Waiting Day 4 Valuable Lessons: Digging Deeper
Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) Why is David lamenting and pleading with God?
2) What key requests did David make of the Lord? (verse 3)
3) Are we allowed to plead with God and speak to Him of our anxieties and anguish over our situation or frustration with Him?
Psalm 13
1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long will I store up anxious concerns within me,
agony in my mind every day?
How long will my enemy dominate me?
3 Consider me and answer, Lord my God.
Restore brightness to my eyes;
otherwise, I will sleep in death.
4 My enemy will say, “I have triumphed over him,”
and my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your faithful love;
my heart will rejoice in your deliverance.
6 I will sing to the Lord
because he has treated me generously.
Original Intent
1) Why is David lamenting and pleading with God?
The subject of Psalm 13 is almost the same as Psalm 12; go ahead and read them both together for greater insight! David is in deep distress, overwhelmed by a long succession of calamities and multiple afflictions. He pleads with God, “How long, Lord?” (verse 1) David was hated by many primarily as a result from King Saul circulating false reports against him. Saul felt threatened by David’s rightful anointing as the next king of Israel. (1 Samuel 16:11-13) David was a hunted man and hid himself and his men in caves for years to escape King Saul’s death threats. David’s sense of oppression overwhelmed him to the point of depression and despondency; the anointed one of God felt God Himself had neglected him. In the face of dire afflictions, a willingness to acknowledge the realities of God’s presence and His constant care run counter to humanity’s despairing and unbelieving nature. David’s clouded, anxious mind couldn’t lay hold of the ray of hope held out by the Unseen God, so he achingly cries out for surely, God no longer remembered nor cared for him. We feel David’s intense pain and ravaging despair as we read “How long, Lord?” four times in this short psalm. Would God’s rescue never free him from his terrible, crushing burdens? Though David had experienced God’s presence and provision many times in his life, now in the heat of lengthy waiting and the threat of his life, David feels cut off from God; his suffering soul wades into deep depression as he feels he is on the “losing side” (verse 4). By David’s timing, the Lord must soon rescue in order to avoid two disasters, David’s death and the boast of his enemy over him. Where were God’s promised blessings of protection, grace, and peace now? (Numbers 6:24-26)
2) What key requests did David make of the Lord? (verse 3)
Despite his desperation and doubt, David demonstrates faith by crying out to God. David hopelessly looks around and sees his life devoured on all sides, yet he still, with faith, calls out to God. His brutally honest cry of faith opens the door for God to bring peace and for His Spirit to remind David of truth; he is secure in the hand of God. If David had no faith, it would be impossible for him to direct his thoughts and prayers to the Almighty God. Verse 3 provides three specific pleadings to the Lord demonstrating David’s faith while he waits for the Lord. Consider. In Hebrew, נָבַט, means to look intently upon with delighted pleasure and care. Because David feels God has hidden His face, he emplores God to look intently upon him. Think of a spouse gazing intently with love on the other, or of a parent lovingly looking upon their adored child. Isaiah prayed a similar request in Isaiah 63:15, as did the nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 26:15. Answer. עָנָה is the Hebrew word meaning “respond with speaking or loud declaring (shouting)”. It also denotes answering through singing, which is especially interesting as other places in Scripture mention the Lord singing over His people. (Psalm 42:8, Zephaniah 3:17) Like a love song, God’s answers soothe our anguish, reminding us of truth. Restore. The Hebrew word אוֹר translated in CSB (Christian Standard Bible) as restore is more closely translated as enlighten meaning “to bring light, to make shine, or light up”. Where David’s eyes, and his life, were once bright and full, they now need help to brighten. His light for life needs restored, so David calls out to the Source of Light Himself, God. He knows it’s only by God’s favor that his light will be restored.
3) Are we allowed to plead with God and speak to Him of our anxieties and anguish over our situation or frustration with Him?
As David demonstrated with full transparency, passionately pleading with God is a good thing! Not only did God preserve this specific prayer of despair in His Word, but He also preserved many other psalms of lament that depict hard honest questions. In fact, Scripture reflects this honest wrestling with God in places all throughout the Bible from beginning to end. (check out Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Habakkuk (with a GT Journey Theme!) for a few examples!) God never responds to honest prayer with mockery, shaming, or rejection. He desires truth in the inmost places. (Psalm 51:6) God wants us to pray with all the sincerity and passion inside of us. Psalm 13 is categorized in Scripture as a “song of lament”, meaning it describes deep anguishing cries to the Lord as the writer unburdens his soul to the Lord. Laments are common in Scripture and are given as a tool meant to help God’s people navigate pain, suffering, and heartache when answers seem non-existent. (Mark Vroegop) The lament is a vitally important prayer for God’s people because it provides a model for petitioning the Almighty, gives space to freely express pain, and then, blessedly, offers a pathway towards praise and an invitation to anchor in truth regardless of feelings. The lament is a road of trust between the believer and God in our darkest days. God provided that lament to His people, and preserved it in His Word, because He desires us to know how deeply He cares for us. In the middle of David’s pain was a God who wanted to hear David’s cries and the pain hidden away in the deepest places of his heart. Here in the heartache, God allowed the lament to give way to a space where David could enjoy God and rest in truth.
Everyday Application
1) Why is David lamenting and pleading with God?
We each have, or will, walk through seasons of intense pressing multiple times in life. In today’s language we would say David was depressed, feeling heavy inside from deep, persisting sadness affecting his relationships, his perceptions, and even his routine activities. Severe depression can cause persons to wish for death as means to escape the physical or emotional pain of what feels like an impossible-to-win battle. Mental health is nothing to take lightly. If you, or someone you love is suffering from depression, walk alongside them, pray for and with them, and encourage them to seek professional care. If King David, who God declared to be a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), struggled so deeply and was not shamed or told “to get over it” or worse, “just pray about it”, we should be encouraged that we are not alone and can love others well through mental illness. Whether you suffer from depression or not, you’ve likely felt, like David, as if you were in a losing battle with no good outcome in sight. It’s easy to succumb to fear and a sense of being overwhelmed in these times, especially if we know our enemy would rejoice over our defeat and take pleasure in our pain. As in all seasons of waiting and struggle, the Lord has good purposes to show us more of Himself if we will call out to Him. (Jeremiah 33:3) We can courageously obey the Lord’s counterintuitive command to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) while we prayerfully commit our ways to the Lord, which brings “healing for your body and strengthening for your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8). There’s more hope for us in the midst of being “pressed down” internally; let’s keep reading to discover God’s heart!
2) What key requests did David make of the Lord? (verse 3)
While most of us don’t have an army hunting us down, we have certainly all experienced seasons of waiting where God seems distant and emptiness overcomes us. Our despair traps us into believing we are foolish to expect God to answer because He has “hidden His face” from us. (verse 2) We pray, but God doesn’t seem to answer. We read Scripture, but God doesn’t seem to speak. We seek Him, but it’s as if He is hiding. We are in good company with the gut-honest psalmist! In this place of darkness, there is a remedy; we can pray specifically to the God who seems far away. Through faith, we can choose to trust what He says is true about Himself. Whether we feel these truths or not is irrelevant, they are true regardless and rehearsing truth quells the lies we consume. Where to discover these life-giving truths? Open God’s Word; every single word of it is true. When we come to it, humbly and honestly in prayer as David did, God will faithfully, slowly and patiently, show us Himself and restore our light of life. Through faith, we cling to unchanging hope, confidently knowing that, as we pour out our deepest groanings to God, He will lessen our anguish. He will replace light with darkness and joy for weeping. (Psalm 125:5-6) When it seems God has turned His face away, we must deliberately fight back against the tide threatening to overtake us with simple, honest prayers of faith. Take back ground from the enemy’s lies one truth at a time. We are loved with unfailing love. (Deuteronomy 33:27) God will never forsake us. (Deuteronomy 31:6) We belong; we are His and He is ours. (Psalm 95:7) His grace and love towards those who trust Him, never changes. (Ephesians 1:3-6) Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness! (1 Peter 1:18-19)
3) Are we allowed to plead with God and speak to Him of our anxieties and anguish over our situation or frustration with Him?
YES, YES, and YES! While God already knows our hearts (Psalm 139:2), He desires a deep relationship with us. Many life issues, especially crisis situations, naturally lead us to plead with God. We beg for mercy, for God to see our pain and act on our behalf. The psalms are full of this! Consider this your invitation to read a psalm every day this week and explore God’s heart! Waiting for the Lord’s perfect timing and learning to trust Him is HARD work mentally, emotionally, and even physically. When we feel overlooked or forgotten, trusting Him and the truths He has given is a struggle! We prefer quick healing and immediate, specific solutions. But, because the Lord cares most about our heart relationship with Him, the Lord often answers our pleadings with “wait”. “I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:13-14) God wants to cultivate a totally devoted faith in Him alone, even if we feel bereft and unseen, and He uses our dark days to accomplish this work. We may or may not receive an immediate answer, but His comfort through His Spirit is guaranteed no matter the circumstance! (2 Corinthians 1:3-4) Nothing surpasses the peace and joy that comes from knowing truth. “If God is for us, who could be against us?” (Romans 8:31) Cry out, Sister! Bear your soul to the One who cares for you! (1 Peter 5:7) Follow David’s model of lament and discover the pathway to peace, joy, and comfort in the midst of pain. Remember: 1) God is working all the time. 2) God’s purposes will not be thwarted by pain; He will prevail! 3) There is true joy in the midst of hardship if we lean on truth!
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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