Continuing in our series of messages out of the Psalms, and this morning we find ourselves in Psalm 13. You will find that, I believe, on page 472 of the Pew Bibles, if that's what you're using to follow along, and I would encourage you to be following along, although it is a relatively short psalm. Six verses in this psalm today. Please listen carefully, attentively, conscientiously to God's holy, inerrant, and inspired word. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest my enemy say I have prevailed against him, lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. This is the reading of God's word. May he add his blessing to it, to our hearts. So as we are working through the Psalms in this series, it almost seems to me at least as if there is perhaps a deliberate connection between this 13th Psalm and at least perhaps the three that come before it. And not only do I think there is a connecting theme in these four Psalms, but it also seems to me that there is some sense of a progression in terms of the intensity of the need that is expressed by David in these Psalms as he comes before the Lord. Now I note that connection while at the same time saying it's fair to note that as far as we know there's no chronological connection to these. It's not as if they were necessarily written in order intended for this purpose. But it would seem that they may have been at least intentionally selected and arranged in this manner, perhaps for that purpose. Think about the fact that back in Psalm 10, David expresses concern that God is standing afar off, that God is hiding himself, while the wicked in general prosper, and the poor and needy in general are oppressed and afflicted. And then in Psalm 11, David himself, as the representative of the righteous, is being urged to forget about his trust in God, to fly to the mountain, to fly away from the mountain, to try to save himself, because there seems to be no hope in God anymore. It seems as if even the very foundations are being destroyed. And if that's the case, David, what can the righteous do in such a situation? In Psalm 12, we find David concerned Now there may not even be any righteous. Where are the righteous? Where is the upright one? The godly in heart. And again, the wicked seem to be prevailing in every way and in every place. There seems to be this progression. But in each case, we found that David's faith led him to trust in God. Now the psalm before us today is very short. Again, as I said, only six verses. And as we look at those verses, we find they sort of work together in pairs. The first two, the middle two, and the last two. And they function in a sense sort of like a ladder or a staircase that leads us on a steadily upward path from an expression of deep distress and despair that we find in the first two verses, to an expression of prayer that we find in the middle two verses, three and four, and then finally to an expression of absolute confidence and joy that we find in verses 5 and 6. Now I mentioned a minute ago a progression of distress in these psalms, and we might wonder, does that really continue into this 13th psalm? And so you look now at the beginning, how David begins this psalm, and we find that here indeed the distress is very deep, And it's very personal, profound. In fact, the depth of despair that is being experienced here is highlighted by David by the very question he asks not less than four separate times. How long, O Lord, must I endure these things? Now again, the source of David's distress in this psalm is not directly, specifically revealed to us. And perhaps that's done intentionally so that this psalm may be used to apply to any number of different situations that we may encounter in our lives. But the depth of this despair here in Psalm 13 is very clear. In fact, it's very palpable. If you really read this with a knowing eye, you find that you can actually feel the distress that David is experiencing here. Now I will be happy to admit that with my 40 plus years of experience in psychiatry, I may have an occupational bias here as I look at this psalm. But for my own part, there are many people who think that David may be struggling with a real physical human enemy of some sort here. There are others who think David may have some real significant physical illness that is proving almost fatal to him, at least in how it feels and seems. But I suspect from what David says and how he says it, that even if those other things are true, that what David is really wrestling with here is depression. possibly because of one of those other factors. You see, in talking with my many patients over the years who are struggling with anxiety and depression, I pointed out to them often how it is said that in our world at least that optimistic people look at the world through rose-colored glasses, right? You put those glasses on and everything looks bright and cheery. But you see, for those who struggle with severe anxiety and particularly with severe serious depression, those people see the world through soot-colored glasses. Everything looks dark, everything looks dim, everything looks dreary, frightening, scary, and depressing. Nothing cheery, nothing encouraging in what they see around them. Can you feel that as you read David's first two verses, at least, of this psalm? How long, how long, how long, how long? And even in verse 3, where we begin to move up, you still find him concerned that God helped him so that he doesn't what? Sleep the sleep of death. Listen to his questions. Feel the pain and despair that David is experiencing here. And as you do so, don't be surprised if you find yourself identifying with him, in a sense. Maybe finding in David a kindred spirit, a shared experience similar to something that you yourself may have or may be going through in your own life. I say that because I know that some of you who listen to me today have been where David is in this song. Some of you have been exactly in that place. And I know that in part because of my many years in both psychiatry and in ministry in the church. It's just too common. In a group this size, it has to be. But I also know it because I know you. because I've been able to talk with you and pray with you and even weep with you at times. I know because I love you as part of this church and I know because I've heard and seen the struggles that you've either been going through or have experienced and told me about. Listen to David in those first verses. How long, O LORD, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? First of all, notice the emphasis he's calling out to Jehovah. to his covenant God. He's not just crying out. He's not just in despair. It has been said that David starts out with despair and moves to prayer. There's a sense in which that's true, but this entire psalm is prayer. Even the expression of his despair is prayer. Now, notice his first concern, will you forget me forever? Forgetting someone can be accidental, right? It can be passive, unintentional. It can also be intentional, though. There are people we have sometimes forgotten because we don't want to remember them anymore, right? So, we don't know exactly where David's coming from, but he could be concerned that God has gotten busy with other things and just forgotten about him. But he goes on then to ask that second question, how long are you going to hide your face from me? Now that's active. That's not accidental. David is wondering if God is deliberately hiding himself away and keeping himself from David. See, I want you to understand and think about the fact that this is exactly how the oppression of depression feels. It's exactly what it feels like. It may almost seem as if no one sees you, as if no one cares about you, as if no one remembers you, not even God. You are all alone. And notice in verse 2, David in verse 2 isn't just talking about thinking and making plans in his mind. It's not as if he's just trying to figure out what he might do with this project or that project. David feels as if he has been forever taking counsel where? In his soul. You see, this isn't just an intellectual exercise for David. This is spiritual. It's deeper. It's in his soul and it's in his heart that he is experiencing sorrow all day long. And I would speculate probably all night long as well. You see, this taking counsel in your soul, this feeling like it goes on forever and ever and turning things over and over spiritually in your heart and soul, this unending pondering, this ruminating that torments your spiritual nature is part of the very nature of depression. And he admits that that counsel in his soul has led him, then, to have sorrow in his heart all day and, as I said, probably even all night. Because nights tend to be particularly difficult for those who are struggling in this way. How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? David asks. Now, again, there may really be a real human enemy that is threatening David or oppressing David at this moment. It could be Saul or someone else. could be an enemy out there for you as you're feeling these kind of things that has been oppressing you. But you see, those who have really known depression in their lives also come to know depression as their enemy. It almost becomes personified. It's almost like it's alive and actively working against them, beating them down, robbing them of all joy and light and peace and even hope. You see, there are many people There are many Christians today who struggle with this enemy. How long, O Lord? Because it is like a vacuum, like a vortex that is sucking us down deeper and deeper. How long will this go on? You see, those who are in despair and depression need a reason. They need a motivation to be able to hope. Because there doesn't seem to be any hope. This is often especially difficult for non-Christians as I deal with them. Trying to find something that they can grab onto to hope about is sometimes very hard. Medicine can be a real help for Christian and non-Christian. But you see, true spiritual depression also needs a true spiritual cure. And so, part of what I try to do in my work with people is I try to help my patients find a way to turn away from negative thoughts and negative actions and practices to those that are helpful and positive for them. Because that's what Christians need as well as non-Christians. They need to be able to move away from the despair. Now understand, I'm not talking here about the power of positive thinking from Norman Vincent Peale. I'm not talking about trying to think positive reality into existence. That's not what I have in mind at all. What I'm talking about instead is the power of faith laying hold of true, real, spiritual realities. And only, only possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. You see, that's exactly what David does here as he moves into verses 3 and 4. He makes a conscious decision, by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, for distress and despair to not lead him to despair, but instead for distress to lead him to prayer. To turn his heart to God. And in doing so, notice how he leans in on, leans upon, like a crutch, like a cane, if you will, the personal nature of his relationship with God. Oh, Jehovah, my God. Mine. I know you are. Notice what he asks God to do. He wants God to pay attention to him. Notice me. Consider me. Answer. Answer me. And then that last phrase, light up the light of my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Now again, there are many who look at this passage and as they look at it, they think, see this is David, physically ill. desperately asking for some kind of nourishment that will revive his spirit and his strength and help him to recover. And again, it could very well be. You see that kind of thing in 1 Samuel chapter 14, when Jonathan is out fighting with the Philistines, and they're fighting so hard and so long through the day, he hasn't eaten, he becomes hungry and faint, and his eyes grow dim, and he reaches out and takes some honey from a honeycomb, and when he tastes it, we're told that his eyes brightened, and he was able to continue on. It could be that that's what's being referred to here. But I think in the context of this psalm, I'm more inclined to think that it might actually be more like what we find Ezra praying about back in his book, in chapter 9 and around verse 8. You see, Ezra is a prophet after the exile. The people of God have been so wicked and sinful against God that he's brought his judgment on the nation, he's destroyed the nation, he's sent them away into exile for 70 years. They have been under the power and domination of foreign kings and powers. And they have just now been brought back into the promised land finally. Cyrus, responding to God's command, has sent the people back to rebuild the temple, to rebuild the city. And guess what the people have done when they got back? They have continued to sin exactly the way their fathers did. They have proven themselves to be the same wicked people that their fathers were. And as we come to this place, Ezra has found out about some of that sin and he is devastated. He's been pulling his hair out from his beard and his head and has prostrated himself before God in prayer. And he says here in verse 5, "...at the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting, and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, and I said, O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings and our priests, have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation as it is to this day. But notice what he says next. And now for a little while, grace has been shown from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape. And as he says about escaping, he says, and to give us a peg, a place in his holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. You hear the spiritual nature of that? Ezra isn't talking about a physical illness. Ezra is saying we need encouragement here because we have been sinners and under your wrath and your judgment and we need you to help revive us to be the people that you want us to be. Show us grace. I feel like that's more where David is in this psalm. I think that he's praying, saying, God, lift my spirit. In other words, take off my soot-colored glasses, God, and allow me to see the world without all this darkness and negativity and despair that I'm seeing it in so much at this time. Give us hope in you is what David is asking for. He asked God that his enemy not be allowed to prevail over him. Now, when David points this out, he isn't only being selfish here. David understands that David is God's David, and that God has ordained him to be who he is and where he is, and that if his enemy prevails over him, his kingdom can be defeated, and therefore God's kingdom and purpose is being defeated. David is, in a sense, reminding God, our interests are united here. Your interests also serve my interests. Don't let my enemy, who is also your enemy, prevail over me. Think about what a blessing it is for us when we feel like this, to have a place to go to. person to go to, that we can actually come to Jehovah the Lord our God and pour out our despair before him. The one who a few psalms earlier he reminded us is the one who cares about his people. Notice David has turned upward from despair to prayer, if you will. But as he's done that, something wonderful has begun to happen to him. As he talks with God, he is reminded of just who this God of his is. He can't help but think about God without thinking about who God is and what God has done and what God is like. He's reminded of God's glorious character and God's promises of his faithfulness that he's shown to him all through his life. And that remembrance leads David now to this sincere and humble confession of a true Christian heart. I have, notice past tense, I have trusted in your steadfast love. That word means steadfast love, but it also carries with it the idea of faithfulness and loyalty and mercy. I've trusted in your steadfast love. And as we read this, don't forget, again, what David wrote back in Psalm 9 verse 10. Those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. That's the motto of David's heart in many ways. Also, think about Psalm 147.11 as he is praying here saying that I have trusted in your steadfast love. Notice what Psalm 147.11 says, the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him and those who hope in his steadfast love. You see, David is beginning to hope in God's steadfast love. When he needs hope, he turns to God. And when he turns to God, he sees who God is. And now he has something to hope for. He has something to base his confidence and faith in. David, as he's doing this, is following a divinely inspired, and I would add a divinely enabled, path that other true believers have and would continue to follow as well. His remembrance of God's past faithfulness, of God's character, of God's promises, leads him from despair to rejoicing, to singing praises to God. Think about the fact that Jeremiah, if he's the one who wrote Lamentations, back in the book of Lamentations, a five-chapter funeral dirge, looking at the devastation that God has brought on Jerusalem and his people for their sin, and in the very middle of that third chapter, all of a sudden, in the midst of that darkness, soot-colored glasses, Jeremiah says, and this I've called to mind, and therefore I have hope. By your mercies, your steadfast love, we're not consumed. We're still here. Your mercies are new. Every morning He says, great is your faithfulness. In the midst of all of that. Jonah. Think about Jonah in the belly of the great fish in the depths of the sea, in utter despair, thinking he's approaching death. And as he considers his God and turns his heart to Him, what does Jonah cry out? Salvation is of the Lord. You see, the response of a true Christian heart is they consider their God. is led to confidence and trust in God and hope in Him. And that's exactly what David is doing here. Hear his response as he closes this brief but powerful psalm. I have trusted in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me. You catch that constant back and forth between past and future, past and present. You have always taken care of me. You have never forsaken me or failed me. You've always dealt bountifully with me. Therefore, I know that I will be able to have confidence in you. I will rejoice in your salvation. I will sing praises to you because of that. See, David and we, as we share these kinds of experiences with him, are led by God's faithful love to rejoice in his past and future salvation of us, and our hearts and our lips then should want to sing his praises as we do so. Singing is an important part of the Christian life. Music embeds things in the soul and carries emotional feelings, even to God, that sometimes we can't express any other way. You see, we turn from our despair and our depression and our anxiety, this psalm helps us see, as we turn from our counsel in our own soul to instead considering God's promises and God's character. How are we able to find joy and peace in these kinds of situations instead of depression and despair? Matthew Henry, in considering this passage, points out that from a scriptural perspective, joy and peace come by believing. He quotes Romans 15.13, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Believing, confidence, faith in God is what leads us to joy and peace and hope. And then he quotes also 1 Peter 1.8, Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. And so we find our relief from depression and despair through that instrument of faith worked by the Spirit in our hearts and lives, allowing us to turn to God in faith, confidence, trust, belief. Spurgeon, and I use Spurgeon a lot, but today in particular I turn to Spurgeon because aside from being a very godly man and known even as the prince of preachers, Spurgeon was also somebody powerfully used of God, but somebody who struggled mightily against this enemy of depression throughout his ministry. Spurgeon knew this enemy well. And in responding to verse 1 in Psalm 13 here, where David is talking about God, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you hide your face? Spurgeon says, David, how like a fool thou talk'st! Can omniscience fail in memory? Above all, can Jehovah's heart forget his own beloved child? You hear Spurgeon, what he's clinging to, faith, belief, trust, confidence in God. Commenting on David's spirit-led change of heart later in verses 5 and 6, and that association by David of his interest with God, Spurgeon says, it is well for us that our salvation and God's honor are so intimately connected that they stand and fall together. You hear what Spurge was saying there? Spurge said it's a good thing for us because God has so condescendingly agreed to tie Himself to us that He will not allow His honor to fail, and if we fail, His honor fails. And so He will always care for us. He will always support us. He will always lighten up the light of our eyes and revive us in Him. Do you understand that truth? Is that something that you can reach out in faith and cling to in these times? You see, it is true that in this psalm, David has shown us that even a man after God's own heart can suffer great distress and anxiety and depression and doubt. And in fact, Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 18, section 4, acknowledges that that is true, that even godly people can go through these extreme times of doubt, of their assurance. And yet, the divines continue and say, true believers are never so utterly destitute of that seed of God and that life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, that conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, this assurance may, in due time, be revived, and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair." Well, that's a mouthful, but what does it really mean? What can sustain us when our hearts, when our souls are consumed with the same how-long questions that David has been asking in this psalm? The same answer that David found. God's faithful, steadfast love is what sustains us. He has promised to be our God. He has promised to dwell with us, to be with us. And he didn't just make a promise, he fulfilled that promise in a most incredible way by clothing himself in human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and coming literally to dwell with us and among us. And Jesus Christ, we know, as we sang earlier in this service, was known to be a man of sorrows. Talk about having sorrow in my heart all day long. Jesus Christ knew what it was like to have sorrow in his heart throughout his life. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He knows our sorrows. He knows what they feel like. He knows how they can incapacitate us. But Jesus left this world for heaven, didn't he? How does that help me? Remember that before he left, he promised, I will never leave you, even to the end of the age. And then he left. And we look at that and say, well, what does that mean? Remember he told his disciples, it's important that I go, because if I don't go, the Comforter can't come. The other one, the one like me, won't be able to come if I don't go. And that's going to be even better for you, is what Jesus said. And so when he leaves, what do we find happening? The Father and Son send the Holy Spirit to do what? Not just to come down, but to indwell us. To live inside of us. To be part of us. This is that holy seed of God that the Confession was just speaking about that is in us and we are never destitute of, and it's how we are sustained in these difficult times and kept from utter despair because He never leaves us. And He will always turn our hearts back to God. Always. That's the truth and the lesson of Scripture. You see, the truth is that these how-long questions are going to continue to be asked by us and others after us as long as we're in this world. It's the nature of a fallen world and Christians living in it. But those questions will not be asked forever. In the book of Revelation we even read about the cries of the martyrs, those who have already been martyred, crying out to God, how long, right? How long until you're going to avenge us? How long? That book is full of things that God tells us are going to happen to answer that question. But the real wonderful answer really comes at the very end of not only that book of Revelations, but because it's the last book at the very end of Scripture itself. In Revelation chapter 22, an angel gives John a glimpse of what heaven is going to be like for those who go to be with God. It is a place where believers are going to dwell in the real, true, literal presence of God the Father and the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Although the Spirit isn't left out because flowing through that place is going to be the river of life. And in fact, the thing that we were borrowed from in the garden is going to be restored to us because the tree of life is going to be growing abundantly in that place as well. And also, one of the last things John notices about that place is that there is not going to be any more darkness there. No more darkness because God and the Lamb are going to be the light for all of us. They're going to enlighten our eyes eternally, our spirits, our hearts. John is sent to carry that hope to the rest of us. John is given that message and told not to seal the words up because that time is coming. In other words, take this message out and share it with God's people. And so, how long is it going to be? How long do we have to wait? Three times in that chapter. In verse 7, in verse 12, and in verse 20. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself assures His beloved people, I am coming soon. And as we hear His response and as we believe and have faith and trust in Him, we echo the joyful and confident response of the Saints throughout all the ages as we reply as John writes at the end of that book, Amen, come Lord Jesus. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your great love and grace, that steadfast love, Your faithfulness and loyalty to us. We thank you for the spirit that you have placed within us so that we are never hidden from you, never forgotten by you, always in your very heart as your son stands at your side with us, brave and on his hands even. Pray that you would help us to be able to come to this full assurance of our faith, this confidence, even in the depths of despair, that we are in your hands and that you are working all things for our good. We pray these things in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen.