Consider and answer me, O LORD my God

Psalm 13

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

    ¹How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
         How long will You hide Your face from me?
    ²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
         Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
         How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
    ³Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;
         Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
    ⁴And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
         And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.
    ⁵But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
         My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
    ⁶I will sing to the LORD,
         Because He has dealt bountifully with me.


When you feel discouraged. When you feel alone. Don't worry, you're not the only one who has felt this way. You're not the only one whose heart has cried out, "where is so great a salvation?"


I think the verse that strikes me to the core is "How long shall I take council in my own soul?" Have you ever felt this way? How many times do we simply lock ourselves away to think, to plot out courses to find our solutions, our own happiness? I do this, I receive my own council readily, I weigh in the balance every option and never find peace in any conclusion.


The Lord is drawing us towards that which is simple, that which is eternal, and that which satisfies; his person. 


When you find yourself in these times, cling to what the psalmist discovers, cling to his heart cry. He shouts as we all do whether we realize it or not, "consider my heart cry!" or rather "Lord please don't forget me!" No dear ones, you are not forgotten, he will enlighten your eyes.


"But i have trusted in your loving-kindness" here is our part, trust. Faith is built on trust, not in ideas, but in a person. The cry is to "My Lord, My God." The temptation is to believe he is not ours, that we are apart from him. Don't forget the words of Christ, his prayer to the father. That we might know we are in Him and he in the father and the father and he in us. Here is the salvation in which we rejoice. We are not separate, we need not seek our own council continually, we only need trust in Him. 


So open your mouth and praise him. In times of loneliness and confusion confess out loud those simple truths you do know, those realities that supersede all emotion. He is our God, and he has delt bountifully with us.