Who is a God like you, forgiving sin and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, for he delights in loyal love. He will again have compassion on us; he will trample our iniquities, and you will hurl all their sins in the depths of the sea. [1]
God’s goodness and love
Psalm 13 NLT
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, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?
Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall. 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.
Augustine
How long will you turn your face away from me? God no more turns away his face than he forgets, but Scripture adopts our human idiom. God is said to turn away his face as long as he refuses knowledge of himself to a soul whose spiritual eyes are not yet pure.[2]
Cassiodorus
The love of God is, so to say, a spring shower of virtues, beneath which a blessed longing germinates and holy action bears fruit. In this world it is patient in adversity and controlled in prosperity, powerful in humility and most joyful in affliction, kindly to enemies and overcoming evil people with its blessings. Even creatures of heaven are fired by it, becoming a renewing flame, a longing that swells and brings salvation.[3]
Chrysostom
Hope in God’s mercy, have no doubts, and you will gain your request completely; once gained, however, do not prove ungrateful for the favor and unappreciative, but make a record of the kindness and offer it as a thanksgiving song to the Lord.[4]
Matthew Henry
God sometimes hides his face and leaves his own children in the dark concerning their interest in him: and this they lay to heart more than any outward trouble whatever. But anxious cares are heavy burdens with which believers often load themselves more than they need. The bread of sorrows is sometimes the saint’s daily bread; our Master himself was a man of sorrows. It is a common temptation, when trouble lasts long, to think that it will last always. Those who have long been without joy, begin to be without hope. We should never allow ourselves to make any complaints but what drive us to our knees. Nothing is more killing to a soul than the want of God’s favour; nothing more reviving than the return of it.[5]
R. E. O. White
The psalmist utters a poignant cry of spiritual desolation that is quite unexplained. The poet is acutely aware of the loss of God’s conscious favor; of ceaseless inward debate, of continual sorrow, of the gloating of opponents over his state. He also seems afraid of dying in his spiritual darkness. Many of the truly devout have known such seasons of despair and have found with the psalmist that the memory of God’s past goodness and trust in his unfailing love provide the answer to such dark moods.[6]
Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.[7]
Give Me Jesus
Help us, we pray, in the midst of things we cannot understand, to believe and trust in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection to life everlasting. Amen.[8]
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), Mic 7:18–19.
[2] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p. 104.
[3] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p, 107.
[4] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament Volume VII, p. 107.
[5] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ps 13:1.
[6] R. E. O. White, “Psalms,” in Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, vol. 3, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1995), 375.
[7] Collect Proper 7, Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p. 617.
[8] Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 2019, p. 254.
