1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
1 [[To the chief Musician, H5329 A Psalm H4210 of David.]] H1732 How long wilt thou forget H7911 me, O LORD? H3068 for ever? H5331 how long wilt thou hide H5641 thy face H6440 from me?
2 How long shall I take H7896 counsel H6098 in my soul, H5315 having sorrow H3015 in my heart H3824 daily? H3119 how long shall mine enemy H341 be exalted H7311 over me?
3 Consider H5027 and hear H6030 me, O LORD H3068 my God: H430 lighten H215 mine eyes, H5869 lest I sleep H3462 the sleep of death; H4194
4 Lest mine enemy H341 say, H559 I have prevailed H3201 against him; and those that trouble H6862 me rejoice H1523 when I am moved. H4131
5 But I have trusted H982 in thy mercy; H2617 my heart H3820 shall rejoice H1523 in thy salvation. H3444
6 I will sing H7891 unto the LORD, H3068 because he hath dealt bountifully H1580 with me.
1 How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider `and' answer me, O Jehovah my God: Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the `sleep of' death;
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; `Lest' mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in thy lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto Jehovah, Because he hath dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 14 For the Chief Musician. `A Psalm' of David.
1 To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. Till when, O Jehovah, Dost Thou forget me? -- for ever? Till when dost Thou hide Thy face from me?
2 Till when do I set counsels in my soul? Sorrow inn my heart daily? Till when is mine enemy exalted over me?
3 Look attentively; Answer me, O Jehovah, my God, Enlighten mine eyes, lest I sleep in death,
4 Lest mine enemy say, `I overcame him,' Mine adversaries joy when I am moved.
5 And I, in Thy kindness I have trusted, Rejoice doth my heart in Thy salvation.
6 I do sing to Jehovah, For He hath conferred benefits upon me!
1 {To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} How long, Jehovah, wilt thou forget me for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, with sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider, answer me, O Jehovah my God! lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the [sleep of] death;
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him! [lest] mine adversaries be joyful when I am moved.
5 As for me, I have confided in thy loving-kindness; my heart shall be joyful in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto Jehovah, for he hath dealt bountifully with me.
1 > How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
3 Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
4 Lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed against him;" Lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to Yahweh, Because he has been good to me.
1 <To the chief music-maker. A Psalm. Of David.> Will you for ever put me out of your memory, O Lord? will your face for ever be turned away from me?
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?
3 Let my voice come before you, and give me an answer, O Lord my God; let your light be shining on me, so that the sleep of death may not overtake me;
4 And he who is against me may not say, I have overcome him; and those who are troubling me may not be glad when I am moved.
5 But I have had faith in your mercy; my heart will be glad in your salvation.
6 I will make a song to the Lord, because he has given me my reward.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 13
Commentary on Psalms 13 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Suppliant Cry of One Who Is Utterly Undone
The ירוּם of the personal cry with which David opens Psalms 13:1-6 harmonizes with כּרם of the general lament which he introduces into Psalms 12:1-8; and for this reason the collector has coupled these two Psalms together. Hitzig assigns Psalms 13:1-6 to the time when Saul posted watchers to hunt David from place to place, and when, having been long and unceasingly persecuted, David dared to cherish a hope of escaping death only by indefatigable vigilance and endurance. Perhaps this view is correct. The Psalm consists of three strophes, or if it be preferred, three groups of decreasing magnitude. A long deep sigh is followed, as from a relieved breast, by an already much more gentle and half calm prayer; and this again by the believing joy which anticipates the certainty of being answered. This song as it were casts up constantly lessening waves, until it becomes still as the sea when smooth as a mirror, and the only motion discernible at last is that of the joyous ripple of calm repose.
(Heb.: 13:2-3) The complicated question: till when, how long...for ever (as in Psalms 74:10; Psalms 79:5; Psalms 89:47), is the expression of a complicated condition of soul, in which, as Luther briefly and forcibly describes it, amidst the feeling of anguish under divine wrath “hope itself despairs and despair nevertheless begins to hope.” The self-contradiction of the question is to be explained by the conflict which is going on within between the flesh and the spirit. The dejected heart thinks: God has forgotten me for ever. But the spirit, which thrusts away this thought, changes it into a question which sets upon it the mark of a mere appearance not a reality: how long shall it seem as though Thou forgettest me for ever? It is in the nature of the divine wrath, that the feeling of it is always accompanied by an impression that it will last for ever; and consequently it becomes a foretaste of hell itself. But faith holds fast the love that is behind the wrath; it sees in the display of anger only a self-masking of the loving countenance of the God of love, and longs for the time when this loving countenance shall be again unveiled to it. Thrice does David send forth this cry of faith out of the inmost depths of his spirit. To place or set up contrivances, plans, or proposals in his soul, viz., as to the means by which he may be able to escape from this painful condition, is equivalent to, to make the soul the place of such thoughts, or the place where such thoughts are fabricated (cf. Proverbs 26:24). One such עצה chases the other in his soul, because he recognises the vanity of one after another as soon as they spring up. With respect to the יומם which follows, we must think of these cares as taking possession of his soul in the night time; for the night leaves a man alone with his affliction and makes it doubly felt by him. It cannot be proved from Ezekiel 30:16 (cf. Zephaniah 2:4 בּצּהרים ), that יומם like יום (Jeremiah 7:25, short for יום יום ) may mean “daily” (Ew. §313, a ). יומם does not mean this here, but is the antithesis to לילה which is to be supplied in thought in Psalms 13:3 . By night he proposes plan after plan, each one as worthless as the other; and by day, or all the day through, when he sees his distress with open eyes, sorrow ( יגון ) is in his heart, as it were, as the feeling the night leaves behind it and as the direct reflex of his helpless and hopeless condition. He is persecuted, and his foe is in the ascendant. רוּם is both to be exalted and to rise, raise one's self, i.e., to rise to position and arrogantly to assume dignity to one's self ( sich brüsten ). The strophe closes with ‛ad - āna which is used for the fourth time.
(Heb.: 13:4-5) In contrast to God's seeming to have forgotten him and to wish neither to see nor know anything of his need, he prays: הבּיטה (cf. Isaiah 63:15). In contrast to his being in perplexity what course to take and unable to help himself, he prays: ענני , answer me, who cry for help, viz., by the fulfilment of my prayer as a real, actual answer. In contrast to the triumphing of his foe: האירה עיני , in order that the triumph of his enemy may not be made complete by his dying. To lighten the eyes that are dimmed with sorrow and ready to break, is equivalent to, to impart new life (Ezra 9:8), which is reflected in the fresh clear brightness of the eye (1 Samuel 14:27, 1 Samuel 14:29). The lightening light, to which האיר points, is the light of love beaming from the divine countenance, Psalms 31:17. Light, love, and life are closely allied notions in the Scriptures. He, upon whom God looks down in love, continues in life, new powers of life are imparted to him, it is not his lot to sleep the death, i.e., the sleep of death, Jeremiah 51:39, Jeremiah 51:57, cf. Psalms 76:6. המּות is the accusative of effect or sequence: to sleep so that the sleep becomes death (lxx εἰς θάνατον ), Ew. §281, e. Such is the light of life for which he prays, in order that his foe may not be able at last to say יכלתּיו (with accusative object, as in Jeremiah 38:5) = יכלתּי לו , Psalms 129:2, Genesis 32:26, I am able for him, a match for him, I am superior to him, have gained the mastery over him. כּי , on account of the future which follows, had better be taken as temporal ( quum ) than as expressing the reason ( quod ), cf. בּמוט רגלי , Psalms 38:17.
(Heb.: 13:6) Three lines of joyous anticipation now follow the five of lament and four of prayer. By יאני he sets himself in opposition to his foes. The latter desire his death, but he trusts in the mercy of God, who will turn and terminate his affliction. בּטח בּ denotes faith as clinging fast to God, just as חסה בּ denotes it as confidence which hides itself in Him. The voluntative יגל pre-supposes the sure realisation of the hope. The perfect in Psalms 13:6 is to be properly understood thus: the celebration follows the fact that inspires him to song. גּמל על to do good to any one, as in Psalms 116:7; Psalms 119:17, cf. the radically cognate ( על ) גּמר Psalms 57:3. With the two iambics gamal‛alaj the song sinks to rest. In the storm-tossed soul of the suppliant all has now become calm. Though it rage without as much now as ever - peace reigns in the depth of his heart.