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Psalm 13 · a question people ask

"Will you forget me forever?" (13:1). Did the psalmist believe God had forgotten him?

In the text

The psalm asks; it doesn't say. "How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?" (13:1) is a question, put to the LORD himself (tap forget). Two verses later he still says "LORD, my God" and asks him, "answer me" (13:3), and by the end he says, "But I trust in your loving kindness" (13:5). Psalm 10 has the same Hebrew verb in the mouth of the wicked, and there it is not a question but a statement about God: "He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it’" (Psalm 10:11). Psalm 9 says, "He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted" (Psalm 9:12), and the chapter on Psalm 9 sets these verses side by side. Psalm 13 doesn't say more about what the psalmist believed than its own words, and these notes don't either.

The verses

“For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”
Psalm 13:1 · World English Bible
“Behold, and answer me, LORD, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;”
Psalm 13:3 · World English Bible
“But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.”
Psalm 13:5 · World English Bible
“He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.””
Psalm 10:11 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 13

Psalm 13: How long, LORD?

The verb for what the psalmist's adversaries would do at his fall, "rejoice" (13:4), is the verb for his own heart in the next verse: "My heart rejoices in your salvation" (13:5). One Hebrew word, gil. And the psalm never says the LORD answered; its turn is "But I trust" (13:5).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions