Psalm 6
1 For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony. 3 My soul is in anguish.
How long, O LORD, how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. 5 No-one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from his grave? 6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.
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Psalm 6 – Trust when tried and troubled
(Verses 1-5) Do you ever feel down and hopeless? Do things seem to be going the ‘wrong way’ and spinning out of control? The great thing about the Book of Psalms is that we can learn when the writers, such as David, go through such times and tell us about it. This is one of them. David knows God, so he starts with prayer.
Does he feel like praying? Perhaps not! But his kind God answers anyhow. That is true for us now, when access to God by Jesus is for all who trust Christ as their risen Lord and Saviour. See how it all works out here. What are David’s heart concerns that cause him to pray and share his troubles with God? He feels chastised, disciplined and even under God’s wrath (which he is not), faint, agony of body and anguish of soul, and depressed that he might die. It seems never-ending to him. No ecstatic feelings here! He prays for God’s relief, mercy, healing of both body and soul, deliverance and saving. But even in this ‘down time’ he recalls God’s ‘unfailing love.’ That is the key to his deliverance.
(Verses 6-7) David pours out his sorrows. Groaning over his pathetic situation only exhausts him still more. Sleepless, his continual tears drench his bed. His eyes grow weak. Worse still, his haunted mind fears because his foes are never far away.
(Verses 8-10) But just as he feels the depth of emotional despair, God begins to answer his prayer. How? He leads David to take a positive hold of the situation in his prayers. Verse 8 is a significant key prayer. Often one prayer, from our heart to God’s heart, starts to free up our sad log jam.
David first dismisses the thought of his evil enemies as he now knows that his mighty LORD has heard all his weeping over his troubles. God is involved in the battle! He now realises that. So, he deduces that, as God has also heard him pray for mercy, God really has accepted His prayer!
On this fresh realisation that he is already in relationship with his loving and merciful, prayer-answering God, he can see that the LORD is far bigger and stronger than any and all of his enemies! They will be ashamed, dismissed, turned back, and disgraced. Jesus died on the cross to ‘bring us to God’. When you come to trust Him, He becomes your mediator in prayer to God, the Father. David triumphs by God’s grace. So, can you, by knowing Jesus personally. Jesus not only died but rose again. Through the Holy Spirit the living Lord enters your life when you trust in Him. You can overcome through Jesus.
