What to Sing When God Forgets (Psalm 13)

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?

Does God actually forget you? No! Of course not! God does not have a faulty memory!

But the language of "forgetting" and "remembering" is not just about the "faculty" of memory.

Remembering cannot be detached from words and actions. In Deuteronomy Moses repeatedly tells Israel, "Remember the LORD your God." "Do not forget" the days in the wilderness. In the same way, in Exodus 2, we are told that God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And that "remembering" is what sparks God's actions in redeeming Israel from Egypt.

When God remembers, he speaks and acts. When God forgets, he is silent. Ps 13 teaches us that it is okay for us to say that God has forgotten me! It is okay to say that God is silent – and that his silence is very painful for me!

Psalm 13 is a song for those who lament and mourn over the silence of God...