Psalm 13

How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
    and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
    How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

• Psalm 13:1-6

Type of Psalm

Psalms of Affliction: Psalms where the psalmist is crying out in pain or distress, asking God where He is in the psalmist’s time of need.  But no matter how dire the circumstances or how long the lament, there seems to always be a word of praise.  Otherwise, why do we go to God in such times, other than to recognize Him as the only one who can help us?

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“This psalm is the deserted soul’s case and cure. Whether it was penned upon any particular occasion does not appear, but in general, I. David sadly complains that God had long withdrawn from him and delayed to relieve him, ver. 1-2. II. He earnestly prays to God to consider his case and comfort him, ver. 3-4. III. He assures himself of an answer of peace, and therefore concludes the psalm with joy and triumph, because he concludes his deliverance to be as good as wrought, ver. 5-6.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 13:6 “God has never taken his eyes off you. Not for a millisecond. He’s always near. He lives to hear your heartbeat. He loves to hear your prayers. He’d die for your sin before he’d let you die in your sin, so he did.
“What do you do with such a Savior? Don’t you sing to him? Don’t you declare, confess, and proclaim his name? Don’t you bow a knee, lower a head, hammer a nail, feed the poor, and lift up your gift in worship? Of course you do.
“Worship God. Applaud him loud and often. For your sake, you need it.
“And for heaven’s sake, he deserves it.”

• Max Lucado, Cure for the Common Life

My Thoughts

How long?  As for my thoughts, they will be much longer than the psalm.

I was concerned about that when I was laid off about ten years ago. I was mentally not ready for retirement.  I was financially not ready for retirement.  I had finally gotten control of the debt and paid everything off, but my wife and I were not in the best of health and the “Affordable Health Care Act” was far from affordable.  You either paid in premiums or paid through the nose when you saw a doctor, and forget going to the hospital.  I read this Psalm in the NIV every day until I had it memorized.  Then I switched to another translation.  And then another translation, and another.  Every day for over one year after the layoff.

But I got two temporary jobs, and after the second one, I felt that contract construction management and site safety had come to a close.  I took early retirement, which with Social Security has penalties.  But amazingly, my wife and I found out we could make ends meet, and the medical costs came down drastically once I turned 65.

Between the first contract job and the second contract, I changed to another psalm.  My condition had not changed, but my attitude had changed.  God has a way of changing you so that you ask a different question rather than “How long?”  I started asking, “What do you have in store for me?”

As a result of that question, my wife had open-heart surgery.  She could not drive.  I became her taxi driver to rehab appointments, etc.  One of those monthly events was the fellowship of prayer.  Since I was there, I might as well participate.  I am now the one that types the prayer list after the people at the meeting meld all the updates into a list.  With a job, I would have never had the free time to do that.  Then, sadly, two-years after that surgery, my wife went into kidney dialysis and I drove her to her appointments, four-hours long, three days each week.  And the countless angioplasties and other procedures, until she was gone.

But I had already heard God’s reply to my question.  I was writing this blog for a year before my wife’s open-heart surgery.  And I have not missed posting something every day since a day about a month before my wife knew she needed open-heart surgery.  I had found the answer to my question by God leading me to my writing.

But note in the psalm that David laments his position.  Then He bargains with God to relieve the situation because his enemies are laughing at him.  But in typical David fashion, he concludes with praise to God, who always loves.

Psalm 14

The fool says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.
The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.
Do all these evildoers know nothing?
They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.
Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

• Psalm 14:1-7

Type of Psalm

Didactic psalms: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“It does not appear upon what occasion this psalm was penned nor whether upon any particular occasion. Some say David penned it when Saul persecuted him; others, when Absalom rebelled against him. But they are mere conjectures, which have not certainty enough to warrant us to expound the psalm by them. The apostle, in quoting part of this psalm (Rom. 3:10, &c) to prove that Jews and Gentiles are all under sin (ver. 9) and that all the world is guilty before God (ver. 19), leads us to understand it, in general, as a description of the depravity of human nature.  In all the psalms from the 3^rd to this (except the 8^th) David had been complaining of those that hated and persecuted him, insulted him and abused him; now here he traces all those bitter streams to the fountain, the general corruption of nature, and sees that not his enemies only, but all the children of men, were thus corrupted. Here is, I. A charge exhibited against a wicked world, ver.1. II. The proof of the charge, ver. 2, 3. III. A serious expostulation with sinners, especially with persecutors, upon it, ver. 4-6. IV. A believing prayer for the salvation of Israel and a joyful expectation of it, ver. 7.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 14:7 ‘The Future Restoration of Israel’: “David writes of the joyful reaction the people of Israel will have when they are restored from a future captivity through the salvation (Hebrew, yeshua) of the messianic king ruling from Jerusalem (‘that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion’). While some interpret this verse to refer to the restoration of the Jewish people to their land following the Babylonian exile, the absence of either a contemporaneous Jewish king coupled with the lack of any manner of salvation emanating from Jerusalem indicates that this more probably relates to Israel’s corporate return to both the Lord and to their land during the events relating to the establishment of the messianic rule of Jesus (Hebrew, Yeshua) in the kingdom (Isaiah 59:20; Romans 11:26-27).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

My Thoughts

This psalm is almost identical to Psalm 53.

The first verse is relatively definitional.  I have heard and read many scholars say that the biblical definition for a fool is one who does not believe in God.

The fool lives a miserable life.  The leading evolutionists talk about how we are a cosmic accident, by mere chance, evolved from goo.

That leaves mankind without purpose.  As the psalm says we devour one another.

If there is no God, there is no purpose in life.  Why are we here?

The answer is we are here to worship God and enjoy Him forever, and only those who seek out God will ever understand that.  And notice that God is seeking those who seek Him.  He loves us that much to go on a quest to save our soul.

Psalm 15

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
    Who may live on your holy mountain?
The one whose walk is blameless,
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from their heart;
whose tongue utters no slander,
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
who despises a vile person
    but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
who lends money to the poor without interest;
    who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken.

• Psalm 15:1-5

Type of Psalm

Didactic psalms: These psalms are psalms that are intended to teach.  In most cases the psalm instructs us in moral principles.

Matthew Henry’s Summary

“The scope of this short but excellent psalm is to show us the way to heaven, and to convince us that, if we would be happy, we must be holy and honest. Christ, who is himself the way, and in whom we must walk as our way, has also shown us the same way that is here prescribed, Matt. 19:17. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” In this psalm, I. By the question (ver. 1) we are directed and excited to enquire for the way. II. By the answer to that question, in the rest of the psalm, we are directed to walk in that way, ver. 2-5. III. By the assurance given in the close of the psalm of the safety and happiness of those who answer these characters we are encouraged to walk in that way, ver. 5.”

• Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

Psalm 15:4 ‘despised … honors’: “Whom God rejects, the psalmist rejects; whom God loves, he loves.”

• John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary

My Thoughts

It is unusual to get a straight answer.  Often the Scripture has parables or metaphors that must be understood.

With a warning against legalism, this psalm gives bullet points.

• Walk blameless
• Be Righteous
• Speak Truth
• No slander
• No wrong to a neighbor
• No slur
• Despise the vile
• Honor those who fear God
• Keep an oath even when it hurts
• Do not change your mind
• Loan money without interest
• Do not accept a bribe
• And cannot be shaken.

Straightforward.  A simple list.

But then comes the challenge of truly living up to it.

Only through God’s strength can we do so, and we must have God in our heart to do it.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

Psalm 13

“1. Have you felt like David does here? For how long? Did praying help? Where do you seek relief today?
“2. When do you feel like singing? When is God’s goodness most real?”

Psalm 14

“1. Have you ever been one of these fools: (a) The intellectual seeker? (b) The practical atheist? (c) Self-destructive? (d) Ravenous in relationships?
“2. What tempts you to think ‘there is no God’? Does distance from God affect your behavior?
“3.What part of your life runs without regard to God? How will you put your faith to work here today?”

Psalm 15

“1. In applying for God‘s dwelling, would your references say you have the required good character? Words? Works? Dealings? Why or why not?
“2. Does Paul have a different Landlord than David (see Eph 2:8-10)? Explain.”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

There is one set of questions for each psalm.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.