Light After Darkness

July 23rd, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Psalm 13:5-6 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.

David began his psalm by expressing his pain (vv. 1-2), then he offered up his petition to God (vv. 3-4). Now in vv. 5-6 he begins to praise God. He complained, he sought an answer, then he expressed his trust in God. No explanation is given as to why David began to praise God so soon after being in the depths of despair, but perhaps in just pouring out his heart and petitioning God to help him restored his trust in God’s faithfulness. Nothing seems to have happened that delivered him from his pain, yet prayer in the depths of despair lifted his soul.

When the saints of God pour out their hearts to Him in prayer something mysterious occurs. God grants strength, enabling them to recall their prior commitment and trust in Him. Even though David was drowning in his anguish, as he looked to God he remembered that God is trustworthy, noting His “lovingkindness” (Heb. hesed). This is one of the most beautiful words in Hebrew, for it signifies loyal and steadfast love, unfailing kindness, eternal devotion, and affection based on a prior relationship. In this case, it was David’s prior relationship with Yahweh that came flooding into his mind that brought him out of his despair and into joy.

Behind David’s anguish was a real certainty that God would deliver him. He knew what Christians know in that God had been good to him in the past and would carry His divine plan to fulfillment (cf. Phil. 1:6) and that God works all things for good to those who love Him (Rom. 8:28). So his heart rejoiced in God’s salvation! Having remembered how God had delivered him in the past, and knowing that he was indeed saved through his unshakable faith in Yahweh, David turned from his anguish and worshipped God. If he was in the cave of Adullam hiding from Saul or the Philistines when he penned this psalm (1 Sam. 22; 2 Sam. 23), then it was in that dark cave that David rejoiced. His circumstances had not changed, for he was still lonely and in hiding. But he worshipped God in the midst of his despair. This proves that one’s surroundings, no matter how vile, cannot affect the heart of one with steadfast, unwavering faith.

In v. 6 David wrote that he would sing to Yahweh, for God had dealt “bountifully” with him. This Hebrew term means “to wean; to reward; to deal fully with.” When a child was weaned from his mother’s breast that child had been treated “bountifully” in the sense that he had been cared for, nourished, and loved. This is how David viewed God’s care of him. Like a weaned child, God had cared for David, calling him a “man after His own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14), nourishing him spiritually, and loving him without end. No wonder David noted God’s “lovingkindness”—His loyal and unfailing love in v. 5. And no wonder he broke out in song about his faithful and loving God. His depression melted away with such remembrances.
Everyone struggles in times of despair, including David. But he was not content to just bellyache. He took the time to cry, then he prayed, and then he worshiped. He moved on from the bellyache and remembered what God had done in his past. He reflected on his salvation. Now that is a story worth considering!

Food For Thought
During your dark days, recall, or even write out your Christian testimony. Then you can rejoice in God’s grace! As long as we live we will never be free of this present darkness. So we must be ready to meet our trials with faith. Trials are God’s way of molding us into the people He made us to be. He will be right there as our Comforter no matter what our problem is. Sorrow can make or break us, so we must be prepared when they overtake us. Praise God for His salvation, for His lovingkindness, and for the Psalms! God inspired them for our encouragement.