I have sorrow in my heart. How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death.
My enemy will say, I have overcome him, and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love. My heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.
Amen.
Thanks, Chris. Well, let's pray and ask for God's help as we look at his words together.
We come as a people before a great and mighty God.
A God who cares. A God who loves.
A God who understands exactly how we feel.
A God who understands us better than we understand our own emotions and thoughts.
And so, Father, we ask that you would speak into our lives today.
Would you please enable us and cause us, in the midst of our life, to trust in you alone.
And that you would teach us what all that brings to us.
We ask for your help as we look at your word together.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
How long.
How long must I put up with this constant, unrelenting pain?
How long must I face false accusations and lies?
How long, O Lord, do I have to go through bitter disappointment?
How long, O Lord, will it be until this darkness that consumes me passes?
Our journey through life is marked with all kinds of struggles.
And that's the experience of David in Psalm 13.
Let's read the beginning of Psalm 13.
Don't forget the little note, the beginning, for the director of music.
So, this is something that should be sung and proclaimed and announced.
It's a psalm of David.
How long, O Lord?
David was, of course, God's chosen king.
And he has experienced something that is causing him great difficulty.
It could be that he is facing opposition.
If you look at the end of verse 2, he cries out,
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
It could be that he's experienced some kind of ill health.
So, look at the end of verse 3.
Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death.
Whatever the reason of his pain, it is a very real experience.
How long, O Lord?
You see, we all live in a broken world where suffering is the normal experience of life.
Apartment towers burn down.
Terror attacks happen.
Loved ones are taken from us.
Cancer strikes.
Injustice goes unchecked.
If we live long enough in this world, we will suffer in some way.
And if God's king, King David, was not immune from suffering, then neither are we.
So, what do we learn from this personal experience of suffering?
Well, first, a cry of despair.
Look at verse 1 again.
How long, O Lord?
This is a cry deep from the heart.
Life has become unbearable.
There's no hope.
No escape.
And that's how we can feel when we struggle.
There's an isolation, a rejection.
And what's worse, the God that we thought we could trust,
the one who is supposed to be all-powerful and all-loving,
seems to be completely absent.
Like David, we feel God has forgotten me.
Verse 1,
How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
It's the cry like that of a child whose father has walked out on him,
left to fend for himself without support.
The father who is supposed to be there in times of trouble has just gone.
And that's sometimes how we can feel God is treating us.
Did I do something wrong?
Is God punishing me?
Does he not love me?
How long will you hide your face from me?
Rejected, abandoned, forgotten by the God who is supposed to care.
Do you ever feel like that?
And in these times of despair,
we think,
not only has he forgotten me,
but God will not answer me.
Look at verse 2.
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts,
and every day have sorrow in my heart.
We call out to our Father God,
but it's like he just doesn't want to listen.
God's not interested.
He's too busy.
It seems God is unconcerned.
My suffering is not bad enough to get God's attention.
And what's worse,
we know God is there,
we know he's in,
but he refuses to answer the door.
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts?
We're left in the darkness to carry our own problems.
And as verse 2 tells us,
it is unending sorrow.
Every day we cry out,
but the response is just the same.
Earth-shattering silence.
And our only conclusion
is that God can't help me.
Look at the end of verse 2.
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
It's as if suffering is the strong arm
and it has the upper hand.
Everything is piling and pushing up against us.
Have you ever thought,
why is it that when we most need our health,
that's when we get sick?
Or why is it that when we're going through a difficult time,
something worse happens?
Or we're financially under pressure
and then we lose our job?
Does God not see what is going on in my life?
Either God can't help
or he won't help.
We come to the conclusion
that God has forgotten me.
God won't answer me.
And God can't help me.
Is that your cry of despair?
Have you ever cried out like that to him?
You see, look where this cry is directed.
How long, O Lord?
This isn't a cry into the abyss,
into the emptiness.
This is directed to the Lord.
You see, who do we go to
when God is not doing his job?
Who are we going to shout and give off to
when everything collapses around us?
At the very least,
this psalm is telling us
that we have a God who is big enough
to handle all our cries.
He is not going to be put off
by our shouts at him.
We can get angry with him.
We can voice our complaint to him.
We can cry out,
how long must I put up with this?
Sometimes we just need to be real with God
and tell him exactly how we feel.
Because in our cry of despair
comes a cry of hope.
You see, in the midst of our pain,
as we wrestle with God,
as we do battle with God,
we do have hope.
God is personal.
Look at verse 3.
Look on me and answer,
O Lord my God.
Even though this prayer begins with despair
and disappointment and doubt,
how long, O Lord?
There is in the midst of it
a sure and certain hope
that God is not distant.
He is not removed from us.
God is personally involved in our lives.
Look how he cries out, verse 3.
O Lord my God.
This is personal and relational.
And we have the assurance of God's personal commitment to us.
Again, look at the beginning of verse 3.
He says,
Look on me and answer,
O Lord my God.
Have you ever wondered and noticed
why Lord is in capitals?
It's not that when they were typing
they forgot to turn off caps lock.
Lord is the personal name
that God gave to his people.
By giving of his name to his people,
God is committing himself to them.
He is binding himself to them.
It's his covenant name.
I am yours and you are mine.
I belong to you and you belong to me.
I am the promise maker
and the promise keeper.
So as we cry out to God,
we are calling upon one
who will never abandon his people.
He is faithful and loyal and committed.
God has not forgotten you.
God will answer you.
God will help you.
So why is it,
if that is true,
why is it that God seems so silent at times?
Why is it that God just seems distant
and uninvolved?
God will help you.
Well, as he cries out to this personal God,
look how he prays.
Look at verse 3.
Look on me and answer,
O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes
or I will sleep in death.
You see, the request is not what we would expect.
It's not like how we pray.
He doesn't pray,
Lord, change my situation.
He doesn't pray,
Lord, put an end to all of my suffering.
He doesn't ask,
make my life easier.
No.
Do you see what he prays?
Give light to my eyes.
It's a prayer to see life
from God's perspective.
Just have a quick look at Psalm 19,
just a couple of pages on.
Psalm 19 and verse 8.
We get the same phrase
in this Psalm.
Verse 8.
It says,
The precepts,
talking about the word of God,
the precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
You see, as we meditate,
as we think upon God's word,
his commands,
his precepts,
we begin to view and see life
from God's perspective.
So when we are asking,
as this Psalm does in Psalm 13, verse 3,
give light to my eyes,
we are asking,
Lord, change not my circumstances,
but change me.
We're asking,
Lord, it's not I want this thing
or this person in my life,
but I want you in my life.
So often as we come,
we're wanting God to change our situations,
to end our struggles.
We ask for more time,
more money,
better health,
better success.
But do we ever stop and ask,
Lord, I want more of you in my life.
Prayer is not asking God to fit into my plans,
but prayer is essentially asking God to shape me
so that I fit in with his plans.
It's not my will,
but your will.
You see,
if we don't have this perspective of life,
if we constantly look at life through our eyes,
we will become disappointed and disillusioned with God.
We will be overcome by our circumstances.
It will be like a living death.
Look how the rest of verse 3 goes.
Give light to my eyes,
or I will sleep in death.
My enemy will say,
I have overcome him,
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
So in your despair,
in your wrestle with God,
cry out to him,
and ask,
Give light to my eyes.
Change me.
I want to know you.
Through this experience,
I want to know you more.
Help me see life from your perspective.
Enable me to walk life as you have willed.
And from this cry of despair
comes a cry of hope,
and ultimately,
a cry of joy.
Now let's be clear about this
as we come to the end of the psalm.
The struggle is not yet resolved.
The suffering has not been taken away.
There is still this wrestling going on.
However,
despair
gives way to joy.
There's two kinds of joy we see.
There is a present joy.
Look at verse 5.
But I trust
in your unfailing love.
love.
My heart rejoices
in your salvation.
In our struggles,
and that's going to be different
for each and every person here this morning,
in your suffering,
you can experience joy.
Here's how.
Do you see what it says,
the beginning of verse 5?
I trust
in your unfailing love.
The unfailing love of God
is that steadfast,
loyal,
and committed
love of God.
It's that love of God
that we read about
when God proclaims
or tells people
what he is like.
Faithful,
loyal,
steadfast.
the love that endures
when we fail and fall.
It's a love that persists
when we doubt and despair.
It's a love that pursues us
and chases after us
when we walk away.
It's a love that will hold us
and keep us.
It's the kind of love
we encounter in Romans 8,
verse 38.
For I am convinced
that neither death
nor life,
neither angels
or demons,
neither the present
or the future
or any powers,
neither height
nor depth,
nor anything
in all creation,
nothing,
no matter what
you experience
in your life,
no matter what
you may be going through now,
nothing
will be able
to separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
You see,
to trust
in the unfailing
love of God
is not trusting
in our ability
to understand
or comprehend
or to battle through
or get through.
Our trust
is in God's ability
to hold us
in the suffering.
God's love
is unfailing.
He does not
give up
or let go.
It is an everlasting
grip upon us.
Therefore,
my heart
rejoices
in your salvation.
Here is a God
who has you
in the palm
of his hand
and has a grip
upon you
that will not
let you go,
even though
we despair
and doubt.
In this
we can rejoice.
But not only
do we have
a present joy,
we have a future joy.
Look at verse 6.
He cries out,
I will
sing to the Lord.
Here is a confidence
that looks forward
in time
and says,
I despair
right now,
I struggle
right now,
but I will
sing to the Lord.
You see,
a heart
that cries out
in pain
can also
at the same time
cry out in joy.
How is that possible?
Well,
look at verse 6.
I will
sing to the Lord
because
he has
been good
to me.
Well,
where is
God's goodness?
How has
God been
good to me?
When we're
in the thick
of it,
it's hard
to see
God's goodness.
But that's
why we are
directed here
not only
to think
forward
and say,
I will
sing to the
Lord.
We will
sing to the
Lord because
he has
been
past tense
being good
to me.
So here
he is saying,
look back
over the
course of
your life
and do
not stop
looking
until you
come to
the cross
because
there you
will see
the goodness
of God
for you
and for
me.
You see,
the words
of Psalm
13
are not
just the
experience
of King
David.
It is
the experience
of our
true and
ultimate
King,
the Lord
Jesus
Christ.
As we
read
Psalm
13,
it echoes
what Jesus
cried out
on the
cross as
he hung
there for
you and
for me.
He cried
out,
my God,
why have
you forsaken
me?
In the
depths of
his agony
he is
crying out,
how long
oh Lord
will you hide
your face
from me?
Will you
forget me
forever?
You see,
Jesus knows
what it is
to be in
despair,
to go
through that
struggle,
to go
through that
suffering.
But it's
so much
more than
just an
example.
Because as
Jesus dies
on the
cross for
you and
for me,
he is
taking my
place and
your place.
for as
Jesus dies,
he is
taking upon
us the
greatest
despair,
sin and
death.
He takes
it on
himself and
he suffers
instead of
you.
And as
Jesus cries
out to the
Father in
the darkness,
there is
no answer,
there is
no help.
It is
earth-shattering
silence.
Jesus dies
alone,
rejected and
abandoned.
He dies
our death
so we
don't have
to.
Jesus was
shut out
from the
presence of
God so
that we
would never
ever be
removed from
his presence.
So look
back and
keep looking
back till
you come to
the cross and
you will see
the goodness
of God on
display.
here we
see a
God who
loves you
so much
that he
suffered for
you.
A God
who cares
for you so
much that
he would
die for
you.
Here we
have a
God who
will never
reject you,
never abandon
you, never
forget you.
He has
promised that
he will walk
with you in
your pain and
he understands
your pain.
And he
hears your
every cry.
before we
can even
voice it to
him.
His
unfailing
love will
not let
you go.
So look
to our
true king,
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Look to
him on the
cross and in
the midst of
our despair
and wrestle
and struggle,
trust his
unfailing
love.
Experience
a joy
today
and
experience
a joy
to come
where we
will say
I will
sing to
the Lord
for he
has been
good
to me.
to
love.
Let's
just
take a
moment
right now
to bring
our cries
and our
prayers
to him.
Let's do
that now.
in this moment
cry out to the Lord
whatever it is that is upon our hearts
maybe something we go through or somebody else
how long oh Lord
Father
give light to our eyes
help us to see
life to see things through your perspective
change me
give us more of yourself
Father we trust in your
unfailing
steadfast
loyal
love
thank you that we can say
that I will sing to the Lord
for he has been good to me
Father help us to be real where we need to be
and give us that confidence that we might trust in you
and you alone
Amen
we're going to sing together
which helps us to
reflect a little bit of what this psalm is
calling us to do when
you