The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"how long," Hebrew ad-anah (עַד־אָנָה), until when? Four times in two verses David cries "How long?" It is the anguished refrain of a soul worn down by prolonged trouble: "How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?" And Scripture includes this honest cry in its inspired prayer book, teaching us that faith has room for the "how long?" of prolonged pain. It is not unbelief to ask God "how long?"; the saints and even the martyrs cry it (Revelation 6:10). Yet notice the little word "for ever?", David fears the trouble may never end, but even the question betrays a hope that it is not for ever.

"forget," tishkacheni (תִּשְׁכָּחֵנִי). The felt forgetfulness of God is real and painful, but it is a feeling, not the truth; God cannot forget His own, "can a woman forget her sucking child?... yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee" (Isaiah 49:15).

"hide thy face," tastir et-panekha (תַּסְתִּיר אֶת־פָּנֶיךָ). The hardest part of his suffering is not the enemy but the sense that God has forgotten him and hidden His face. Note that David is not questioning God's existence or goodness in the abstract; he is wrestling with God directly, bringing his raw anguish straight to the LORD. When you feel forgotten by God and worn down by "how long?", do as David did: bring the honest cry to God Himself, and hold on.

Explanation

Count the "how longs," for there are four, and they travel. "How long wilt thou forget me... how long wilt thou hide thy face from me" (v1) are aimed at God; "how long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily" (v2) turns inward upon himself; and "how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me" (v2) looks outward at his foe. In three quick verses the complaint surveys his entire world, above him, within him, and against him, and finds trouble in every direction. This is what prolonged suffering does: it colours everything. Yet notice that all four questions are aimed heavenward. He does not merely feel forgotten; he says so to the very God he feels has forgotten him, which is itself an act of faith, for a man who had truly given up would not still be asking God "how long."

Gospel Focus

"How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?", the deepest hiding of God's face was borne by Jesus Christ on the cross, so that God's face would never be finally hidden from His people. Jesus cried the forsaken word, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), enduring the real turning away of God that our sin deserved, that we might be assured, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). Because Christ was forgotten and forsaken in our place, the believer's feeling of being forgotten is never the reality: "the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child?... yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands" (Isaiah 49:14-16), a graving fulfilled in the nail-pierced hands of Christ. He cannot forget us, for our names are written on His wounded hands. So when you cry "how long, O LORD?", bring the honest prayer to God as David and even Christ did, but rest in this: God's face is not hidden from you in wrath. The hiding fell on Jesus, and for you there remains the promise that He will lift up the light of His countenance upon you. Your "how long?" is heard, and the God who cannot forget His own will surely turn His face toward you in mercy.

Word Study

"consider," Hebrew habbitah (הַבִּיטָה), look upon. David does not stay in complaint; he turns it into prayer: "Consider and hear me, O LORD my God." This is the vital movement of the psalm, the same that faith must make: from pouring out the "how long?" to asking God to act. Notice the progression within the prayer: first "consider" (look on me), then "hear" (answer me), then "lighten mine eyes" (revive me).

"hear," aneni (עֲנֵנִי), answer me. He addresses God as "my God", clinging in covenant relationship even in the dark, and asks that God would not merely look on but answer. Faith not only laments but asks, and asks specifically.

"lighten mine eyes," ha'irah einai (הָאִירָה עֵינַי), give light to my eyes, restore my strength and life. His request is vivid: "lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death." Dimmed, sunken eyes were a sign of weakness, sickness, and approaching death; to have one's eyes "lightened" is to be revived, strengthened, given fresh life. David feels his life ebbing away under prolonged sorrow, and he asks God to renew his strength before he sinks into death. There is honesty here about how deep the trouble goes, and there is faith that God can restore. When sorrow drains our strength and life feels like it is fading, we bring the specific need to God: consider me, hear me, revive me, "lighten mine eyes." The God who is the fountain of life can give light to the dimmest eyes.

Explanation

The picture in "lighten mine eyes" is physical before it is spiritual. In Scripture bright, shining eyes are the mark of life and vigour; dull, sunken eyes are the look of the sick and the dying. When Jonathan, faint with hunger, tasted the honey, "his eyes were enlightened" (1 Samuel 14:27), and strength flooded back into him. So David, feeling his life ebb under long sorrow, prays that God would put the light of life back into his failing eyes, "lest I sleep the sleep of death." The dimming eye and the sleep of death are the same fading pictured twice. It is a prayer we can borrow in any exhaustion of body or soul: not merely "help me," but "revive me," put the light back in my eyes before it goes out.

Gospel Focus

"Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death", the prayer for light and life against the darkness of death is answered fully in Jesus Christ, the light of the world and the resurrection and the life. "In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4); "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Christ came to give light to those sitting "in darkness and in the shadow of death" (Luke 1:79), and to conquer the very sleep of death David feared. For those in Christ, even death is not the end but a sleep from which we shall wake: Jesus said of Lazarus, "our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep" (John 11:11), and He is Himself "the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live" (John 11:25). So the believer prays "lighten mine eyes" and finds his prayer answered in Christ, who gives light to the soul now and will one day open our eyes in resurrection glory. When sorrow dims your sight and death seems near, turn to Jesus, the light of life. He gives strength to the fainting, light to the darkened, and life to the dying, and in Him even the sleep of death is only a sleep, from which we shall awake to behold Him face to face in the light of everlasting day.

Word Study

"but," Hebrew va'ani (וַאֲנִי), "but as for me." Everything turns on the word "But." "But I have trusted in thy mercy." The whole psalm pivots here, from feeling forgotten to firm confidence, from "how long?" to "I have trusted."

"trusted," batachti (בָּטַחְתִּי) from batach, to trust, rely. Nothing in David's outward circumstances has necessarily changed; the enemy still threatens, the trouble persists. What has changed is that faith has reasserted itself over feeling.

"mercy," chesed (חֶסֶד), steadfast covenant love. David deliberately turns from his fears to God's chesed, His steadfast, covenant love, and rests his whole confidence there. Notice that the anchor of the turn is God's mercy, His steadfast love, not David's worthiness or changed circumstances.

"rejoice," yagel (יָגֵל). And immediately the light breaks: "my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation." The heart that was full of "sorrow daily" (v2) now anticipates rejoicing. He is so sure of God's deliverance that he begins to rejoice before it arrives.

"salvation," yeshu'ah (יְשׁוּעָה). And the psalm ends in song: "I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me" (v6). This is the movement of faith: from lament, through prayer, to trust, to joy, to song. When we feel forgotten, the way back to joy is to turn deliberately from our fears to God's unfailing covenant love, and to rest there. Faith in God's mercy turns "how long?" into a song.

Explanation

Watch the tenses turn on that little "But." The whole first half was frozen in a stuck present, the endless, timeless "how long?" that has no yesterday and no tomorrow, only an unbearable now. Then: "But I have trusted in thy mercy" (past), "my heart shall rejoice" (future), "I will sing unto the LORD" (future), "because he hath dealt bountifully with me" (past, as though it were already done). In a single breath the soul steps out of its frozen present into a story, one with a settled act of trust behind it and a certain song ahead. Notice, too, that "trusted" is past tense: David is not working up a fresh feeling in the moment; he is leaning on a decision already made. When feeling gives him nothing, he rests his weight on a trust he had committed to before the darkness came.

Gospel Focus

"But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation", the mercy David trusted and the salvation in which he rejoiced are ours in fullness in Jesus Christ, the mercy and salvation of God made flesh. The word for salvation, yeshu'ah, is the very root of the name Jesus, "the LORD is salvation." David rejoiced in God's salvation in shadow; we rejoice in the Saviour Himself, "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us... hath quickened us together with Christ" (Ephesians 2:4-5). Our salvation rests not on our changing feelings or circumstances but on the unchanging mercy of God poured out at the cross, and so the believer, like David, can turn from every "how long?" to a settled "But I have trusted in thy mercy." This is the secret of joy in trouble: not that our circumstances improve, but that we fix our trust on God's steadfast love in Christ, which never fails. "we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:11); "rejoice in the Lord alway" (Philippians 4:4); "whom having not seen, ye love... ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9). So when you are worn down and feel forgotten, make the great turn: fix your eyes on the mercy of God in Christ, trust His steadfast love, and let your heart begin to rejoice in His salvation even before deliverance comes. Faith in the mercy of Jesus turns the longest "how long?" into a song of praise.