How Long, LORD?
Psalm 13 summary: what it means
Psalm 13 is short, and it moves fast. The first two verses ask how long four times: how long God will forget, how long he will hide his face, how long sorrow will fill the heart every day, and how long the enemy will triumph. Verses 3 and 4 turn complaint into request. They ask God to look, to answer and to give light to the eyes, before death comes and the enemy gloats.
The last two verses change key without explaining how. Nothing in the text says the trouble has ended. Instead the writer states what he holds to: trust in God's loving kindness, joy in his salvation, and a promise to sing because the LORD has been good to him. In six verses the psalm moves from how long to I will sing.
Psalm 13: How Long, LORD?
World English Bible, public domain. allpsalms.com/psalm-13
Psalm 13 commentary: explained verse by verse
How long, LORD?Will you forget me forever?How long will you hide your face from me?
How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
The psalm opens with the question it keeps asking. How long appears twice in this verse alone, once about being forgotten and once about God hiding his face. The word forever sits beside it as the writer's fear.
Also read Psalm 94:3-4, Job 13:24, Isaiah 59:2, Psalm 80:4
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,having sorrow in my heart every day?How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
Two more how longs follow. One is inward, taking counsel in his own soul with sorrow in his heart every day. The other is outward, an enemy triumphing over him.
Also read Job 7:12-15, Psalm 142:4-7, Romans 9:2, Psalm 10:18
Behold, and answer me, LORD, my God.Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Here the complaint becomes a request. He asks God to look, to answer and to give light to his eyes. The reason is stark: without it he fears he will sleep in death.
Also read Psalm 25:19, Ephesians 5:14, Ezra 9:8, Jeremiah 51:39
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;”lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.
Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
This verse finishes the thought of verse 3. The danger is not only death but what the enemy would say about it, claiming to have prevailed. His adversaries would rejoice at his fall.
Also read Psalm 38:16, Psalm 62:2, Proverbs 12:3, Psalm 25:2
But I trust in your loving kindness.My heart rejoices in your salvation.
But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
The turn comes with the word but. Nothing outside has visibly changed, yet he states that he trusts in God's loving kindness and that his heart rejoices in God's salvation.
Also read Psalm 51:12, Psalm 33:18, Habakkuk 3:18, Luke 1:47
I will sing to the LORD,because he has been good to me.
I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
The psalm ends with a promise to sing and a reason for it: the LORD has been good to him. The last line looks back on goodness already received, and that is where the psalm finds its footing.
Also read Psalm 116:7, Psalm 119:7, Psalm 21:13
A prayer from Psalm 13
How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? I carry sorrow in my heart every day, and I keep turning things over in my mind. Look on me and answer me, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes. Do not let those who oppose me say they have won. But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart will rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to you, LORD, because you have been good to me. Amen.
Psalm 13 Bible study questions
- Verses 1 and 2 ask the question how long four times; what four things does the speaker ask about?
- In verse 3, what does the speaker ask God to give him, and what does he fear will happen without it?
- The psalm moves from how long in verse 1 to trust in verse 5 within six verses; what, if anything, helps you make that kind of move?
- Verse 2 speaks of taking counsel in my soul; when does your own thinking help you, and when does it go in circles?
- Psalm 13:1 and Psalm 6:3 both ask God how long; how do the two psalms handle the waiting?
Questions about Psalm 13
What does Psalm 13 mean?
It is a prayer from someone who feels forgotten by God. It asks how long four times, pleads for an answer, and ends by trusting God's loving kindness and promising to sing.
Who wrote Psalm 13?
The heading attributes it to David and addresses it to the Chief Musician. The verses themselves do not name the writer.
What does Psalm 13:3 mean?
It asks God to look, answer and give light to the writer's eyes, lest he sleep in death. The KJV words it: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.
What does Psalm 13:2 say?
It asks how long the writer must take counsel in his own soul, with sorrow in his heart every day, and how long his enemy will triumph over him.
How does Psalm 13 begin in the KJV?
The King James Version opens: How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How does Psalm 13 end?
With trust and song. Verse 5 says I trust in your loving kindness, and verse 6 says I will sing to the LORD, because he has been good to me.
Psalm 13 KJV: the King James Version
How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?1
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?2
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;3
Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.4
But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.5
I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.6
Psalm 13 in Hebrew
The Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain. Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible, which counts a psalm's heading as verse 1, so they can run one ahead of English Bibles.
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1 לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִֽד׃
2 עַד־אָ֣נָה יְ֭הוָה תִּשְׁכָּחֵ֣נִי נֶ֑צַח עַד־אָ֓נָה ׀ תַּסְתִּ֖יר אֶת־פָּנֶ֣יךָ מִמֶּֽנִּי׃
3 עַד־אָ֨נָה אָשִׁ֪ית עֵצ֡וֹת בְּנַפְשִׁ֗י יָג֣וֹן בִּלְבָבִ֣י יוֹמָ֑ם עַד־אָ֓נָה ׀ יָר֖וּם אֹיְבִ֣י עָלָֽי׃
4 הַבִּ֣יטָֽה עֲ֭נֵנִי יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֑י הָאִ֥ירָה עֵ֝ינַ֗י פֶּן־אִישַׁ֥ן הַמָּֽוֶת׃
5 פֶּן־יֹאמַ֣ר אֹיְבִ֣י יְכָלְתִּ֑יו צָרַ֥י יָ֝גִ֗ילוּ כִּ֣י אֶמּֽוֹט׃
6 וַאֲנִ֤י ׀ בְּחַסְדְּךָ֣ בָטַחְתִּי֮ יָ֤גֵ֥ל לִבִּ֗י בִּֽישׁוּעָ֫תֶ֥ךָ אָשִׁ֥ירָה לַיהוָ֑ה כִּ֖י גָמַ֣ל עָלָֽי׃
Psalm 13 in the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible
The Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain. It follows the Greek and Latin numbering, so this psalm is Psalm 12 there.
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1 Unto the end, a psalm for David. How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? how long dost thou turn away thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart all the day?
3 How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
4 Consider, and hear me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes that I never sleep in death:
5 Lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him. They that trouble me will rejoice when I am moved:
6 But I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: yea I will sing to the name of the Lord the most high.
Psalm 13 in Latin
The Clementine Vulgate, public domain, where this psalm is Psalm 12.
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1 In finem. Psalmus David. Usquequo, Domine, oblivisceris me in finem? usquequo avertis faciem tuam a me?
2 quamdiu ponam consilia in anima mea; dolorem in corde meo per diem?
3 usquequo exaltabitur inimicus meus super me?
4 Respice, et exaudi me, Domine Deus meus. Illumina oculos meos, ne umquam obdormiam in morte;
5 nequando dicat inimicus meus: Prævalui adversus eum. Qui tribulant me exsultabunt si motus fuero;
6 ego autem in misericordia tua speravi. Exsultabit cor meum in salutari tuo. Cantabo Domino qui bona tribuit mihi; et psallam nomini Domini altissimi.
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Psalm 13 at a glance
| Verses | 6 |
| Heading in the text | For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. |
| Attributed to | The heading attributes it to David and addresses it to the Chief Musician. |
| Type | Lament and Trust |
| Number in Greek and Latin Bibles | Psalm 12 |
Read Psalm 13 when you are facing
depressionhopetrusting godpatience
Psalm 13 in other translations
This page prints the World English Bible and the King James Version because both are public domain. The NIV, ESV, NKJV, NLT and NASB are under copyright, so they cannot be printed in full here. You can read Psalm 13 in those translations at Bible Gateway.
Where Psalm 13 belongs
Psalms of DavidBook 1 of the Psalms
How this page was made
The psalm text comes from public domain translations and is not edited. The summary, the verse notes and the answers are written for this page from the text of the psalm itself. Where a claim goes beyond the text, it is sourced below.
Sources
- Text: World English Bible and King James Version, both public domain, from ebible.org source
- Hebrew text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Douay-Rheims: Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 edition, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Latin text: Clementine Vulgate, public domain, from ebible.org source
- Numbering: Greek and Latin psalm numbering, Wikipedia, Psalms source