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Psalms 13:3

The Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 13:3

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Consider and hear me, O Lord my God (comp. ; ; , etc.). David will not allow himself to be "forgotten;" he will recall himself to God's remembrance. "Consider—hear me," he says, "O Lord my God;" still "my God," although thou hast forgotten me, and therefore bound to "hear me."

Lighten mine eyes. Not so much "enlighten me spiritually,'' as "cheer me up; put brightness into my eyes; revive me". Lest I sleep the sleep of death; literally, lest I sleep death. Death is compared to a sleep by Job (), Jeremiah (, ), Daniel (), and here by David, in the Old Testament; and by our Lord () and St.

Paul in the New (; ; , ). The external resemblance of a corpse to a sleeping person was the root of the metaphor, and we shall do wrong to conclude from its employment anything with respect to the psalmist's views concerning the real nature of death.

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Psalms 13:1-6God sometimes hides his face, and leaves his own children in the dark concerning their interest in him: and this they lay to heart more than any outward trouble whatever. But anxious cares are heavy burdens with which b…Matthew HenrycommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 13:1-6From despondency to peace. The soul may pass quickly from one emotion to another—from fear to hope, from the gloom of despondency to the brightness of peace. Such a change finds expression in this psalm. I. THE CRY. (Ps…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 13:1-6EXPOSITION THE writer—again, according to the title, David—is reduced almost to utter despair. He has undergone lengthened persecution—the Divine countenance has been turned away from him (Psalms 13:1); it seems to him…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 13:1-6The agony of desertion. Probably a psalm of David, composed at the time of Saul's persecution. It expresses the agony of a mind that thinks itself deserted of God, in danger of death, and threatened by a formidable enem…Joseph S. Exell and contributorscommentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Psalms 13:1-6Sorrow 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 experien…Joseph S. Exell and contributors