Psalm 13

Life can be so good at times, but it can also be hard, cruel, and unfair. This year you may have struggled with unemployment, financial pressure, chronic back pain, your marriage may be struggling, you may be hurting from a recent divorce, or maybe you have gone through heartache with your children. Life can be tough! In Psalm 13, God speaks powerfully about suffering, pain, and heartache.

Psalms are songs that were meant to be sung. This one in particular was written by David when he was hurting. It does not tell us the exact circumstances David was in; whether he was being chased by Saul, Absalom, or a foreign army. All we do know is that at one point he fled to En Gedi, and he hid in the caves in the Judean Desert, which was a bleak and barren land.

Read Psalm 13. David goes from the depths to the heights in six short verses. In the first part David questions God and complains to him. He feels abandoned and forgotten by God. The sense of closeness that David had to the Lord was gone, he feels God has gone silent. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions. You may not get answers but you will meet him in the questions.

Sometimes we feel that our suffering is due to our sin, but that is an unbiblical point of view. We don't and will never understand all that God does. A.W. Tozer once said "It is doubtful that God can ever use any man greatly until he has hurt him deeply." In verse 2, David is restless and weary. He admits that he is helpless and needs God's intervention. He is surrendered to God and not striving. Read Psalm 55:22. David is honest and tells God how he feels abandoned. He brings to God what he actually feels, not what he ought to feel. So often we can be less than honest with God, but its a mistake. God wants us to be real, honest, and authentic with him. He is big enough to handle our honesty. Be honest with God.

Read vs. 3-4, now David transitions from hurting to hopeful. When we are suffering there is simply no substitute for prayer, call out to God. At times, we pray but get no answer. At least not the answer we want, and God seems hidden from us or we feel abandoned and it can be terrifying. David felt it. One of the greatest men of God in the Bible felt it. Maybe, if David felt it, it's not so bad if we feel it too. So, what do we do when we feel like God is not answering or we feel abandoned by him? For one, we need to keep talking to him. Pour your heart out to God, don't withdraw and turn your back on him. Keep talking. Praying scripture is vital, it is life-giving and refocusing our mind.

Read vs. 5-6, David has gone from hurting to hopeful and now to a healthy trust in the Lord. Trusting in God's steadfast love, unfailing love, loyal love, a love that never forgets us or abandons us. The point is not our trust by the God we are trusting in. It is not our faith, but the object of our faith. Practical things to bolster faith. First, we must choose joy we must choose to rejoice in all circumstances. One way of doing that is by giving thanks, another way is to sing to the Lord or praise his name. When we do that, we take the focus off of ourselves and move it to God. But the foundation is to continually recall the goodness of God in your life. God has been good to us despite all our sufferings, he is a gracious God. Rejoice. Give thanks. Sing to him.

Discussion Questions
1. Describe a burden that you are currently wrestling with. To what extent do you feel like you have surrendered this burden to the Lord?
2. To what extent would you say you are honest with God in prayer? Why is it so important for us to be honest with God?
3. What are the indictations that you are trusting in the Lord?
4. List 10-15 ways that God has been good to you and share with the group.