Sermon Tone Analysis

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

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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