We all know about the unlucky number 13. We don’t know what has happened to the author of this psalm. All we know is the writer has fallen on hard enough times to call out to God, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” Have there been times in your life when you feel God is distant? Has that distance ever felt so great that you wonder if God has forgotten you?
One of the things that I love about my current copy of the Bible is that Psalm 13:1-4 is on one page, and I must turn the page to read verses 5-6. Verses 1-4 is all about feeling forgotten, and God hiding God’s face. Turn the page. Faith steps up in the bleakest of times. When despair sets in, the sacred shows up. The sacred moment when faith reminds us that God is a good God, and God will bring good, not evil, into our lives. That moment of faith looks like verse five. “But I trust in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”
Reflect on one of your deepest hopes about a difficult time. Offer that hope to God in a prayer of expectancy.
