1How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
In a brief and intense lament, David asks four times 'how long' God will seem to forget him, but ends the psalm trusting in God's goodness and promising to sing praises.
Explanation
This is a classic example of the 'individual lament psalm,' a genre that fills a good portion of the Psalter: it begins in deep anguish and ends in renewed trust, without the external circumstances necessarily having changed. The repetition of 'how long' expresses a real emotional pain in the face of God's silence, something universal in human experience. The final turn does not deny the suffering, but chooses to trust in spite of it — a model of honest prayer that does not pretend everything is fine, yet does not give up hope either.
Fun facts
- The pattern of lament followed by trust, found here, is the most common structure among the 150 psalms — about a third of the book follows this complaint-to-praise format.
- This psalm's short length (only 6 verses) makes it one of the most used models for personal prayer in moments of anguish, thanks to its brevity and emotional honesty.