Psalm 13: When You're Hurting and Asking God Why

Good morning. This is Morning Prayer from Bearing Fruit.

Why did this happen? If that's the question you woke up with, you don't have to tidy it up before you pray. David once asked God how long he'd have to carry sorrow in his heart every day, and his prayer is in the Bible. Let's bring this to God together.

In Psalm thirteen, verses one and two, David prays this.

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day? How long will my enemy dominate me?

Psalm 13:1-2

Psalm thirteen is only six verses long, and in the first two David asks how long four times. He feels forgotten. He feels as if God has turned His face away. He wrestles in his own soul, and the sorrow is there every single day. We're not told what he was going through. We're told what he said to God about it.

God didn't only give us answers in the Bible. He gave us prayers like this one. Many of the psalms are laments, honest complaints brought straight to God. So when you come with your hardest question, you're using words He's already heard.

Some of you woke up carrying a grief. The first thing you saw was his coat, still on the hook by the door. Or you woke up to another day of pain in your own body, and the doctors still can't tell you why. Or the news came last week, and the house has been quiet ever since.

David doesn't get an explanation in this psalm. He asks God to consider him and respond, and to give light to his eyes. Then, with nothing changed that we can see, he says this.

But I have trusted in Your loving devotion; my heart will rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.

Psalm 13:5-6

Between verse two and verse five, nothing in the psalm says his circumstances have changed. What he does is remember who God has been. Trust here is a choice made in the dark. If you can't say verse five yet, you can pray verse one. God hears both.

Jesus prayed a lament too. On the cross, He cried out the first line of another psalm.

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Matthew 27:46

The Son of God asked why. He was carrying our sins, and He went all the way into death. Three days later, the Father raised Him. We still aren't given the reason for every sorrow. We do know God didn't stay far away from suffering. He came into it Himself.

At the grave of His friend Lazarus, Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Gospel says this.

Jesus wept.

John 11:35

He knew He was about to raise Lazarus, and He still wept. Your tears don't embarrass Him.

Scripture also tells us where all of this is going. In Revelation, John hears a voice from the throne of God, speaking about the end.

‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.

Revelation 21:4

That's a promise for the day Jesus makes all things new. It doesn't say when today's pain will lift. It does tell us that tears and death won't last forever.

If what you're carrying is more than you can bear, please don't carry it alone. Tell a friend, a pastor or a doctor today. You don't need to be strong to pray.

Let's pray. You can pray these words with me, out loud or in your heart.

Father, I'm praying to You through Jesus. On the cross He cried out to You, and He knew sorrow all the way down. He died for my sins, and You raised Him from the dead. So I can bring You all of it this morning, questions included. When I don't have words, Your Spirit prays for me.

You're still the Lord my God. You haven't stopped being God because I'm hurting. Your love is steady, even on the days I can't feel it. You see every tear. You know the whole of what I've lost, better than I can say it. You were there when it happened, and You haven't looked away since.

So I'll tell You honestly. It hurts, Father. I don't understand why You let this happen. I've asked You and asked You, and I haven't heard an answer. Some mornings it feels as if You've hidden Your face. Some days I've been angry with You. Some days I've stopped talking to You at all. You know all of that already, and I'm bringing it to You instead of keeping it from You.

Look at me, Father, and answer me. Give light to my eyes today. Give me enough strength for the next hour, and then the one after. If someone can help carry this, send them, and help me let them in. Comfort me in the places nobody else can see. If there's an answer You want me to have, let me hear it. If there isn't one yet, keep me close to You without it. Where I'm numb, let me feel again in time. Where I'm grieving someone, help me remember them well, and thank You for every year You gave us.

I don't have to understand You to trust You. I can't sing yet, but I can say the first part with David. I trust Your loving devotion. You were good to me before this happened, and You're the same God now. You've promised a day with no more death, and no more crying or pain. Hold me until then, and hold the ones I love who are already with You. I'm leaving the why with You for now.

Others are grieving this morning too, Father. For parents whose child's room is still exactly as it was. For someone in pain who's tired of being told to stay positive. For someone sitting in a car outside a funeral home, not ready to go in. Be near them, Father. Let them know You're close. And let the people around them stay, and listen.

Father, I can't tell what today will be like. Some moments I'll be all right, and then something small will undo me. A song in a shop, or a name in my phone. When that happens, let me turn to You right there. Give me one honest person to talk to, and the courage to tell them how I really am. Let me rest when I can, and cry when I need to. And when the question comes back, let it come to You. You heard Your Son ask it, and You hear me. So I'll pray with David as I go. “How long, O Lord?” And with him I'll say, “But I have trusted in Your loving devotion”.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Take a moment of quiet now, and bring Him whatever's in front of you today.

Hear this blessing from Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good word and deed.

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17