The Prayer of the Depressed

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?

         How long will You hide Your face from me? 

    How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

         Having sorrow in my heart all the day?

         How long will my enemy be exalted over me? 

    Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;

         Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, 

   And my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"

         And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. 

    But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;

         My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 

    I will sing to the LORD,

         Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

 Psalm 13

David is known as a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), yet he sometimes struggled with feeling abandoned by God. In the beginning verses of Psalm 13 we get a sense of David's despondency. But he does not keep these feelings to himself. He takes them to God, pouring them out to Him as a desperate plea. How long, O Lord? How long, how long, how long? David has been taking counsel from his own soul and that brings him nothing but constant sorrow. And so he humbly asks God to give him insight -- enlighten my eyes. Again we get a glimpse of desperation. If God doesn't answer, David's sure he'll die to the express joy of his enemies. Does God answer David? Does He enlighten him? I think He did. I think God spoke right to David's soul, bringing him the fellowship and comfort for which he longed. David moves from depression to rejoicing, recalling God's love and kindness and his own salvation. Finally, he sings to the Lord in full-blown worship.  From the pit of despair to sacrificial joy, all because David came to the Lord in transparent prayer. Who else can bring about this  transformation, except God? He opens His heart and ears to the prayer of the depressed.