How Long, O Lord? Three Musical Settings of Psalm 13 for Lent

If you are like me, you can’t wait for Lent to end. Whether you gave up coffee, chocolate, alcohol – or even if you didn’t  – Lent can be a real slog.  The lectionary gives us prayers and psalms that constantly remind us of our sin. Our churches usually (or, in my opinion, ought to!) feature music that doesn’t shy away from the darkness of the season. There’s nary a trumpet in sight – and you can forget about alleluias! They are both buried for forty days, waiting – like all of us – for the empty tomb of Easter.

But even though Lent can be hard – especially in northern climes, where it coincides with the seemingly never-ending winter – we know it’s good for us. Lent is a season of preparation. Like Advent, it gives us the spiritually powerful opportunity to take stock of our lives.  It’s like an annual sequel to our New Year’s resolutions, coming at just about that point in February when we have forgotten all those rosy intentions to improve ourselves. And it helps us appreciate Easter even more.

But even though we recognize its value, Lent is still long. When we look out at our snow-covered yards in mid-March, we often wonder if it will ever end. In this way, Lent also reminds us of the darker times in our lives: the times when we are suffering. Whether we are in physical, emotional, or spiritual pain – or whether we are just trying to endure a difficult season of life – we all know what it’s like to turn in prayer to God, asking for deliverance, healing, or peace.

How Long, O Lord?

Of course, sometimes that doesn’t come. And while our faith teaches us that we worship a God who listens to our prayers, and who will undoubtedly provide us with that longed-for deliverance, our experience also tells us that we simply don’t know when that’s going to happen. This leaves us with one enduring question for God: “How long, O Lord?”

Luckily, we aren’t the only ones who cry out to God with these words. As Psalm 13 says:

Three years ago I helped develop a project that asked contemporary composers to set Psalm 13 to music. The resulting pieces – by Josh Rodriguez, Mary Montgomery Koppel, and Shawn Okpebholo – are quite different from each other. But because of that, each helps us experience the psalm in a different way.  Each provides a different perspective on its message.

I have listened to each of these settings dozens of times now, and I have run many workshops that use them as a springboard for discussions about the issues the psalm raises: faith, doubt, suffering, and deliverance. Each time I listen to them I learn something new. The pieces have blessed me again and again – and now I’d like to share them with you.

The Music and the Questions

I invite you to listen to each them below.  As you listen, I suggest thinking about these questions:

1.) How does the piece illuminate the mindset of the psalmist in the beginning of the Scripture? What are the emotions that the psalmist is feeling while praying these words?

2.) What happens in the psalmist’s heart when at the moment when the psalm “turns” (verse 5)? How does that reflect his or her faith or understanding of God’s deliverance?

3.) What is the psalmist feeling at the end of the psalm? How does that reflect the emotional and spiritual journey that has happened over the course of the psalm?

These questions don’t just help me understand the psalm more deeply. They also help me understand the ways I think about the important themes it explores. Ultimately, each of these pieces of music helps me better understand my faith – especially during Lent.

What about you?