Psa 13:3 | KingComments | STEP | David has presented his “how long” questions to God in the previous verses. Now he addresses God with three short words, “consider … answer … enlighten”. They are in the imperative, but are uttered as supplications ( ). The question “consider” connects to his question “how long” God will forget him ( ). The question means: “Be merciful to me, have mercy on me” (cf. ). He asks God to notice him, the supplicant, and not to pass him by as if he did not exist. The question “answer” is connected to the question “how long” God will still hide Himself ( ). With this he asks God to please respond to his cry for help and to take away the distress of his soul. Finally, David asks the LORD to enlighten his eyes. To enlighten the eyes means to receive God’s blessings through which he will again receive strength to go forward (cf. ). His eyes are now dull with sorrow and hopelessness. He longs for light in his darkness, for a ray of hope. The darkness does not even have to disappear, if only he has light to find his way that is now so hidden from him because God hides Himself. If his eyes are not enlightened by giving him some hope of salvation, he will die. What David says in his prayer indicates how serious the situation is, how desperate he feels. “Sleep the [sleep of] death” means that he loses his trust in God, whereby the enemy will then gain complete victory. In , David makes this argument. Surely God must be sensitive to this. It connects to what he said about his enemies in . The argument is that surely God will not allow the enemies to boast of a victory over him. Surely he will not give his enemies a reason to rejoice over the abandonment of his trust in God. David here ties his fate to the honor of God (cf. ). He appeals to God’s intervention in view of the reaction of his enemy and adversaries. If God does not intervene in his favor, the enemies will boast that they have conquered him. They will express their joy over it when he staggers. Surely God cannot allow this to happen. After all, His honor is at stake here, isn’t it?

‏ Psalms 13:3

Supplication

David has presented his “how long” questions to God in the previous verses. Now he addresses God with three short words, “consider … answer … enlighten”. They are in the imperative, but are uttered as supplications (Psa 13:3).

The question “consider” connects to his question “how long” God will forget him (Psa 13:1b). The question means: “Be merciful to me, have mercy on me” (cf. Isa 63:15). He asks God to notice him, the supplicant, and not to pass him by as if he did not exist.

The question “answer” is connected to the question “how long” God will still hide Himself (Psa 13:1c). With this he asks God to please respond to his cry for help and to take away the distress of his soul.

Finally, David asks the LORD to enlighten his eyes. To enlighten the eyes means to receive God’s blessings through which he will again receive strength to go forward (cf. 1Sam 14:27). His eyes are now dull with sorrow and hopelessness. He longs for light in his darkness, for a ray of hope.

The darkness does not even have to disappear, if only he has light to find his way that is now so hidden from him because God hides Himself. If his eyes are not enlightened by giving him some hope of salvation, he will die. What David says in his prayer indicates how serious the situation is, how desperate he feels.

“Sleep the [sleep of] death” means that he loses his trust in God, whereby the enemy will then gain complete victory. In Psa 13:4, David makes this argument. Surely God must be sensitive to this. It connects to what he said about his enemies in Psa 13:2. The argument is that surely God will not allow the enemies to boast of a victory over him. Surely he will not give his enemies a reason to rejoice over the abandonment of his trust in God. David here ties his fate to the honor of God (cf. Num 14:15-16).

He appeals to God’s intervention in view of the reaction of his enemy and adversaries. If God does not intervene in his favor, the enemies will boast that they have conquered him. They will express their joy over it when he staggers. Surely God cannot allow this to happen. After all, His honor is at stake here, isn’t it?