Bible Strands
Psalms 13:1
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses Yahweh directly, framed by a liturgical heading for the choirmaster. The moment is one of sustained perceived abandonment, not a single incident.
The words — נֶצַח (ne.tzach, "perpetuity") pushes the duration past "a long time" into "forever," and תַּסְתִּיר (tas.tir, "will you hide") names the specific act: God concealing His face.
The thread — The "hidden face" motif recurs in Job 13:24 and Psalms 89:46; the "forgotten forever" complaint appears in Lamentations 5:20.
Why it lands — It refuses to resolve the tension between the psalmist's faith and his experience, forcing the reader to sit inside the question rather than past it.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
Cross-references
- Job 13:24 Why do You hide Your face and consider me as Your enemy?
- Lamentations 5:20 Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long?
- Psalms 89:46 How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
- Psalms 94:3 How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
- Psalms 22:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
- Psalms 80:4 O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?
- Psalms 44:24 Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and oppression?
- Psalms 6:3 My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?
- Psalms 35:17 How long, O Lord, will You look on? Rescue my soul from their ravages, my precious life from these lions.
- Psalms 74:1 A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?