This psalm consists properly of three parts:
I. A complaint as of one who was forsaken by God; who was persecuted, and who saw no means of deliverance; who took counsel with his own heart how he might be delivered, but who found no way in which it could be done, Psalms 13:1-2.
II. An earnest prayer to God that He would interpose; that He would attend to the cry of the sufferer; that He would enlighten his mind; that his enemy might not be allowed to prevail against him, and rejoice over his fall, Psalms 13:2-3.
III. A cheerful confidence in God that he would grant this favor, and interpose in his behalf, Psalms 13:5-6.
This is entitled, “A Psalm of David,” and there is no reason to suppose that he was not the author. Yet there are in it no indications of the time when it was written or of the circumstances under which it was posed. It would seem to have been time of persecution, and it would be most natural to refer its composition to the persecutions which David experienced from Saul. Most of the rabbinical writers understand it as referring to the whole Hebrew people, and as expressing their sentiments and feelings in times of persecution in general. Kimchi understands it as referring to the present exile and trials of the Jewish people. DeWette. The psalm, though undoubtedly composed with reference to the special circumstances and trials of the author, contains sentiments applicable at all times to believers, and may be regarded as exemplifying the way in which pious feeling expresses itself in times of persecution and trial. Individuals are not unfrequently in circumstances in which the language of this psalm exactly expresses the feelings of their hearts; and the psalm is of great and permanent value, therefore, in the church, as illustrating the fact that good people may sometimes feel desolate and forsaken, as if even God had left them; the fact that they will, in such circumstances, cry earnestly to God for his interposition; and the fact that they will have, and will manifest, as the result of such an appeal to God, a cheerful confidence in His protecting care.
The title - “To the chief Musician” (margin, overseer) - is the same as that prefixed to the fourth Psalm, with the omission of the words “On Neginoth.” See the notes at that title.