Bible Study........................................................................Pages

Psalm 13:1-6

"From Hopelessness to Hope"

Psalm 13:1-6: “Oh 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.”

Living in the shadow of a life that went wrong in every sense of the word can hold us captive in a prisonhouse of regret and despondency. We fail to see beyond the walls of our anguish and life is no longer worth the fight. It is normal to grieve. Grief is a process, however painful, of adjusting to a new set of circumstances. As I learn to accept circumstances, grief subsides and gives way to joy again. However, grief can sometimes lead to hopelessness instead of acceptance. Here is where despondency takes over. It is a perpetual, downward-spiraling state of hopelessness. In this psalm, David was feeling somewhat despondent, caught in a of maturity and inner strength. When we look back to 1 Samuel where David had just slain Goliath of Gath, David became the most famous (although still youthful) hero in the land. People sang his praises, which aroused King Saul’s jealousy to the point where he became focused on

syndrome of aloneness and feeling forgotten. He is feeling miserable. No one knows the reasons for certain, and the backgrounds of many of the psalms are a mystery. Some of David’s darkest days came before he was officially promoted to the throne of Israel. God was preparing him and He used the trials to shape him into a man murdering David. Even though David was loyal to King Saul, he literally had to run for his life and live as an escaped fugitive in the hills of Judea for more than a dozen years. He was the anointed king-elect, but was living like a beast in the wilderness. David must have entertained doubts at times, and had no one but the Lord to turn to in his despondent moments. I can picture him flat on the ground, on his face, crushed under the weight of his sorrow, focused on his misery and complaints. But when he takes his burden to the Lord on his knees and admits his own dependence upon Him, his despondence begins to lift, and he doesn’t feel disconnected from God any longer. David releases his enemy to the Lord and lets Him take care of the results. I can relate to how David felt, especially on my blue days when I am in despair. I feel abandoned. And I feel that God has simply lost interest in my problems. So then I try to work things out my way, which only causes more frustration, resentment and humiliation. When our pride gets hurt, we feel we have the right to become defensive. A good lesson in life is that truth will defend itself. It emerges as the champion in God’s time, not ours. It’s so humbling when we recognize the need for the fruits of the Spirit,

Psalm 13:1-6

especially patience, faith and self-control. Without these, we will continue to struggle. When we deal with trials in the flesh, our eyes bear the marks, our entire countenance becomes rigid and inflexible and we lack sparkle and light. When joy leaves, so does the shine from our eyes. Doubting God’s promises suggests He is not trustworthy. I have learned to leave my burdens with the Lord and let Him work out the details. I remind myself of Solomon’s saying: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We can draw so much encouragement from David in this Psalm. We can rise above our own sorrowful circumstances by recognizing that God uses trials to transform us, to train us, to mold us. He uses the distressing circumstances to benefit us, rather than destroy us. Evils intended by the world become God’s tools and He deals bountifully with us, deep within where noone else can see. When God does His magnificent work on us, it is a comfort to our soul and it gives us hope and puts us back on our feet.

“Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3)