"How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?" —Psalm 13:1
"How long… ?" This interesting two word phrase occurs a number of times in scripture in conjunction with a variety of circumstances. Joshua uttered it in the face of Israel's spiritual inertia: "And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you [Josh. 18:3]?" The prophet Elijah employed it in a challenge to Israel's degrading indecision: "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him [I Kings 18:21]." Isaiah, confronted with the revelation of the Lord's anger and impending judgment of Israel's rebellion (Isa. 6:10) declares, "Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land [Isa. 6:11-12]." And on the lips of tribulation martyrs this phrase is an expression of confident faith, wanting only a time frame for the fulfillment of God's promise: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? [Rev. 6:10]."
In our text for today, "How long?" is a cry of distress born of seemingly relentless trial. Pressed by his circumstances, troubled by their long endurance and unable to find God in the situation, David complains, "How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?" In context, the cry yields at least three lessons of value.
The first lesson is the comfort of knowing that even the chiefest of saints have had their moments of weakness; David, here, for example. And no less than the apostle Paul knew the burden of human frailty under intense pressure, as is intimated in the account of his experience at Corinth (Cf. Acts 18:1-11, note v.9-10).
The second lesson indicates what to do when God seems far away and indifferent to our plight, or the circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. That lesson is candid prayer. David takes his defeat to the Lord with surprising candor. It is not wrong to complain to God, and there is no need to pretend we are spiritual and/or victorious when we are not. Pray when you feel like it; more importantly, pray when you don't feel like it! God hears the cry of the afflicted (Cf. II Samuel 22:7, e.g.)
The third lesson, perhaps the hardest of all to apply, is to remain in principle before the throne of the "God of all grace" until relief, if not deliverance, comes. David lingers before the Lord in this short psalm until the sigh of despair gives way to the song of praise: "… I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord… [Ps. 13:5-6]." The circumstances had not changed, but David's heart had. May we learn to do likewise!
There is a kind of postscript worthy of note, however, among the occurrences of our key phrase. Sometimes it is God Who voices the cry, "How long?" When men choose to ignore God and His word, He asks, "O ye sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after (falsehood?) [Ps. 4:2]." And again, "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and scoffers delight them in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you [Prov. 1:22-23]."
It is one thing for the burdened believer to cry out in struggling faith, "O Lord, how long?" It is quite another thing when "an evil heart of unbelief" prompts God to cry "How long… !" The one is a candidate for His gracious reinforcement and eventual relief; the other is a candidate for His judgment. Should you be in the former category, take heart. Should you be in the latter, take heed! Repent and believe the gospel, putting your trust in "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" before you exhaust the patience of the eternal God.
For God's glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
"How long… ?" This interesting two word phrase occurs a number of times in scripture in conjunction with a variety of circumstances. Joshua uttered it in the face of Israel's spiritual inertia: "And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you [Josh. 18:3]?" The prophet Elijah employed it in a challenge to Israel's degrading indecision: "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him [I Kings 18:21]." Isaiah, confronted with the revelation of the Lord's anger and impending judgment of Israel's rebellion (Isa. 6:10) declares, "Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land [Isa. 6:11-12]." And on the lips of tribulation martyrs this phrase is an expression of confident faith, wanting only a time frame for the fulfillment of God's promise: "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? [Rev. 6:10]."
In our text for today, "How long?" is a cry of distress born of seemingly relentless trial. Pressed by his circumstances, troubled by their long endurance and unable to find God in the situation, David complains, "How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?" In context, the cry yields at least three lessons of value.
The first lesson is the comfort of knowing that even the chiefest of saints have had their moments of weakness; David, here, for example. And no less than the apostle Paul knew the burden of human frailty under intense pressure, as is intimated in the account of his experience at Corinth (Cf. Acts 18:1-11, note v.9-10).
The second lesson indicates what to do when God seems far away and indifferent to our plight, or the circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. That lesson is candid prayer. David takes his defeat to the Lord with surprising candor. It is not wrong to complain to God, and there is no need to pretend we are spiritual and/or victorious when we are not. Pray when you feel like it; more importantly, pray when you don't feel like it! God hears the cry of the afflicted (Cf. II Samuel 22:7, e.g.)
The third lesson, perhaps the hardest of all to apply, is to remain in principle before the throne of the "God of all grace" until relief, if not deliverance, comes. David lingers before the Lord in this short psalm until the sigh of despair gives way to the song of praise: "… I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord… [Ps. 13:5-6]." The circumstances had not changed, but David's heart had. May we learn to do likewise!
There is a kind of postscript worthy of note, however, among the occurrences of our key phrase. Sometimes it is God Who voices the cry, "How long?" When men choose to ignore God and His word, He asks, "O ye sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love vanity and seek after (falsehood?) [Ps. 4:2]." And again, "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and scoffers delight them in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit upon you; I will make known my words unto you [Prov. 1:22-23]."
It is one thing for the burdened believer to cry out in struggling faith, "O Lord, how long?" It is quite another thing when "an evil heart of unbelief" prompts God to cry "How long… !" The one is a candidate for His gracious reinforcement and eventual relief; the other is a candidate for His judgment. Should you be in the former category, take heart. Should you be in the latter, take heed! Repent and believe the gospel, putting your trust in "the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world" before you exhaust the patience of the eternal God.
For God's glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
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