Psalms 13:1-6

Context

Psalm 13¹

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me?²

How long will you pay no attention to me?³

13:2 How long must I worry,⁴

and suffer in broad daylight?⁵

How long will my enemy gloat over me?⁶

13:3 Look at me!⁷ Answer me, O Lord my God!

Revive me,⁸ or else I will die!⁹

13:4 Then¹⁰ my enemy will say, “I have defeated him!”

Then¹¹ my foes will rejoice because I am upended.

13:5 But I¹² trust in your faithfulness.

May I rejoice because of your deliverance!¹³

13:6 I will sing praises¹⁴ to the Lord

when he vindicates me.¹⁵

[13:1] ¹sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1] ²tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1] ³tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[13:2] ⁴tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”

[13:2] ⁵tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”

[13:2] ⁶tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”

[13:3] ⁷tn Heb “see.”

[13:3] ⁸tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (’ur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.

[13:3] ⁹tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”

[13:4] ¹⁰tn Heb “or else.”

[13:4] ¹¹tn Heb “or else.”

[13:5] ¹²tn The grammatical construction used here (conjunction with independent pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s defeated condition envisioned in v. 4 and confident attitude he displays in v. 5.

[13:5] ¹³tn Heb “may my heart rejoice in your deliverance.” The verb form is jussive. Having expressed his trust in God’s faithful character and promises, the psalmist prays that his confidence will prove to be well-placed. “Heart” is used here of the seat of the emotions.

[13:6] ¹⁴tn The verb form is cohortative, indicating the psalmist’s resolve (or vow) to praise the Lord when deliverance arrives.

[13:6] ¹⁵tn Or “for he will have vindicated me.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here. The idiom גָמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.