I have trusted in your steadfast love. Psalm 13:5
“Steadfast love” is love that lasts, love you can count on. God’s love for you had no beginning; it will have no end. The triune God has loved you, in eternity, with an everlasting love.
What David is facing shows no sign of going away, and so his question is “How long?” David dares to believe that God’s love for him will outlast the pain that he endures! David confronts the pain of his long-lasting sorrow with the reality of a longer lasting love.
There are times in the Christian life when the love of God is known by faith and feeling. There will also be times when God’s love is known by faith alone. This is a courageous statement of David’s faith: “I have trusted in your steadfast love, however long this trial continues.”
Then David says, “I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me” (13:6). The singing is future. But when David says that God has dealt bountifully with him, he is leaning into what he has already experienced.
How can David say this? Think about the bigger picture of David’s life. He was a shepherd, and yet by God’s grace he had become a king. He was a sinner, and yet by God’s grace he had been forgiven. He was a sufferer, and yet by God’s grace he looked forward to a future filled with unclouded joy. David leans into this, and he says, “Not only have I trusted in your steadfast love, but you have dealt bountifully with me.”
Take some time right now and think about the bigger picture of your life.
