Psalm 6 Devotion
By Pastor Lawrence

How long? That is a question often asked by those wrestling in prayer, especially those suffering under the most severe injustice and persecution. As with many of these psalms, the reader isn’t provided the particular details surrounding the events causing such an outburst of emotion. Clearly, David is beside himself with grief. In verses 6-7, he describes a ‘flood’ of tears upon his bed, how he ‘drenches’ his couch with weeping, and how his eye has ‘wasted away because of grief.’ This extraordinary grief in trouble has come at the hands of his foes. And it doesn’t appear to be merely a psychological torment of his soul but a physical one as well, for David speaks of his very bones being troubled in v.2.

Interestingly, though, his first petition is not a request for deliverance but rather for mercy. He pleads with the Lord not to rebuke him in anger nor discipline him in His wrath. Again, without knowing the context, we aren’t aware of any particular sin David has committed at this time since we don’t know when he penned these words, but David believes that the Lord has allowed his enemies to abuse him in this way due either to unconfessed sin or as a consequence of sin confessed but not fully repented of. He appreciates that the Lord disciplines those he loves, but he feels in this moment that his punishment is more than he can handle, even if it is deserved.

David then pleads to the Lord not to go against his character by ending the discipline, but to deliver him from this crucible because of his character and because of his covenant with David. In v.4, when he pleads with the Lord to deliver and save him from this excruciating trial, he asks this not merely for his own sake but for ‘the sake of your steadfast love.’ ‘Hesed,’ is a very prominent Hebrew word used in the Old Testament to refer to God’s covenant with Israel; it refers to his covenant love, his merciful love and his steadfast love. By pleading for the Lord’s steadfast love, David is exhibiting his faith in the promises of God. He is clinging to the Lord and forsaking all others. He is fully trusting and resting in the fact that he is God’s beloved waiting for His help and His mercy alone.

And by faith he also acknowledges the great power of God to help him in these situations, for in v.4 he prays that the Lord would ‘turn’ to him and deliver him, then in v.10, as a result, his enemies would ‘turn back.’ David’s trouble then would become their trouble, his shame would now be their shame, the very moment that God spoke His word of deliverance.

The one verse that might seem strange to Christians today is in v.5 when David says, “For in death, there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” Here he is not suggesting that the dead are in a state of ‘soul sleep’ or have ceased to exist. Nor is he denying the resurrection of the dead; rather, in this moment, in the midst of this great injustice, if he were to die and his enemies were to triumph over him, his community on earth would not be blessed by his testimony to God’s salvation, nor would they be able to join with him in giving God’s praise. The believers would be frightened rather than comforted by God, which would not serve to magnify God’s glory. As strange as this request may appear, the rationale that David uses here in prayer coincides perfectly with the Lord’s Prayer in that even in the midst of his greatest needs, David is still concerned with God’s name being hallowed, his kingdom advancing, and his will being carried out for all to see.