Dwelling In The Dust

Psalm 13

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever?

How long will you look the other way?

2How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul,

with sorrow in my heart every day?

How long will my enemy have the upper hand?

3Turn and answer me, O LORD my God!

Restore the light to my eyes, or I will die.

4Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”

Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.

5But I trust in your unfailing love.

I will rejoice because you have rescued me.

6I will sing to the LORD

because he has been so good to me.

About a hundred years ago the great Bible teacher F. B. Meyer preached a sermon aimed at people who “dwell in the dust.” Such people express feelings as David did in this psalm: “Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?”

Meyer said five kinds of people dwell in the dust: (1) those who feel forsaken by God; (2) those who feel their prayers are going nowhere; (3) those who are discouraged with life’s possibilities; (4) those who are going through difficult financial or physical stresses; and (5) those who are stuck in a job or family situation they can’t get out of. A person’s problems are compounded when he or she falls into three or four of the above classifications at the same time.

If you feel this way, take special note of this psalm. In the first two verses David is complaining; in the next two he is praying; in the last two he is trusting and rejoicing. By the end of the psalm David’s eyes are no longer on himself; he is trusting in the Lord. No longer is he dwelling in the dust; he recognizes that God has been good to him. Paul spoke similarly about how God has raised us from our lowly estate and seated us with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6-7). Don’t let yourself remain in the “how longs” of verses 1-2. Look to the Lord and trust in him, and he will bring you to the point of rejoicing once again.

Whate’er my fears or foes suggest,

You are my hope, my joy, my rest.

My heart shall feel your love and raise

My cheerful voice to sing your praise.

ISAAC WATTS

Bible Networking

Four times in the first two verses the psalmist asks, “How long?” Check out a few other biblical “how longs”: Job 8:2; Psalms 79:5; 89:46; 119:84; Isaiah 6:11; Habakkuk 1:2; John 10:24; Revelation 6:10.

Notable Quotable

“Let me be one of the upward and outward lookers, not one of the downward and inward lookers.”

ALFRED EDERSHEIM