Tag Archives: Psalm 13

How Long Will You Forget Me?

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Lately, I’ve found myself reading through the Book of Psalms. I do that when, like David, I ask, “O my soul, why be so gloomy and discouraged? Trust in God! I shall again praise him for his wondrous help; he will make me smile again, for he is my God! (Psalm 43:5 TLB)

In Psalm 13 David asks the Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you turn your face from me and allow my enemies to gloat?

David prayed for God to give him light in his darkness. David asked God to once again shine his face on him.

At the end of David’s lament, he reaffirmed his trust in God’s mercy, and thanked him for his blessings.

Have you ever felt like David did? As if the Lord has forgotten you and turned his face away? Has it seemed as if enemies, however they manifest themselves in your life, gloat over your powerlessness to defeat them?

At the time David wrote Psalm 13, he and his ragtag band of misfits lived in caves and roamed the hills trying to avoid Saul’s constant attempts to kill them.

David wasn’t afraid to pour out his hurt and pain before the Lord. He wondered why, as God’s anointed king-in-waiting, he faced such persecution and opposition while his enemies prospered.

David prayed for enlightenment. He asked God to shine his face on him. To bring insight into his problems.

During this time of world-wide confusion, unknowns, and concerns, God invites us to come to him with all our feelings, emotions, and questions. As we come, we can ask God for enlightenment, understanding, and for his face to shine into our darkness.

By coming before God with our questions, we acknowledge he alone has the answers. In those times when God delays providing answers, we are moved to trust him all the more.

After we pour out our questions and confusion before the Lord, we can trust in his mercy. We can sing praises to God because he has blessed us so richly.

We can praise God even in those times when we ask, how long will you forget me, Lord? Forever?

How have you found this to be true in your life?

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How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How long will you look the other way when I am in need? How long must I be hiding daily anguish in my heart? How long shall my enemy have the upper hand?

Answer me, O Lord my God; give me light in my darkness lest I die. Don’t let my enemies say, “We have conquered him!” Don’t let them gloat that I am down.

But I will always trust in you and in your mercy and shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has blessed me so richly. Psalm 13

I wish you well.

Sandy

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Can Worship and Suffering Co-exist?

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by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Can worship and suffering co-exist? Can pain and praise inhabit the same space? Can we sing that God is good when life is not?

According to the psalmists, we can.

These psalms are called laments. As Chris Llewellyn from Rend Collective puts it, laments are full of the truth of what we’re going through, but are at the same time full of hopefulness.

Last week I mentioned the Rend Collective concert I attended.

One of the songs they sang was, Weep With Me.

Before singing the song, Chris said because we have a God who cares, and wants to hear from us as we honestly wrestle with the issues of our life, he invites us to come to him, and truthfully tell him how we are feeling about what we are going through.

God doesn’t want us to be less than honest. He’s big enough to handle the truth, don’t you think? He already knows how we feel, after all.

So we circle back to the questions I asked at the beginning of this post.

Can worship and suffering co-exist? Can pain and praise inhabit the same space? Can we sing that God is good when life is not?

Yes! A thousand times yes.

Over the past months God has taken me to places of sorrow through the lives of my friends and in my own life.

Just as the psalmist did, I’ve lamented. I’ve asked how long must those who love you feel anguish in their souls and sorrow in their hearts? I’ve asked the Lord my God to restore the sparkle in our eyes. I’ve asked if worship and suffering can co-exist.

And like the psalmist, our sorrow can turn to rejoicing because we trust in God’s unfailing love. That is the reason we can sing that God is good when life is not.

Are you in a place of lament? Lift your eyes to the Lord who weeps with us.

Leave a comment below to share your thoughts on the subject. If you think others would appreciate reading this, please share it through the social media buttons.

O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
    How long will you look the other way?
 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,
    with sorrow in my heart every day?
    How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
    Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.
 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
    Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.

 But I trust in your unfailing love.
    I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
 I will sing to the Lord
    because he is good to me. Psalm 13 (NLT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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