We don’t know when David wrote Psalm 13, but we know that David had some dashed expectations. The prophet Samuel had called David from the sheep pasture to anoint him to be the next king of Israel. He was probably about 12 at the time.
David seemed to be on the fast track to kingship when he joined the court of King Saul as a musician. Then David killed Goliath and became best friends with Saul’s son, Jonathon. Next, David became a successful military leader and married the daughter of King Saul. Everything looked good for him to become the next king.
Unexpected Change
But the more successful David was, the more jealous Saul became. Finally, it came to a point where Saul attempted to kill David. This forced David to flee. Instead of receiving the kingship God had promised immediately, it would be years. David lived in foreign lands and the wilderness of Israel in caves while Saul tried to hunt him down. (You can find the complete story in 1 Samuel 16 – 2 Samuel 2.) When anointed, David must have had expectations that the kingship would come quickly. But those expectations were dashed when he became a fugitive.
David’s heart was in the right place from the beginning. 1 Samuel 16: 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height… The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” [1] Yet, God would test and mature David through this unexpected time of his life.
How Do We Handle Disappointments?
Sometimes in our lives, the unexpected happens and destroys our expectations. What do we do? Where should we turn? David turned to his music and poetry to express his emotions to God in Psalm 13. While we don’t have to write a poem, we can always pray, especially when we don’t understand the situation. Jeremiah 33: 2 This is what the Lord says—the Lord who made the earth, who formed and established it, whose name is the Lord: 3 Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come. [2]
Realize God always has His timetable and will reveal information on His terms. But you can be assured that God loves and desires the best for you. There will be times, especially in disappointments, when you must simply trust God to move forward. David and Psalm 13 are our models for this.
To learn more about dashed expectations, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/lament-how-long
[1-2] Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.