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Learning From David: Praying When Desperate

Israel’s King David was a great leader who brought success, prosperity and godliness to Israel. He built Israel into a unified nation, he won many victories and expanded the kingdom, and he established Yahweh as Israel’s sole God. Such success. Such achievement. So many accomplishments. David did incredibly well. Better than any king before or after him. But David’s sensational attainments didn’t mean that life was easy for him and that he got everything he wanted. Not so. Reading through the songs he wrote, you get the impression that he was pretty desperate a lot of the time. Perhaps more so than most of us. If anyone knew how to pray when life got tough, it was David. And in God’s grace we have lots of his prayers in the Psalms. Let’s look at one of them. 

Reading: Psalm 13

It seems that David is struggling with a very serious illness in this song. One that is likely to take his life; much to the delight of all his enemies (13:4). He is desperately unwell and God seems to be doing nothing. How do you pray when everything seems to be falling apart? When you can see no hope? When God seems to be silent? If you haven’t been there, you will be sometime. What can we learn from David about prayer in the darkest times? There are three parts to this prayer. I find it helpful to picture them in terms of prayer postures.

First, David is on his face - mourning and complaining (13:1-2). Yes you heard it right – complaining. I can’t read these verses in any other way. But note that he’s complaining to God, not about God. He’s going right to the source. David figures that ultimately God controls sickness, so he is telling him how he feels. This is where desperate prayer starts. It begins with deep mourning that includes frank complaining. Jesus prayed a similar prayer on the cross: “My God why have you forsaken me.” So it must be okay. It’s easy to pretend that things are fine when they aren’t, ignoring or submerging our grief and pain. When we are despairing and distressed, we need to tell God. We owe it to him to be honest. It’s difficult for God to do his work if we don’t accept our distress and need.

Second, David is on his knees – pleading (13:3-4). Now David is appealing for an answer. He’s no longer wallowing in his pain but praying for God to work. He even gives God a reason to answer his prayers - if he dies, his enemies will get the wrong impression. David is making it very clear what he is asking for. He believes that God has promised him life and he’s telling him that. This could be seen as a selfish prayer. There were probably many other desperate people in Israel at this time, so why pray for his needs? But there are no selfish prayers as long as we are willing to submit to what God wants (see 13:5-6). Just honest, real, direct prayers. 

Third, David is on his feet – rejoicing (13:5-6). David finishes his prayer by expressing his complete confidence in God. You get the impression that David is praising God for something that has not yet happened. This is what faith-filled prayer is all about. We rejoice in what we know God will do even though we cannot see it yet. This is not usually where desperate prayer starts, but it is always where it ends. 

Prayer Practice

You may or may not feel desperate at the moment, but choose an issue you are concerned about and try the three prayer postures if you can. If you find it difficult to do it physically, at least pray through the steps. Get familiar with them. You’re going to need them.