Psalms 13:1 · Bible study
Psalms 13:1 Commentary: Crying “How Long” When God Seems Far
Hebrew · 12 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
David’s opening lament in Psalm 13:1 captures the agony of feeling forgotten by God. Learn how the Psalmist’s raw honesty models faith in the waiting.
Research Summary
- Meaning: David cries out in anguish over God’s perceived absence, using a self-contradictory question that reveals the tension between feeling and faith.
- Key words: “How long” (repeated four times); “forget” (not literal, but a feeling of neglect); “hide your face” (a metaphor for divine withdrawal and disfavor).
- Main debate: Whether the psalm refers to David’s personal persecution (Saul or Absalom) or is a national lament for Israel in exile.
- Theological theme: Lament as an authentic expression of faith and the struggle to trust when God seems silent.
- Best use: A model for honest prayer in times of prolonged suffering or spiritual dryness.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
WEB World English Bible 2000
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, Yahweh? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
KJV King James Version 1769
How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
To the Overseer. --A Psalm of David. Till when, O Jehovah, Dost Thou forget me? --for ever? Till when dost Thou hide Thy face from me?
Darby Darby Bible 1890
How long, Jehovah, wilt thou forget me for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
Unto the end, a psalm for David. The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God. They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Al Músico principal: Salmo de David. ¿ HASTA cuándo, Jehová? ¿ me olvidarás para siempre? ¿ hasta cuándo esconderás tu rostro de mí?
Até quando, SENHOR, te esquecerás de mim? Para sempre? Até quando tu esconderás de mim o teu rosto?
Au chef des chantres. Psaume de David.
Ein Psalm Davids, vorzusingen. HERR, wie lange willst du mein so gar vergessen? Wie lange verbirgst du dein Antlitz vor mir?
Een psalm van David, voor den opperzangmeester.
Al Capo de’ musici. Salmo di Davide. Fino a quando, o Eterno, mi dimenticherai tu? Sarà egli per sempre? Fino a quando mi nasconderai la tua faccia?
Przedniejszemu śpiewakowi pieśń Dawidowa.
Сказал безумец в сердце своем: [нет Бога].. Они развратились, совершили гнусные дела; нет делающего добро.
（大衛的 詩，交與伶長。）耶和華啊，你忘記我 要到 幾時呢？要到永遠嗎？你掩 面 不顧我 要到 幾時呢？
Will you for ever put me out of your memory, O Lord? will your face for ever be turned away from me?
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Psalm 13:1 captures the raw edge of faith in crisis. David’s fourfold “How long” (pointed out by Clarke) is not a sign of unbelief but of desperate honesty. The phrase “How long…forever?” creates a deliberate self-contradiction. The Cambridge Bible notes that feeling, not logic, shapes the sentence: David is tempted to think God has forgotten him forever, but the word “How long” implies a limit. Keil and Delitzsch call this “the conflict within between flesh and spirit,” quoting Luther’s description that “hope itself despairs and despair nevertheless begins to hope.” Calvin adds that David speaks not according to others’ opinion but the feeling of his own mind, yet still he speaks to God, not away from him. The consensus is clear: lament is not the opposite of faith; it is faith in the dark.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: David expresses painful feelings of being forgotten and hidden from by God, yet he directs these complaints directly to God, indicating that his lament is an act of faith, not abandonment of it.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Occasion of the Psalm | Most agree David wrote it during personal persecution (Saul or Absalom). | Some rabbinic interpreters apply it to the Babylonian exile. Both readings see the psalm as expressing hope amid trial. |
| The Phrase “Forever” | All agree it shows the depth of the psalmist’s pain. | Some interpret “forever” as a rhetorical exaggeration meaning “completely” (Aquila, Rosenmüller), while others see it as a real fear of eternal abandonment. |
| Lament and Faith | The psalm ends in trust, so the lament is contained within faith. | Some stress that lament is itself a form of faith (addressed to God), while others caution that it can cross into doubt. |
Historical & Cultural Context
The title sets the psalm in the worship life of ancient Israel. “For the Chief Musician” indicates it was collected for liturgical use, sung in public worship as well as prayed in private. Barnes suggests the psalm fits the time of Saul’s persecution, though some rabbinic writers applied it to the Babylonian exile. No specific event is certain, and that very openness allows the psalm to serve believers across generations.
The opening line uses the covenant name Yahweh, the personal name of Israel’s God. When David cries “How long will you hide your face from me?” he echoes covenant threats from Deuteronomy 31:17, where God warns that he will hide his face because of Israel’s unfaithfulness. But David does not confess specific sin here; he laments a felt absence. The phrase “hide your face” appears throughout the Psalms (10:1; 44:24) as the ultimate expression of divine withdrawal.
Culturally, to “see someone’s face” in the ancient Near East meant to be in their presence and favor. A king who hid his face from a supplicant was refusing audience. David feels he has been denied access to the heavenly King.
The literary structure of the entire psalm is tight. As Ellicott notes, we see “the power of lyric expression for rapid changes of emotion”, from deepest despair in verse 1 to profound peace by verse 6. This verse launches that journey. The repetition of “How long” (four times in verses 1-2) creates a driving rhythm. Adam Clarke calls it a marker of “great dejection and extreme earnestness of soul.” David is not composed; he is in anguish. But he is still praying.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Psalm 13:1. The verse is consistent across the manuscript tradition. The title “For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.” is standard for many psalms and appears in the Masoretic Text.
Reception History
Psalm 13:1 has been a source of consolation for Christians enduring prolonged trials. The early church father Theodoret (cited by Calvin) saw it as reflecting David’s experience during Absalom’s rebellion. In the medieval church, the psalm was included in monastic prayer cycles, embodying the cry of the soul longing for God. Reformers like Luther and Calvin emphasized the struggle of faith in this verse, seeing in it a picture of the believer caught between despair and hope. The verse has also been read as foreshadowing Christ’s cry of dereliction on the cross (Psalm 22:1), a link that deepens its pastoral use across traditions.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The Cry of Desertion (v.1). David feels forgotten by Yahweh and hidden from his face, an experience every believer may face.
- The Persistence of Prayer (v.3). Despite the pain, David cries out to God for light. He refuses to stop asking.
- The Foundation of Trust (vv.5-6). Lament does not have the last word; David remembers God’s lovingkindness and sings again.
Five-point outline
- Honest lament is allowed before God, David’s repetition shows deep anguish.
- The pain of divine hiddenness is real; it tests the soul but does not mean God has abandoned us.
- Urgent prayer is the only way forward when all seems lost.
- The enemy may seem to triumph, but appearances are not final.
- Trust in God’s character, his mercy, salvation, and bountiful dealings, carries the believer through.
Illustration hooks
- A child separated from a parent in a crowded store, feeling forgotten until the parent reappears.
- A patient awaiting test results, where each day of silence feels like abandonment.
- A farmer watching a drought stretch on, asking “How long until the rain?”
Questions your congregation is asking
- “Does it show a lack of faith to complain to God like this?”
- “How can I keep praying when God seems silent?”
- “Is it wrong to feel that God has abandoned me?”
Leading a Discussion
Psalm 13:1 opens a lament that many of us have felt but may have been afraid to speak. David gives us permission to bring our rawest emotions to God. Use these questions to explore what this verse reveals about faith in times of hiddenness.
Discussion questions
- What words or phrases in verse 1 stand out to you? Why?
- David repeats “How long” four times. What does this repetition communicate about his emotional state?
- He asks, “Will you forget me forever?” while also saying “How long?” How would you describe the tension in that question?
- The image of God “hiding his face” appears often in the Old Testament. What does this phrase mean in context? (See Deuteronomy 31:17, Psalm 44:24)
- In what situations might a believer today feel like God has hidden his face? Are these feelings always grounded in reality?
- David addresses his complaint directly to God. What does that tell us about the nature of faith even in despair?
- How can this verse help you when you struggle with feeling forgotten by God?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Deuteronomy 31:17 | Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’ |
| Job 13:24 | Why do you hide your face, and consider me your enemy? |
| Psalms 6:3 | My soul is also in great anguish. But you, Yahweh—how long? |
| Psalms 10:12 | Arise, Yahweh! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless. |
| Psalms 22:1 | For the Chief Musician; set to “The Doe of the Morning.” A Psalm by David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? |
| Psalms 22:2 | My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent. |
| Psalms 35:17 | Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destruction, my precious life from the lions. |
| Psalms 44:24 | Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression? |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke draws attention to the fourfold repetition of "how long" in the opening verses as a deliberate marker of deep depression and urgent longing. He reads the phrase "hide your face" as the psalmist's painful experience of living without the clear assurance of God's approval.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that while Psalm 13 was written for David's own persecution, its lasting value lies in how it captures the universal spiritual pattern of believers who feel completely abandoned by God: honest complaint, urgent prayer, and restored confidence in God's protection.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that David's complaint of being forgotten by God comes from his own painful feelings, not from any loss of faith. Though David still trusted God's promises, the long stretch of suffering forced the thought of neglect upon him. His words reflect the anguish of waiting, not a doubt about grace.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentary highlights how the psalmist's words contradict themselves: "How long?" suggests an end to the suffering, while "for ever" denies any limit. This captures a mind torn between hope and despair, refusing to fully accept either.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
To him that excelleth. A Psalme of Dauid. Howe long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, for euer? howe long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill stresses that God never actually forgets His people; the psalmist's cry reflects human fear and the opinion of enemies, not reality. When God hides His face, it is a disciplinary withdrawal in response to the believer's behavior, not out of wrath, for His love remains secure.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB highlights the psalm's emotional arc: the writer begins lamenting God's apparent absence and his enemies' success, pleads for rescue before destruction comes, then finds renewal through trusting that his hope in God will not be disappointed. The movement is from crisis to confidence.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil-Delitzsch see the repeated question as revealing a conflict within the soul: the flesh despairs that God has forgotten forever, while faith transforms that despair into a question that marks it only as an appearance. The plans devised in the soul at night are futile, leaving only sorrow by day.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry notes that David's complaint that God has forgotten him is an infirmity, a misreading of God's temporary withdrawal. Yet the afflicted have freedom to pour out their griefs at the throne of grace, where God shares his people's afflictions and welcomes their honest cries.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley observes that these beings are not confined to one spot but fill every place, moving with bold confidence and a sense of safety. His emphasis falls on their unrestricted, fearless activity throughout the world.