Psalms 13

Shared cry—how long of seeming forgetfulness and a hidden face. Wesley frames the psalm as complaint, then prayer, then rejoicing in hope. The “how long” is not blasphemy but perplexed petition; keep directing the question to God rather than quitting under delay.

Pastoral: prolonged silence feels like forever. Grace enables the sufferer to keep crying how long; the face that feels hidden is still the face one asks to see.

Calvin: he complains according to the feeling of his own mind of being neglected by God—not that persuasion of the promises was extinguished, or that he did not repose on grace. When calamities weigh long and no sign of aid appears, the thought forces itself that God has forgotten us. Flesh judges forsaken; the eyes of the mind, guided by faith, penetrate to grace hidden in darkness. By this very complaint he evidences that faith rose higher, contrary to the judgment of the flesh—else how could he direct groanings to God?

No dispute here: “How long” under hidden face. Faith apprehends invisible providence in the conflict; the cry itself is wrestling, not proof that God has truly forgotten.

Wesley: How long—Shall I be in such perplexities, not knowing what course to take?

Shared anguish—inner counsel that cannot settle, daily sorrow, and an exalted enemy. Self-deliberation without light exhausts; bring the tangled counsel to God instead of spinning alone. The enemy’s exaltation is named so it may be opposed in prayer.

Calvin: in adversity men look around for remedies and are exhausted to no purpose with a multitude of suggestions; sorrow returns and is renewed every day. God promises the spirit of counsel, yet does not always give it at the beginning—he suffers the faithful for a time to be embarrassed by long deliberation, as if entangled among thorns. Adversaries triumph the more boldly when they see the godly wasted by continual languor—an argument of great weight in prayer, for God will not bear the cruel insolence of enemies who feast on misery.

Fruitless self-counsel and daily sorrow under an exalted foe. Delay of settled counsel is permitted trial; the enemy’s boast becomes plea, not despair’s last word.

Wesley: Lighten—Revive and comfort, and deliver me from the darkness of death, which is ready to come upon me.

Both traditions share the plea that God would consider, answer, and give light. Eyes near death’s sleep need revival and comfort from the LORD my God. Ask for light before darkness closes; the petition is personal trust joined to urgent need.

Calvin: as when God does not promptly assist it seems he does not behold, David asks first to be looked upon, then succored. To enlighten the eyes is to give the breath of life; rigor of life appears chiefly in the eyes. Sleep here is a metaphor for death. Unless God cause the light of life to shine, he will be overwhelmed with death’s darkness—already as a man without life unless God breathe new vigor. Confidence of life depends on this: though the world threaten a thousand deaths, God has numberless means of restoring us to life.

He asks for light lest he sleep the sleep of death. Life-light is God’s gift when human vigor is gone; the cry assumes he still regards his own.

Shared motive—do not let the enemy boast of prevailing or foes rejoice at a shaken saint. The plea ties God’s honor to the sufferer’s standing: mockery of the godly should not stand unanswered. Keep asking that exaltation of the foe be restrained.

Calvin: it would ill become God’s character to abandon his servant to the mockery of the ungodly. Enemies lay in ambush watching the hour of ruin to deride the fall. It is God’s peculiar office to repress the audacity of the wicked when they glory in wickedness. David had in conscience a testimony of integrity and trusted the goodness of his cause—so it would be unbecoming to leave him without succor. We can pray this way only when we fight under God’s standard, so that enemies cannot triumph without wickedly triumphing over God himself.

Restrain the boasting foe. The argument is God’s honor against insolent glorying, not private revenge.

Shared turn—from counsel-in-self to trust in steadfast love, with a heart set to rejoice in salvation. Wesley’s frame: rejoices in hope. Trust is grace-worked confidence the sufferer must actually take up; the heart’s rejoicing looks forward in hope while affliction still presses.

Pastoral: do not wait for every care to vanish before trusting mercy. Turn from exhausting self-counsel to the steadfast love already named as ground.

Calvin: he does not as yet feel how much he has profited by praying; but depending on the hope of deliverance which the faithful promise of God enabled him to entertain, he uses that hope as a shield against temptations that urge despair. He declares his resolution to continue firm in reliance upon the grace of God and in the hope of salvation. By faith we apprehend the grace of God hidden from the understanding of the flesh. Goodness is placed first as the cause of deliverance; exult in the future marks continued exercise—no affliction shall shake the joy of faith out of his heart.

Trust in steadfast love, heart rejoicing in salvation. Faith holds the promise when the issue is still unseen; grace apprehended, not flesh’s timeline, sustains perseverance in prayer.

Wesley: I will sing—It is a common thing for David and other prophets to speak of future deliverances as if they were already come, that so they may signify both the infallible certainty of the thing, and their firm assurance thereof.

Shared song—bounty spoken as ground of praise. Singing before the full sight of relief marks certainty and assurance, not pretend blindness. Let hope put a song in the mouth while still waiting.

Calvin: though he had not yet obtained what he desired, being fully convinced God was at hand to grant deliverance, he pledges thanks. Engage in prayer ready also to sing; that is impossible unless persuaded prayers will not be ineffectual. Cheerfulness of faith must rise above sorrow and put a song in the mouth for joy reserved in the future though not yet experienced. The word gamal here means to bestow a benefit from pure grace—not reward as due recompense; that suffices to refute those who wrest the verse to prove the merit of works. He places deliverance apparently at a distance immediately before his eyes.

Sing because of bounty. The bounty is pure grace, and praise runs ahead of the visible issue by faith’s cheerfulness.