Psalm Six "Angush and Resuce"

Scripture Reading 2 Samuel 12:1-15

“And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his house. And the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and he became sick.”

Introduction

Good morning, Redemption Church. My name is Noah Toney; I am the pastor here. If this is your first time, welcome; if you are watching on the live stream, I am glad you are here with us this morning. Here at Redemption Church, We Exist to proclaim the gospel and make disciples for the glory of God. If you have a copy of God's word, please turn to

Psalm 6

. Since we have so many new visitors allow me to recap all that we have learned.

Psalm One teaches us about the blessed man who is the perfect citizen of God's kingdom, who walks in the way of the righteous and turns from the way of the wicked.

Psalm Two teaches us about God's Messiah-King, who will reign forever despite the raging nations.

Psalm Three teaches us about God's chosen king, David, who, when the nations are raging against him, responds in faith and trust in God.

Psalm Four teaches us that when God's people are in distress, we should reflect on God's past faithfulness to find future hope.

Psalm Five teaches us that God's people can find comfort in the character of God.

This week: Psalm Six teaches us that God’s people will experience anguish and despair yet we find our hope in God’s steadfast love.

Read the Passage

Psalm 6:1-10

“O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 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. But you, O Lord—how long? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? 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. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.”

Pastoral Prayer:

Context

Since we have so many people here who are new and have not been with us for our Psalms series, allow me a few minutes to argue for the context of

Psalm 6. Psalms one and two of the Psalter act like an introduction that sets the theme for the whole book. Psalm one, we have the blessed man who does not walk in the way of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But he is a man who delights in Yahweh’s Law. In Psalm two, we learn more about this man, we learn that he is the Lord’s anointed. This blessed man is the ideal and perfect citizen of God’s kingdom and he has been installed as King by God. He is on the throne, ruling and reigning, and the nations of the earth are in constant rebellion against him; though they are in rebellion against him, they will not win. Psalm three starts this whole series of Psalms that are about a similar event in the life of David. I believe that Psalms 3-9 are all during this time of Absalom's rebellion and are taking place during the same time as 2 Samuel 15-19. In Absalom's rebellion, he would go and stand by the gate and steal the hearts of Israel, and after four years of swooning the people away from David, he made a plan to steal the throne of his father. David hears about this plan and he takes off, fleeing into the wilderness. I believe that it is from the wilderness that David wrote these Palms. If you want to know why I think this, come and talk to me afterward, I would love to share it with you. Psalm three is a literal depiction of Psalm two, Absalom has revolted against David, who is the “Lord’s anointed king.” Psalm four, David is in the desert on the run from his son and before he lies down to sleep at night, he gives an evening prayer. In Psalm five, David rises and gives a morning meditation to God. In Psalm five, David is reflecting upon God’s holy and righteous character. “God, you are not a God who delights in wickedness, evil may not dwell with you, the boastful shall not stand before your eyes, you hate all evildoers, you destroy those who speak lies.” Psalm five ends with David confessing that his only hope is to take refuge in God’s good character and that all who love God are covered in safety like a shield.” This brings us to Psalm six.

“TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDING TO THE SHEMINITH. A PSALM OF DAVID.”

This is a similar superscription that we have seen before. To the “Preeminent one,” I have suggested that this is David’s hat tip to the future choirmaster who will lead us in worship forever. This other word, “Sheminith,” is interesting. My ESV has a footnote that says “likely a liturgical or musical term.” The truth is, anytime you see that in your bibles, it just means that translators do not know what it means, or there is significant disagreement amongst them. What is interesting about this, is that it is liturgy translated to the eighth. This could be an instrument that has eight strings, or it could be a song that is sung in octaves because there are eight notes on a scale. We need to keep in the forefront of our minds that this is not just poetry; these are written down as songs. These songs are meant to be sung by God’s people. I want you to notice that many of these Psalms are not happy. The Psalter is an emotional rollercoaster. It is a songbook that swings like a pendulum, from songs full of joy and mirth to songs of despair, distress, and deep anguish of the soul. I think that this should bring us great comfort, knowing that the Psalms are emotionally all over the place because this is how life is. Our lives are full of highs and lows sometimes, there are seasons that are rich and you feel as if God is close and intimate as a brother. Then there are also spiritual depressions where God feels distant; it is like God cannot be found and you are alone in the wilderness. The beautiful thing about the Psalter is even in the wilderness and the despair of the soul we can learn to sing and pray to God our king. Praise be to God. We as Christians, need to learn from the school of the Psalter. There have been to many Christians who think that when they become Christian, everything will be better. they think that we will now be happy all of the time because we are saved. This is not an honest reflection of the Christian life, do not ever let anyone tell you so. The Christian life goes through the same ups and downs as everyone else. We just have a treasure in Christ that sustains us, walks with us, and leads us along the way. Christ is our foundation when the winds and waves of life come and try to avail on us. He is the one who surrounds us like a shield.

Suffering in Body and Soul

Psalm 6:1-3

“O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 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. But you, O Lord—how long?”

David starts this prayer by looking straight at God and pleading with God to spare him from his anger, and he asks God to not discipline David with wrath. Psalm 6is often referred to as a Psalm of repentance, but what is interesting is that there is no explicit mention of any sin in Psalm 6. So why is Psalm 6 a psalm of repentance? Psalm 6 is a Psalm of repentance because David is suffering the consequences of his own sin. Think about the context of this. God was faithful to David and set him up as king over all of Israel; David was victorious in battle after battle. David was made wealthy, victorious, and blessed continually by God. Then David goes and sins previously with Bathsheba, and to make it worse, he goes and plots and murders Uriah. Then, Nathan, the prophet, comes to David and tells him this parable about a man stealing another man's sheep and sacrificing it to make a meal. David responds to Nathan, “This man should surely die for what he has done.” Then comes some of the scariest words from God in the bible, “You are the man, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel.” As a result of David’s sin, God punished David’s three ways. First, the sword will never depart David’s house. Second, God is going to raise up enemies from his own household. Third, as David stole Uriah's wife, David shall have his wife stolen. Lastly, the son from his union with Bathsheba shall die.

The reason David looks to God and says, “rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.” David is reflecting upon his own sin. David is confessing that this is his fault, and he is under the discipline of the Lord. The word anger is important; remember when David heard the parable from Nathan. It says his anger was greatly kindled against this man; David arose and said, “whoever has done this deserves to die.” It is like David is saying, “Oh Lord, Discipline me, but do not destroy me. Rebuke me, but not out of your anger, but rather like a father.”

David knows he has sinned, yet even then, after David has sinned, he says “Be gracious to me, Oh Lord, for I am languishing.” Psalm Six teaches us that God’s people will experience anguish and despair yet we find our hope in God’s steadfast love.” David is pleading with God. “Be gracious to me.” “Show me mercy, show me grace, deal with me not according to your justice, but according to your mercy.”

Redemption Church, the Psalter is a school of prayer; right now, you are sitting under Psalm 6. Psalm 6 is teaching us how we are to respond to the consequences of Sin. When we sin, if you are in Christ, your sin has been put away. However, sometimes, we still suffer consequences for our actions, and we have to deal with them. This is what Psalm 6 teaches us. God to God and say,” Oh Lord, rebuke me with the rod, but not the sword. Discipline me as a father who loves me, and not as a judge who condemns me.” “Be gracious to me

In verse two, we learn two things about David’s suffering. First, he is physically suffering. “be gracious for I am languishing.” This could be translated as drooping. David calls to Yahweh to heal him, for his bones are greatly troubled.” this could be translated, “My bones are shaken.” David is physically weak and weary. 2 Samuel tells us that when he was in the wilderness with his men, they ran out of food. There is this little verse at the end of 17 that says “the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.” This sounds a lot like the exodus account. David is with his people and he is in the wilderness and he is physically weary and weak. Second, David's suffering is internal. “My Soul is greatly troubled, But you Oh Lord- How Long?” David says, “My body is shaken, and my soul is shaken.” I am in distress in my soul. The only thing worse than physical pain is the pain of the soul. If you get hurt physically, you can go to a doctor and he prescribes a remedy. Modern medicine is incredible, but if you are wounded deep in the soul and you are wasting away on the inside? You can see a counselor, you can find help, but the ultimate relief of the soul is only going to come from one place; David knows this. The only one who will bring David relief if God alone; the same is true for us. We can apply to counsel and take steps to remedy the soul, but the true balm has to be the mercy of Christ. What does David say next?

Deliver me for your steadfast love

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

David calls upon the name of Yahweh one more time. “Turn, O LORD.” This is brilliant, poetic mastery. This word turn is the Hebrew word “Shov.” Which means to turn, but it also is the most common word in the OT for repentance. It is like David is looking to God and saying, I am repenting (turning) to you. Oh God, please repent from disciplining me. David is throwing himself upon the mercy of God. To David, it looks bleak; it looks like he is in the wilderness languishing away, and he is about to be destroyed by his enemies. He calls upon Yahweh to turn from rebuking him; on what grounds does David have a plea? What reason should God turn from judging David?

“Save me for the sake of your “Hesed” steadfast love.” David’s only hope in life and in death is God’s, steadfast love. It is true for David, and it is true for you and me. This is so rich. This is so glorious, I hope you see this. Christian, here are two applications for you this week. First, if you are in Christ, you can find comfort that he loves you. If you are suffering as a Christian, look at how David prayed, “Save ME.” David knows that Yahweh loves him, do you know this? This is not a reflection of the general love of God for all people; no, this is a reflection upon God’s intimate love for himself. How amazing is the God that we worship, that he is omnipotent, he is omni present, he is self-existing, self-sustaining, he is immutable, he rules and ordains all things even to the smallest atom of the farthest galaxy? He tells the Sun to rise every morning, and he tells it to go to bed every night, and it is the joy of the sun and stars to obey his word; they delight in running their circuit according to his decree. Our God rules the smallest groups of cells and atoms and quarks and particles that we haven’t even discovered. God rules it all, and yet if you are in Christ, God loves you. Christ intimately knows you, he loves you and he has promised that there shall be nothing that will pluck you away from his own hand. Even in the midst of sorrow, Christ sees you and he is with you through the Holy Spirit. He has paid a high price for you, there is not a single drop of his blood that will not be redeemed in you. Like David, he has put away your sin. He took your sin and went to the father and pleaded, “let me take it,” it is to much for him, it is too much for her.” I know the cost and I will pay it gladly. Why would Christ pay for our sins?

The second point of application is out of the abundance of his steadfast love.There is no reason for our hope in ourselves, our only hope is in Christ's love for his people. Christ's love is steadfast. Praise be to God that our hope is only in Him because if it was dependent upon us, we would be in trouble. Christ’s love is steadfast; it is faithful and true, it is unmoving. His love alone is everything to us. If it were up to me, I would have shipwrecked my faith a long time ago. I would choose to follow my own heart, I would immediately see drive my ship into the rocks and bust it into a thousand smithereens. But if you are in Christ, he is the captain of your ship, his love is the wind in our sails. He is faithful and true and when the storms of life come, billowing to and for, winds howling, thunder and lightning flashing in the sky. When we are afraid and unsure, we only need to look to Christ. Look to Christ who will not let you perish; if you trust in him, then it is Christ who is at the helm of the ship. He is guiding us and leading us; his steadfast love is the wind in our sails, his strength and dignity is the mast of our ship, and his body is the hull of the ship that endures the full force and brunt of the storm raging against us all that we might be safe. If you are in Christ, there is no hope sweeter.

And if you are not in Christ, then the invitation is always open. You do not have this hope, you are lost and you will perish on your own. Come talk to us, and we will tell you all about Christ the king.

“For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol, who will give you praise?” Some theologians have errored by looking at this passage and arguing that there is no afterlife. This is foolishness. David is not saying that when he dies, that’s it, that’s the end because he is dead, and there is nothing left. No, David is looking at his enemies in Jerusalem and he is saying, Lord, if I perish, the wicked will inherit the kingdom. Absalom has the tabernacle, yet he does not worship you rightly; if we perish, who will worship you?

Groaning to God

V 6-7 “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.”

Here we see an intimate picture of David’s sorrow. This is an emotional roller coaster, the Psalter is teaching us to pray. David takes his groanings and his suffering to God. The English does an awful job of capturing this. Verse 6 should be translated “I am weary with groaning, I make my bed swim every night.” This is powerful imagery; know that this is hyperbole. David is not actually crying enough for his bead to float away. But David’s sorrow is great, and it is real. He is crying profusely, his eyes are full of grief. Next, “I make my couch dissolve with my tears.” David is crying so much that his own couch is dissolving from his tears, like a sugar cube underwater. His couch is wasting away, and so are his eyes, “my eyes waste away because of my grief; it grows weak because of all of my foes.” Is David really suffering this much? I think so, and his son with Bathsheba has died. His other Absalom has murdered Amnon David’s firstborn and is now trying to kill David. His wives have all been defiled by his Absalom in front of the entire kingdom. Now his own brothers and people have turned against him.

The hardest part about this is that this is all David’s fault. And David knows it. This is how sin works. We are our own worst enemy. Sin always overpromises and under-delivers; David is crying because of all his foes. There is a literal sense where he has physical enemies who oppose him, but I also think there is a real sense where David is struggling on every front. Just like real life, when it rains, it pours.

David took Bathsheba from her husband and then murdered him, and now David’s world is falling apart. Maybe some of you have been in a similar situation, where you have made a mistake or sinned in a way that has affected the rest of your life. And you know it. Sin has consequences. You can find forgiveness in Christ, but sometimes the consequences don’t go away immediately. If a husband has an affair on his wife, she might leave him. He might find forgiveness if God, but he still is going to deal with the consequences of his wife leaving. An addict might find freedom from addiction and forgiveness from the Lord, but if they get HIV from a dirty needle, they will have to deal with the consequences. Even a murderer can find mercy and forgiveness in Christ, but if he is on death row, that is a debt that the state will require of him.

But when we are suffering from the consequences of our actions, we have an attentive ear in Christ. We are not suffering alone. We are seen and known by God. The right perspective is to understand that when we have to face the consequences of our actions is that we are being disciplined by a godly father who loves us and not destroyed by the enemy. David is not claiming innocence. There are many other Psalms about innocent suffering, but Psalm 6 is not one of them. Psalm 7 is, but not psalm 6.

Prayer Turns to Confidence

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

David is like feeling deep sorrow, he is in total despair, yet when he goes to God in prayer slowly but surely like a mother nursing an infant, he finds his confidence again in Yahweh. This is what the Psalter teaches us about healthy human emotions. As Christians, we are allowed to have emotions, we are allowed to have emotional highs and lows, but we always must seek to redeem them in Christ.

“ Depart from me, all you workers of evil.” David finds his confidence, that the evil ones who have set themselves against him and against God’s kingdom will not stand in the end. It is like he is saying, Absalom, you might have the tabernacle and Jerusalem, but I have Yahweh and he has heard my prayer. All of your people against me will be repelled by God when they come against me. David looks to his enemies who think that they are worshiping God by perusing David. They believe that they are serving God by aligning themselves with Absalom. David says, “Depart from me all you workers of evil or you could say iniquity.” This is interesting because there is going to be a later son of David who is going to stand up in a sermon and say, ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ It is like Jesus has been meditating and pondering upon Psalm 6. He knows that those who oppose God ultimately oppose him.

“for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer” David finds confidence in his weeping because he is weeping before God. He knows that God hears his plea, and he knows that his heart has reached a place of repentance and God has accepted his prayer. This is the power of prayer. Prayer is not a pointless effort, prayer is real, it is powerful. When we pray, we have Christ who sits at the right hand of the father and he hears our groanings and if we are in Christ, then God accepts our prayers. He hears them, and he accepts them not because of us but because of Christ. So go to God in prayer, if your prayer life has fallen stagnant or might even be nonexistent, leave here and go to a place alone and sit and talk to God. As a father loves to hear his children's requests, God loves to listen to and comfort his children because he is good and faithful, and his steadfast love endures forever.

“All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.”

Those who trust in the “Lord’s anointed” will be saved, but those who align themselves with the wicked they will be greatly troubled. Just as David’s body and soul has been troubled. Those who do not trust in God they are the ones who are really in trouble. David’s enemies think that they have shamed David by running him into the wilderness. They think that they have shamed David by taking his wife and sleeping with them in the city square. They think that they have shamed David, raising up the sword against him. They are wrong, they are deceiving themselves, God’s plan will prevail, and they will ultimately be put to shame in a moment's notice.

In the same way, our Lord had enemies. Jesus’s enemies thought that they were putting him to shame when they mocked him when they ridiculed him. Judas thought that he as putting Jesus to shame when he sold him for some petty silver. The Pharisees thought that they were putting him to shame when they plotted against him in secret. They thought they were putting him to shame by capturing him in the night. Christ’s enemies thought that they were putting him to shame by handing him over to the Romans. The Romans thought that they were shaming Christ by spitting on him, by tearing his beard. They thought that they were shaming him by stripping him of his garments and exposing his nakedness for the whole world to see. They thought they were shaming him by holding him down and nailing him to a tree. They thought they were mocking him with a crown of thorns and a title, “king of the Jews.” They thought that they had shamed him, defeated him, they thought that they had crushed him, and taken the kingdom for themselves; they thought they destroyed the Lord’s anointed. All of Christ’s enemies reviled in their own victory at the death of Christ. Even death itself boasted in the death of Christ. But they were all mistaken because in a moment’s notice, three days later. Jesus Christ, the King of Glory rose from the dead! Victorious over sin and death, he rose not in shame as a condemned criminal but in glory as a victorious king. All of Christ enemy’s, are the ones who are put to shame. Sin and death are put to shame. All of Christ's enemies shall flee before him.

But if you trust in Christ, you are not put to shame because Christ was shamed for you. You are not destroyed because He was destroyed for you. You do not have to worry about the burden of your sin and shame because Jesus Christ the Son of God has taken it for you and bore it on his own shoulders. He has paid the debt, and now we stand robed with his righteousness surrounded by his steadfast love. This is glorious hallelujah, praise the Lord.

The challenge of Psalm 6 believer is to take your suffering to God. Trust and rest in his steadfast love. If you trust in Christ, then he will rescue you in a moment's notice. Even if he doesn’t bring instant relief,

“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”