These are the opening words of Psalm 13, a desperate prayer for help, to a God that doesn't seem to be there.
The psalmist is undergoing intense pain and sorrow and has come to the end of the road. We are not given the source of the author's trials, but it is the silence that is the most devastating.
So the psalmist cries out, "Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!" daring to believe that God has a personal interest in his or her plight, begging God to answer before it's too late; before his or her "eyes sleep the sleep of death...and the enemy prevails."
So the psalmist cries out, "Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!" daring to believe that God has a personal interest in his or her plight, begging God to answer before it's too late; before his or her "eyes sleep the sleep of death...and the enemy prevails."
The psalmist in the end turns to Yahweh's hesed, his steadfast love, promising praise in recognition of God's deliverance.
But this Psalm is not formulaic, and does not promise that if we start at one end of the prayer and come out at the other, all doubt and pain will be replaced by trust and joy.
That is not the intention of the prayer, nor the reality of life. The Psalm is a voice for our deepest fears and our most painful moments and breaks us from the illusion that faith solves all of our problems.
That is not the intention of the prayer, nor the reality of life. The Psalm is a voice for our deepest fears and our most painful moments and breaks us from the illusion that faith solves all of our problems.
It gives us permission to exist in the "in between," allowing us to embrace the tension of speaking to God both in language of lament and praise, of being abandoned and delivered, of hope and despair.
For a scholarly treatment of Ps 13 see, Mays, J.L. Interpretation, 34 no 3 Jl 1980, 279-83.
5 comments:
"How long, not long." How beautiful.
When we voice our angst heavenward we seem immediately connected to a different, a better place even if our pain is not removed.
We are in the tension for sure. Timely post for me and mine. The last two years have been tough(for us,(for everyone) but have hit us pretty hard. Struggling to find work, currently in the process of loosing our house etc. Through it all,and it ain't over yet,we are growing in our faith. God has taken us to this point for a reason and we are open to that reason. Hard to understand how and why things got to this point but we know and are confident that he has great things planned for us. We are definitely in the "lean not on your own understanding" part of the journey.
Saw the (CON) Voyage of the Dawn Treader the other night and the thing that really hit me was toward the end when Caspian says
"I was so worried about what had been taken from me and not thankful for what had been given"
Powerful stuff there.
The world can take whatever it wants from me, I know what I have been given,the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and that's all that really matters.
God is Good all the time!
Good stuff man.
Thanks Mark. Really sorry to hear about all you guys are going through. Rough times to say the least.
Thanks Brandon, it's thoughts from people like you and others around here that help to keep me(us) grounded and know we are not alone in this. We always need to be reminded of the promises of God, and the hard times that those before us have gone through.Ours is not a unique story in Bend right now. This town is a smoking crater of broken down people and broken down dreams. God is here despite all that. We will make it through this.
Keep bringing it.
Will do Mark. Powerful words you write about a "smoking crater of broken down people and broken down dreams." Brutal.
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