Day 13: The Summer of His Face Shining Upon Us- Psalm 13

Day 13 – Join Johnny Enlow for a 67-day walk through Psalms.

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SPARKLING EYES

Key Verse: “Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.” (v.3)

Key Theme: Feeling forgotten by God

Key Descriptive of God: The GOOD-TO-ME God

Psalm 13, is very short and simple but again not hard to identify within 2020. In 4 of David’s 6 verses, he can’t find enough ways to describe how abandoned and forgotten by God he feels. Verse 1, “O Lord, HOW LONG will you forget me? Forever? HOW LONG will you look the other way?” Anybody else in touch with a “God who forgets you?” and FOREVER at that? You in touch with what seems like the “God who looks the other way”? Hang in there with David because he won’t leave you there but he is not done yet with his low starting point. Verse 2, “How long must I struggle with ANGUISH IN MY SOUL and SORROW IN MY HEART every day? How long will the ENEMY have the UPPER HAND?” He is there now. He has finished testifying on how the enemy is kicking his butt.

David is a feeler in a very nuanced way. Where I might say, “God I am feeling a little discouraged today”- David is to the point and thorough and seemingly a bit dramatic. As he is prone to do over and over David grabs a pen or picks up his harp to let out how he honestly feels as he starts his “worship set”. If David led our Sunday worship meetings he would do it so differently. No early, fast-paced, smiley-faced “God is so good” songs. He often starts seemingly so low he has to pull his socks down to see. Picture it, at your local church. Worship begins with “How long God will you forget me? Forever?!” followed by multiple descriptives of that where we might all say, “OK, I get it. You are not feeling all that connected or seen by God, this morning.” I wonder what would happen if we’d allow our most depressed worship leader of the day to lead out with his or her own prophetic song of the day? Wouldn’t that be awesome? Word would get around. At that church, they pick out the skilled worshipped leader who least feels like praising God and he/she gets to lead and has to be honest. Wow, a church might fill up just with that. Everybody would be curious to know how low things would start and how much honesty there will be in the description of that low place. Imagine going to church not to hide or cover up things but going there for a point of contact with your present biggest contradiction in life— knowing you wouldn’t be left there. For my whole life, David and the Psalms have been that for me. So what did David want?

RESTORE THE SPARKLE

Verse 3, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! RESTORE THE SPARKLE to my eyes, or I will die.”

David is really on to something here. The word SPARKLE here is in Hebrew the same word used in Isaiah 60:1 “Arise and SHINE.”  If you ever wanted to know how you practically fulfill Isaiah 60:1, it begins with getting the sparkle back in your eyes. As David, says, “OR I WILL DIE”. Dramatic David is also telling us the truth. Once we lose the sparkle in our eye, spiritually, we are essentially dead. The breakdown of the body accelerates following suit. 

Remember the goal of David in this chapter is getting his shine back. His goal is not just to vent— but he knows that is the pathway to get there. He is suffering from “hope deferred”. His son Solomon will tell us in Proverbs 13:12, that “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” If you find yourself living in HOW LOOOONG? it will make your heart sick and you will lose the sparkle in your eyes. Disappointment will DIS you from your APPOINTMENT with destiny. David knew that. Verse 4, “Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, We have defeated him! Don’t let them rejoice at my fall.” (Of course, “our enemies” are never flesh and blood but always demonic powers)

THE PAUSE FROM DESPAIR TO HOPE

I think if we could have seen a time stamp beside each of these 6 verses it would be so very instructive. The last two words of verse 4 are “my downfall”. The first three words of verse 5 are “But I trust”. You don’t go from despair to hope in the one-second interval that takes place while reading it straight through. Here is a little key that will open a big door. As David, come to the Lord WITH your despair and not after having suppressed it. Pour it ALL out. If you are not used to doing it you might have a Psalms 119 (176 verses) session of doing that. When you hit rock bottom, hit pause for whatever time needed. Between verse 4 and verse 5, David may have had one minute, five minutes, ten minutes, or even an hour. But then you can feel the SHIFT into a breakthrough. His audience is God so that is who He is waiting for. Suddenly, “But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you HAVE rescued me.” In the space between verses it happened. God had rescued him— again.

THE GOOD-TO-ME GOD

David’s last verse, “I will sing to the Lord because He is GOOD TO ME.” This is a place of personal revelation that brings the sparkle back to the eyes. Yes GOD IS GOOD — almost everybody says it and theorizes that it must be true. Life never makes sense without believing that. But here we are invited to land it in a deeper place. God is good- TO ME. In an instant with no time for his circumstances to change David now is prepared to finish his “worship set” — singing of the goodness of God and of his trust in his unfailing love. The sparkle in his eyes is back. Hope is present again. The appointment with destiny is back on. Today and any day this pathway is available for us all.

 

 

Written by: Johnny Enlow

Featured Image by chris ganser on Unsplash


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The 67 Day Countdown Series is brought to you by Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow, founders of Restore7 ministry, as well as international speakers and best-selling authors. Among Johnny’s books are The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, Rainbow God, The Seven Mountain Renaissance, Becoming A Superhero, and RISE. Elizabeth serves as CEO and penned Rainbow God: The Seven Colors of Love and God in Every Season.

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

Kingdom Winds Contributors - Johnny and Elizabeth Enlow are social reformers at heart, as well as international speakers and authors of The Seven Mountain Prophecy, The Seven Mountain Mantle, and Rainbow God. As ones focused on the reformation of the 7 primary areas of culture, they are spiritual mentors to many in Media, Arts and Entertainment, Government, Family, Religion, Economy, and Education. Their passion is to awaken our generation to the reality of the God of all of life, Who not only cares for our souls but also has practical solutions to offer through His sons and daughters for every problem that exists in society.