Psalm 13:2-3

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 13:1-6

David, in affliction, is here pouring out his soul before God; his address is short, but the method is very observable, and of use for direction and encouragement. I. His troubles extort complaints (Ps. 13:1, 2); and the afflicted have liberty to pour out their complaint before the Lord, Ps. 102:1 title. It is some ease to a troubled spirit to give vent to its griefs, especially to give vent to them at the throne of grace, where we are sure to find one who is afflicted in the afflictions of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 13:2

How long shall I take counsel in my soul ,.... Or "put it" F19 אשית "ponam", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus. ; to take counsel of good men and faithful friends, in matters of moment and difficulty, is safe and right; and it is best of all to take counsel of God, who is wonderful in it, and guides his people with it; but nothing is worse than for a man to take counsel of his own heart, or only to consult himself; for such counsel often casts a man down, and he is ashamed of it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 13:3

Consider and hear me, O Lord my God ,.... The psalmist amidst all his distresses rightly applies to God by prayer, claims his interest in him as his covenant God, which still continued notwithstanding all his darkness, desertions, and afflictions; and entreats him to "consider" his affliction and trouble, and deliver him out of it; to consider his enemies, how many and mighty they were; and his own weakness his frame, that he was but dust, and unable to stand against them: or to "look" ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 13:2

Take counsel in my soul - I am continually framing ways and means of deliverance; but they all come to naught, because thou comest not to my deliverance. When a soul feels the burden and guilt of sin, it tries innumerable schemes of self-recovery; but they are all useless. None but God can speak peace to a guilty conscience. Mine enemy be exalted - Satan appears to triumph while the soul lies under the curse of a broken law. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 13:3

Consider and hear me - Rather, answer me. I have prayed; I am seeking thy face I am lost without thee; I am in darkness; my life draws nigh to destruction; if I die unforgiven, I die eternally. O Lord my God, consider this; hear and answer, for thy name's sake. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 13:2

Verse 2 2.How long shall I take counsel in my soul? We know that men in adversity give way to discontent, and look around them, first to one quarter, and then to another, in search of remedies. Especially, upon seeing that they are destitute of all resources, they torment themselves greatly, and are distracted by a multitude of thoughts; and in great dangers, anxiety and fear compel them to change their purposes from time to time, when they do not find any plan upon which they can fix with... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 13:3

Verse 3 3.Look upon me, answer me. As when God does not promptly afford assistance to his servants, it seems to the eye of sense that he does not behold their necessities, David, for this reason, asks God, in the first place, to look upon him, and, in the second place, to succor him. Neither of these things, it is true, is prior or posterior in respect of God; but it has been already stated in a preceding psalm, and we will have occasion afterwards frequently to repeat the statement, that the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 13:1-6

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 13:1-6

Despair turned to thankfulness. "How long," etc.? "I will sing," etc. The last verse of this tender and beautiful little psalm contains the reply to the first. Despondency is turned into thankfulness; the prayer of anguish into the song of praise. Its music, beginning with a plaintive, pathetic minor, passes through a solemn strain of pleading prayer into the triumphant major of full-voiced faith and joy. This is the music to which many a Christian life is set. It is not a strictly... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 13:1-6

Sorrow and trust; sighing and song. This is one of those numerous psalms which come under the first division specified in our introductory homily. It belongs to those which give us an insight into the religious experiences of an Old Testament saint—probably David—but it matters not whose they were. For they are a precise reflection of the alternations of spiritual mood through which many a sorrowful believer since then has passed; yea, through the like of which many of our readers may be... read more

Group of Brands