Sunday Scripture

 

We're continuing with our ongoing series on my simple study of Psalms.  You can see a copy of the journal here: The Book of Psalms 1-50 or you can find all the resources right here on Women Living Well, Psalms 1-50.  I'm attempting to SOAP each Psalm too, though some of them are longer so I will likely only do a selected passage from many of them. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Each psalm's study also includes a reflection question, which I will attempt to journal an answer to.  Today's study is from Psalm 13.   There are only 6 verses, so I chose to SOAP them all.  Here goes!

S= How long wilt Thou forget me, O LORD?  for ever?  how long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?
"How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?  how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
"Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
"Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
"But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.
"I will sing unto the LORD, because He hath dealt bountifully with me."  (Psalm 13)

O= The brief biblical heading simply states "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David."  C.I. Scofield has titled this "The testing of delay."  And in verses 1-2 we definitely see David questioning God's delay in coming to his aid.

David has questions for God:

• How long will You forget me?  Forever?

• How long will You hide Your face from me?

How long will I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily?

• How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

He then has some specific requests for the Lord:

* Consider and hear me;

* Lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

* Don't allow my enemy to say he has prevailed against me; 

* Don't allow those who trouble me to rejoice at my sorrow or my plight.

Then, a change of direction.  David says:

BUT

* I have trusted in Your mercy;

* My heart will rejoice in Your salvation.

THEREFORE David can say,

I will sing unto the LORD

BECAUSE

He has dealt bountifully with me.

It is so interesting to see how David's thinking changes as, after his questions and concerns, he can add that he has trusted in God's mercy and rejoiced in His salvation!

In his devotional commentary With the Word, Warren Wiersbe divides Psalm 13 into three parts: ASKING (v.1-2); ARGUING (v.3-4) -- Would God be glorified by David's defeat?  Should the enemy rejoice while God's people suffer? -- and AFFIRMING his faith and trust in God.  (v.5-6)

Cross-references for "How long" (v.1) -- "How long, LORD?  Wilt Thou be angry forever?  Shall Thy jealousy burn like fire?"  (Psalm 79:5)

"How long, LORD?  Wilt Thou hide Thyself forever?  Shall Thy wrath burn like fire?  (Psalm 89:46)

Warren Wiersbe notes that  "How long?" is a question frequently asked in the Psalms.  He points to at least nine psalms where this question is asked of God by a psalmist.

Cross-references for "forget me forever' (v.1) -- "Arise O LORD; O God, lift up Thine hand; forget not the humble." (Psalm 10:12)

"Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?"  (Psalm 44:24)

"Oh, deliver not the soul of Thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked; forget not the congregation of Thy poor forever."  (Psalm 74:19)

"Forget not the voice of Thine enemies, the tumult of those who rise up against Thee increaseth continually."  (Psalm 74:23)

"Why dost Thou forget us forever, and forsake us for so long a time?" (Lamentations 5:20)

Cross-reference for "hide Thy face from me" (v.1) -- "Why hidest Thou Thy face, and oldest me for Thine enemy?" (Job 13:24)

Cross-reference for "counsel in my soul" (v.2) -- "I call to remembrance my song in the night; I commune with mine own heart, and my spirit made diligent search." (Psalm 77:6)

Cross-references for "consider and hear me" (v.3) -- "Give ear to my words, O LORD; consider my meditation."  (Psalm 5:1)

"Consider mine affliction, and deliver me; for I do not forget Thy law."  (Psalm 119:153)

Cross-reference for "lighten mine eyes" (v.3) -- "The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes."  (Psalm 19:8)

"And now for a little moment grace hath been shown from the LORD, our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage."  (Ezra 9:8)

"The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."  (Ephesians 1:18)

Cross-reference for "sleep the sleep of death" (v.3) -- "I will make [Babylon] sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD."  (Jeremiah 51:39)

Cross-reference for "lest mine enemy say" (v.4) -- "Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this,"  (Deuteronomy 32:37)

Cross-reference for "moved" (v.4) -- "He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity."  (Psalm 10:6)

Cross-reference for "trusted" (v.5) -- "In the LORD put I my trust; how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain,"  (Psalm 11:1)

Cross-reference for "rejoice" (v.5) -- "That I may show forth all Thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion.  I will rejoice in Thy salvation."  (Psalm 9:14)

A= Wiersbe explains, "Time seems to rush by when we are enjoying life but to linger when we are suffering.  God knows how long our trials should last because He knows exactly what we need."

He adds, "David had examined his heart and knew of no reason why God would abandon him.  The longer God waited, the more the enemy would succeed.  When you have this same feeling, do what David did and talk to God with an honest and humble heart ... David reasoned with God but did not try to tell God what to do.

"Faith does not always give answers, but it does give encouragement.  No matter how successful the enemy appears to be, you can trust the Lord, rejoice in the Lord, sing to the Lord and know that He will always deal bountifully with you." 

These are excellent application thoughts for this psalm!

P= "Lord, I thank and praise You that Your timing is always perfect and that I can trust Your timing.  Your answers may sometimes seem delayed in coming, but I can trust You to answer at the exact right moment.  I thank You that I can honestly share my heart with You and know that You understand.  My questions will turn to praise as I consider You and Your character even in the midst of trials.  I can and do rejoice in the ways You have dealt bountifully with me, and I thank You for them in Jesus' name, Amen."

Reflection question: David opens his heart and shares his raw emotions, but still chooses to praise God in the depths of difficulties. 

Are you in the midst of a trial?  Despite your difficulties, what can you praise God for today?

My response:  I think it was Spurgeon who said that if there is nothing else we can think of to praise God for, there is always this: He has saved us from hell.  But I can actually think of many more things we can praise Him for, even in the midst of difficulties:

🌠 He is with us always and specifically says He will be with us in trouble.
🌠 He has a purpose in all that He allows.
🌠 He is good, all the time.
🌠 He has begun the good work in our lives and promises to bring it to completion.
🌠  He uses trials to bring about spiritual growth.
🌠 He is the God of all comfort, and comforts us so that we may comfort others.

... And much more!

And there is our simple study of Psalm 13.  I hope it was a blessing to someone today!