the heart; as when a man has built himself a house, strong in the foundations and strong in the superstructure, he begins to feel the spirit of home making his heart glad and his life secure. Joy coming after trust, what can come after joy but song the loud and happy expression of new and sacred gladness? The voice must take part in the holy satisfaction. The judgment trusts, the heart rejoices, the voice sings; thus the whole man is engaged in a noble religious service. The hymn that is not the expression of joy will die away in mere sound, and the joy that is not fortified by trust will flicker and expire. Here, then, we find a standard of judgment and criticism which each one may apply to his own religious experience. What is our trust? Is it in God’s mercy? What is our joy? Is it in God’s salvation? Why do we sing: is it because of the bountifulness of God’s providence? Here again we must not overlook the fact that every feeling indicated by the Psalmist is supported by a distinct reason. The mercy accounts for the trust, the salvation accounts for the joy, the bountifulness accounts for the song. All these three reasons are in full force today; and because the reasons continue in their operation the trust, the joy, and the song should neither be diminished nor restrained. It is in this sense that we need a professing church, a church of testimony, a great band of living witnesses, men who are not afraid to say that they have seen God’s mercy, accepted God’s salvation, and realised God’s bounty. Profession should thus be the expression of gratitude. Christian profession should be built upon these three strong foundations, and then may express itself in noble dome, in lofty spire, and in every form which can attract the attention and satisfy the just expectations of mankind. O heart of man, take courage again! This thirteenth psalm may be a repetition of thy deepest experiences. At the opening the experiences may be full of sadness and grief and trouble, a sense of neglect not to be tolerated by the sensitive soul, and yet the process may develop, bringing with it light upon light, and pleasure upon pleasure, until at last there shall be a sabbath of peace, a jubilee of music, and expectation so high and glad as to bring the soul almost within the very precincts of heaven. My soul, wait thou upon God, and let thine expectation be continually from him; a light shall arise upon thee in darkness, and thy mourning shall be turned into joy. We must not be afraid of enthusiasm. If we were to hold our tongues under some circumstances of peculiar revelation and deliverance, the very stones would cry out; seeing that God must be praised and will be praised, those whom he has made in his own image and likeness should lead the song and be loudest in its utterance.
Prayer
Almighty God, do thou preserve us, continue thy goodness unto us, and give us the sweet sense of the nearness of thine hand and the sureness of its defence; then our soul shall grow in quietness, and the end of the experience shall be abundant fruitfulness: thou shalt be pleased when thou dost come to look upon thy vines. We bless thee for all thy care in the past; the recollection of it renders doubt in the future impossible. Thou hast written thy record in our lives a record of tender love, pitiful compassion, ever-patient forbearance; and what thou hast been thou surely wilt be, if so be our desires go out after thee in loving wonder, seeking thee because none other can fill the void which they express. Thou art round about us; thou dost beset us behind and before, and lay thine hand upon us; yea, thou knowest our thoughts, our words, our whole nature: this is our delight, yet this is our terror: thou understandest wherein our integrity is good, sound, without breach or flaw, and thou also dost penetrate into the quality of our motive, its origin, its unexpressed intent; yea, thy word is sharper than a two-edged sword it pierces, it divides, it spares not. The Lord help us in the day of trial, and be with us in the hour of judgment, and be gracious to us because of our weakness and because of the fewness of our days. We are of yesterday, and know nothing; we have had no time to know: the days have not only been few, but short, and our head has been troubled, and our heart has been distressed, and our eyes have not been able to look clearly. But all these things thou knowest, and thy judgment will be inspired by graciousness, and thy forbearance will be our trust in the day of criticism. We have done the things we ought not to have done, and we have left undone the things that we ought to have done; knowing this, we are without excuse; we will not plead with thee upon this side of our life, but cast ourselves lovingly, humbly, entirely upon thy care and pity and love: we look to thy tears, and not to thy righteousness, when we await the answer of heaven. We await that answer at the Cross. We cannot receive it otherwhere; it would be an answer of lightning and thunder and terrible judgment, yea, the outpouring of many vials of wrath; but whilst we linger at the Cross and look upon the Crucified, and our hearts go out in ineffable desire towards the Priest of humanity, thine answer will be gracious, thy love will come down upon us, thy still small voice will announce thy pardon to our hearts. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
PSALMS
XI
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS
According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:
1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.
2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.
3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.
4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.
5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.
6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.
7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.
At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.
The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.
The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.
They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”
The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:
1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.
2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.
3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .
In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.
It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.
There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.
The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.
The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.
The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:
Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)
Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)
Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)
Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)
Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)
They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.
There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:
Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.
Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:
1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.
2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.
3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.
4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.
5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.
All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:
In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).
In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).
In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).
In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).
The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .
QUESTIONS
1. What books are commended on the Psalms?
2. What is a psalm?
3. What is the Psalter?
4. What is the range of time in composition?
5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?
6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?
7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?
8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.
9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?
10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?
11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?
12. How many psalms in our collection?
13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?
14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?
15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?
16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?
17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?
18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?
19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?
20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?
21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?
22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?
23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?
24. How many of the psalms have no titles?
25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?
26. How do later Jews supply these titles?
27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?
XII
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)
The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:
1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).
2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).
3. The nature, or character, of the poem:
(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).
(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).
4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).
5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).
6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).
7. The kind of musical instrument:
(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).
(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).
(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).
8. A special choir:
(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).
(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).
(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).
9. The keynote, or tune:
(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).
(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).
(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).
(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).
(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).
(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.
(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.
(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.
10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).
11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)
12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).
The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.
The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.
David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:
1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.
2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.
3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.
4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.
5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:
1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.
2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.
3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.
4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.
5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.
6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.
The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.
Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.
Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:
I. By books
1. Psalms 1-41 (41)
2. Psalms 42-72 (31)
3. Psalms 73-89 (17)
4. Psalms 90-106 (17)
5. Psalms 107-150 (44)
II. According to date and authorship
1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )
2. Psalms of David:
(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).
(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).
(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).
3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).
4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).
5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).
6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )
7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )
8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)
III. By groups
1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:
(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;
(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;
(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.
2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )
3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)
4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )
5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”
IV. Doctrines of the Psalms
1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.
2. The covenant, the basis of worship.
3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.
4. The pardon of sin and justification.
5. The Messiah.
6. The future life, pro and con.
7. The imprecations.
8. Other doctrines.
V. The New Testament use of the Psalms
1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.
2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.
We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:
1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )
2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )
3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )
4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )
5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )
6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )
7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )
8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )
9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )
The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.
There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.
It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.
The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.
Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:
1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.
2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.
3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.
The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.
QUESTIONS
1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.
2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?
3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?
4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?
5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.
6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?
7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?
8. What other authors are named in the titles?
9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?
10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.
11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?
12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.
13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?
14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?
15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?
16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?
17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.
18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?
19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?
20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?
XVII
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.
Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.
The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:
1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.
2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.
3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.
In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).
This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.
It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:
1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.
2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.
We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.
1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.
The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.
The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”
In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).
But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .
Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).
This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.
2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:
(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).
(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .
(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”
(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).
What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!
3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.
(1) His divinity,
(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;
(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .
(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .
(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .
(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .
(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .
(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.
(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .
4. His offices.
(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).
(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).
(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).
(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).
(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).
5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:
(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .
(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.
(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .
(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).
And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).
Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).
These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .
(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).
(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .
(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).
(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).
(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).
(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).
(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).
The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).
The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).
The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).
His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).
In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).
His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).
Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).
With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).
We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. What is a good text for this chapter?
2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?
3. What is the last division called and why?
4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?
5. To what three things is the purpose limited?
6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?
7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?
8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?
9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?
10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?
11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.
12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?
13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?
14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?
15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.
16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.
17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.
18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Psa 13:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Ver. 1. How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? ] It appeareth that when David penned this psalm (which some think was about the end of Saul’s persecution, when he was forced to flee into the land of the Philistines, 1Sa 27:1 ) he was under a dreadful desertion, and that for a long while together; hence his many “How longs,” and “for ever?” Christ, saith Greenham, was forsaken for a few hours, David for a few months, and Job for a few years. Luther confesseth of himself that after his conversion he lay three days in desperation; and the like is reported of Mr Robert Bolton, who felt himself for the time in the suburbs of hell, as it were. So did Heman, Psa 88:5 ; so did David here and elsewhere. The final absence of God is hell itself. “Depart from me, ye cursed,” is worse than “into everlasting fire.” To be punished from the presence of the Lord is the hell of hells, 2Th 1:9 . God seemeth to forget his dearest children sometimes for a season, to the end that they may remember themselves, and become every way better; as the lion leaves her whelps till they have almost killed themselves with roaring, that they may become the more courageous. But, to speak properly, God cannot forget his people, Isa 44:16 ; Isa 49:14-16 . Non deserit Deus, etiamsi deserere videatur; non deserit etiamsi deserat, saith Austin, If he leave us for a time, yet he forsaketh us not at all. If he hide his face (as in the next words), which is a further trial, and a greater misery (for it importeth indignation, contempt, and hatred), yet it is but for a moment, though it should be during life; and he, therefore, taketh liberty to do it, saith one, because he hath an eternity of time to reveal his kindness in; time enough for kisses and embraces: meanwhile, as when the sun is eclipsed, though the earth wants the light thereof, yet not the influence thereof; so God’s supporting grace is ever with his deserted.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Here things are no better, but the heart is more urgent, and “How long” is the key-note. It also is inscribed “To the chief musician: a psalm of David.” If deferred hope makes the righteous sick, confidence grows up to joy and gladness.
It is the patience of the saints, waiting for the Kingdom in power and praise.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 13:1-2
1How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2How 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?
Psa 13:1-2 Notice the structure of this introductory strophe is four how long (BDB 723 II, cf. Psa 6:3; Psa 90:13) questions.
1. two in Psa 13:1
2. two in Psa 13:2
They are a literary way of expressing the psalmist’s frustration at his current circumstances. He felt abandoned by God.
1. forgotten by God, Psa 13:1 a
2. God has hidden Himself, Psa 13:1 b
3. personal sorrow, Psa 13:2 a,b
4. his enemy is exalted, Psa 13:2 c
Notice #1 and #2 also appear together in Psa 10:11. The theme of a sense of abandonment is beautifully expressed in Psalms 42. The sense of abandonment is only the perception of the hurting psalmist. The reality is YHWH is with us, for us, and will act on our behalf in appropriate, timely ways!
Psa 13:1 forever This word (BDB 664) is a hyperbolic idiom expressing the psalmist’s feelings of being permanently abandoned by God.
face This, too, is a Hebrew idiom of personal presence (cf. Psa 11:7; Psa 17:15; Psa 27:4; Psa 27:8). For some reason (i.e., personal sin, cf. Psa 13:3 b or illness, 3b) YHWH has seemingly turned away.
Psa 13:2 soul. . .heart These two are parallel and denote Hebrew ways of personifying the person. For soul (nephesh) see note at Gen 35:18 online. For heart see Special Topic: Heart.
all the day This idiom means all the time. This does not mean that the sorrow lasts only during daylight hours.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
How long . . . ? = Until when? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6. Four times repeated is the Figure of speech Anaphora. App-6.
forget . . . face. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. See Psa 9:12, Psa 9:17, Psa 9:18, and Psa 10:11, Psa 10:12.
LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 13:1-6
The thirteenth psalm, to the chief musician. Psalm of David.
How long will thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long will thou hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall my enemy be exalted over me? ( Psa 13:1-2 )
The cry, “O Lord, how long do I go on in this trial? How long, Lord, before You deliver?”
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in thy mercy; and my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation ( Psa 13:3-5 ).
Comes on strong at the end. He speaks of the confidence of the victory that shall be his.
I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me ( Psa 13:6 ).
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Psa 13:1-2. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
When you and I have to spread our complaints before God, we are not the first who have done so. When we complain of Gods forsaking us, we are not alone. There was a greater than David who, even in the article of death, cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Psa 13:3. Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
When it is dark, very dark, we get drowsy. Sorrow induces sleep. Remember how the Saviour found the disciples sleeping for sorrow. Therefore David asks for light. Light will help him to keep awake, and he fears to sleep, so he prays, Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.
Psa 13:4-5. Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and these that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
But what a precious but this is! You can hear the chain rattle as the anchor goes down to hold the vessel.
Psa 13:5-6. I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
What a climb there is, in this Psalm, from the abyss of sorrow up to the summit of joy! I will sing unto the Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me. I hope many of us know what this blessed change means. If any of you are in great sorrow tonight, may my Lord and Master lighten your eyes!
This exposition consisted of readings from PSALMS 12, 13, and 14.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Psa 13:1-2
YEARNING FOR HELP FROM GOD
(FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN; A PSALM OF DAVID).
The social situation reflected in this psalm is apparently the same as it was in Psalms 12. In fact, Delitzsch suggested that fact as the reason why the two psalms appear side by side in the Psalter. The title we have selected is taken from Leupold.
What we have here is five lines of lament (Psa 13:1-2), four lines of prayer (Psa 13:3-5 a), and three lines of rejoicing (Psa 13:5 b-6).
THE FIVE LINES OF LAMENT
Psa 13:1-2
“How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me forever?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?”
Four times the cry, “How long?” rises from the plaintive lines, the evident distress of the psalmist deriving from his impression that God has forsaken him, hiding his face from him, and that somehow God’s favor at the moment does not rest upon him. This consciousness of separation from God has indeed brought an agony of near-despair to the psalmist.
The reasons for the psalmist’s distress are not far to seek.
(1) God is the source of all happiness;
(2) he is the source of all wisdom;
(3) he is the source of all strength; and
(4) he is the source of life itself.
Because the psalmist feels separated from God, he has (1) sorrow, (2) feels the need of counsel (Psa 13:2), (3) is weak before his enemy (Psa 13:2), and (4) has a fear of death itself (Psa 13:3).
It is strange indeed that children of God are not exempt from such feelings of abandonment and despair, and we are left in wondering as to why it should be so. Perhaps the Lord wishes to drive us to our knees repeatedly that we should ever rely upon Him and not upon ourselves.
One of the most discerning lines we have seen in connection this psalm is the following:
“Prayer is not only the proper reaction of the godly to trouble, it is also the effective medicine against depression in the face of it.
In the same vein of thought are these words accredited to Martin Luther:
“Hope itself despairs, and despair yet hopes, and only that unspeakable groaning is audible with which the Holy Spirit, who moves over the waters covered with darkness, intercedes for us.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 13:1. Again we should remember that David was writing of his experiences in trials “as a man.” See my comments at ch. 10:1. It seemed at times that the Lord had forgotten him; that was because one’s suffering makes the time seem long.
Psa 13:2. Counsel in my soul refers to his meditations over his sorrows. He feels as if his enemies had the advantage over him.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
This little psalm is very full of beauty as it traces the way by which many a tried and , tempest-tossed soul has found consolation and strength. First of all, there is the cry almost of despair. Foes are oppressing the men of faith. There seems to be no succor even from Jehovah. Yet carefully note that his faith in Jehovah, who is God, abides. He is able to help. To Him then he cries.
This is a lesson of profound value. If the heart be overburdened and Jehovah seems to hide His face, let the story of woe be told to Him. It is a holy exercise. Men may not understand it. They may even charge us with failing faith; when, as a matter of fact, while all other anchorage crumbles in the storm, faith fastens itself more surely on the Rock. How does the psalm end? With a song of triumph. Yet it is a song of faith, for deliverance is not yet realized. How, then, does the song emerge from the wail? Carefully examine the words:
But I have trusted in Thy mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.
That backward look has served to remind the troubled heart of deliverances and a new confidence is born of the memory which utters itself in a song. It is good to “forget the things behind” if memory of them would hinder present consecration. It is also good to remember all the way Jehovah has led us when the day was dark with fear.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Bounty of God and the Folly of Men
Psa 13:1-6; Psa 14:1-7
The first of these psalms evidently dates from the Sauline persecutions, 1Sa 19:1. Four times the persecuted soul cries, How long! The psalm begins in deepest dejection, but clears as it proceeds. Prayer often proves to be the ladder from the deepest dungeon to the more radiant day. We find here depression, Psa 13:1-2; supplication, Psa 13:3-4; assurance, Psa 13:5-6. Do not carry your anxieties in your heart. Remember that Christ is by your side, and leading you through all to the Kingdom. Faith begins praise for victory before the fight has reached its worst.
The creed, character, and doom of the atheist are set forth in the next psalm, and the psalm is so important as to demand repetition. See Psa 53:1-6. The root of atheism is in the heart, Rom 1:21. Its effect on character, speech, and action is disastrous, and it ends in great fear, Psa 14:5. The best answer to atheism is the light and liberty of the children of God, Psa 14:7; Heb 9:28; 2Th 1:6-10.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
In Psalm 13 we have the tried believer crying to God for deliverance and yet trusting in His overruling providence in spite of all the difficult circumstances of the way. Four times in the first two verses we get the cry, How long? How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide Thy face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? This is the heart cry, not only of Christian people during this present age of grace when we have to suffer for righteousness sake, but also it is the cry of Gods earthly people, Israel, who, ever since that dread hour when they exclaimed, His blood be on us, and on our children (Mat 27:25), have been suffering terribly because they failed to recognize their King when He came to bring deliverance.
While on our trip to the Holy Land my wife and my daughter and I stood by the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem, and for something like an hour we watched the Jews, several hundreds of them, as they faced that wall, all that is left of the great structure that Solomon once built (the Mohammedans have control of the temple area above), and we heard them repeating these cries from the Psalms. Mournfully these words rang out, How long? How long shall the enemy oppress? How long shall Thy people suffer? How long till Messiah comes and brings deliverance? As we stood with them we too cried, How long? and we prayed with them, Even so, come, Lord Jesus, for we knew what they do not yet know, that deliverance will come with the return of our blessed Lord. And so the righteous here are crying to God for this deliverance.
Consider and hear me, they pray, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. It is a very striking fact that death is presented both in the Old and New Testaments for the people of God as a sleep. That does not mean that when we put the bodies of our loved ones in Christ, away in the tomb, we bury all there is of them, that spirit, soul, and body go to sleep until the resurrection; for we know from Scripture that for the believer to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When Christians die, they go directly to be with Christ, but the body sleeps, and that is what the Psalmist has in mind here. Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. In spite of difficult circumstances the saint of God looks up in confidence and says, But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me. I do not know anything but the salvation of God that can enable people to joy in the midst of sorrow and to praise in the hour of trial. The world has its Stoics, men who look at things in a philosophical kind of way and say, I am not going to complain nor show the white feather, and so they grit their teeth and go on. That is a great thing. A lot of folk have not attained even to that. But that is not Christianity. Christianity enables one not only to endure uncomplainingly, but it also fills the heart and lips with songs in the night of sorrow and enables one to glory in tribulation. And so will it be with Gods people in the dark, dark days when the antichrist will be manifested and they will be suffering under his cruel and wicked rule.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Psalm 13
1. How long? Answer me, Jehovah (Psa 13:1-4)
2. The victory of faith (Psa 13:5-6)
Psa 13:1-4. Four times How long? The trial of faith becomes more severe. Sorrow is in the heart and an enemy is outside. Has then Jehovah forgotten? The hearts begin to despair; an answer is demanded, it must come lest I sleep the sleep of death.
Psa 13:5-6. But here comes the change. Faith triumphs and is victorious. I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto Jehovah, for He hath dealt bountifully with me.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
am 3464, bc 540 – Title chief. or, overseer.
How: Psa 6:3, Psa 35:17, Psa 74:1, Psa 80:4, Psa 85:5, Psa 89:46, Psa 90:14, Psa 94:3, Psa 94:4
forget: Psa 10:12, Lam 5:20
wilt thou hide: Psa 22:1, Psa 22:2, Deu 31:17, Job 13:24, Isa 59:2
Reciprocal: Job 7:19 – How long Job 19:2 – How long Job 23:8 – General Job 34:29 – when he hideth Psa 22:11 – Be not Psa 27:9 – Hide Psa 30:7 – thou Psa 42:9 – Why hast Psa 44:24 – Wherefore Psa 55:2 – I mourn Psa 69:3 – I am Psa 69:17 – hide Psa 70:5 – O Lord Psa 74:10 – General Psa 74:23 – Forget Psa 77:7 – the Lord Psa 79:5 – How long Psa 88:14 – hidest Psa 102:2 – Hide Psa 139:6 – knowledge Psa 143:7 – Hear me Isa 26:8 – desire Isa 49:14 – my Lord Isa 54:8 – I hid Jer 15:18 – my pain Hab 1:2 – how Mat 5:4 – General Luk 18:7 – though Rev 6:10 – How
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
SEEMING DESERTIONITS CAUSE AND CURE
How long wilt Thou forget me, O Lord?
Psa 13:1
I. The sad case of the deserted soul (Psa 13:1-4).To the sufferer it was very real and terrible. Compared with this, other troubles were light; just because God was so dear, so necessaryhis all in all. Had he loved Him less, it might have been bearable; but not now. Ah! shall we ever understand, even a little, of the true meaning of Emmanuels cry: My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
II. The swift and certain curefaith, hope, and praise (Psa 13:5-6). (1) FaithI have trusted in Thy mercy. He bestirred himself, shook off the insidious bondage to things seen and felt, and fell back on to Gods promise as the one and only reality. To this he had now committed every ounce of his weight of doubt and care; and with such definiteness of conscious committal that the promise, and his trust in it, were now the bottom facts of his life. Then came a mighty and instantaneous change. Gods presence is now as certain as His own Word: no other proof is needed. So faith begets, (2) Hope. I have trusted in Thy mercy glides naturally into My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. (3) And Hope swells into Praise: I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.
Illustrations
(1) The thirteenth psalm has ever been dear to holy souls in dark hours of temptation, whether of the intellect or of the will; and the thousands who so use it feel that it is the voice of an individual life.
(2) A wonderful and precious psalm, wrung from a breaking heart, agonised with Gods delays and apparent forgetfulness. Five times the Psalmist cries, How long? He reminds us of men who hold a fort. Around are the besiegers, with their terraces of cannon; attacks are frequent, disease and shortness of food are doing their deadly work within the lines. Message after message has been sent by runners to hasten the tardy progress of the relieving column. But still it tarries! The disciples may have said it, when toiling across the lake; and the sisters, when Jesus came not to the house where Lazarus lay slowly dying. We have said it often, How long? How long?
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Brought up from the gates of death.
To the chief musician, a psalm of David.
The third psalm of the series is a resurrection psalm, as agrees well with its position. In it the soul goes down into the depths, but only to find renewal of strength, and fuller blessing. For is it not so in the case of any difficulty met with God, and mastered, as, thus met, it will be mastered? And thus, as it would seem, upon every dealing of God with us, and in every stage of His new-creative work, the stamp of resurrection will be found. We must face nature’s ruin, bury the dead, acquiesce in the setting aside of creature strength entirely, that all power may be ascribed where it belongs -to God.
How interesting, in this respect, to find in each of the six days’ work wherein, in Gen 1:1-31, we have seen the type of just this new creative work, this same stamp exhibited! On the Sabbath of rest it can be at last omitted. Thus “the evening and the morning” constitute each “day.” The day begins with light indeed, but with evening-light, destined, as it would seem, only to make haste to die out and disappear, but to have ere long its resurrection “morning.” Here, one would say, the sole purpose of the psalm is to affix this stamp: God thus snapping the ties of nature in all that sin has blighted, ending all creature -so all self -dependence, that all our trust may fasten on Himself. Then, when we make Him all, we find Him all; the natural truth, that “in Him we live and move and have our being,” becomes a spiritual truth, spiritually discerned and enjoyed. As here, the soul beginning with a groan ends with a song. We have passed through a tunnel of earth to the unveiled glory of heaven.
1. The six verses fall into three couplets, so that the six is really a 3 x 2. It is at once a discipline and a lesson in mastery that we have in them. The cry here is of one desolate indeed, although, as has been noticed, conscience is not accusing as in the sixth psalm. The psalmist cries a strange cry, bred at once of intimacy and estrangement, that Jehovah -the Unchanging -has forgotten! Then will His forgetfulness now not change? Will it be perpetual? Who, indeed, can read such a riddle as this? Clouds have hid the sun, but who would then identify the sun and the cloud? The cloud passes, but the sun abides.
Simple, all this, -to see and say as to another! With the chill and the shadow upon us, is it always so easy? “Behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands; thy words have upholders him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees: but now it is come upon thee, and thou faintest; it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.” (Job 4:3-5.) So it is indeed with more than Job: at the critical moment, when demand is made upon us to show strength, there is naught but weakness; the arguments that we ourselves have used with others stand where they did, but they avail not; they have not been refuted, but they do not comfort us. Ah,we need more than argument: the living strength of the God of strength alone suffices in the day of personal need; and a terrible thing it is, perhaps, then to realize how much of the energy that has carried us on has not been that!
Argument? What use in argument, when a soul says, God has forgotten! He used to speak to me, He used to bless me, I used to find Him when I sought; but now! And here is one who has known the favor of Jehovah, and whose prayer has entered into His ears, telling Him he is not the same; asking, Will He remember me no more?
So comes the weary “taking counsel,” the strife of thought, of little use indeed, if God be the changeable being we have made Him. All the counsel in our hearts cannot lift care indeed, if God be no more God; “if,” as Luther’s wife asked him, “God were dead.” But He is not, or we would not be at His feet, even to groan out these faithless fears.
2. And at His feet the soul grows bolder: “Consider, -answer me, Jehovah, my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep -death.” Aye, the despair of all else shows that faith is about to revive; despair of all else absolutely makes God the one grand resource. We grasp with one hand some unbreakable holdfast, and with the other some poor weed or fragile thread that could not support one for a moment; and then, when this has snapped, we cry, “Oh, the holdfast has given way,” when all that is needed is to put both hands upon it! This is now the lesson; and immediately the soul gets the right argument, not with itself but with God: “Lighten mine eyes,” it says: “Lord, Thou knowest, Thou art the light of them: yea, the light of life itself; if Thou art not with me, it is only death.”
This is the argument; this is the thicket that caught for us the horns of the ram of sacrifice. (Gen 22:13.) Our feebleness laid hold of the unique power of Christ -power that only was in Him -to bring Him in for us. He had the power, and there was none else, and He knew it: “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought salvation to Him.” (Isa 59:16.) What an argument to infinite Love to tell Him, if truthfully we can, “Lord, Thou art my one necessity: the light of these poor eyes, the light in which alone we see light; the Life without whom there is only, only death!” This is a prayer taught by the Holy Ghost Himself, -by Him who “maketh intercession for the saints according to God.” (Rom 8:27, Gk.) We put both arms round Him when we say so; and it is a prayer so possible for us all, a child’s prayer, -an infant’s, -never to be refused by the tender pity of God.
He is the Light and He is the Life: simple truths indeed, yet how needful to remember. The wise of this world, with all the subtlety of human intellect, can never succeed in anything but in deceiving themselves and all that trust in them. Christ alone is wisdom, what can be ever rightly counted such, -true wisdom, because in it alone are found “righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1Co 1:30, Gk.)* Men are lost, and must come to God not as philosophers but as sinners. All cannot be the first; the last of these all are.
{*Almost all versions have obscured the meaning here: the words should read, “who is made unto us wisdom from God: righteousness as well as sanctification and redemption.” The Revised Version has in the margin “both righteousness and sanctification and redemption,” -a right meaning, in bad English.}
Yet I do not say how deep the psalmist goes here. There may be more in his words than realized by himself. Death physical had not lost its shadow yet for the saint; for He had not come who has “abolished” it. The pressure of the enemy is felt all through these experiences, though by it also God is working blessing as in all things: “He maketh all things work together for good to those that love Him.” Here the psalmist pleads that the enemy may not triumph, nor his adversaries be able to exult in his being moved.
3. The third couplet gives the resurrection from the depths. First, faith finds the solid ground under its feet. It has not an elaborate argument, but a very simple one: “I have trusted in His mercy, therefore deliverance shall come!” Perhaps a little more than that: “I have trusted in His mercy: so then I will be glad at once, for deliverance is sure!” It is good to be able to honor Him thus before it comes, and not to be taken by surprise by it. Sorrowful, even in the deliverance itself, never to have given Him credit for it beforehand!
Then the last verse celebrates (I think) the actual deliverance which surely follows. And now in proportion to the distress is the liveliness of the joy. The sigh becomes a song. There are no details all the way through, that we may have before us just the fact which the psalm emphasizes, that God is the God of resurrection, and that so, weaned from all self-trust, He Himself becomes the one sufficiency, -the all-sufficiency of the believing soul.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Psa 13:1-2. How long wilt thou forget That is, neglect or disregard; me, O Lord? for ever? Shall it be during my whole life? How long wilt thou hide thy face? Withdraw thy favour and assistance? How long shall I take counsel, &c. How long shall I be in such perplexities and anxieties of mind, not knowing what course to take, nor how to get out of my troubles?
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS.This psalm was Israels plaintive song in the time of trouble. It eased their hearts in captivity, that a bright morning would break, and chase their night away; that God would make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. The hidings of Gods face are the greatest calamities which can befal the believer in his pilgrimage; and they are to be deprecated as the last of evils. Those cheering emanations from the fountain of light, of life and love, which gladden both angels and saints, are the essence of happiness and heaven; and when they are suspended or interrupted, we should investigate the cause with the must scrupulous care. As God is perfectly happy in himself, and the source of happiness to all his creatures, we are, when under spiritual desertion or the hidings of his face, not to be still and quiet, but languishing for the return of comfort.
It is an additional affliction when the hidings of Gods face are connected with outward troubles. So here: David was long in exile, and his enemy was exalted over him. But it should be remarked, that when temporal troubles come, we are apt to look at them till we sink into darkness and discouragement. This we should guard against, and never look at trials without looking also to the Lord.
David, surrounded with darkness and trouble, prays for deliverance, because of the daily sorrow he felt in his soul. Hence our cloudy days should be days of humiliation, for there is no consideration which should more seriously induce the soul to examine and abase itself before God than the hidings of his face. He next prays for comfort and deliverance, lest he should sleep the sleep of death, and leave the enemy in triumph, saying, I have prevailed against him. Then what would become of all the promises made to him by Samuel, and in the name of the Lord?
Faith in those promises supported him when he saw no prospect of deliverance. He trusted in the mercy of God, and rejoiced in his salvation. Thus the church should ever do: the promises are the anchor-hold of faith. By these we anticipate help; and while the enemy rejoices with presumptuous hope, we rejoice in that God who will presently disperse our gloom by the brightness of his appearing.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
XIII. A Prayer in Distress with Confidence of Final Victory.
Psa 13:2. Read, How long must I bear affliction on my soul? (Psa 13:2 a) and in the same verse day and night (LXX, in some codices) or by conjecture day after day.
Psa 13:5 f. confidence in coming deliverance.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
PSALM 13
The faith of the godly remnant in circumstances in which they are apparently forgotten by God.
In the course of this group of psalms (11-15) the distress of the godly soul deepens. In Psalm 11 he sees the foundations going: in Psalm 12 the godly man ceases and the faithful fail from among the children of men; in this psalm (13) the soul reaches the deepest point of distress, for the circumstances would make it appear that God Himself has forgotten the soul.
(v. 1) Though tried by evil without and fears within, the grace of God sustains the soul. Hence the cry, How long? This is the language of faith that clings to God, knowing that He will put a limit to the trials of His people, and the evil of the wicked. Faith can ask, How long wilt thou forget? in the midst of circumstances which seem to say, For ever.
(v. 2) Under the pressure of the circumstances the soul turns in upon itself – taking counsel in its own soul apart from God. The weary reasonings of the mind bring no relief. The result of self-occupation, as ever, is to fill the heart with sorrow, and to give the enemy an occasion to triumph over the soul.
(v. 3) Relief is found in prayer which turns the soul from self to the Lord, with the immediate result that the eyes are lightened – the spiritual vision is cleared. Turning in upon self darkens the heart with sorrow; looking out to the Lord lightens the eyes.
(vv. 4-5) With eyes enlightened the soul sees clearly the aims of the enemy, and that the resource of the godly is found in the mercy and salvation of the Lord. Occupied with himself he can only see his weakness and the power of the enemy in relation to himself. Having turned to the Lord, he sees the enemy in relation to the Lord. Whereas the heart was filled with sorrow when occupied with its own reasonings (v. 2), now the heart rejoices in view of the mercy and salvation of the Lord.
(v. 6) Having turned to the Lord, the faith of the soul realizes and trusts in the loving-kindness of the Lord, and not in personal merit, nor in the justness of his cause. This brings relief so that the soul passes from the distress caused by occupation with circumstances to rejoicing in view of the Lord’s salvation. The joy of his heart finds an outlet in the praise of his lips. The soul breaks forth in a song to the Lord, because the Lord hath dealt bountifully with him. Occupied with the enemy’s works he was plunged into deepest distress. Occupied with the Lord’s bountiful dealings he breaks forth into song.
Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible
13:1 [To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.] How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? {a} for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
(a) He declares that his afflictions lasted a long time, and that his faith did not waver.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Psalms 13
Like several of the preceding psalms, this one is also a prayer that the psalmist offered in the midst of affliction. David rested in confidence in the Lord even though he saw no immediate relief from his predicament, possibly illness. This individual lament psalm designed for community use begins with sobbing and ends with singing.
"The Psalm consists of . . . three groups of decreasing magnitude. A long deep sigh is followed, as from a relieved breast, by an already much more gentle and half calm prayer; and this again by the believing joy which anticipates the certainty of being answered. This song as it were casts up constantly lessening waves, until it becomes still as the sea when smooth as a mirror, and the only motion discernible at last is that of the joyous ripple of calm repose." [Note: Delitzsch, 1:199.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1. Lament over prolonged suffering 13:1-2
Rhetorical questions expressed David’s frustration and sought to move God to action (cf. Psa 6:3). God had apparently forgotten His servant or was hiding from him (cf. Exo 2:24-25). Having no word from the Lord, David had to listen to his own reasoning that he regarded as a poor substitute. In the meantime, his enemy continued to enjoy the upper hand.
"Psalms 13 is indeed a speech of disorientation. Something is terribly wrong in the life of the speaker, and in the life of the speaker with God." [Note: Brueggemann, p. 58.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 13:1-6
THIS little psalm begins in agitation, and ends in calm. The waves run high at first, but swiftly sink to rest, and at last lie peacefully glinting in sunshine. It falls into three strophes, of which the first (Psa 13:1-2) is the complaint of endurance strained almost to giving way; the second (Psa 13:3-4) is prayer which feeds fainting faith; and the third (Psa 13:5-6, which are one in the Hebrew) is the voice of confidence, which in the midst, of trouble, makes future deliverance and praise a present experience.
However true it is that sorrow is “but for a moment,” it seems to last for an eternity. Sad hours are leaden-footed, and joyful ones winged. If sorrows passed to our consciousness as quickly as joys, or joys lingered as long as sorrows, life would be less weary. That reiterated “How long?” betrays how weary it was to the psalmist. Very significant is the progress of thought in the fourfold questioning plaint, which turns first to God, then to himself, then to the enemy. The root of his sorrow is that God seems to have forgotten him; therefore his soul is full of plans for relief, and the enemy seems to be lifted above him. The “sorrow of the world” begins with the visible evil, and stops with the inward pain; the sorrow which betakes itself first to God, and thinks last of the foe, has trust embedded in its depths, and may unblamed use words which sound like impatience. If the psalmist had not held fast by his confidence, he would not have appealed to God. So the “illogical” combination in his first cry of “How long?” and “forever” is not to be smoothed away, but represents vividly, because unconsciously, the conflict in his soul from the mingling of the assurance that Gods seeming forgetfulness must have an end and the dread that it might have none. Luther, who had trodden the dark places, understood the meaning of the cry, and puts it beautifully when he says that here “hope itself despairs, and despair yet hopes, and only that unspeakable groaning is audible with which the Holy Spirit, who moves over the waters covered with darkness, intercedes for us.” The psalmist is tempted to forget the confidence expressed in Psa 9:18 and to sink to the denial animating the wicked in Psa 10:11. The heart wrung by troubles finds little consolation in the mere intellectual belief in a Divine omniscience. An idle remembrance which does not lead to actual help is a poor stay for such a time. No doubt the psalmist knew that forgetfulness was impossible to God; but a God who, though He remembered, did nothing for, His servant, was not enough for him, nor is He for any of us. Heart and flesh cry out for active remembrance; and however clear the creed, the tendency of long-continued misery will be to tempt to the feeling that the sufferer is forgotten. It takes much grate to cling fast to the belief that He thinks of the poor suppliant whose cry for deliverance is unanswered. The natural inference is one or other of the psalmists two here: God has forgotten or has hidden His face in indifference or displeasure. The Evangelists profound “therefore” is the corrective of the psalmists temptation: “Jesus loved” the three sad ones at Bethany; “when therefore He heard that he was sick, He abode still two days in the place where He was.”
Left alone, without Gods help, what can a man do but think and think, plan and scheme to weariness all night and carry a heavy heart as he sees by daylight how futile his plans are? Probably “by night” should be supplied in Psa 13:2 a; -and the picture of the gnawing cares and busy thoughts which banish sleep and of the fresh burst of sorrow on each new morning appeals only too well to all sad souls. A brother laments across the centuries, and his long-silent wail is as the voice of our own griefs. The immediate visible occasion of trouble appears only in the last of the fourfold cries. Gods apparent forgetfulness and the psalmists own subjective agitations are more prominent than the “enemy” who “lifts himself above him.” His arrogant airs and oppression would soon vanish if God would arise. The insight which places him last in order is taught by faith. The soul stands between God and the external world, with all its possible calamities; and if the relation with God is right, and help is flowing unbrokenly from Him, the relation to the world will quickly come right, and the soul be lifted high above the foe, however lofty he be or think himself.
The agitation of the first strophe is somewhat stilled in the second, in which the stream of prayer runs clear without such foam, as the impatient questions of the first part. It falls into four clauses, which have an approximate correspondence to those of strophe 1. “Look hither, answer me, Jehovah, my God.” The first petition corresponds to the hiding of Gods face, and perhaps the second, by the law of inverted parallelism, may correspond to the forgetting, but in any case the noticeable thing is the swift decisiveness of spring with which the psalmists faith reaches firm ground here. Mark the implied belief that Gods look is not an otiose gaze, but brings immediate act answering the prayer; mark the absence of copula between the verbs giving force to the prayer and swiftness to the sequence of Divine acts; mark the outgoing of the psalmists faith in the addition to the name “Jehovah” (as in Psa 13:1). “of the personal my God,” with all the sweet and reverent appeal hived in the address. The third petition, “Lighten mine eyes,” is not for illumination of vision, but for renewed strength. Dying eyes are glazed: a sick mans are heavy and dull. Returning health brightens them. So here the figure of sickness threatening to become death stands for trouble or possibly the “enemy” is a real foe seeking the life. as will be the most natural interpretation if the Davidic origin is maintained. To “sleep death” is a forcible compressed expression, which is only attenuated by being completed. The prayer rests upon the profound conviction that Jehovah is the fountain of life, and that only by His continual pouring of fresh vitality into a man can any eyes be kept from death. The brightest must be replenished from His hand, or they fail and become dim; the dimmest can be brightened by His gift of vigorous health. As in the first strophe the psalmist passed from God to self, and thence to enemies, so he does in the second. His prayer addresses God: its pleas, regard, first, himself, and, second, his foe. How is the preventing of the enemys triumph in his being, stronger than the psalmist and of his malicious joy over the latters misfortune an argument with God to help? It is the plea, so familiar in the Psalter and to devout hearts, that Gods honour is identified with His servants deliverance, a true thought, and one that may reverently be entertained by the humblest lover of God, but which needs to be carefully guarded. We must make very sure that Gods cause is ours before we can be sure that ours is His: we must be very completely living for His honour before we dare assume that His honour is involved in our continuing to live. As Calvin says, “Cum eo nobis communis erit haec precatio, si sub Dei imperio et auspiciis militamus.”
The storm has all rolled away in the third strophe, in which faith has triumphed over doubt: and anticipates the fulfilment of its prayer. It begins with an emphatic opposition of the psalmists personality to the foe: “But as for me”-however they may rage-“I have trusted in Thy mercy.” Because he has thus trusted, therefore he is sure that that mercy will work for him salvation or deliverance from his present peril. Anything is possible rather than that the appeal of faith to Gods heart of love should not be answered. Whoever can say, I have trusted, has the right to say, I shall rejoice. It was but a moment ago that this man had asked, How long shall I have sorrow in my heart? and now the sad heart is flooded with sudden gladness. Such is the magic of faith, which can see an unrisen light in the thickest darkness, and hear the birds singing amongst the branches even while the trees are bare and the air silent. How significant the contrast of the two rejoicings set side by side: the adversaries when the good man is “moved”: the good mans when Gods salvation establishes him in his place! The closing strain reaches forward to deliverance not yet accomplished, and, by the prerogative of trust, calls things that are not as though they were. “He has dealt bountifully with me”; so says the psalmist who had begun with “How long?” No external change has taken place; but his complaint and prayer have helped him to tighten his grasp of God, and have transported him into the certain future of deliverance and praise. He who can thus say, “I will sing,” when the hoped for mercy has wrought salvation, is not far off singing even while it tarries. The sure anticipation of triumph is triumph. The sad minor of “How long?” if coming from faithful lips, passes into a jubilant key, which heralds the full gladness of the yet future songs of deliverance.