Divine Discipline

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? 4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Prayer of Illumination

Exegesis

Have you ever been disciplined by the Lord? Have you ever been in situations of deep anguish that you never thought would end. I mean those times where it feels like the whole world is caving in on you all at once and it seems like nothing that you ever do turns out right. All of it seems to crumble in front of you. And the thought crosses your mind, “Is the Lord mad at me?” Have you ever been sick? I mean, physically ill. So sick that you think to yourself, “This is how it all ends. This is how the Lord is going to kill me.” I wonder if you’ve ever thought during those moments of sickness, “Is the Lord punishing me with this sickness?”

In Psalm 6, David is clearly feeling the belt of divine discipline. He tells us in verse 1 that it is the Lord’s anger that he is feeling. But as we think about this Psalm, we want to feel what David is feeling. We want to connect with him as best we can. And so we see right there in Psalm 6:6-7

Psalm 6:6–7 ESV

6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

The discipline of the Lord, and the enemies surrounding him have brought bone-tired weariness and endless tears. We are not told in this Psalm what the sin is that David is being punished for, and we actually don’t see him repent at all. We see him merely driven to grief over whatever he has done to stir the Lord to anger. Some think that David has committed a sin, and being punished with workers of evil (v.8) who are brought to him as a result of his sin. Some think he is ill, since he asks to be healed in verse 2. But regardless of what brought it about and how it is brought to him, he’s under divine discipline.

So this is a Psalm of grief and penitence, because the author David is undergoing divine discipline. But let’s also remember that this is a psalm, which according to the heading – written by David as far as we know – is directed to the choirmaster, which also indicates that it’s intended to be sung by congregations. Meaning two things: First that the content is general enough that everyone will benefit. Second that it’s meant to be an instruction for you and I when we undergo discipline from the Lord. In each section of this Psalm David responds in a way that is instructional for the reader. In other words, we also should do these things when we undergo divine discipline. Four things here, the first is to...

Appeal to the Lord’s mercy, for he is gracious

Psalm 6:1–3 ESV

1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?

Again, we are not told what exactly has brought this punishment about, but this first line tells us that for whatever reason David senses that this is the clear discipline of the Lord coming to him, and he has nothing left but to appeal to the Lord for mercy. The fact that there is no sin mentioned has led some to believe that David is physically sick, and as you’re often wont to do when you’re really sick – you think the Lord might be killing you. In the second half of verse 2, David asks the Lord to heal him. But the point is that the foes as we’ve seen in the previous Psalms are not the chief aim of this Psalm...God is. God plays the role of both problem and solution in this Psalm. There is a sense from David that the Lord is angry with him and so the only thing he can do is appeal to the Lord’s mercy.

This is certainly a familiar approach for David to take. The Bible is very honest about the sins of David. One of those sins that’s recorded in 2 Samuel 24 where David decides to count his people.

2 Sam. 24:10-14

2 Samuel 24:10–14 ESV

10 But David’s heart struck him after he had numbered the people. And David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” 11 And when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, 12 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you. Choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’ ” 13 So Gad came to David and told him, and said to him, “Shall three years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ pestilence in your land? Now consider, and decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but let me not fall into the hand of man.”

David understood something about the Lord that isn’t true of man in their wrath. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He would rather have fallen into the hands of the Lord because of his mercy than the hands of men. It seems evident in our text that it’s what David is driving at here as well. “Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing.”

But potentially you are saying, “How do I know whether my anguish is a result of the Lord’s discipline, or just because it’s the effects of living in a fallen world? Am I guilty of something that for which the Lord is correcting me or is this just part of life?” I think this is a question we all wrestle with at times. One thing we need to be clear about is what discipline from the Lord actually is. The word David uses in verse 1 “nor discipline me in your wrath,” has the sense of instruction. It’s corrective. It’s meant to teach. So in some ways, we are disciplined from the Lord in every circumstance in life. If it’s true that he is conforming us into the image of his son, and that he works all things toward that end, then I should expect that in some ways even good things in my life are part of the Lord’s discipline – similar to how a teacher would instill a kind of discipline in her students. So first, it would help us to see all circumstances as some measure of discipline.

But then there is the kind of discipline that is more stern and corrective than equipping. This would be the kind that the Corinthians are undergoing in 1st Corinthians where they have taken the Lord’s supper improperly and some have fallen ill and some have even died as a means of correction from the Lord. It’s meant to bring you back to repentance. How do I know if that’s what the Lord is doing in my situation? Well, is sin coming to mind? If it is, confess it. Whether that sin is the cause of the circumstance you’re in or not, if sin is coming to mind then clearly God has used this circumstance to bring that sin to the surface of your mind that you might confess it to him as yet more evidence of your need for Jesus. If that sin was the reason for the discipline, you may never know. But what we can trust, is what David demonstrates for us here – the Lord is gracious. If you are his child, there’s nothing that would make that untrue. You’re his child. He’s your father. And he is gracious to you. Appeal to the Lord’s mercy for he is gracious.

Ask him for deliverance, for only he can save

Psalm 6:4-5

Psalm 6:4–5 ESV

4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

David makes no qualms about what he wants. He wants to be spared this misery. He wants to be saved from the pit of despair. But it’s important to understand why David wants to be saved. He wants to be saved for the sake of God’s steadfast love and for the sake of the worship of the Lord. David is recognizing something in these two little verses that I fear the modern church is forgetting. Our lives are for his glory and not our own. Our lives are for the worship of God, and not the glorification of ourselves.

We can see this in everything from our understanding of church to the response to the coronavirus and many other areas of our lives. It’s amazing how many people will tell the pastor as they leave the church, “The reason I’m leaving is because I don’t like this or that...” As if the church or the pastor for that matter should be primarily concerned about what you like. We’re not worshipping you. Your evaluation should be, does this honor the Lord. Does HE like it? Everyone has an opinion on how we should handle a response to the coronavirus. For some we’re opening to fast, the virus is still out there you know. For others we’re not opening fast enough, this is overblown, don’t you know? Still to others, we should’ve never been closed, the flu is far worse. Then the extroverts are saying, “We’ve been gone from church for too long! I miss our church family. Let’s open.” Most of our desires are about our own needs than considering the neighbor who might be more sensitive about it than us. I certainly have my opinions about it, but when I’m confronted by others who have people in their household that are health risks it should cause me to check my opinion at the door and consider others needs as more important than our own. All that is to say that far too often our own needs, desires, and opinions are at the forefront of our minds and often govern our decisions.

Yet here is David in the midst of his own trial and suffering, but in his appeal to the Lord he doesn’t appeal to his own needs as reason for relief. He appeals to the Lord’s glory. First, for the sake of your steadfast love. In other words, the Lord has declared himself loving. And if you’ll remember back to Psalm 2, David is the Divine King that God has sat on Zion, his Holy Hill that he might judge the nations. The Lord has set his steadfast love upon David, but if the Lord kills David in his wrath, what would people think about the name of the Lord and his steadfast love. “Lord, don’t violate your very own character.”

The second reason he mentions is because “in death there is no remembrance of you...” The worship of you would cease from my mouth if you kill me. Resist the urge to make this say more about the afterlife than it really does. David will allude later on in the psalms to the experience of life after death, and certainly the rest of the Old Testament will as well. David isn’t making a statement here as if to say, “When we’re dead we’re worm food.” We use an expression from time to time you’ve probably heard before, “Dead men tell no tales.” Now, do we mean that there isn’t life after death? No. We mean that there is no sound that will escape the mouth of a rotting corpse. I think that’s as far as David means it here. He’s appealing to the public and earthly worship of the Lord and he says, “If you kill me, how can I sing your praise?” Both appeals, are God centered. Not necessarily David centered. Certainly David wants rescue, but he recognizes if God is to save, he’s not going to do it to make my name great. Because ultimately it’s about him. And only he can save.

Third thing to remember when undergoing divine discipline...

Grieve, for the Lord hears your weeping

Psalm 6:6–7 ESV

6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

One thing about the Psalms that is unusually refreshing is how many tears there are. David says he cries himself to sleep. Apparently, the people that are against him see the agony he is in and perhaps they mock him – since he says he grows weak because of all his foes. It’s not only the grief of being disciplined by the Lord, but his other griefs haven’t left him.

Can you empathize with that feeling? When in the midst of grief all of the other trials of life still seem to be situated in the same spot. They haven’t left. The bills are still due. The friends that were mad at you before are still mad at you now. And it seems that when these kinds of griefs happen, they all come at once. On top of being feeling like your life is in shambles, convicted of sin, and otherwise feeling the discipline from the Lord, you have crushing deadlines at work, your dog dies, someone close to you has cancer, you’re in quarantine for nearly three months, and when you finally do get a chance to go somewhere you’re car battery is dead. You ever feel like that? When it rains it often pours.

David goes to bed, and remember what he had told his enemies a few Psalms ago?

Psalm 4:4 ESV

4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah

He told them to sit in their beds and think deeply about their lives. Now he’s the one thinking in his bed, and subsequently he’s brought to devastation. When was the last time you were brought to grief over your own sin? When I ask that, I’m not only talking about the kinds of sins that we might think are the really bad ones. You know, the ones we think we can’t talk about (a sermon for another day). I mean all the other sins too. The ones that if people find out about we wouldn’t be that ashamed (also a sermon for another day). When was the last time that you paused to consider that God thinks that sin is so grievous that his son had to die for it?

Consider for a moment what a typical day looks like in the life of a 21st century American.

Wake up, check the time on your phone.“Oh I got a text message I haven’t read yet. Gotta respond.”Check social media, read the news...Get up, get ready, off to workDeal with the day’s scheduleThen home, parenting, caring for spouse...Put the kids to bed, watch stories with the spouse to unwindKiss spouse goodnightBrowse phone till you’re sleepyGo to bed

I’m not spying on you. I’m speaking from experience. Some of those may be different for you. You might not be married or have kids, but in all likelihood are going to have something else put in the place of spouse and kids. The point is we are often not grieved by our own sin, and we may not even be able to identify it, but then again how much of our day is just spent reflecting on our own hearts? How often do we actually sit in silence?

But I think this is a tragedy for all of us. This is really a missed blessing for us that we don’t reflect on our own sin. Remember in the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5 – “blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Having been in seasons of immense grief before, I know they are very difficult, and it’s not as though I’m wanting to go back to them. However, in the midst of those seasons of great trial there is a remarkable closeness you have with the Lord and a strange comfort you have there that is often not as clear when you’re in happier seasons. And often you don’t realize how good that time was until you get out of it and you look back and you think, you know the Lord really comforted me then.

A close family friend recently went through breast cancer. I suppose they can all kill you, but the kind she had was the version that’s the worst kind to appear on the scan. When she called to tell us that she had it, Andrea and I both broke down in tears. We prayed with her. She kept us informed of what was happening throughout the treatment, and just a few weeks ago she told us she was officially in remission. She said:

“Spiritually, I’m closer to God than I’ve ever been. If the cancer is gone, I don’t want my dependence on you to be gone! [Last Thursday was another] Thursday that I wasn’t trapped in an infusion chair! I’m just SO grateful for every day God gives... cancer/COVID ... He’s a beautiful navigator through it all!”

But please understand where we’re headed folks.

Revelation 21:3–4 ESV

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Wouldn’t you hate to live a life with so little sorrow that could be yours through self-reflection that on that day there were no tears to wipe away? Think about it. There is no grief that comes to his children that he does not see. There is no sadness he himself does not feel. There is no pain he will not rectify. In the midst of our sorrow comes the bitter sweet joy that our sadness is not lost on him. Grief is an important part of the process. But Godly grief as Paul says in 2 Corinthians, produces repentance. That’s the kind of grief we’re looking for.

Trust in his deliverance, for the Lord accepts your prayer

Psalm 6:8–10 ESV

8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

At the end of this Psalm David conveys his confidence in the Lord’s rescue. He knows the Lord is going to deliver him, for “the Lord accepts my prayer” he says. He reiterates what we’ve already seen that “the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.” And David is confident that his enemies, who are also the Lord’s enemies as we saw in Psalm 2, will be put to shame. When David is vindicated, they will be put to shame.

Because this underscores the fundamental truth about the Lord’s discipline in the life of the believer. The Lord only disciplines his own. If discipline is for your growth, your sanctification, your correction to bring about repentance – if it is for you being conformed into the image of Christ – then God only does that for his own. God’s discipline of you is love, not hate. It often feels like hate. It often feels like wrath. David feels like it’s wrath. But it’s love.

Prior to Jesus’ death tells the disciples in John 12:27

John 12:27 ESV

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

He’s making a veiled quote of Psalm 6:3. But you’ve seen that in our passage, David goes on to ask the Lord to spare him from this burden. But that’s not what Jesus said.

If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, God’s wrath has already been suffered at the cross. He sees you through the blood of the cross, and so you can know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Jesus has already suffered, and only in Christ we are no longer in danger of the wrath of God. Discipline, correction? Yes. If we are still sinful and his children then he wouldn’t love us if he didn’t correct us. Wrath? No.

Application

Consider your trial as correction. Confess.

Consider your trial as love. God is drawing you closer to himself.

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