"I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation." (Psalm 13:5)
If faith is the heartbeat of a Christian's spiritual life, then praise is its vibrant pulse. When faith reflects on God's wondrous acts of redemption, praise naturally follows. We praise Him for parting the Red Sea with a word. We praise Him for felling giants with a shepherd's sling. We praise Him for sending His Son to suffer and die. We praise Him for raising Christ from the grave.
"Faith is the heartbeat of a Christian's spiritual life, and praise is its vibrant pulse."
But faith goes further still. It doesn't just praise God after deliverance but teaches us to praise Him even before it comes: not only after the Red Sea is parted, but while the Egyptian army closes in; not only after Goliath is slain, but while he taunts the armies of Israel; not only after the stone is rolled away from the tomb, but during the silence of Holy Saturday. David's experience in Psalm 13 illustrates that such praise often arises on the other side of agonizing prayer.
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The Cry of Anguish
Psalm 13 opens abruptly with David's anguished cry: "How long, O Lord?" This question resonates with many of us, even if our circumstances are not as dire as David's. Pressure mounts, prayers seem unanswered, and God's promises feel unfulfilled.
David finds no comfort anywhere. Above him, a wall of clouds obscures God's face (Psalm 13:1). Within him, cares and sorrows swirl (Psalm 13:2). Around him, enemies threaten (Psalm 13:2). In just two verses, David repeats his question four times: "How long? . . . How long? . . . How long? . . . How long?"
Yet, even in this state, David's faith remains. His question, filled with misery, still reflects trust in God's intervention. It is not a cry of despair to a godless sky but a song of distressed trust.
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A Plea for Help
As the psalm progresses, David's faith becomes more resolute. By verse 3, he addresses God not just as "O Lord," but as "O Lord my God." Lament shifts to petition: "Consider and answer me . . . light up my eyes" (Psalm 13:3). Genuine faith often begins with lament and complaint but moves toward specific requests.
David's pleas to be seen, answered, and revived come with reasons: "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). At first glance, these may seem like desperate logic: "Answer me or I will die!" However, there is more to it.
"When we merely give vent to the chaos within us, our prayers often leave us right where we started."
David's desperation is coupled with an appeal to God's promises. Early in David's life, God promised that he would sit on Israel's throne, sealed with covenant promises: "I will make for you a great name. . . . I will give you rest from all your enemies. . . . When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you" (2 Samuel 7:9, 11–12). In Psalm 13, these promises seem threatened, so David prays them back to God.
Venturing our inner chaos often leaves us unchanged, but praying in alignment with God's promises can elevate our faith, as it did for David.
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The Power of Trust
The New Testament is filled with "But God" moments (e.g., Ephesians 2:4). Similarly, we can turn our despair into trust with a simple, "But I":
"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)
Nothing about David's situation has changed. No prayer has been answered, and no deliverance has arrived. Yet, in an instant, his enemies shrink, sorrows lessen, and lament turns to praise. Why? Because meditating on God's promises reminded David of something more powerful than his adversaries and more certain than his sorrows: God's steadfast love.
Another psalm of David describes why God's steadfast love had such an impact: it's from everlasting to everlasting, higher than the heavens are above the earth, and flows abundantly from God's character (Psalm 103:8, 11, 17). This steadfast love guarantees all of God's promises, prompting David to sing.
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Conclusion: Singing in the Dark
Today, we have even greater assurances of God's steadfast love: the cross, the empty tomb, and a Savior on the throne. With these assurances, we too can sing joyfully, even before deliverance arrives. If Christ has come and we are in Him by faith, then God will undoubtedly deal bountifully with us.
Faith and praise are intertwined, and through prayer, we can turn our lament into confident trust. In every trial, we can rest in God's steadfast love, knowing that our cries are heard and our deliverance is sure. So, let us sing to the Lord, for He has dealt bountifully with us.
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