How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Psalms 13:1-6.-The believer's cry to Yahweh, because of the enemy's exaltation; his daily sorrow, while Yahweh seems to forget him (Psalms 13:1-2); prayer for the light of deliverance from death (Psalms 13:3-4); he is revived by the assurance of salvation, so that he sings joyful thanksgivings (Psalms 13:5-6).
How long - four times repeated; implying the protracted trials of the Psalmist. A feeling bordering on despair must at times have tempted David, after Saul's persecutions had continued for years, and no hope of a termination appeared. His experiences adapted him to speak a word in season to those exposed to protracted and wearing-out afflictions. Some have considered this psalm as the complaint of the Israelite Church in her bondage and darkness, praying for the coming of Messiah as her deliverer. The four-fold cry, "How long?" thus refers to the four-fold captivity of the Jews, the Egyptian, the Babylonian, the Grecian, and the Roman.