Confident In God – Psalm 6

“To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. On an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David. O Lord do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled, but You, O Lord—how long? Return, O Lord, deliver me! O, save me for Your mercies’ sake! For in death there is no remembrance of You. In the grave who will give You thanks?” Psalm 6:1-5

These words could have well been said by Jesus Christ on the cross. On the cross, Jesus experienced God’s wrath on sin. His earthly body was weak. He was hurt to the bone. His soul was troubled due to the abandoned feeling He experienced. He hung on the cross for six long painful hours before He breathed His last breath. He was going to die. He was going to be placed in a grave, but He wanted to remain in communion with the Father.

David asked the Lord, “In the grave who will give you thanks?” In John 17:15, Jesus prayed to the Father, saying, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

This song began on a sad note. It is the song of a betrayed lover. He gave love. He received anger and abuse. He needed mercy because all the attacks upon Him had weakened the bones that made him structurally sound. He needed to be resurrect by God from a place of total loss.

Both David and Jesus were great men, but their bodies were still made of dust just like any of us, and thus were subject to the common calamities of human life.

Both David and Jesus experienced distress in their soul. David confessed, “My soul also is greatly troubled.” In John 12:27, Jesus declared, “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I came to this hour.” Proverbs 18:14 says, “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?” Thankfully, both David and Jesus overcame the hour that troubled their souls.

David asked, “How long?” In Revelation 6:10, those in heaven who had been slain by swords cried aloud to God in prayer, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

“I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim. I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled. Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.” Psalm 6:6-10

David’s troubles evoked a multitude of groans and tears from him. His bed became as a pool to swim in and his couch became drenched with water due to his teardrops. He almost wept his eyes out. Jeremiah is famous as being the weeping prophet, but David, and I believe many others in the Bible wept tears as well. The shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35 says, “Jesus wept.”

Genuine tears and weeping are effective. Psalm 126:5-6 says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

“The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer.” The Psalm ends on a happy note because David senses that God has heard his prayer. Having made his requests known to God, he is very confident his trial will end and his sorrow will turn to joy. The Lord will not gather his soul with the workers of iniquity.

The workers of iniquity had teased and taunted him. They asked him, “Where is your God?” They wanted him to stop trusting in God and to enjoy sin. He told them, “Depart from me”

In Luke 13:23, the disciples asked Jesus, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” In Luke 13:24-27, Jesus told them, ““Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’”

The Psalm ends with David moving forward with God. The Lord had heard his supplication. The Lord received his prayer. The Lord quieted his soul.

James 4:7 says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” As David submitted to God, God delivered him from the devil’s siege against his soul.

In Philippians 1:28, Paul wrote, “Do not in any way be terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.” Turn all the enemies attempts to trouble you into an opportunity for God to show His mighty power through you.

In Isaiah 30:15, the Lord God says, “In returning and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” Quietness and confidence amidst trouble comes from the Lord. Rather than turning inward, or dwelling on the antics of evil doers, stay focused on God, and He will deliver you.

In Romans 16:20, Paul wrote, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” Salvation is of the Lord! His grace is sufficient for you.