Psalms 13:2

Take counsel. Referring to the methods that the psalmist continues to devise in order to escape from his enemy, probably Saul. This is the third phase of his trouble: how long must he continue to plan, to no end but sorrow?

Sorrow. The burden and anxiety of a heart crushed by its own thinking.

Be exalted. This is the fourth phase of the psalmist’s trouble. The psalmist now turns from the cry of despair to prayer for relief. When we look out into the dark, then we need to look up into the light. Let us beware lest the soul’s anguish degenerate into impatience. It is not good to let our troubles take our entire attention. Analogously, Bunyan observes: “I perceive it to be an old trick of the devil to set a man athinking too much on his sins.”