Why do the Psalms speak to
us? Because they dare to portray life as it is!
David and the other Psalmists never
tried to pretend that they were
spiritual supermen when life was difficult either when they were being sinned
against, or when sin caught up with them. No! What they did
was to to bring their troubles
or vexations to God, telling Him honestly how these things were affecting them - bodily,
emotionally, spiritually. In so doing they cast themselves
upon God for mercy.
This is the first of seven “penitential psalms.” (cf. Psalms 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143.)
Spurgeon says: “It’s language well becomes the lips of a penitent, for it
expresses at once the sorrow, the humiliation and the hatred of sin (v.8) which are the unfailing marks of the contrite spirit when it turns to God”[1]
·
The Psalm can be divided into two parts
1. The Psalmists vexation (vv.
1-7)
2. The Psalmists victory (vv.8-10)
(i) The
Psalmists vexation (vv. 1-7) -
Prayer outpoured
v. 1 "O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath."
It seems as if David may have brought
his circumstances on himself because of some sin. He knows that God is angry. He knows and admits
that God is entirely justified in
his wrath e.g. such a situation is
found in 2 Samuel 24 – David’s unsolicited census, which incurred the wrath
and punishment of God.
In this
realization he begs God: "do not rebuke me ; do not discipline me".
Pain is never a welcome guest. We never seek it voluntarily, but it happens,
and when it does happen, we seek to move
heaven and earth to get rid of it.
Pain is not always negative. It can be constructive. When we sin, and when God in His fatherly care thinks it wise to rebuke us or discipline us (see Hebrews
12:5-11, which is based on Prov.
3:11,12; Deut. 8:5; Ps. 66:10) we
must not think that God is
wrong to do so. The writer to the Hebrews asserts:
“God is treating
you as sons. For what son is there whom
his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which
all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides
this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them.
Shall we not much more be subject to the
Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it
seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his
holiness. For the moment all discipline
seems painful rather than pleasant , but later
it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been
trained by it.” (Hebr. 12:7-11).
But right now David
is begging for mercy.
He is
clearly experiencing pain.
Look at the language!
(1) "I am
languishing ."
(2) "My bones
are troubled ."
(3) "My soul is
also greatly troubled."
(4) "I am weary
with my moaning."
(5) " Every night I
flood my bed with tears ."
(6) "I drench my couch with my weeping ."
(7) "My eye
wastes away because of grief."
Pain accompanied by
sorrow is what David is experiencing. “Sorrow”, said John Webster, a playwright and a
contemporary of William Shakespeare, “is the eldest of the children of sin”.
However in God’s economy, pain or sorrow
may be a great tool to get us to listen
to Him. C.S. Lewis in his classic “ The Problem of Pain” (p.81) says it well: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our
pleasures, speaks in our conscience , but shouts in our pains: it is His
megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
David is in pain…
V.2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal
me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. David pleads with God to be gracious - he
is asking for unearned favor. He deserves God’s wrath, but asks that God will
deal not deal with him according to what he deserves .
He feels the
consequences of his sin in a physical way “…for my bones are troubled”. See how often this physical pain in the bones is referred to in the
Psalms :
e.g.
- Ps 22:14 “all my bones are out of joint”;
- 22:17 : “I can count all my bones “ – weight loss;
- 31:10: “my bones grow weak”;
- 32:3: “my bones wasted away”;
- 38:3 :”My bones have no soundness”;
- 42:10 “ My bones suffer mortal agony” etc.
The literal Hebrew rendering of Psalm
6:2 is : “my bones are shaken“. He was literally feeling shaky in a
physical sense , but there was more to
it.
V.3 My soul also is
greatly troubled. But you, O LORD—how long?
The same root word is used here as in v.2. “My soul
is greatly troubled (shaken) ”. Spurgeon observes, “Soul-trouble is the very soul of trouble. It matters not that the bones
shake if the soul be firm, but when the soul itself is also sore vexed this is
agony indeed.””[2] So we have every reason to believe that David
finds himself in a deep hole – he is spiritually
and physically shaken.
From this follows
another very common question in the Bible, “But
You, O LORD – how long?”
- this question is found frequently in the Psalms (Psalm 13:1- 2 – 4times ; 35:17; 74:10; 79:7; 80:4; 89:46; 90:13; 94:4; 101:1).
- The prophets are asking this question: Jer 12:4; Isa 6:11 ; Hab 1:2; Zec 1:12.
- The saints under the altar in Revelation 6:9 are asking this question. According to Spurgeon[3] this apparently was one of John Calvin’s ‘favourite groans‘ (Domine usque quo). And it sums up David’s desperation.
V. 4. It is clear that this is David’s dark night of the soul. It is akin
to Christ’s cry of forsakenness – although not remotely in the same
degree. Christ's sufferings were utterly unique. David begs God, “turn
(lit. return), O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast
love.”
Here we understand that
the feeling of
God’s absence was the main cause
of his misery. His sin had caused David
to experience the loss of
God’s presence. This is different to Job
who had experience this forsakenness,
but not due to his sin. David
had grieved the Holy Spirit.
However, it is significant to see that
David tenaciously clings to God. He refuses to let Him go, and he
appeals to God’s steadfast love (Hebrew:
chesed)- God's covenantal love - a major and often
repeated OT concept. He appeals to
God’s covenantal love. God’s covenantal love is rooted in His election.
The principle is clear. Those whom God
chooses, He will never forsake. (Deut. 31:6,8; Josh. 1:5; Hebr. 13:5).
Though David is unfaithful, God is not
(2 Tim 2:13). God will
discipline his son, but He will
not forsake his son. David knows that!
V.5 Listen to David’s
further reasoning: “For in death there is
no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” David is
now throwing ‘holy arguments’ at God. Listen to Spurgeon again: “Ah
poor trembling sinners, may the Lord help you to use this forcible
argument. It is for God’s glory that a sinner should be delivered…”
Now we
are not asking that God should compromise
His holy standards by overlooking the sin. No, here we appeal to
the grace and mercy of God, which he offers us freely in Christ. Christ has
borne away the sin of the world, and those
who appeal to Christ will find a
fountain of mercy that will never run dry. A forgiven sinner has capacity to praise God. Those who die in their sins have none. That
is David’s argument.
Vv. 6&7 “I am weary with my moaning; every night I
flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away
because of grief; it grows weak because
of all my foes. “ David has had it!
His is sick of sin. He wants God back in His life – and he does so with
all his might. “Ah
brethren, it is no light matter to feel
oneself a sinner, condemned at the bar of God …” (Spurgeon 1/58)
(ii) the
Psalmists Victory (vv.8-10) – Prayer
answered
This is the turning
point of the Psalm. And it starts with these words : “Depart
from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my
weeping”. Now,whatever David had done to cause
God’s wrath to be outpoured, it had to do with these workers of evil. In the course of time it may be that we
surround ourselves with workers of evil – be they false alliances ; bad counselors, unspiritual
people on whom we come to depend …. The time has come to sweep the house clean. Spurgeon: “The best remedy for us against an evil man is a long space between us” (1/58) I can have no fellowship with you!
Repentance is a practical thing. It is not enough to
weep and wail about our pain, and our loss of peace and fellowship with
God. We must get rid of the source of evil, just as Jesus got rid of the buyers
and sellers in the temple .
Throw out the evil companions that keep your heart captive.
A pardoned sinner will hate the
sins which cost the Saviour his blood.
Grace and sin are quarrelsome neighbours, and one or the other must go.
V. 8b,9: The LORD has
heard the sound of my weeping (Spurgeon – “liquid prayers”); He has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. What brought
about the change? It is the work of
the Holy Spirit, the Convicter of sin,
the Counsellor and the Comforter.
V.10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they
shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. Those that were
holding David back, and causing him to fall for the sin which caused the discipline of God to take hold of him, have now lost
David allegiance.
Applying Psalm 6
· Understand the power of sin. Be careful of ungodly alliances.
· Sin has painful consequences
· When aware of this
weep and humble yourself before God
· Use holy arguments appeal to His covenantal faithfulness
· Plead with God until He breaks through
· Practice true
repentance. Distance yourself from evil.
· Ungodly friends will leave you.
· God will be your friend
- and you will be happy and blessed
(Psalm 1)
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