Psalm 13, For the choir director: A psalm of David.
Five Questions
1 “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you look the other way? 2 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?”
Nothing is as stretching and painful as the belief that God has given up on you. I have personally experienced this misbelief. It was like my entire nervous system was ripped out of my body. Suicide seemed a logical thing to do.
Sometimes, the struggle to remain a believer is difficult. It is a war, often accentuated by depression and sadness. It’s relentless and its arena of conflict is in our hearts. David asks five questions. They are the questions of the besieged heart when our abandonment seems possible.
3 “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!
Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. 4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”
Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.”
David recognizes that he needs God’s answer. He also needs meaning to be restored to him. The “sparkle”, or that joy of having a purpose is what gives life meaning. Once you taste it, nothing else will satisfy. Verse 3 tells us that David saw this as a “life or death” matter.
Furthermore, David could see that the enemies of his soul had gathered. They spoke with a common voice, reflecting a unified purpose, “We have defeated him!” We must be cognizant of the reality of evil around us. God has a will for your life, but so does Satan. It involves your corruption and destruction.
5 “But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. 6 I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.” ~~New Living Translation
We fast-forward ahead to David’s deliverance. He has an uncommon confidence in the character of God. David’s declaration, He rescued me and He is good to me! Both verses 5-6 illustrate that worship finds its root in times of personal emancipation.
Written to bless God’s people, Psalm 136 takes on the issues of life, and the grind of the day. I hope it encourages you to give thanks and praises to God. If you feel like it, add your own verses. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136, New Bryan Version
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. 2 When I feel lost and alone His love endures forever. 3 When my prayers are not answered: His love endures forever.
4 When I have marriage problems, His love endures forever. 5 When I’m misunderstood, His love endures forever. 6 When my job is a big hassle, His love endures forever. 7 When my children go astray— His love endures forever. 8 When I can’t pay my bills on time, His love endures forever. 9 When my ‘discipleship is in doubt; His love endures forever.
9 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. 10 Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. 11 Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.
12 When I just been diagnosed with cancer, His love endures forever. 13 When I face chronic depression, His love endures forever. 14 When I am filled with doubt, His love endures forever. 15 When everyone wants to rip me off– His love endures forever. 16 When I can’t see the sun for weeks, His love endures forever. 17 When it seems like its just one thing after another, His love endures forever.
“The glory of God is a person fully alive” said the church father Irenaeus.
Psalm 18 shows David exuberantly alive with the life of God. It is filled with rich imagery of God’s deliverance and blessing upon people the people of faith.
I want Psalm 18 to become my story! I want it in my heart so it can stir my spiritual imaginations and strengthen my confidence of God and his kingdom in my midst all the time – in stress and disappointment and injustice and waiting for prayers to be answered.
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Psalm 18
1-2 I love you, God— you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag
where I run for dear life,
hiding behind the boulders,
safe in the granite hideout.
3 I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,
and find myself safe and saved.
4-5 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;
devil waters rushed over me.
Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;
death traps barred every exit.
6 A hostile world! I call to God,
I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call;
my cry brings me right into his presence—
a private audience!
7-15 Earth wobbles and lurches;
huge mountains shake like leaves,
Quake like aspen leaves
because of his rage.
His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke;
his mouth spits fire.
Tongues of fire dart in and out;
he lowers the sky.
He steps down;
under his feet an abyss opens up.
He’s riding a winged creature,
swift on wind-wings.
Now he’s wrapped himself
in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.
Then God thundered out of heaven;
the High God gave a great shout,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.
God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!
He hurls his lightnings—a rout!
The secret sources of ocean are exposed,
the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered
The moment you roar in protest,
let loose your hurricane anger.
16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!
20-24 God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.
25-27 The good people taste your goodness,
The whole people taste your health,
The true people taste your truth,
The bad ones can’t figure you out.
You take the side of the down-and-out,
But the stuck-up you take down a peg.
28-29 Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;
I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!
I smash the bands of marauders,
I vault the highest fences.
30 What a God! His road
stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
Everyone who runs toward him
Makes it.
31-42 Is there any god like God?
Are we not at bedrock?
Is not this the God who armed me,
then aimed me in the right direction?
Now I run like a deer;
I’m king of the mountain.
He shows me how to fight;
I can bend a bronze bow!
You protect me with salvation-armor;
you hold me up with a firm hand,
caress me with your gentle ways.
You cleared the ground under me
so my footing was firm.
When I chased my enemies I caught them;
I didn’t let go till they were dead men.
I nailed them; they were down for good;
then I walked all over them.
You armed me well for this fight,
you smashed the upstarts.
You made my enemies turn tail,
and I wiped out the haters.
They cried “uncle”
but Uncle didn’t come;
They yelled for God
and got no for an answer.
I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind.
I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.
43-45 You rescued me from a squabbling people;
you made me a leader of nations.
People I’d never heard of served me;
the moment they got wind of me they listened.
The foreign devils gave up; they came
on their bellies, crawling from their hideouts.
46-48 Live, God! Blessings from my Rock,
my free and freeing God, towering!
This God set things right for me
and shut up the people who talked back.
He rescued me from enemy anger,
he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,
He saved me from the bullies.
49-50 That’s why I’m thanking you, God,
all over the world.
That’s why I’m singing songs
that rhyme your name.
God’s king takes the trophy;
God’s chosen is beloved.
I mean David and all his children—
always.
8″ I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord. You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me. 9 Keep me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those who do wrong. 10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, but let me escape.”
Psalms 141:8-10, NLT
Spoken like a man who knows and has experienced a whole lot of trouble. David speaks from the matrix of his heart. In this day of cool indifference and sterile objectivity, you rarely see a passionate life being lived.
Perhaps we need a baptism of trouble and woe. I like softness, and love comfort. I am easily taken in by a menu at my favorite diner, and I adore Starbucks. I seem to have an “instant Christian” mentality. I want patience, and I want it now!
Commentary
V. 8, “I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord. You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.”
This is one of those deep, “rock-bottom” prayers. There is no flowery elegance in this verse. I can smell the sweat, and see the grime. There is dirt under the fingernails of David. It is a cry of somebody in trouble.
But David’s vision is full of God. He chooses to call on the Lord for the help he must have. People want to kill him, and David needs a temporary restraining order desperately.
As I read these verses, there is an absence of anxiety. This man has taken his refuge in the cave of God’s heart. David will be kept securely and safely in that place. He is aware, but he also trusts.
V. 9,“Keep me from the traps they have set for me, from the snares of those who do wrong.”
The nature of traps and snares is that they must be hidden. A snare only works by surprise. They must be stealthy. The psalmist doesn’t rely on his own abilities to detect and escape these traps. Rather he reaches out to his Father, and he relies on God’s abilities.
V. 10, “Let the wicked fall into their own nets, but let me escape.”
What we see around us must be (and will be) reversed. The righteous and the wicked will switch places. We need to believe this. Those who have buried themselves in darkness are the ones caught. We must understand this transforming “swap.” It happens when embattled hearts seek the Lord, just like David has done.
Broken Believers 