Psalms 6

Psalms 6:1

Psalm 6: Double TroubleIt was bad enough to be racked with a serious illness, but David’s grief was compounded by the tormenting pressure of his opponents. Perhaps they were gloating that his condition was hopeless. 6:1 David interpreted his sickness as a stroke of God brought on by some sin. We commonly do this ourselves; often it is the first thought that crosses our mind. And this diagnosis is sometimes correct: some illnesses are indeed caused by unconfessed sin in the believer’s life (1Co_11:30). But this is by no means always the case. God often permits illness as a springboard for the display of His power and glory (Joh_9:3; Joh_11:4), or as a means of producing spiritual fruit (Rom_5:3), or to prevent sin (2Co_12:7), or as a natural result of overwork (Phi_2:30) or old age (Ecc_12:3-6). Whenever sickness strikes, the first thing we should do is to make sure that we have no unconfessed sin in our life. Then we should ask the Lord to work out His purpose in the illness and to heal us. After that it is proper to resort to a physician and to the use of medicine, but we must be careful that our trust is in the Lord and not in the means that He uses (2Ch_16:12). All healing is from the Lord, whether miraculous or ordinary. If in any particular case He does not choose to heal, then He will give grace for suffering or for dying. Ordinarily we do not get dying grace until we need it. 6:2, 3 The psalmist was vocal and articulate in his plea for healing. He was wasting away. His bones pained him continually. Even his whole inner lifehis emotions, intellect and willwere affected. But it seemed that the LORD was slow in responding. How long would it be before He would graciously heal the sufferer? 6:4 David asks the Lord to turn from what seems to be an attitude of indifference, and to save his life from sickness and death. His only claim to deliverance from misery is the steadfast mercy of Jehovah. 6:5 Then follows an unusual argument for healing, namely, that if David should die, it would be no advantage to God. As long as he is alive, he can remember the Lord and praise Him. But if he dies, God would be forgotten. The body without the spirit would not be able to give Him thanks. The argument has a certain validity as far as the body is concerned, for a corpse is devoid of memory and of the power to praise. But as far as the spirit and soul are concerned, the argument reflects the limited knowledge which OT saints possessed of life beyond death. Thanks to the fuller revelation which Christ brought, we now know that when a believer dies, he leaves his earthly body and departs to be with Christ, which is far better (Phi_1:23). He is away from the body and at home with the Lord (2Co_5:8). So the believer does not go into a limbo of soul-sleep, but is consciously in the presence of the Lord, praising and worshiping Him. It must be said in David’s favor that he made wonderful use of the light that he had, weaving it into the fabric of his prayers. If our prayers made as good use of the superior light we have, what paragons of praise and petition they would be! 6:6, 7 We get some idea of the depth of the psalmist’s misery by his description of his condition. He was utterly worn out with moaning and groaning. All night he soaked his pillow with his crying and drenched his couch with his tears. His eyes had become sunken due to his profound grief, and vision was fading because of the oppression of all his enemies. It seemed that his life was filled to overflowing with trouble and that he could stand no more. 6:8-10 But prayer changes things. By the secret, mysterious communication of the Spirit, the assurance comes to him that the LORD has heard the sound of his weeping and that his prayer has been answered. Strengthened by this assurance, he orders his enemies to disperse. He is no longer cowed by their threat because he realizes that they will go suddenly down to shameful defeat when the Lord rises up to punish them. Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will avail to make! What heavy burdens from our bosoms take! What parched grounds refresh as with a shower! We kneel, and all around us seems to lower; We rise, and allthe distant and the nearStands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear; We kneel, how weak; we rise, how full of power! Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong Or othersthat we are not always strong, That we are sometimes overborne with care, That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, when with us in prayer, And joy and strength and courage are with Thee? Richard Chenevix Trench