The
Bible I am looking at now has a caption* above chapter 13: "A prayer of
distress and faith." It perfectly describes the psalm. There are times in
our lives when we probably utter a prayer exactly like this. A prayer that
says everything is going wrong, but I am still going to trust God. This is not
a prayer of defeat though. This is a prayer of defiance. It is the prayer of
someone who knows that faith in God has greater rewards than anything we can
see. Yet it is a prayer for help.
This
prayer reminds me of the three Hebrew children who stand before the king and
say "God is more than able to save us, but if not we will not bow"
(Daniel 3:17-18 my own paraphrase).
There
are times when we may feel forgotten and forsaken, we aren't. We need to keep
trusting even when things don't go right. We don't see the whole story, God
does and he will reward us even if it isn't in this life. This faith may not be
the defiant kind that stands up to the king, but if it holds on to God in
weakness then it will prevail. In fact, it may be the stronger faith, though it
looks weaker.
Keep
holding on.
*Captions
are added by the publisher of this Bible to help the reader find or understand
the content in a portion of the Bible. They are not a part of the original text
but can be useful.
Psa 13:1-6
(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?
(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.
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