Psalm Category: Psalm of Lament

Central Thought: Psalm 13 provides us with a paradigm for Christian lament. It calls us to place our trust in God in times of despair.

Key Word: Yeshua (v. 5). This word is translated by the New International Version as “salvation.” Yeshua has a broad semantic range. It can refer to a military victory or to personal spiritual deliverance. Most likely the psalmist is speaking of personal salvation in this psalm. It is notable that some form of the root of this word occurs 45 times in the Psalter. In fact, the Psalter contains the most occurrences of this word in the Old Testament. The frequency of its occurrence should remind us of the redemptive focus of the Psalms. This should be an encouragementfor those who sing the Psalms.

Psalm 13

Psalm 13 instructs us how to respond to despair. And lives will mimic that of the psalmist; they will include disarray, dependence, deliverance, and doxology.

Disarray, Despair and Abandonment (vv. 1-2): The psalm begins with the psalmist in utter despair. Out of the depths of his despair, he asks four rhetorical questions, all commencing with, “How long?”

The psalmist provides contours to his despair by means of a threefold description. First, he is in despair regarding his relationship to God. He states that God has forgotten him and hidden His face from him. The psalmist is experiencing a covenantal crisis, as he no longer senses the promise of the Aaronic blessing (Num. 6:24-26). Second, his despair is internal. It is impacting his mind and heart. Third, his despair is external. He is under attack by enemies, including death itself. Clearly, the psalmist is experiencing profound disarray, despair, and abandonment.

Take a moment to consider how the psalmist responds to his crisis. He does not deny his despair, nor does he attribute it to his own disobedience. He does not hide his emotions from God. Christianity is not Stoicism. The psalmist does not grin and bear it. Instead, he voices his suffering by lamenting to the sovereign God. This is the piety of the psalmist, and it is exemplary for us as we deal with despair.

Dependence (vv. 3-4): The psalmist makes a threefold appeal to God to look on him, to answer him, and to give him light. He seeks God’s intervention and offers a twofold justification for it. First, in verse 3, the psalmist states that unless God intervenes, he will die. Second, in verse 4, the psalmist notes that if God does not intervene, the psalmist’s enemies will celebrate his demise. This latter argument is particularly poignant. The psalmist is so linked to God by covenant that his enemies are by definition God’s enemies. If the psalmist is overcome by his enemies, it will reflect on God’s name and reputation. Moses uses a similar argument when he attempts to stay God’s hand from annihilating the Israelites (Num. 14:11-16).

These verses provide a vivid display of the psalmist’s utter dependence on God. The psalmist’s lament is not a detached and isolated complaint. His lament is God-focused, theocentric. He uses the personal pronoun when referring to God (“my God”). This is a distinct feature of Christian lament. It is never simply screaming into the abyss; rather, it is calling upon the personal, living, and true God. Lament is utter dependence on God.

Deliverance and Doxology (vv. 5-6): The turning point of this psalm occurs with the adversative “but” in verse 5. By this little word, the psalmist is saying that, in spite of his suffering, he trusts in God’s unfailing love and salvation. The psalmist leaps out of lament into the embrace of God. However, this is not an uniformed leap of faith. The psalmist knows his God and he knows about God’s mighty acts in history. This knowledge leads to trust and, finally, to doxology.

Your life is like that of the psalmist. You, too, will experience times of great despair. You, too, can make this informed step of faith even in the midst of that despair. You can do this because you are in union with Jesus. Remember, it was Jesus who experienced the ultimate attack by enemies, including death itself. Also recall that it was Jesus who experienced the ultimate sense of abandonment when He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Jesus is the most brilliant display of God’s unfailing love and salvation.

Through Him you can speak the “but I trust” of verse five. Through Him you can rejoice and sing because the Lord has been good to you.

—Anthony T. Selvaggio