By Toni Ford
One of the many things I love about King David was his honesty with the Lord. We see examples of this in each of his writings throughout the Book of Psalms. David was not only a gifted writer; he was a talented musician. The Hebrew meaning for the word “Psalms” actu-ally means “to praise or to shine.” The root of the Hebrew word for shining means to sing psalms. Thus, the reason you will often see a statement such as, “a psalm of David to be accompanied by a string in-strument,” or “to be sung to the tune of….” under many of the headings, written by David. Out of 150 psalms or songs, David is credited as the author to 75 of the psalms.
During the reading of the Book of Psalms this month, the one that stood out to me has been Psalm 13. David wrote this psalm during a time when King Saul was pursuing David in order to kill him. In this brief psalm, David expresses his fears, his petitions and his faith, which personally re-sonated within me and also challenged me to keep my eyes on the eternal.
How long? Psalm 13:1-2 says, “O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul and with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?” Out of the depths of his heart, five times we see David repeat the haunting cry to the Lord of, “How long?” David was certainly disturbed in knowing that his enemy King Saul was coming after him to kill him, but he was more concerned about what the Lord was NOT doing, or so he thought. In spite of David’s repeated prayers, God seemed unavailable. Have you ever been there? You desperately call out to God, but He seems to have taken an extended vacation. You wonder if He is listening to your prayers or even cares about what is going on in your life.
David’s petition. Psalm 13:3-4 says, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. Do not let my enemies gloat, saying, ‘We have defeated him!’ Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.” Even when David wondered if God was listening to him, he kept praying and became even more specific in his prayers to God. He asked the Lord to “turn” or some translations say, “Look on me.” David was feeling as if the Lord had turned His face away from David, so David asks the Lord to turn His face back and fix His eyes on His servant once again. David then asked the Lord to answer him and send some type of encouragement or acknowledgement that God is listening to his prayers. Lastly, David prayed and asked the Lord to “restore the sparkle to my eyes.” David not only needed physical and emotional strength and vitality to be restored; he needed spiritual enlightenment. David was concerned for his own life, but ultimately, he was more concerned with the glory of God. He knew that if the people saw David waver and become weak physically and spiritually, they would think that God was unable to fulfill His promises.
David’s faith. Psalm 13: 5-6 says, “But, I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me! I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.” I love all the places in scripture where you see the word, “but.” You know there is a transition coming, and even here, David’s fear now turns to faith and from questioning God to claiming God’s promises! David’s circumstances had not changed but the Lord had changed David, which occurred when David stopped focusing on his own fears and looking at things in the natural and by faith started looking to the Lord! Although David’s feelings were up and down like a roller coaster, God was still on the throne, and His character never changed. We as believers do not live on explanations but rather on the promises of God that are as unchangeable as the character of God!
Thank you, Jesus, that You will never be removed or defeated from Your throne and that Your promises are as unchangeable as Your character! Help our focus to remain on You, alone!
If you would like me to join you in prayer please e-mail me at tonif77@gmail.com. I would love to pray for you!