Is there any specific situation that causes your mind to race, either with anxiety, fear, or thoughts of the worst?
Are there times when you want to jump ahead in time and just know how things are going to work out?
Do you remember a time where you felt as though the Lord had abandoned you?
How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Psalm 13:1-2
David, the Psalmist, struggled with and expressed real emotions including fear, anxiety, depression, and even abandonment. Isn’t it good to know that open, honest feelings like this are freely expressed to God, even in His Word?
What tone or repeated phrases stands out to you about these verses?
What do you think it means to “have sorrow in my heart all the day?”
Have you ever found yourself saying these things to God?
New seasons of life bring about excitement, but they may also bring about anxiety. This is the experience of the couple who finds out they will be parents for the first time, the college graduate headed to the “real world,” or the experienced professional who is back on the job market for the first time in years. Emotions can range from elation and celebration to fears and doubts about what is to come. Dwelling on the weight and responsibility that new seasons of life bring can lead to anxious and fearful thoughts that easily multiply.
These two verses clearly detail David’s emotional state. He felt abandoned. His expectations were that God would do something to deliver him from this trial. But God had not done that yet and it caused David to feel alone and separated from God. David allowed his thoughts to control him. He focused on his problem, and his anxiety about his situation had multiplied and caused him grief and agony.
It is good and right to be honest with the Lord about our thoughts and feelings, even with feelings of being abandoned by the Lord. Where do you currently need to identify and confess fear in your life to the Lord?
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
Psalm 13:3-4
What do you think David means by “light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death?”
I think David is seeking the Joy of the Lord. His faith in God was the only thing that kept him from facing an eternity of death and punishment. David asked God to restore his faith, knowing that he couldn’t restore it himself. God sustains and holds us. God alone rescues us from death.
Where do you need God to “light up your eyes?” What areas of your life do you feel hopeless in?
But 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.
Psalm 13:5-6
How do the tone of these last two verses of this Psalm differ from the first 4 verses?
David writes of deliverance and of God’s generosity, even though he hadn’t experienced it yet. How could he claim this?
Did David only trust in God because he wanted to be delivered? Or, do you think that David would have trusted God even if his situation didn’t resolve?
What led David from being consumed with anxious thoughts to singing praises to God? How can you and I do that?