Psalm 13--A Plea for Deliverance

Psalm 13 
World English Bible

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
13 How long, Yahweh?
    Will you forget me forever?
    How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
    having sorrow in my heart every day?
    How long shall my enemy triumph over me?
3 Behold, and answer me, Yahweh, my God.
    Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death;
4     lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;”
    lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall.

5 But I trust in your loving kindness.
    My heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to Yahweh,
    because he has been good to me.

---

David feels separated from the LORD and like the LORD's grace and favor are no longer on him (the image of the LORD turning His face towards you is an image of blessing and that of Him turning His face away from you is an image of disapproval, shame, and that curses are likely going to fall on you--or at least the natural consequences of your actions).

David feels like the LORD is hiding from him, and he's crying for the LORD to remember him and reveal Himself once again.  David knows he has no chance of finding God on his own.  David is sort of having his own version of wandering through the wilderness, and, if this is the period of his life when he is running and hiding from Saul, he really is living in the wilderness, though he has no Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire to guide, protect, and comfort him.

David is a pour counselor for himself, and he's tired of feeling sorry for himself.  He wants the circumstances to change, and he wants to be able to do something about it.  He has said he would not lay a hand on the LORD's anointed (King Saul) and that he would wait for the LORD to take care of Saul, but he didn't expect the LORD to take so long.  David knows the LORD's long-term plan, but he wishes it wouldn't be so long-term.  He also doesn't want to give his enemies a chance to gloat that the LORD and His plan to make David king has been defeated, and it seems David is not altogether sure that the LORD has not changed His mind.

All David can cling to is the LORD's covenant love which he knows is unchanging.  He does not break His promises.  His timing is perfect and He saves His people from themselves and from their enemies.  Though David cannot see it in this wilderness moment, He believes that the LORD is still good to him now because He has always been good to David n the past, and God has not changed.  Therefore, David will choose to sing to the LORD.