Psalm 6
Introduction – You can’t sleep.
You can’t quit crying. You groan
at every turn in the day. You feel like
your bones are crushed and that the situation can’t get any darker. Your friends tell you that you are probably
clinically depressed and need medical attention. There are many sources for depression, but
there is one that is overlooked more often than not.
Many times we try to change our
circumstances, thinking that such a change will produce joy, satisfaction, and contentment. If we could just be king, then our problems
would go away (Note: this psalm is by a
king). But often, what truly is eating
at us is our own conscience - pricked by the Spirit of God to repent, to
repudiate our desires and actions and to turn again to the Savior for
forgiveness, efficacious discipline, and restoration in our covenant union in
Christ. Depression is certainly not only
due to sin. But unconfessed sin in the
life of a believer will lead to depression – “restore to me the joy of my salvation” was David’s prayer in Psalm
51. And like Psalm 51, Psalm 6 is one of
what is known as the penitential psalms.
Prayer
in Distress
(vv1-7) – “…for while they cry out that
they are afflicted, scarcely one among a hundred looks to the Hand which
strikes…” – John Calvin. Spurgeon
said that Calvin’s favorite prayer was this, “How long, O Lord?” So if you
find yourself with these emotions before the Lord or in similar circumstances,
remember, you are in good company – David, Calvin, Spurgeon, and most
importantly, your Lord and Savior (Heb 5:7, Luke 22:44). We learn from Jesus and his type, David, that
the One to turn to is Jehovah.
Good
Discipline
(v1) – In David’s case, it appears most likely that the issue is one of
personal sin. He knows God is chastising
him, and He longs for God to do so efficaciously and not out of wrath (Heb
12:11).
Mercy (vv2-3) – We are objects
of mercy and grace (Eph 2:4-7). We
should never pray for what we deserve, but rather for what God would graciously
give. When we come together in corporate
worship, it is never on the basis of God owing us anything, but rather at His
summons to renew with us His covenant of grace.
In His mercy, God often takes us much further in our trials than we
think we deserve to go, further than we think we can handle – and this
continues to show us our desperate condition for His grace at all times (1 Cor
10:12-13, 2 Cor 12:7-12). How long? Longer than we would
usually prefer and usually far shorter than we fear.
For Your
Mercies’ Sake
(v4) – God delights in mercy, for it glorifies His name, and so we petition God
on the basis of His name being glorified (Psalm 25:11, 79:9, Jer 14:7-9). This is why our sins are forgiven: “for His name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). We never can earn forgiveness, but Christ has
vindicated the name of the Father through His death, and so our hope rests
entirely on God and not ourselves.
No Praise
from the Grave
(v5) – David remains concerned about the glory of God and Sheol was a land of
forgetfulness. He is not overlooking the
final resurrection. His concern is for
the earth to be a place of praise unto God, for that is man’s purpose on earth
(Psalm 67:1-3). “Courtiers in the royal presence are most happy, but soldiers in the
field are more useful…” – M. Henry.
Hitting
Bottom
(vv6-7) – There are times in which the Lord, due to our own sin, or according
to His secret counsels, allows us to come under tremendous grief. David, the giant-killing soldier, cannot
sleep, cannot stop weeping, cannot find an end to his
grief. Yet, even in these times, we must
learn from him, as from Jesus, where he turns.
The pain brought about by the Lord’s discipline can last for days on
end. But never forget that the pain brought
about by the Lord’s judgment upon the unsaved, regardless of the momentary
pleasure of the sin, is everlasting. It
is a loving Father who disciplines us in Christ. It is an angry God who pours out His wrath
upon sinners found outside of Christ.
Confidence in God (vv8-10) – There are times
where we pray, “Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy, Lord, have mercy,” again
and again and again. But God answers the
prayers of sinners, and sometimes surprisingly swiftly. David’s confidence is in the Lord and this is
why he prays, even in the midst of great grief.
And this psalm is given to us that we might sing it with faith as
well. God is the great Deliverer.
A Prophetic
Cry (v8) –
Notice that now the prayer addresses the unbelieving enemies of God and
David. As we pray this, we are turning
to those not even here and declaring in the name of the Lord that they stop
their unbelief, their shameful actions, and their attacks upon God’s
children. We can do this because God
directs us to in this psalm, and because we know that God will vindicate us
against all our enemies, sometimes in this life, but always in the Final
Judgment.
The Great
Comedy
(v10) – God will vindicate His name and His people who are called by His
name. He will render upon these enemies
the very trouble they thought they could bring upon David. Jesus is crucified, and in His death the
world is saved. There is nothing that
can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing.
And So – David knows that he
needs forgiveness and mercy. He humbly
complains before God his own feelings in the midst of God’s chastisement – He
talks to God during the discipline.
David knows that if he were to be chastised to the full extent, he would
be crushed. But in all of this, he
humbly cries to the Lord and God turns David’s enemies away – again. Psalms of penitence are to be sung and they
are not to be a dreary occupation. They
are given to raise our hope in the living God even in the darkest nights of the
soul. Pray them. Learn to sing them. Believe them.
Believe on the Lord Jesus.
Dave Hatcher – March 13, 2005