How long?

Seasons of spiritual dryness are not uncommon, even for the most devoted follower of Jesus. How we respond in such a time is important for our growth in grace. But how do we respond? How should we respond?

Again and again, Scripture gives us examples to follow in articulating our inmost thoughts and feelings. In this Psalm, I see a pattern that can be helpful as we process our thoughts and feelings in a season of spiritual dryness. I see the pattern of “complain”, “commit” and “confirm”.

The complaint comes in verses 1 and 2, where four times David asks “how long?” How long will God forget me? How long will He hide His face from me? How long must I be in turmoil and anxiety? How long shall the enemy seem to have triumph over me?

When we look back on a season of complaint, we often find the questions we asked are silly at best and perhaps heretical at worst. Does God forget me? Never. Does He abandon me? Never. Will He let me remain in anxiety and worry forever? Of course not. Will my enemy (I think of the enemy of my soul here - satan) ever really triumph over me? No, emphatically, no. Jesus has already won the eternal victory over my greatest enemy.

I can commit myself to God, as David does in verse 3. In this commitment, David recognizes that God is solely sovereign over his life. He commits his life to God. I can commit my life to God, too. I can recognize that God gives light to my life. Apart from Him, I have no life. And God will save us for the sake of His great name. There will never be a time when satan can say that he has “prevailed.”

When I have exercised my complaint and then committed my life to God, I can confirm that His steadfast love, His lovingkindness, will be my hope and trust. I can rejoice, soon, in His salvation. I can confirm again that God deals bountifully and graciously with me.

You can find a music meditation video on this psalm here. I’m always grateful when you like, share, or subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Isaac Watts wrote a hymn-setting of Psalm 13. May you be blessed with a renewed sense of God’s comfort and care.

How long, O Lord, shall I complain,

Like one that seeks his God in vain?

Canst thou thy face for ever hide,

And I still pray, and be denied?

Shall I for ever be forgot,

As one whom thou regardest not

Still shall my soul thine absence mourn,

And still despair of thy return?

How long shall my poor troubled breast

Be with these anxious thoughts oppressed?

And Satan, my malicious foe,

Rejoice to see me sunk so low?

Hear, Lord, and grant me quick relief,

Before my death conclude my grief:

If thou withhold thy heav’nly light,

I sleep in everlasting night.

How will the powers of darkness boast,

If but one praying soul be lost!

But I have trusted in thy grace,

And shall again behold thy face.

Whate’er my fears or foes suggest,

Thou art my hope, my joy, my rest;

My heart shall feel thy love, and raise

My cheerful voice to songs of praise.