"But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation."
Psalm 13:5 (NIV)
We often act as if pain and trust cannot live in the same heart. If I am hurting, I must not be trusting. If I trust, I should not still hurt. One has to cancel the other. So we hide the pain to look faithful, or we give up on trust because we hurt. Psalm 13:5 refuses both.
The turn in Psalm 13 comes with no change in the facts. Verse 5 begins with "But." Yet the text never says the enemy was defeated. It never says God spoke. It never says the sorrow lifted. Nothing outside the psalmist has changed that we are told about. What changed is where he is standing.
He is standing on God's unfailing love. The Hebrew word is chesed. It is often tied to God's covenant. It is love that stays, because God has bound Himself to His people. It is not a feeling that comes and goes. Think of someone who is kind when it suits them and someone who is committed to you. The first person's kindness is a mood. The second person's is a promise. Chesed is the second kind. Psalm 145:8 uses the same word when it says the LORD is rich in love.
Nothing in the text says he earned the turn. Psalm 13 turns at verse 5, but that verse is not a formula. Praying four "how longs" does not guarantee a "but." Psalm 88 ends with darkness as the psalmist's closest friend, and Scripture holds that prayer too. If you are still asking "how long" and have not reached a "but," you have not failed. I believe the turn is God's to give. It is not something you earn by praying correctly. The timing belongs to Him, and the ground under you is the same either way.
He rejoices in God's rescue before any answer is recorded. The second half of verse 5 says his heart rejoices in God's salvation. In the psalm, salvation means God's rescue. He has asked for light and an answer, and he rejoices in God's rescue anyway. That only makes sense if his joy rests on who God is, not on whether the answer has arrived. For us, that love has already shown itself at its fullest. Romans 5:8 says God shows His love for us in this: Christ died for us while we were still sinners. The love you are standing on has already been proved at the cross.
Godseekers, "I trust You" and "it hurts" belong in the same prayer. You do not have to wait for the pain to lift before you stand on His love. God has bound Himself to His people, and He has proved it at the cross. His love did not begin with your feelings, and it will not end with them.
Prayer
Faithful God, I come with the hurt still here. I confess that I thought trusting You meant I should not feel this. I stand on Your unfailing love, because You have bound Yourself to Your people. Thank You that Christ died for me and proved Your love before I had anything to offer. Hold me up on the days I cannot hold on. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Personal Reflection
- Where have you made God's love depend on whether the pain has lifted?
- What did the people closest to you teach you about love that makes it hard to believe God's love stays when you are struggling?
Step of Faith
Read Psalm 13 out loud from start to finish. Slow down at verse 5 and read it twice. Do not wait for the pain to lift before you say it.
