2 How long is my soul to be in doubt, with sorrow in my heart all the day? how long will he who is against me be given power over me?
Do not be glad because of my sorrow, O my hater: after my fall I will be lifted up; when I am seated in the dark, the Lord will be a light to me. I will undergo the wrath of the Lord, because of my sin against him; till he takes up my cause and does what is right for me: when he makes me come out into the light, I will see his righteousness; And my hater will see it and be covered with shame; she who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? my eyes will see their desire effected on her, now she will be crushed under foot like the dust of the streets.
Keep this in mind, O Lord, that your haters have said cruel things, and that your name has been looked down on by a people of evil behaviour.
In the day of my trouble, my heart was turned to the Lord: my hand was stretched out in the night without resting; my soul would not be comforted. I will keep God in memory, with sounds of grief; my thoughts are troubled, and my spirit is overcome. (Selah.) You keep my eyes from sleep; I am so troubled that no words come. My thoughts go back to the days of the past, to the years which are gone. The memory of my song comes back to me in the night; my thoughts are moving in my heart; my spirit is searching with care. Will the Lord put me away for ever? will he be kind no longer? Is his mercy quite gone for ever? has his word come to nothing? Has God put away the memory of his pity? are his mercies shut up by his wrath? (Selah.) And I said, It is a weight on my spirit; but I will keep in mind the years of the right hand of the Most High. I will keep in mind the works of Jah: I will keep the memory of your wonders in the past. I will give thought to all your work, while my mind goes over your acts of power.
If I say, My foot is slipping; your mercy, O Lord, is my support. Among all my troubled thoughts, your comforts are the delight of my soul.
Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for all men are looking down on us. For long enough have men of pride made sport of our soul.
Looking to my right side, I saw no man who was my friend: I had no safe place; no one had any care for my soul. I have made my cry to you, O Lord; I have said, You are my safe place, and my heritage in the land of the living. Give ear to my cry, for I am made very low: take me out of the hands of my haters, for they are stronger than I. Take my soul out of prison, so that I may give praise to your name: the upright will give praise because of me; for you have given me a full reward.
A glad heart makes a shining face, but by the sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
This is what I have seen: it is good and fair for a man to take meat and drink and to have joy in all his work under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; that is his reward.
Why is my pain unending and my wound without hope of being made well? Sorrow is mine, for you are to me as a stream offering false hope and as waters which are not certain.
You said, Sorrow is mine! for the Lord has given me sorrow in addition to my pain; I am tired with the sound of my sorrow, and I get no rest.
In her skirts were her unclean ways; she gave no thought to her end; and her fall has been a wonder; she has no comforter: see her sorrow, O Lord; for the attacker is lifted up.
Then says he to them, My soul is very sad, even to death: keep watch with me here.
But your hearts are full of sorrow because I have said these things.
You have made clear your strength even out of the mouths of babies at the breast, because of those who are against you; so that you may put to shame the cruel and violent man.
And you have made clear to me how good you have been to me today: because, when the Lord gave me up into your hands, you did not put me to death.
And Esther said, Our hater and attacker is this evil Haman. Then Haman was full of fear before the king and the queen.
Am I a sea, or a sea-beast, that you put a watch over me? When I say, In my bed I will have comfort, there I will get rest from my disease; Then you send dreams to me, and visions of fear; So that a hard death seems better to my soul than my pains.
If it is a question of strength, he says, Here I am! and if it is a question of a cause at law, he says, Who will give me a fixed day? Though I was in the right, he would say that I was in the wrong; I have done no evil; but he says that I am a sinner. I have done no wrong; I give no thought to what becomes of me; I have no desire for life.
If I say, I will put my grief out of mind, I will let my face be sad no longer and I will be bright; I go in fear of all my pains; I am certain that I will not be free from sin in your eyes.
That, if I was an evil-doer, the curse would come on me; and if I was upright, my head would not be lifted up, being full of shame and overcome with trouble.
See, I go forward, but he is not there; and back, but I do not see him; I am looking for him on the left hand, but there is no sign of him; and turning to the right, I am not able to see him. For he has knowledge of the way I take; after I have been tested I will come out like gold.
So that he may not come rushing on my soul like a lion, wounding it, while there is no one to be my saviour.
If I have given back evil to him who did evil to me, or have taken anything from him who was against me without cause; Let my hater go after my soul and take it; let my life be crushed to the earth, and my honour into the dust. (Selah.)
You have given their towns to destruction; the memory of them has gone; they have become waste for ever.
To give decision for the child without a father and for the broken-hearted, so that the man of the earth may no longer be feared.
I am laughed at by all those who see me: pushing out their lips and shaking their heads they say, He put his faith in the Lord; let the Lord be his saviour now: let the Lord be his saviour, because he had delight in him.
Let the false lips be shut, which say evil against the upright, looking down on him in their pride.
Let my soul be overflowing with grief when these things come back to my mind, how I went in company to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with the song of those who were keeping the feast.
I will say to God my Rock, Why have you let me go from your memory? why do I go in sorrow because of the attacks of my haters? The cruel words of my haters are like a crushing of my bones; when they say to me every day, Where is your God?
Our name is a word of shame among the nations, a sign for the shaking of heads among the peoples. My downfall is ever before me, and I am covered with the shame of my face; Because of the voice of him who says sharp and bitter words; because of the hater and him who is the instrument of punishment.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 13
Commentary on Psalms 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 13
Ps 13:1-6. On title, see Introduction. The Psalmist, mourning God's absence and the triumph of his enemies, prays for relief before he is totally destroyed, and is encouraged to hope his trust will not be in vain.
1. The forms of expression and figure here used are frequent (compare Ps 9:12, 18; 10:11, 12).
How long … for ever—Shall it be for ever?
2. The counsels or devices of his heart afford no relief.
3. lighten mine eyes—dim with weakness, denoting approaching death (compare 1Sa 14:27-29; Ps 6:7; 38:10).
4. rejoice—literally, "shout as in triumph."
I am moved—cast down from a firm position (Ps 10:6).
5, 6. Trust is followed by rejoicing in the deliverance which God effects, and, instead of his enemy, he can lift the song of triumph.