Psalm 6--A Cry For Help

Psalm 6

O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long? Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from groaning; all night long, I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fall because of all my foes. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

According to the footnotes in my Bible, this psalm was written during a time when David was very ill. My notes even say that the illness might have been a punishment from God for sinful choices. I don’t know what the sin was, but this psalm makes much more sense in that perspective.

Most of this psalm is incredibly sad. David is begging for relief from his anguish, which keeps him up all night. But near the end, David resolves to trust in God.

Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. It is so tempting to turn our backs on God, especially when trials come and life is painful. But that is the time when we can really grow closer to God, when there is nothing else to hold onto in life but Him. That is the time to resist the urge to listen to those around us, and surrender to Him, because. . .

The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer. We aren’t given the exact when’s, where’s, and how’s, but we MUST believe that God hears our prayers and will give us mercy.

I’m not really at a point in my life right now where I can relate to David in this psalm, but I have been there in the past. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be there again someday. And when those trials come, I pray that I have the strength to hang onto God’s hand, even if it feels like He’s not there.