We continue our very sporadic study of the book of Psalms today, by working through Psalm 6. Now, this is a psalm that deals with, among other things, sickness and healing. So some of you are going to wonder if this psalm was chosen deliberately, because we've spent a lot of time talking, and thinking, about all this lately. But I'm trying to be more intentional about working from the front of the Psalter to the back, and this is the first psalm I'm missing. [And I'm not quite ready to jump into another big series.]
Now, it took me a while to find the right frame of mind to read this. I don't know if it's because I struggle to transition from one type of biblical literature to another, or if it's because there's nothing in it, right now, that I find myself wanting to pray.
And as we get into this, you may be the same. This is not a psalm for always, every day. What is it?
This is a psalm for the dark times in your life. For the times when you are sick, and can't rise up in faith in Christ, and defeat it. For the times when your body feels like it's falling apart, and you just hurt, everywhere. For the times when you cry yourself to sleep every night, and go through life half-dead. For the times when you call out to
God, over and over, and He's not listening.
If you can imagine this dark place, and enter into it-- then you are ready to read this with profit. And if you're living in this dark place, right now, then today will be the day you find God's help. This is a psalm God gives you, to help you turn to him, and to encourage him, to turn to you.
Let's read verses 1-4 to start (Hebrew numbering throughout):
(1) Of/for the director with stringed instruments on the eighth/octave.
A psalm of/for David.
(2) Yahweh, may you not in your anger rebuke me,
and may you not in your wrath discipline me.
All of you know what it's like to be rebuked, and disciplined. Your parents did it. Your boss, at one point or another, has done it. You messed up. You did something wrong, or had the wrong attitude. And you got called out on it, and you were disciplined, to keep it from happening again.
Now, you also all know that when it comes to rebuke, and discipline, that there are different ways to do it. It can done gently, and it can be done harshly. With two of my kids, when they were little, all my wife and I had to do, was look at them sideways when they did something wrong, and they'd start bawling. They knew they'd done something wrong, and our slight disapproval was punishment enough.
With other kids, it's a lot harder. Some kids, when are confronted, don't seem very sorry. When they are disciplined, that discipline rolls off them, like water off a duck's back. And if you've had kids like that, how do you react? Or if you've had employees like that, what happens next? Do you shrug your shoulders, and tell yourself, "Well, I tried."?
Probably what happens, is that you find yourself getting angry. Getting worked up. Imagine that your wrath is like an amplifier. You started at like a 3. You were proud of yourself, for staying level-headed about all of it. But the longer it goes on, the more you find yourself turning the amplifier of your wrath up. Eventually, you will find a level that hurts-- because it needs to hurt. This attitude and behavior is something that has to get fixed.
That's what God's been doing to the psalmist. He cranked it up his wrath, and his anger, until He got the reaction he wanted.
In verse 2, the psalmist asks God to turn down the amplifier. What God is doing to him, doesn't need to be done so big (any longer?). The psalmist accepts the rebuke. He accepts the discipline. But what he asks here, first of all, is that God changes how he does it. Please God, dial it down.
In verse 3a, the psalmist adds a second request:
(3) Show grace/favor to me, O Yahweh,
because weak/feeble, I am.
When would you ask God to show you "grace"? The idea of grace, is that it's unearned favor. You ask for grace, when you're asking for something that you have no right to. When my kids, or wife, ask me for something, they don't ask me to "show grace" to them. I have made commitments to them, and when they ask for help, their request is based on those commitments. They know that I'm supposed to be a reasonably good father, and a reasonably good husband.
When you are asking God to show you grace on something, you're acknowledging that God doesn't need to do this thing for you. He's under no obligation on this point.
Now, why should God show the psalmist grace? Grace, by definition, is underserved. So why should you get it? The psalmist gives God a reason: because he's weak. He's like a beggar on the side of the road, asking for help. "Please show grace, because I'm weak. I have no strength, God, and I need your help." When you are asking for grace, all you can do is let God know how hopeless you are on your own. And often, that's all God really wanted from you. An acknowledgement of how dependent you are on him.
Verse 3b:
Heal me, O Yahweh,
because my bones are terrified/trembling /horrified,
(4) and my whole being is greatly terrified/trembling/horrified,
and you, O Yahweh, how long?
If you're a mathematician, or engineer, or scientist, or accountant, you maybe read these verses, and think, "Bones don't actually shake. Bones can't be scared." Some of you, maybe (smiling), struggle with poetic language. And if life isn't that hard right now for you, you might find yourself passing over these words really quickly.
But when life falls apart for you, that chaos and pain doesn't just stick in your emotions. When things are bad, your whole body is affected. You feel it in every part of your body.
When we lived in CA, I had serious acid reflux. Partly, it was my diet (soda). Partly, it was stress. About two years after we'd moved to ND, my doctor asked me about it. And I realized that I didn't have acid reflux anymore. It's not like I, even one time, asked God to take that from me. I didn't believe in a God who would do things like that for me. But when we moved to ND, we weren't bleeding money every month. I had a job that forced me to get some sun, and some exercise. Life became a lot less stressful.
Lots of things, when left unchecked, cause severe physical problems. Stress. Anxiety. Anger. Unforgiveness. These things will tear you up, inside and out. People wear these things on their face, and their body. We may be made up of soul, spirit, and body, but it's not like these things are independent of each other. Each of them, directly impacts the others.
Now, in saying all of this, I'm actually making us drift pretty hard from the psalm, and God's role in all of this. My bad. So let's stop here, and try to get the big picture again.
What we are seeing is this: When God rebukes and disciplines you, He can do this to your entire body. God can make you miserable from head to toe, inside and out (cf. Isaiah 1, where it's used metaphorically). And that's what he's done to the psalmist.
In response, the psalmist, in verses 3-4, asks for grace, and then he asks for healing.
It's at this point, maybe, that you find yourself getting a little stuck. In some churches, people are taught that sin and sickness are two unrelated things. You find yourself thinking about John 9, where the disciples wondered why the man was born blind. Who sinned-- this man, or his parents? And Jesus said, that's the wrong question. You're looking at the wrong thing. The question isn't, why is he blind? The question is, what are we going to do about it?
And so, in some churches, you'll then hear John 9 used as a filter to read the rest of the Bible. But let's turn to 1 Corinthians 10:27-32 (NIV no reason):
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world
When Christians are sick, the reason for that, sometimes, is that God is disciplining them. That sickness is designed to make you come to your senses, and come crawling back to God. You serve a God who will heal all of your diseases (Psalm 103:3). But you have to come back to God. And you have to ask. Healing isn't automatic. All of this, basically, is Psalm 6. This psalm, is one that the Corinthian church could've prayed after receiving Paul's letter.
Now, I'm not saying that every sickness is a rebuke or discipline from God. Sometimes, I think it's God testing you-- I think the Spirit brings you to Satan, and sees how you hold up, and uses that to strengthen your faith (Matt. 4; 6:13). Other times, I think we make ourselves vulnerable to Satan because our spiritual armor is missing pieces. And Satan knows where to aim, and he can mess us up physically [And if you ever see me sick, feel free to ask me how I'm doing spiritually.].
[And if a non-Christian is sick, I would say that their sickness is demonic, and not from God (Acts 10:38; Matt. 9:1). God doesn't use sickness to bring non-Christians to him. God's will is that Christians free them from sickness, in Christ, through the Spirit.]
I think there's at least a few reasons why Christians get sick. And we aren't necessarily going to know why it happened. But, at the end of the day, I'm confident of one thing: God wants everyone to be healthy. That's God's will for you. And if you're not healthy, you can echo the psalmist, and ask God to heal you. And if that's not working, you should go to the elders, and they will pray for you with faith, and you will be healed (James 5:14-16).
At the end of verse 4, the psalmist asks a question: "How long?"
There are times when you pray for healing, and God doesn't answer. You still have the same bad hip, or knee, or heart. You call, and call, and there's nothing. If that's happening to you, feel free to challenge God on this point. "How long, exactly, are you going to let me stay sick? How long, exactly, are you planning to ignore me?"
Prayer is not about telling God what you think He wants to hear. Honest prayer, tells God how you actually feel. If you're frustrated, or impatient, let God know.
Verse 5-6:
(5) May you (re)turn, O Yahweh.
May you rescue my whole being.
Save me for the sake of your loyalty,
(6) because there isn't in death remembrance of you;
in Sheol/the underworld, who shall confess/extol you?
Right now, God is bringing the heat to the psalmist-- pain, and sickness. Here, he asks God to turn from that. Instead of being the attacker, he wants God to be the rescuer. God, save me!
And why?
He says, "Save me for the sake of your loyalty."
Earlier, he'd asked God to show grace to him. Undeserved kindness. Here, he still makes no appeals based on his own worthiness [If he had been living rightly, he would make this appeal. You use the arguments you have available to you; Psalm 18:20, 24]. Instead, he asks God to help, because Yahweh is a loyal God.
Loyalty is a character trait that's really undervalued in good times. A loyal friend is one who sticks with you through the good and the bad. He's the one who forgives you when you mess up. He's the one you can count on, when everyone else fails you.
When we talk about God being loyal, those are the kinds of things we think about. The commitment God makes to us-- the covenant-- doesn't end when we sin. God promises, old and new covenants, that if you turn back to him, that He will turn back to you (Jer. 29:12-14; James 4:8).
So if you need God's help, part of the way you can appeal to him, is through his loyalty. You are asking God to be true to who He really is. God is not fundamentally a God of anger and wrath. God is fundamentally, a loyal God.
With this, we come to verse 6. Let's reread it:
(6) because there isn't in death remembrance of you;
in Sheol/the underworld, who shall confess/extol you?
Throughout most of the OT, God's people thought that death marked the end of meaningful life. [And it was for them, until Jesus preached to them; 1 Peter 3:19-20.] Everyone who dies, rich and poor, righteous and wicked, goes down to Sheol. It's this dark, quiet place. No one talks, or works, or thinks, or does anything down there.
You're just there.
And so the psalmist reminds God, that if he dies-- if God doesn't save him-- then God will lose a relationship. He will have one less person remembering him. He will have one less person who publicly talks about how good God is.
Now, if that's what God wants, then it is what it is. But he raises the question to God-- who confesses you down there? Who praises your name? Is that really what you want for me?
Verse 7-8:
(7) I have tired with my moaning.
I make my bed swim every night;
with my tears my couch I dissolve.
(8) My eye has wasted away/become darkened from sorrow /provocation ;
it has grown old through all my enemies.
One of the most exhausting things you can do in life, is cry. You tell yourself, at some point, I'm going to run out of tears. Your body only produces so many, right? But once in a while, you cry, and cry, until your bed floats. And your couch dissolves, like it's made of salt.
A professor of mine at one point talked about how God has a hard time dealing with people crying (1 Sam. 1:10).
It's tough on him. When we see someone crying, we find ourselves wanting to help them. We want to comfort them. And God is far more compassionate than we are.
So the psalmist here, calls God to notice the tears. God, how long will you do this to me? How long, must I cry, and cry, and cry? How long can you possibly ignore me, when I'm this broken, and frail?
When God is trying to break you, and bring you back to himself, the first few tears you shed may not be completely sincere. You feel sorry for yourself, absolutely. But you might not be sorry that you left God. It maybe hasn't really hit you, that you were disobedient, and rebellious. And you often aren't really ready to come crawling back to God right away.
The psalmist, is long past this point. He's worn out. He's tired. He has old eyes.
And so he talks to God about it. Will God ignore you, when you are broken, and sobbing, and asking for his help? Is that the kind of God you serve?
--------------------------------------------------------
talk about enemies here? When you are weak, and vulnerable, the vultures come out.
===================================
With this, we come to verses 9-11. Here, the tone completely shifts:
(9) Depart from me, all you doing evil/trouble/mischief,
because Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
(10) He has heard-- Yahweh-- my request.
Yahweh, my prayer, He receives/accepts.
(11)They be ashamed, and they shall be terrified/trembling/horrified very much-- all of my enemies.
They shall turn back.
They shall be shamed in an instant.
Let's start by focusing on verse 10. The psalmist, all of a sudden, has total confidence that God has heard his request.
Maybe, you think to yourself, "Of course God heard." Maybe, you think that God always hears you when you pray. You then tell yourself, "Sometimes God says 'yes,' and sometimes God says 'no.' But He always hears."
If you asked a psalmist about this, he'd argue with you. The psalmists universally understand that if God hears you, then He says "yes" to your prayer, and He will help you. God doesn't say "no."
Perhaps the most common lie told in church, is that God says "no" to his people. If you are praying to God, and you see no response, don't conclude that God said "no." You didn't hear God's audible voice telling you that, right?
You decided that He said "no."
Your real problem, if you have unanswered prayer, is that God's not listening to you. He's ignoring you (Psalm 102:1-2). The psalmists are entirely consistent on this point. They are unanimous in assuming that this is how life with God works (Psalm 4:1; 17:6; 143:1, 7). Either God hears you, and helps you, or He ignores you. Those are the two possibilities.
And the NT teaches the same thing. The prayer of the righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5).
Husbands who treat their wives poorly, have their prayers hindered (1 Peter 3:7). God doesn't listen to sinners; He listens to people who do his will (John 9:31).
So the goal of prayer, is to make God hear you. Maybe, you do that by drawing closer to God. Maybe, prayer is designed to bring God closer to you. Probably, it's both. But all you really need, when you're praying, is for God to hear your prayer. If He will just listen, you will be okay.
Once I understood what the Bible actually teaches, it revolutionized prayer. If I pray for something, and don't get it, something is wrong with me. Maybe, I'm not living rightly toward God, and James says that it's the prayer of the righteous person that's powerful and effective. Maybe, I'm not praying with even a mustard seed's worth of faith. I may pray big, and loud, and long. But if I don't pray with any faith, I should expect nothing.
If you can tell yourself that God said "no," that lets you off the hook. You dump your failure on God, and act like He's the problem. You act like you did your job, you did the right thing, and God's just not that willing. You act like God's the weak link, and you tell yourself that this is "safer."
The truth is, you just aren't giving God what He really wants. He wants loyalty, and obedience, and faith. Give him these things, seek Him and his kingdom first, and then you'll find that God says "yes."
The closer I walk with God, and the more I trust him, the more clearly He speaks to me, the more He does through me, and the more He hears me. And when I drift, I lose everything.
Let's reread verses 9-10:
(9) Depart from me, all you doing evil/trouble/mischief,
because Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
(10) He has heard-- Yahweh-- my request.
Yahweh, my prayer, He receives/accepts.
The most startling part of this psalm, is the confidence we find here. The psalmist knows that God has heard his request. God received the prayer (like an angel brought it to him?). And if God has heard his request, and received it, then the psalmist is golden. His problems will soon end. So he can boss his enemies, and tell them to get bent. God's got me; you can go now.
In closing this morning, I want to focus on the psalmist's confidence. For the first eight verses, things seem pretty hopeless for him. He's tired. His life is one of endless pain, and tears, and torment. And God has just refused to answer.
But suddenly, in verse 9, everything changes. How do you move from asking God, "How long?," to having total confidence that God said "yes"?
How do you get this kind of faith?
One theory among OT scholars is a little complicated, but it goes like this. Imagine you're an Israelite, worshipping God in a temple or synagogue. And you're praying Psalm 6. Your life is falling apart, so this is a natural choice. Between verses 8 and 9, either a prophet, or a priest, would announce some type of blessing over you (1 Sam. 1:17). He would proclaim that God has heard you, and answered you. You, as the worshipper, then take that word as God's word, and you rise up in faith, claiming it, and announce that God has saved you.
That might be right. With something like this, it's hard to say for sure.
But my guess, is that God inspired this psalm, as a gift to you. God knows that you struggle to have faith. And when you are run down, and sick, it's really easy to turn to something else for healing. Or to just sink into despair, and give up, and half-hope you die. Or, to simply assume that this is God's will for you.
And so what God did, as a kindness to you, was end the psalm on this high note of confidence. You sing these words, or pray them out loud, and you find yourself rising up to try to claim them. You find yourself thinking, "God's got this. He has turned back to me. He has answered. He will heal me, and rescue me."
That's my guess. I'm not going to say I'm 100% sure I'm right. But next time I'm in a dark place in life, crying myself to sleep, and God isn't answering... I'll let you know how my story ends.
Psalm 6 Translation
(1) Of/for the director with stringed instruments on the eighth.
A psalm of/for David.
(2) Yahweh, may you not in your anger rebuke me,
and may you not in your wrath discipline me.
(3) Show grace/favor to me, O Yahweh,
because weak/feeble, I am.
Heal me, O Yahweh,
because my bones are terrified/trembling /horrified,
(4) and my whole being is greatly afraid/dismayed,
and you, O Yahweh, how long?
(5) May you return, O Yahweh.
May you rescue my life/neck/soul/inner being.
Save me for the sake of your loyalty,
(6) because there isn't in death remembrance of you;
in Sheol/the underworld, who shall confess/extol you?
(7) I have tired with my moaning.
I make my bed swim every night;
with my tears my couch I dissolve.
(8) My eye has wasted away/become darkened from sorrow /provocation ;
it has grown old through all my enemies.
(9) Depart from me, all you doing evil/trouble/mischief,
because Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
(10) He has heard-- Yahweh-- my request.
Yahweh, my prayer, He receives/accepts.
(11)They be ashamed, and they shall be afraid/dismayed very much-- all of my enemies.
They shall turn back.
They shall be shamed in an instant.
