Psalm 13 Continued…
Psalms 13:2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?
At this point in his spiritual pilgrimage, David was no longer master of his emotions, his feelings had brought him low. In view of God’s apparent absence, the psalmist seems left to his own personal resources which are unable to deal with the reality of his enemies. He had been brought low by his foes: “How long will my enemy triumph over me?” It seemed as though Saul was bound to win. He had the means and he had the power. The resources of the nation were being harnessed, not to fight the Philistines, but to hound and hunt David. The heat was on. The fourfold repetition of the phrase “how long” clearly shows David’s intense suffering. He is wearied by his enemy but even more distressed by God’s seeming unconcern. He feels God-forsaken in the time of his greatest need.
“How long shall I take counsel in my soul” (KJV) has been translated “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts,” in the NIV, which suggests turmoil in the mind. Feeling like he was left to himself, David tried to devise various ways to overcome the enemy (wrestle with my thoughts), but nothing seemed to satisfy him. Depression can be suffocating, worse than mere physical pain. Martin Luther wrote: “Hope itself despairs, and despair nevertheless hopes. Experiencing depression can cause a real conflict between the spirit and the flesh. But faith is living without scheming; it means not leaning on our own experiences and skills and trying to plot our own schedule— “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6). Those anxious cares with which believers tend to load themselves with can be heavy burdens to carry, and can become more than they think they can bear. And the bread of sorrows is sometimes the believer’s daily bread; our Master Himself was a man of sorrows. It is a common temptation, when trouble lasts a long time, to think that it will last forever; and those who are without joy for a long time, begin to be without hope. Saul’s persecutions probably lasted for eight or nine years; and no let up or hope of termination appeared— “But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.” (1 Samuel 27:1).
PRAY
Father, please renew my mind, that I may think the holy and good thoughts of a redeemed child. Please secure the helmet of salvation upon me so I am never without protection. I now put on the breastplate of righteousness. Holy Spirit, come and fill me now. Give me strength for the battle and endurance to seek your will.