Psalm 13
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? 2How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? 3Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; 4Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; And those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. 5But I have trusted in thy mercy; My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
Confession, I was not a faithful high school student.
Since preparation and study were not my forte, I sought alternate test taking methods (in other words, I cheated). I regret this for sure, not only was it was wrong, but it robbed me of my potential.
One particular test was very important to my high school basketball career, so I took an ink pen and wrote the answers to some of the most difficult questions on my palms.
I suppose I was acting suspicious because the teacher kept eyeing me.
Those looks made my palm reading attempts very difficult and made me extremely nervous. I could scarcely get a glance at my handy cheat sheet without getting caught.
It was incredibly stressful. Truly, the way of the transgressor is hard.
Finally, an opportunity opened, and I looked down at my hands only to discover that sweat had smeared the ink all over my palms.
I couldn’t read a single answer.
That day, this cheater got what he deserved.
I suppose you are asking why I would think of such a story when looking at this Psalm?
In Psalm 13 David once again brings honest questions from his heart to the Lord.
Psalm 13:1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? forever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Have you ever felt like God has forgotten you? Good news, he hasn’t!
The Word of God tells us in Isaiah 49 that Israel believed that God had forgotten her but look at his response.
Isaiah 49:14–15 14But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me. 15Can a woman forget her sucking child, That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, Yet will I not forget thee.
The Great I Am, the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever remembers those whom he loves like a mother remembers her baby.
Most mothers don’t forget their babies.
Most mothers naturally love their children.
Of course, there are rare occasions where mother's don't have natural affection toward their kids, that is why the Lord adds this promise, “… they may forget but I will not forget you!”
Now, here is where my handy test taking method becomes relevant.
Next, God promises to do something similar.
Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; Thy walls are continually before me.
He says, “I have graven you on the palms of my hand” and notice he doesn’t use smear-able, disappearing ink like I did. Our Lord said you are GRAVEN there.
God has not forgotten you!
You are always on his mind even when you feel forgotten!
David brought God his doubts in the beginning of our Psalm but through prayer he finished with faith. He starts with questions about his future but ends with confidence by going back to his past.
Psalm 13:5–6 5But I have trusted in thy mercy; My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. 6I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
When you and I go through some great test, we can do this too, by faith, we can claim the promise that he won’t forget us, look back at what he has done and muster confidence for our present needs and the troubling times ahead.
2021 Bible Reading Plan
January 22, 2021
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