Psalms 13:2

“How long shall I take counsel in my soul, etc.] Or “put it” f217; to take counsel of good men and faithful friends, in matters of moment and difficulty, is safe and right; and it is best of all to take counsel of God, who is wonderful in it, and guides his people with it; but nothing is worse than for a man to take counsel of his own heart, or only to consult himself; for such counsel often casts a man down, and he is ashamed of it sooner or later: but this seems not to be the sense here; the phrase denotes the distressing circumstances and anxiety of mind the psalmist was in; he was at his wits’ end, and cast about in his mind, and had various devises and counsels formed there; and yet knew…”

“The counsels or devices of his heart afford no relief.”

“How long - This refers to the third aspect of the case, or the third phase of the trouble, that is, that he was perplexed and embarrassed, having a deep and heavy sorrow in his heart, and he asks how long this was to continue. “Shall I take counsel in my soul.” This refers to the methods which he endeavored to devise to escape from trouble. He was perplexed, persecuted, and apparently forsaken; and being thus apparently forsaken, he was constrained to attempt to devise some plan for his own deliverance, without interposition or help from on high. He was under a necessity of relying on himself; and he asks “how long” this was to continue, or when he might hope that God would interpose to aid…”

“How long - Shall I be in such perplexities, not knowing what course to take? Psalms 13:3”

“13:2 A sense of anguish and sorrow closes off any perspective of hope (6:3). Unless the Lord answers the psalmist’s prayers (22:1), death seems inescapable, torturous, and slow (6:6; 32:3; 55:4; 61:2; 102:5; 116:3). The psalmist hardly knows how to pray; he longs for God’s redemption (25:17-18; 31:10; 38:8; 39:2).”

“take: Psa 77:2-12, Psa 94:18, Psa 94:19, Psa 142:4-7; Job 7:12-15, Job 9:19-21, Job 9:27, Job 9:28, Job 10:15; Job 23:8-10; Jer 15:18 sorrow: Psa 38:17, Psa 116:3; Neh 2:2; Pro 15:13; Ecc 5:17; Jer 8:18, Jer 45:3; Mat 26:38; Joh 16:6; Rom 9:2; Phi 2:27 enemy: Psa 7:2, Psa 7:4, Psa 7:5, Psa 8:2, Psa 9:6, Psa 10:18, Psa 17:9, Psa 74:10, Psa 74:18; Sa1 18:29, Sa1 24:19; Est 7:6; Lam 1:9; Mic 7:8-10 exalted: Psa 22:7, Psa 22:8, Psa 31:18, Psa 42:10, Psa 44:14-16, Psa 123:3, Psa 123:4, Psa 143:3, Psa 143:4; Lam 1:5; Luk 22:53 Psalms 13:3”