Psalm 13: The Single Heart
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
“‘How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?’ The ‘forgetting,’ and ‘hiding the face,’ was in appearance only, not in reality.
The language is not that of doubt or complaint, but of simple suffering coming from the human aspect of affairs, and speaking of things phenomenally, as we would say. The whole Bible is full of examples where, with the sincerest piety and faith, the sufferer gives forth the voice of nature.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown) “‘How long shall I take counsel in my soul’— i.e. ‘conceal my grief,’ saith Aben Ezra..—‘having sorrow in my heart daily?’ Heb. by day, ... when others are full of business and forget their sorrows, saith R. David.” (Trapp) “Sorrow is in the heart and an enemy is outside.” (Arno Gaebelein) “But, to speak properly, God cannot forget his people, Isaiah 44:16; Isaiah 49:14-16.” (John Trapp)
This experience was a type for spiritual Israel. “How long - four times repeated; implying the protracted trials of the Psalmist. A feeling bordering on despair must at times have tempted David, after Saul's persecutions had continued for years, and no hope of a termination appeared. His experiences adapted him to speak a word in season to those exposed to protracted and wearing-out afflictions. Some have considered this psalm as the complaint [cry] of the Israelite Church in her bondage and darkness, praying for the coming of Messiah as her deliverer. The four-fold cry, ‘How long?’ thus refers to the four-fold captivity of the [remnant of the] Jews: the Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Grecian, and the Roman.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)
“This psalm was Israel’s plaintive song in the time of trouble. It eased their hearts in captivity, that a bright morning would break, and chase their night away; that God would make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight.” (Joseph Sutcliffe) The Morning Star will shine!
Have You forgotten me Yahweh, whom am a slaved to sin and death? “‘Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;’—From dejection of mind David turns to prayer with a more softened and hopeful tone. ‘Consider;’ that is, ‘behold,’ ‘look;’ ‘give direct, immediate, attention.’— ‘enlighten my eyes’—His sorrow had dimmed the lustre of his eyes, which the divine joy and salvation alone could restore. On the figure, see 1 Samuel 14:27; 14:29.” (Daniel Whedon) "If thine eye be single, the whole body is full of light."— ‘lest I sleep the sleep of death’ This language is the strongest that the Hebrew supplies to denote that without help from God death must soon end the dreadful conflict. See Jeremiah 51:39.” (Daniel Whedon)
“Lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed against him’; lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.” “Not only is his own life in danger, but a further reason for divine interference is the reproach that would otherwise fall upon the cause of God. The psalmist’s overthrow would be the triumph of unrighteousness.” (Daniel Whedon)
“But”— even if You don’t come in my life to rescue from my situation, yet— I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.” The past tense indicates eternal salvation. “’I will sing to Yahweh , because He has dealt bountifully with me.’ Surely You will come before “I sleep the sleep of death," that is, the first death. “‘And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.” (Hebrews 9:27-28)
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flow’rs before Thee,
Op’ning to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day!
Mortals, join the happy chorus,
Which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us,
Brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward,
Victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward
In the triumph song of life.
“Yes, Christ shall be seen on earth again, not as a humble sufferer, but as the mighty Judge before whom all people must give an account. The expression ‘them that wait for him’ is a tender and beautiful suggestion of the necessity of mortal trial and tribulation, and is a directive that Christians should ‘wait it out,’ never be discouraged, and endure to the end.” (Burton Coffman) Christ will bear the sins of “many” (28a)— not all— for “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,” He will take “vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.” (2 Thes 1:7-10)
Note that ultimately the second death is the penalty for sin— an eternal punishment, not an eternal punishing.