I remember watching an advertisement when I was young where the children in the car kept asking their parents, “Are we there yet?” And as cheeky children, my cousins and I would often echo the same question on family trips. We longed to reach the destination promised us, but we were unable to sit still on the long journeys. All we could do was to ask, “How much longer?”

David asked a similar question in Psalm 13—but it came not from playful impatience, but from deep pain. Four times he cries out, “How long?” How long will God forget him? How long will God hide His face? How long will he be full of sorrow? How long will his enemies celebrate the bad things that are happening to him?

These are not cheeky questions—they are the cries of a heart in anguish, pleading for God to see, to care, to act. David’s questions are painfully honest, and they give us permission to bring our own raw emotions before God. In a world of sin, sorrow, and injustice, we too may find ourselves asking, “Where are you, God? Why did you let this happen? Will you answer me?”

Yet Psalm 13 was not just the honesty of David’s lament, but the faith he clings to at the end. Even as he waits in darkness, he declares: “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.”

David doesn’t wait to feel better before he praises God. He doesn’t wait for his situation to resolve before he expresses trust. He chooses to believe that God is good—even when it doesn’t feel that way. He chooses to hold on to his relationship with God.

As we journey through seasons of unanswered questions and difficult waiting, David's example encourages us. We can cry out in confusion and hold on in trust. We can ask, “How long, O Lord?” and still say, “But I trust you.”

If you are in a season of waiting or wondering, know that God welcomes your questions. He hears your cries. And though the answers may not come when or how we expect, He is faithful, and His steadfast love never fails.

Prayer:

Dear Father, You see us in our struggles, and You hear the cries of our hearts when we ask, “How long?” Thank You for the reminder that we are not alone in our pain. Help us to trust in Your unfailing love even when we cannot see the way ahead. Teach us to wait on You with hope, to walk with You in faith, and to praise You even in the dark. Remind us that You are near, that You are good, and that You will never let us go. In Jesus Christ’s most precious name we pray, Amen.