Summary
The psalms do not shrink back from addressing the suffering of believers in all times and ages. Suffering often comes from the oppression of those who oppose God, and so attack God’s people as God himself is beyond physical reach. But suffering also comes from our sins, whether experienced in the sadness of disrupted relationships with God and with others, or sometimes in physical and spiritual ailments.
Psalm 6, an individual song of lament intended for corporate singing, is one psalm which appears to confront the suffering experienced from our sin. Known from the days of the early Church as one of seven “penitential psalms”, the song expresses David’s cry to God for forgiveness, deliverance, and his expectant hope in restoration.
Our passage explained
v1-3
The psalm begins in verses 1 to 3 with David crying out to God for forgiveness. “O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath” (v.1). Though David does not confess a specific sin, he is aware that God is disciplining him for sins committed.
David asks for God to intervene with mercy, exclaiming the pain he feels in body and spirit. “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled” (vv.2-3). As he sits in suffering, feeling God’s discipline, he asks “But you, O LORD—how long?” David wants to know how long his suffering will continue.
v4-7
In verses 4 to 7 we see David move on from a cry for forgiveness to a cry for deliverance. He feels God has turned away from him, and so he pleads “turn, O LORD” and “deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love” (v.4). He asks God to turn away from his anger and instead preserve him, not because of any merit on his part but because of God’s covenant merciful loving-kindness. He does not base his plea for deliverance in himself, but in God and God’s nature.
David’s desire for deliverance is rooted in his desire to serve, honour, and testify of God. He asks God to save him from death because “in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” (v.5). The living testify to God and his goodness on earth, those who are dead cannot testify in person to the living.
David then explains the weariness and suffering he feels which hinders his ability to witness to God. “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” (vv.6-7). While possibly poetic, or possibly actual physical afflictions, the suffering that David feels demonstrates what he needs deliverance from, along with forgiveness from sin.
v8-10
After seeking forgiveness and deliverance, the psalm ends on a note of expectant restoration. Perhaps David has received encouragement from God of his forgiveness, so he tells those who have sought to attack in his hour of weakness to “depart from me, all you workers of evil” (v.8). They should cease attacking him because God has “heard the sound of my weeping … heard my plea” and “accepts my prayer” (vv.8-9). God has accepted David’s pleas, forgiven his sins, and lifted his judgment; and so his lament turns to praise.
Whereas at the psalm’s beginning it was David who was troubled, now his enemies who have rubbed salt in his wounds will be troubled. “All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment” (v.10). The trouble and shame that the evildoers who troubled David poured on him will be returned to them by God, his restorer and deliverer.
Our passage applied
We should not draw from this psalm that all suffering and trials that come to our lives are the result of our sins. While sometimes this might be the case (John 5:1-15), often it is not (John 9).
But this passage does remind us that sometimes we undergo discipline because this is one of God’s ways of teaching and instructing us in right living (Proverbs 3:12), and is done because of God’s love for us (Hebrews 12:3-11). God does not rebuke and discipline his enemies, he judges them. God rebukes and disciplines his children, because he loves us.
What we can draw from this psalm is that God hears the pleas and cries of his children. When we cry out “How long, O LORD?” God hears are cries for forgiveness. When we ask him to forgive us and deliver us from trials because of Jesus’ obedience and sacrifice for us, he listens.
We may not experience the deliverance and restoration straight away. But like David, we can cry out “How Long, O LORD?” and know that he hears our prayers, and lovingly cares. We can sing praise in the midst of suffering, expecting restoration. Because God promises his love and forgiveness to us in his Word.
Resources
Questions? Please contact us. Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.
