How Long, O LORD?
Psalm 13:1–6 – Teach Us to Pray, Part 8
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time – September 20th, 2026 (am)
We’ve been going back and forth between biblical instructions and examples of prayer in this series as we ask our heavenly Father together to teach us to pray (Luk.11:2). In Luke 11, we first saw an example in Jesus’ pattern prayer (1-4), then we received instruction as He talked about His Father’s delight to give good gifts to His children who ask, seek, and knock (5-13). Then we saw two soaring examples in Ephesians 3:14-21 and Colossians 1:9-14 followed by two more words of instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and Romans 8:26-27, all through the pen of the Apostle Paul. Last week we encountered our next example from Peter and John and their friends in the difficult circumstances of Acts 4:23-31—opposition from the outside, from governing officials. Now, this week we hear another example from David in Psalm 13, also in very difficult circumstances, but of a much different sort. Outside anxieties have invaded David’s heart; he’s now being attacked from the inside. And it’s wreaking havoc in his soul.
Have you ever been in the place where you’re asking God: How long [are you going to let this go on]? How long [does it have to continue]? How long [before you’ll bring me some sort of relief]? Recall that time. Or maybe you’re in it right now. But regardless, it ranges somewhere between excruciating and exhausting. Or it just sort of drifts back and forth between the two. At random times you give in to the overwhelming sense of tiredness because at least that feels better than the immobilizing pain and grief that await you each time you try to stir up the energy to press on. And so often these feelings arise in response to a situation that seems to you like it’s just not all that important to God, or like the thing He most wants from you is to carry on through it, or to learn from it, or to develop in endurance or maturity or self-denial or faith.
Bottom line, you almost completely lose your desire to pray because calling out to God just brings all the heaviness back into the foreground. It reminds you that He just doesn’t seem to be listening to you right now, if He ever was. It can feel like a trap that’s inescapable, like it’s hopeless. It can make you angry. And being angry with God is just deflating. David is in a place like this as Psalm 13 opens. You can hear it from his opening words. So, what did he do about it? How did he handle it? How did he address it with God? Let’s see. Psalm 13 develops through three stages.
Quagmire – 1-2
Four times in these first two verses David asked God: How long? 1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? The clear implication is that he’s seeing God as intertwined with his troubles and he’s feeling hopeless under that burden. We don’t know the circumstances, but they seem to have continued on for a while. And there appears to be no end in sight. This word behinds forever (1) conveys the sense of continually or utterly (VanGemeren 170). How long will you utterly and continually forget about me? Let that sink in. You may well have been there. And it could be helpful to know that David has been as well.
Even so, there’s a virtual contradiction in those opening questions that amplifies his angst: How long… will you forget me forever? Well, David, how long do you think forever is? Some suggest the framing of his questions exposes David’s feeling that God is withholding practical help (Kidner 94), something he desperately needs that God could easily supply. That can be exasperating! Imagine having food and sitting right next to someone who hasn’t eaten for days, but you don’t share! We wouldn’t even do that! Why would God? But that’s what it feels like for God to hide his face (1). It’s the opposite of the great blessing of Aaron: Num.6:24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. This is precisely what David is longing for but doesn’t have. It’s Israel’s blessing but the king isn’t experiencing it. And he’s deeply disturbed by that. He feels alienated, alone, and aggravated (VanGemeren 170).
Vs.2 tell us that he’s poring over the situation, searching his soul to find answers or causes or reasons, and he’s weary of the whole process. But the situation has so caught hold of him that he can’t let it go. He can’t abandon his search. He can’t break the cycle. How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart [every day]? (VanGemeren 171) So, again, it seems like the situation will never end. It just keeps rolling around and around in David’s mind, in his soul. Whatever the issue, he fears that if he lets go, he’ll be ruined by it. His enemy will prevail. We know that men in adversity give way to discontent, and look around them, first to one quarter, and then to another, in search of remedies. Especially, upon seeing that they are destitute of all resources, they torment themselves greatly, and are distracted by a multitude of thoughts (Calvin 183).
God isn’t listening to me, David thinks, so I’ve got to get this figured out on my own. But that doesn’t work either. So, he just splatters his questions before God in all but irrational words. But don’t miss the fact that he does it before God. So, many of us in circumstances like this run to other sources of comfort or direction—counselors or doctors or websites or old friends or artificial intelligence. David ran to God, even while believing that God had forgotten him, was hiding from him, wasn’t listening to him. This is what makes David a man after [God’s] own heart (1Sa.13:14).
Query – 3-4
So, David prayed. He turned his lament into petition. He asked God for answers to the questions in his heart. He sought God to enlighten the darkness in his mind. And he did so by throwing out imperatives—to God! 3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. Have you ever talked to God like this? I have a friend who prays this way. He cites promises from God’s Word then says: Do it, Lord! He’s not really giving God commands. He’s just asking Him to prove His faithfulness in the moment regarding matters where He’s told us what His faithfulness looks like. That’s what David is doing here. We’ll see that in time. We’ll see it especially as he finishes his prayer here.
But first, notice that his imperatives (3-4) parallel his anxiety (1-2). First, the word behind consider is actually look. [Look on my need]! David, is saying. Don’t hide your face! Look at me! Second: answer me! Don’t leave me in the prison of my mind, taking counsel in my own soul! I need Your wisdom and guidance, not mine! I need Your intervention, Your protection! Third: Light up my eyes! Light me up or I’ll die! People relieved from troubles and blessed with God’s protection, peace, and favor show their inner spiritual condition in their outward appearance (cf. 36:8-9; 1 Sam 14:27, 29) (VanGemeren 172). Elsewhere David vividly describes a time of struggle. Psa.38:10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me. But when Jonathan tasted honey, his eyes became bright (1Sa.14:27). That’s what David wants. God, don’t let this continue or my enemies will win (2)—they’ll rejoice! (4) … Yes! There it is! God, we just can’t have that!
Quiescence – 5-6
At that instant David makes an amazing move. He turns a corner; new insight is gained, a new perspective is formed, something! But David turns on a dime. It’s one of those developments that makes you think you must have drifted off and missed part of the movie. He’s just suddenly in a different place, with only a single adversative indicating the turn 5 But I have trusted (past reference [perfect]) in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice (future reference [imperfect]) in your salvation. 6 I will sing (future reference [imperfect]) to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully (past reference [perfect]) with me. Slightly reordered for clarity: because I have trusted in your steadfast love and you have dealt bountifully with me up until now, my heart shall rejoice in your salvation and I will sing to you moving ahead.
Wow, where did this come from? What an amazing affirmation of trust and assurance! Did God answer in some way that we’re not aware of, and that David didn’t record? Or is this just the fruit of his past relationship with God bearing more fruit in this present crisis? We honestly don’t know. But we do know that the I here (5, 6) is emphatic—a surprising statement from one who seems so defeated. In effect David is saying, right on the heels of acknowledging that his enemies can see that he’s shaken (4): But for my part, I have trusted in your steadfast love… (5) (Kidner 95). This is essentially a confession that, no matter how bad his circumstances might be, the steadfast love and bountiful grace (Calvin 187) of God remain a stronger force in his life, a more present reality, than all the opposition of his enemies. However great the pressure [of their opposition], the choice is still his to make, not [his] enemy’s (Kidner 95). He’s not at their mercy. The covenant love of God, even in these hard times, is still a more substantial reality in David’s life than his grief and turmoil that’s magnified by the taunting of his enemies.
It seems as though this mention of His enemies brought these two realities head-to-head, and he was immediately certain that the one just didn’t measure up to the other. And that appears also to have drawn him out of his focus on the anxieties of his heart, hopeless as they felt. He realized at once that his life, his future, his well-being, was tied not to the strength of his enemies but to the strength of his God. And that was surely enough for him.
God answered David’s prayer and calmed his heart, then, not so much by delivering him from his enemies or even his circumstances as by reminding him of the overwhelmingly steadfast love and salvation and bountiful care of the Lord.
Conclusion
Bottom line, whenever you’re struggling, really suffering—whether jailed for your faith in the outside world on jailed by your faith in your inner being—our loving, saving God is the only One Who can truly deliver you. It makes no sense to call out to any other.
No one else could possibly be able to listen like He does; He’s with you wherever you go.
No one else could possibly care more than He does. This salvation (5) that brough rejoicing to David’s heart was only a promise in his day. In our day we’ve seen the fulfillment! This God Who hears and answers has paid the full penalty of sin and suffering for all who will receive by faith the suffering and death and resurrection of His Son on their behalf, granting them cleansing the satisfies God’s holiness and life that never ends!
No one else could possibly grant relief by his mere presence, even apart from delivering you from any sort of painful circumstances. Our God is for us! (Rom.8:31)
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Resources
Carson, D. A., R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Psalms, by J. A. Motyer, 485-583. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.
Clendenen, E. Ray, and Kenneth A. Matthews, eds. 2019. The New American Commentary. Vol.13, Psalms 73-150, by Daniel J. Estes. Nashville: Broadman & Holman.
Grudem, Wayne, ed. 2008. ESV Study Bible. Study notes on Psalms, 935-1128, by C. John Collins. Wheaton: Crossway.
Longman III, Tremper, and David E. Garland, eds. 2008. Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 5, Psalms, by Willem A. VanGemeren. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Metzger, Bruce M., gen. ed. John D. W. Watts & James W. Watts, OT eds. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19, Psalms 1-50, by Peter C. Craigie. Grand Rapids: Word.
Spurgeon, C. H. n.d. The Treasury of David, 3 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.
Wiseman, Donald J., ed. 1973. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Vol. 15, Psalms 1-72, by Derek Kidner. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.
NEXT SUNDAY: Prayers of the Old Testament Saints, Kipp Soncek