Scripture:
Psalm 13
Translation:
1. For the Director, a song, Davidic
2. How long are You going to forget about
me, Yahweh--for forever?
How
long are You going to hide Your Face from me?
3. How long am I going put recommendations
in my soul?
Sorrow is in my heart daily!
How long will my enemy triumph against me?
4. Look! Answer me, Yahweh my God!
Make my eyes shine [with joy/life],
so I don’t sleep in death!
5. so
my enemy can’t say “I overpowered him!”
my
oppressors celebrate because I am wobbling!
6. But I with trust in Your loyalty!
My
heart celebrates in Your Salvation
I will sing
to Yahweh,
because He acts to benefit me
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Strophe 1 (vv.2-3): How Long?!
A How long do will You forget about me?
B How long will You avoid me?
C How long do I have to make plans?
D I’m always depressed!
C How long will my enemy win?
b.
Strophe 2 (vv.4a-5a): Do something!
A Look at what’s happening
B Answer my prayer
A’ Make my eyes happy
C So I don’t die
C’ So my enemy can’t gloat
c.
Strophe 3 (vv.5b-6d): I will do something!
A My enemy celebrates my trouble
B But I
trust in you
A’ I celebrate in Your salvation
C I will sing to Yahweh
D Because/that He acts for my benefit/on my behalf
2.
Themes
a.
How long
i.
This phrase is repeated 4
times right after another, except with a minor intrusion of a short line in
between the 3rd and 4th instances.
ii.
There is a strong and
forceful drive of wondering how long the suffering will continue, it is at the
same time both a legitimate question and an indictment/complaint against
Yahweh, that is it is both asking how long he has to wait for Yahweh to do
something and at the same time saying that Yahweh is taking too long, that He
is not meeting the author’s expectations, that He seems to be pushing the
boundaries of what keeping His promises means.
iii.
This implies a few other
themes, namely that the author has a relationship with Yahweh and that Yahweh
is His Savior, and that the author trusts Yahweh
iv.
It is a very bold
statement, which has implications on how we can interact with God, it is a very
natural conversation
b.
Enemies
i.
Two words for enemies are
used, one is the traditional word “enemies” but the other one has to do with
oppressors, those who cause trouble, that is one word seems to be more focused
on the relationship, while the other is more focused on what they are doing
that makes them enemies, איב is the more relational term,
focusing on the hostile disposition, while צר seems to focus more on what the person
does, namely cause trouble and difficulty, but to some extent it is a very
relational term as well, since Yahweh is said to have צרים, which does imply that they are not by
definition people who make someone’s life miserable and pressured, since Yahweh
doesn’t get pressured by people. So here, there may be a slight emphasis on
what the people do, but mostly it is used as a colorful synonym for איב. Both are
probably very marked by the hostile relationship.
ii.
To some extent
the mention of enemies is to function as a contrast to the psalmist, this is
explicit in the final strophe especially
c.
Problems
i.
So the problems for the
author are numerous and diverse
ii.
The first problem is the
lack of Yahweh’s help or answering, that is the length of time that the
suffering has continued
iii.
The next problem mentioned
is that Yahweh seems to have withdrawn from the psalmist, it feels like Yahweh
is close, that He is holding His Presence back from the psalmist, that the
relationship is distant
iv.
The next problem is that
the author is dealing with enemies, likely physical enemies, but it could be
political/social enemies, who are getting the upper hand
v.
The final problem is that
all these problems have brought the psalmist into a sad/depressed state
vi.
It is a nasty cocktail of
misery, all located in the first strophe
vii.
The other strophes indicate
that there could be a risk of death and the risk of shame that is troubling the
psalmist
d.
Abandonment
i.
This is indicated by the
first bicola, v.2, where Yahweh seems to have not just forgotten about the
psalmist, at least from the psalmist’s perspective, but also have actively
withheld His comforting or perhaps blessing Presence, the problem seems to be
not just that Yahweh isn’t doing anything, but that He doesn’t feel close, that
He won’t connect with the psalmist, this may be more implicit than explicit,
but it seems to include the experiential component not just the activity
component
ii.
This would feel like total
abandonment to the psalmist and he wants to know how long it is going to last
e.
Seeing/eyes
i.
This is a minor theme in
the central strophe
ii.
The author calls on Yahweh
to look, to inspect what’s going on, but then later he asks Yahweh to make his
eyes shine, which also would likely have something to do with seeing, but
really has the dual force of physical and emotional vitality
f.
Celebration
i.
This is a theme of the
final strophe, where there is an explicit contrast between what the enemies of
the author are celebrating and what the author is celebrating, the enemies are
celebrating the wavering, the near downfall of the author, but the author is
celebrating the salvation of Yahweh, His rescuing the author from his enemies,
the irony is the enemies are celebrating a demise not yet here, and the author
is celebrating a salvation not yet here, but we know by faith that His
celebration and hope is not misplaced!
g.
Singing
i.
This is under the heading
of “song” and the final verse mentions singing, so the whole thing is likely a
song meant to be sung
h.
Trust
i.
The trust is explicitly
stated in v.6, but it is also implied by the way the first strophe is phased,
it comes out of a confusion induced by the faith of the psalmist, but also it
is being prayed from the perspective of faith, perhaps a wobbling faith, but
faith
ii.
The central strophe is a
clear prayer which depends on the trust that Yahweh will answer
i.
Salvation
i.
The psalm hinges on the
waiting for salvation, and the call for salvation and the trust in Yahweh’s
salvation and delight in His salvation
j.
Prayer
i.
The whole thing is clearly
a prayer, with perhaps the exception of the final two cola.
ii.
The honesty of the prayer
and the gutsiness of the prayer is pretty intense.
iii.
It is filled with
questions, natural conversation, and requests
k.
Relationship with Yahweh
i.
The whole psalm is
predicated on the author having a relationship with Yahweh, that is why He can
ask “how long” that is also why he can ask Yahweh to do something
ii.
The relationship is clearly
appealed to in v.6, when He trusts in Yahweh’s loyalty, that loyalty is
relational loyalty, that is the author is saying that Yahweh will be loyal to
the relationship, to the relational commitments between them
iii.
The angst comes out of a
close and trusting relationship with Yahweh
3.
Doctrines
a.
Yahweh saves
b.
Our prayers can be brutally
honest
c.
Yahweh is all powerful
d.
Yahweh cares
e.
Yahweh can be trusted
f.
Yahweh commits Himself to
people
g.
Yahweh wants His people to
be honest with Him
h.
Prayers work
i.
Yahweh’s people should
trust Him
Applications
1.
This is really the kind of
prayer that you can only pray if you have the guts, if you have the faith to
pray it, because we can only ask “how long” if we trust in Yahweh as our God
and Savior,
2.
We should thank Yahweh that
He is the God Who can take our angst, our worries, our fears, our troubles, our
confusion, our expectations
3.
Pray gutsy, angsty prayers!
4.
It’s ok to ask God why He
is taking so long?
5.
It’s ok to tell God the
problems that it seems like He is causing
6.
It’s ok to ask God to hold
up His end of the relationship
7.
It’s ok to be honest with
God that you are depressed
8.
It’s ok to get it God’s
face a bit, it’s not ok to be disrespectful and untrusting, but it is ok to
call on God to keep His promises, to take action, to tell you’re sick of what
you’re going through, to say stuff that sounds a bit “risky” (that is stuff
that runs contrary to the ways that we usually hear people pray or feel like
our prayers are supposed to sound like, but not stuff that is theologically
wrong or blasphemous or untrusting, I’m just saying our prayers don’t need to
conform to “churchy” status quo prayers) as long as it is coming out of heart
of faith and reliance on Yahweh
9.
Now, we have to be honest
and understand that sometimes, Yahweh rejects immediate deliverance, He says
that salvation is not coming in this life sometimes, and other times He says
that our salvation will look different than we expect, but ultimately Yahweh
also says to us right now, that our salvation on one level has already
happened, that our salvation is now in Jesus the Messiah! But our expectation
is not supposed to be that He won’t answer, or that He won’t save, but that He
will! So don’t use the different forms of God’s answer as excuses to not
believe that He does answer or that He does save, that He does keep His
promises
10.
Be honest and real in your
prayers
11.
Don't think that trusting
in Yahweh means never praying a prayer that looks like Pslam 13, because psalm
13 is teaching us that prayers like this can be prayed and really can only be
prayed genuinely and in a Godly way while holding on to Yahweh our Saving God
in faith and our relationship with Him
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