How Long
Psalm 13 — 1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
Have you ever lived with toddlers or a young child? Initially this cry reminds me of the early years of parenting. Especially when it involved Time Out. At first glance it’s a ridiculous statement, it doesn’t even make sense. But David wasn’t a toddler. Whether he wrote this Psalm when he was on the run from Saul, his son Absalom, his multiple enemies or in a time of illness we don’t know. But we do know, he was suffering to the point of desperation.
Even though we have not been on the run from people who want to kill us, each of us have suffered. And I would suggest that each of us have suffered to the point of desperation, where we just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Each one of us has experienced and survived the dark season of the soul.
Today as we continue our series in the Psalms, we’re going deeper into the time of waiting. Those times in the valley of horridness; of pain and elongated suffering; of feeling like we are being ignored and left in the dark… forever.
Like a Child
I joked earlier how this phrase sounded like a toddler in Time Out. But there is truth in that a child complains to their parent because they innately believe their parent loves them and will hear their complaint. And that is exactly the basis of David’s plea. He had confidence—despite his failures and mistakes—he could approach the God of the Universe and voice his grievance. David didn’t expect a result because of who he was or what he had or hadn’t done. He was confident God would act based on who He (God) was. David’s assurance was in his relationship with God AND Yahweh’s righteousness.
In fact, most often when we read the word “Righteousness” in the OT it refers to God’s faithfulness in accordance with the covenant He established. Today, our understanding of Covenant differs to those in the Ancient Near East. Typically, there were two types of covenants. Both outlined specific agreements between master and vassal/servant. A Promissory Covenant bound the master to the vassal unconditionally. The Obligatory Covenants bound the vassal to be faithfully obedient to the master1.
Kingship
Another concept we don’t really understand today were the requirements of a King in the ANE. David was looking to God to fulfil his end of the covenant bargain as his Master—the Divine King. In David’s time, a king was one to whom the powerless looked for protection, the oppressed for compensation and the needy for help.
Which kind of explains David’s cry, How long will you hide your face from me?
Really what he was saying was, “Come on God, I’ve been doing my bit. The serving, obeying… mostly, where are you? We have an agreement.”
By this stage in Israel’s history there are centuries of testimony of God’s power, commitment and faithfulness to his people. But David doesn’t just have history to point to as evidence for his case, he has his own personal experience. God is able, God is willing, God is faithful. So where is he?
The term “hide your face” here means ignore, in direct contrast to “Shine his face” which means to bless and deliver. Whatever it was David was suffering, whether persecution or illness, he felt like he had been ignored by his God and is broken and swimming in despair.
Into The Depths
He continues:
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
Again, we may not be able to relate to enemies hunting us down or wanting to ruin everything we have worked for, but the phrases, “eyes grow weak… or fail, or dim” are common metaphors in the Psalms for those whose strength is sapped, they are drowning in grief, or their hopes have been dashed. Which we all know is a common human condition. David feels at this point he is on the point of death. There is nowhere to go but back to God.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
Today we may read these final verses and be inspired by David and his relationship with God. And so we should be. He never gave up believing, he never reneged on his covenant agreement with God, nor his confidence that God would ultimately, in his perfect timing, sweep in and save the day. Which he did, does and will continue to do.
The Kicker
But here’s the kicker: the term “good”.
6 I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
Again, our modern, western, English experience diminishes the bite in this.
Let’s look at Ps 119:68
68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
What is the definition of good? Or rather, whose perspective of good are we referring to? Let’s go back to the example of a child complaining of being put in Time Out. From their perspective is this a “good” thing? No. What about from the parent’s perspective?
Here David is declaring to God, You are good. I trust you. So, do good to me from your perspective, even if it hurts. Because your discipline, actions, inactions, etc. are good for me. Why? Because I can learn more about you, what is good according to you, and stay close to you.
And sometimes what God deems good for his people is to wait, even when they are in the depths of suffering and persecution.
Waiting might be good but is sure to goodness isn’t easy.
Waiting for God to act is another thing we have in common with our brothers and sisters throughout history.
- David was being hunted all over the countryside by all his enemies, waiting in poverty and destitution whilst Saul was swanning around in the palace.
- Abram and Sarah were promised relationship, land and heirs. They waited 25 years for a child and didn’t even see the land.
- Job sat in the ash covered in painful sores, devastated and grieving, accused by everyone as an arrogant sinner.
- Paul had been whipped, chained, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and had a price on his head. From the moment he received Christ as his Lord He was the Jews public enemy number 1 and persecuted everywhere he went for the rest of his life.
- For three years Jesus had no home, little support and at the end underwent torture for hours until eventually he died.
But Why?
The question is, do we believe God is who he says he is. Do we believe that God can do anything, even when he doesn’t. Do we believe that He is the Almighty Sovereign God who is the King of Kings and Lord of lords? If so, who are we to challenge him? He is the Creator, the master, the boss. We at times refer to him as the Potter.
A few weeks ago, I had a go at pottery. I made a few pinch pots and had a go on the wheel. There were a number of false starts with the wheel and the results had to be ditched. I felt bad about wasting the clay. But the lady said not to worry, just throw it in the bucket and they’d recycle it. It could still be used. But, once a pot has been fired, if it breaks the clay is unuseable. It can’t be glued back together as it won’t be watertight. It can’t be melted down like metal or glass and reshaped, the remnants are useless and go in the bin.
We’re just like that: clay. God wants us mailable so we can be shaped and formed so we can be useful. If we are distant from God, if our eyes are on other things and our hearts are hardened toward Him, not only can’t He use us, we are distant from him.
Where’s the Peace and Joy?
Despite God being the master and Boss, despite him being supreme ruler of the universe, he tells us that he is also our dad. He is love. He is Righteous and he is faithful. So that’s reassuring. But what about those times in the valley of horridness? We are kept waiting on our knees, because it’s good for us? So we can be pummelled into pots? Now that’s joy and peace right there, right?
Even though we may speak and act like children at times… and we are called to have a “Childlike faith”, we are not children. Our goal is to grow in maturity and to be transformed, through the power of the HS, to be more like Christ.
Our Lord, Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the OT laws and prophesies. When he came to earth to be born of humanity, he was 100% God AND 100% human: He confronted the laws with God’s authority and stepped into the prophesies as humanity’s representative. But he was also the fulfilment of the Suffering Servant and as such identified with all of God’s suffering children. He lived our experience.
Righteous Servant
But he was also the fulfilment of the Righteous Servant, and as God’s representative suffered greatly at the hands of the enemy and his puppets. Jesus shared in and cried out the prayers of God’s people through all time:
Psalm 22
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
But when Jesus uttered the beginning verse of Psalm 22 from the cross, he knew that in the minds of his Jewish audience, they would have continued reciting the whole psalm, which continued:
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.
Sound familiar?
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. (when I die) Psalm 13:1-4
But in the minds of his audience, the psalm would have rolled on to its ending.
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,28 for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations. Psalm 22:27-28
A prayer of praise and confidence that God is in control, and he will be victorious.
Peace Found
Our joy and peace in the waiting, in the dark night of the soul, comes from knowing we are not alone, it is not forever and—in the apparent silence—God is working.
What happened after the waiting:
- Abraham and Sarah? God was glorified through the miracle of Isaac a forefather of Israel.
- From Job’s suffering? God was glorified through victory in the Unseen Spiritual battle.
- Through David’s constant humility and obedience? God was glorified through the leadership, witness and dynasty he established through his faithful servant.
- By Paul’s persistence and doggedness? God was glorified through miracles, transformations, and the establishment of the early church.
- And Christ’s darkest hours? God was glorified through the successful establishment of salvation for all of his creation, restoring relationship with his children, and once and for all defeating the enemy.
So what?
I am not for a moment suggesting that God causes our suffering. But I believe God allows our suffering for His purposes. A lot of the time we won’t know what those purposes are. And why should we? We’re the clay. And it is not about us. It is all for God’s glory. Our role in all of this is to pick up our cross and fulfill our end of the bargain: the covenant our Lord and King made with us. To love him with everything within us, and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
When we do this, we will suffer the consequences of being hated by the world, just as Christ was. But we also have the assurance of our covenanted Righteous, faithful, Divine King: He will love us, sustain us, protect us, provide for us and be with us forever, by the power of the HS.
We know our prayers are heard and our situation is understood, because Christ suffered, died and lives in victory at His—and our—Father’s side. And we know our God is moving and working—even if we don’t feel or see it at times—because we have the testimony of thousands upon thousands of those who have gone before us and live around us. We know that the Spirit is moving because he lives within us and by his power we can—with David—declare, 6 I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
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