How often have you thought or said: “How long will I have to put up with this?” when faced with a trial? David used this expression four times in the first two verses of Psalm 13. Therefore this psalm has been called the “How long?” or the “Howling psalm.” 

We are not told what caused David to write this psalm when he was so depressed, but it may have been while he was an exile hunted by Saul. Even though his faith was in the Lord yet his faith wavered because he felt that the Lord had forgotten him. The time seemed so long that it seemed it might go on forever. Such experiences are indeed a trial of faith, and especially since there is no indication of failure or sin on David’s part at this time.

The psalm tells of how the Lord lifted David above his circumstances during the trial. This can also be true of the believer today if he only takes to heart the truth of the words of the Lord Jesus, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Hebrews 13:5,6).

The psalm is the cry of a soul in sore trial like Jesus was in the fullest sense for He was daily “acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). It will also be the cry of the Jewish remnant in the last days during the Great Tribulation—just before Christ returns to earth to set up His Kingdom, and it is the cry of David and saints though the years—today as well! Is the reader of this paper one who is going through severe trial? This psalm has a message for you.

The six verses of this psalm are easily divided into three parts with two verses in each part and they have been given the following titles:

1. (Verses 1&2) Alone – The Cry of Anguish

v. 1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?

v. 2. How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

David addresses the psalm: “To the Chief Musician” —to none other than to the Lord Jesus Christ who leads the singing in the midst of His people for He says to God: ” I will declare thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises.” (Hebrews 2:12, Darby). The “Chief” Musician implies the presence and accompaniment of His people gathered around Him.

David’s How longs are: (1) ”Will You forget me forever? (2) Will You hide Your face from Me? (3) Shall I have sorrow in my heart daily? (4) And will my enemy be exalted over me?” One could get this discouraged by losing the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12), or by being weary from an extended trial. Let us remember however, that only the believer is tested and trained by trials: “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). The unbeliever is told to: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

2. (Verses 3&4) The Prayer – The Soul Calmed, Knowing the Lord will Answer

v. 3.  Consider and hear me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;

v. 4.  Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

We are told in Isaiah 59:16 that God “wondered”(KJV) “stunned or desolate”(Strongs) that there was “no intercessor” and that this is the reason that He provided the marvelous means to approach His throne by prayer, and the resulting blessing is “therefore His arm brought salvation unto him; and His righteousness, it sustained him.” Thus crying out to the Lord in our feebleness—owning Him as our only hope, brings forth His power.

Prayer is possible for us all—even for a child, and when we approach Christ by faith in His Word according to His will, He becomes the all-sufficiency of the believing soul. Actually the Lord uses the enemy against us to help us to turn toward Christ with confidence for deliverance!

David speaks of death as “sleep.” Saints in both the Old and New Testaments who die are referred to as sleeping (see John 11:11). This is not sleep of the soul or of the spirit, for only the body sleeps. However, to the saints in the Old Testament, death had not yet lost its shadow for Christ had not yet come to “abolish” it by tasting “death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9). The believer can now proclaim, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

David asks God to preserve him from death lest his enemy claim to have prevailed against him. Of course the Lord would not allow the enemy to prevail, for God will always prevail, but if David was moved in any way from the path of faith, the enemy would rejoice. However, it is God who preserves the child of God from being moved, and this will be beautifully proven when Israel passes through the Great Tribulation.

3. (Verses 5&6) Realization – Note of Triumph

v. 5.  But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

v. 6.  I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

In order to get to Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,” most Christians go through the experience of Romans 7: “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: . . . Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:18 and 25). The Psalmist got there in verses 5 & 6. Notice the tenses: “have,” “shall,” “will,” and “hath.” David thanked the Lord before he received the answer. This is the proof of faith in God’s Word and this confidence brings peace in the midst of trial for he was sure He would deliver. 

The prayer of David has its answer in these closing verses as though it were a resurrection from the dead. His trust in God’s mercy lifts his heart to rejoice in God’s salvation (v. 5). Honest prayer will always have this result, and faith is accompanied with rejoicing. His joy expresses itself in singing to the Lord (v. 6) because of His bountiful dealings.

There is nothing but the salvation of God that can enable His people to joy in the midst of sorrow, and praise in the midst of trial. No wonder David cried: “Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12). The world has its stoics who grit their teeth and go on. But that is not Christianity—which enables one to endure and fills the heart and lips with “songs in the night” of sorrow (Job 35:10).

May each of us enjoy and rejoice in the Lord irregardless of circumstances! This is what He provides to those who have faith in His Word.