Focus Versus: Psalm 13 1-6:
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. 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.
Reflection:
When we are at our lowest point, we see that faith spurs prayer, which spurs the right actions. Reaching out to God makes all the difference.
In the first two versus David articulates his perceived dejection, loneliness and abandonment by God. David does not believe he can go onward and speaks of his enemy's triumph over him. David clearly is in the midst of a deep depression and his despair is palpable. These versus also reveal David s impatience with God for he states in his pleadings four times: How long....? Many of us have experienced similar difficulties and challenges in our lives..
David believes the consequences if his prayer goes unheard is death and humilation. Nonetheless, David does not give up! He exercises faith and looks to God. In versus 3 and 4 David states his earnest and simple prayer, asking God to "Look on me and answer and give light to my eyes...." Despite David s overwhelming difficulties, he states in versus 5-6 of his unwavering faith and also makes affirmative statements that he will rejoice in God s salvation and sing the LORD s praise. That is, David s prayer does not end in a request but in an affirmative statement of action (i.e. to trust, rejoice and praise).
One of the lessons from this psalm is that in times of trial, one will be well served, not only by prayer and petition, but by putting our faith in action like David.
Prayer:
God, may the hardest days remind me to pray all the more, so that we will be able to trust, rejoice, and praise like all the heroes of faith. In Jesus' name.
