Psalms Chapter 6
Psalms 6:1-2, “O LORD
rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have
mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.”
Psalms chapter 6 is a prayer in which King David comes looking to God for mercy
because of his enemies. The first thing that King David did however in this
situation was to keep in mind that He himself is a sinner and weak and only by God having mercy upon him is
he not rebuked in God’s Holy displeasure. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
The truth is that there is no human being on this earth that really understands
how terrible of a sinner they are and how much they have failed. In fact we
often do things that are wrong and we are not even aware of it. It’s not just
the obvious things like the Ten Commandments, but any time we do not do the
will of God we are big failures. James 2:10-11, “For whosoever shall
keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if
thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of
the law.” If
we could see it the way God does, we would realize the truth is that we are all
guilty of everything. Men only see the external. But God judges the heart.
David understood this and that is why when He came to God in prayer to deliver
him from his enemies, he first looked to God for mercy from his own sins. David said, “I am
weak.” How opposite is this from the philosophy of the world. The world
says look inside yourself for your inner strength. Yes, men can do things and
men can endure hardships, but to truly be strong, as strong as you can, and to
truly overcome, you must rely on Jesus for strength and not yourself because
just as King David, we are all weak. It is better to be weak and find
forgiveness and eternal life than to think you are strong and bust hell wide
open.
Second
Corinthians 12:9 says, “And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly
therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may
rest upon me.” When
we rely upon Christ instead of ourselves then we are strong because Christ is
strong. Psalms 6:2 tells us that the Lord has mercy, and the Lord heals. If you
want mercy and healing in the face of enemies then come to Jesus and come to
Jesus humbly with repentance for your sins including the sins you are not even
aware that you have done because you are weak, and then you will find mercy and
healing.
Psalms 6:3 says, “My
soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?” To be vexed means to be greatly troubled and
distressed. David said his soul was vexed. Not in every moment of life are you
going to be filled with joy and happiness. Even when you do what is right there
will be times when your soul feels only pain and suffering. This is what David
meant by saying his soul was sore vexed.
Following Jesus is like running a race. The
Apostle Paul in the New Testament gave this illustration. First Corinthians 9:22-27, “To
the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to
all men, that I might by all
means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker
thereof with you. Know ye not
that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run,
that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in
all things. Now they do it to obtain
a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as
uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my
body, and bring it into
subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself
should be a castaway.” When you run a race, if you run hard you
are going to feel physical pain because of the effort you are giving. In the
same sense in your soul there are times you will simply be sore vexed. This
doesn’t mean you don’t have faith and this certainly doesn’t mean God won’t
keep His promises, because God is faithful. Some people misunderstand this
principle. David was sore vexed so he said to the LORD, “How long?” Patience is important in life. And no
matter how patient you think you are, you can always be more patient. No matter
how patient you think you are, you certainly are not as patient as God is. And
God does things in His timing. But then again prayer moves God. Its good when
your soul is sore vexed to ask God how long? God wants us to be encouraged. God
wants us to endure until the end, and God may just indeed end the vexation of
your soul and deliver you from your enemies all the more swifter, if you simply
pray to Him and ask him, “how long?”
Whenever you find yourself in a situation like
King David here, who was sore vexed in his soul because of his enemies, there
are several things you should do. First ask God, “how
long?” Second be patient and endure. Second
Timothy 2:3, “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ.” Patience means to endure. And most importantly
remember that you are weak, but God is faithful. We know God is faithful
because the Bible calls God the faithful Creator. First Peter 4:18, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of
God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful
Creator.”
God is the Creator. Unlike some people in the
world who would think God has abandoned them or that God is not involved in His
creation, this is not true. God is not some supreme being who created this
world and has just abandoned it and let it spin around the sun on its own. God
is a faithful Creator and therefore He is involved in every detail of His
creation. Do you doubt this? How involved really is God? Psalm 147:4, “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all
by their names.” Outer space is vast. Men are always building new
telescopes to try to see farther out into the heavens. And they are always
surprised by the new things they discover. It seems so endless out there. God
knows the number of the stars, and He calls them all by their names. In this
vast universe where the only physical life that has been found is on the planet
earth where God sent His only begotten Son Jesus to die for your sins, how
involved do you think God is in His Creation? The truth is God is more involved
in your own life than even you are. That is what it means to be a faithful
Creator. When your soul is sore vexed, ask the Lord, “how
long?” and then remember Jesus is a faithful Creator.
Psalms 6:4, “Return, O
LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.” The question
is, “how long?” Verse 4 answers this: until
Christ returns. There will be suffering, and there will be sin in this world
and there will be spiritual warfare until Christ returns. How long? Return, O
Lord. There are mountains and there are valleys. Sometimes life is good and
sometimes there is suffering. And sometimes the sufferings do not go away. It
just may be that you will suffer all your life. For most people they will not
have to go through what Job went through. But if you are ever wondering when
your sufferings will end and when your enemies will be completely eradicated by
God: this will happen when Christ returns and not until then.
Revelation chapter 11:15 says, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” How long? Not until the seventh angel sounds
that’s how long. Because God is perfect and a perfect work will He make on the
earth.
Concerning how long and concerning the return of
Christ there are two important words in verse 4: the words “deliver” and “save.”
The word deliver is used in the Old Testament in reference to war and to
military victory and military deliverance. In fact the word is elsewhere used
to mean ‘armed’ men and, ‘prepared’ for war. When Christ returns He is going to
return as the King of Kings. He is going to come in power and glory. The first
time that Christ came, He came born of a virgin taking upon himself the
likeness of man and dying the humble and shameful death on the cross for the
sins of everyone in this world. This time when He comes He will descend out of
the heavens with all the military might of His angels to crush all those that
oppose Him and to deliver those that look to Him for deliverance. Revelation
19:11-16 says, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold
a white horse; and he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His
eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many
crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in
blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness
and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND
LORD OF LORDS.” It’s no wonder the word used is “deliverance.”
Life is a spiritual warfare, and the physical things which occur including the
wars and the enemies that come after us are simply driven by the invisible
forces of evil that oppose Jesus. One day Jesus is going to come and bring the
final deliverance against all of this. There is deliverance: it is found in
Jesus.
The other word used is the word “save.” The word contains the idea of a broad
amount of space. It’s not just that God is going to save and deliver, but that
He is going to do so with great power. It’s not by the skin of the teeth so to
speak, but it’s by the right hand of Jesus. First
Peter 4:18 says, “And if the righteous scarcely be
saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” How is it that
the righteous are scarcely saved if the idea is that of abundant salvation.
It’s simply that men are weak and are sinful but God is Holy, and most
importantly as the last part of verse 4 says “for
His mercies sake.” Jesus Christ is going to return. Jesus Christ is
going to deliver. Jesus Christ is going to save for His mercies sake, and he is
going to do so with grace and power. He is going to save with room to spare,
with plenty of space. Salvation is not halfway. It may seem that way right now
because we still live in a sinful world and in sinful bodies. The fullness of
salvation has not yet come. But it will with Jesus. Thank God that He is
merciful. There will be enemies and there will be suffering. How long? Until
tomorrow? No. Until next year? No. Until the day you win the lottery? No. Until
a cure for cancer or aids is discovered? No. Until a united nations is
established? No. Until there is free medical care for everyone? No. Oh Lord,
how long? Until Christ returns. Yes. This is the Hope, the great hope, the hope
that is greater than any other. This is the end of suffering, this is the end
of your enemies: nothing else is. There is no other Hope. Christ died on the
cross at
Psalms 6:5 says, “For
in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee
thanks?” This verse is not saying there is no life after death. It is
saying the purpose of being alive is to remember God and his promises and to be
thankful unto God for all that He does. You cannot do this if you are dead. If
you see the shadow of death coming close to you as King David did because of
his enemies, then if you want to live longer pray to God and ask Him for His
mercies sake and make sure you use your life to remember and to praise. This is
the purpose of life: to remember God and to praise.
Revelation 4:11, “Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” If you are alive, it’s because God is merciful and He wants
you to remember and to praise. Remember and give thanks. Remember the promises
of God. Remember what God has done for others. Remember what God has
done for you in your life already: both the physical and the spiritual
blessings. And then thank Him for it.
Psalms 6:6-8, “I am
weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch
with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of
all mine enemies. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath
heard the voice of my weeping.” Sometimes it seems that the evil people
of this world just will not go away and leave us in peace. King David’s enemies
pursued him to the point that he was weary and that he spent every night laying
in bed weeping. But he waited on the Lord. He prayed and God delivered him. God
heard the voice of his weeping. It is ok to feel weary. It is ok to cry. But do
not stop trusting in God. And do not stop praying. Jesus hears your weeping. He
hears you more than anyone else can. He hears. He cares and He will deliver and
save.
Psalms 6:9-10 says, “The
LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. Let all mine
enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.” If you
have enemies the best thing to do is not to get revenge on them but to pray to
God. God can get revenge better than you can. It is ok to pray for justice when
you have been wronged. In verse 10 we see the word “return”
used. It’s the same word which was used in the previous verse in which David
said “how long?” “Return,
O Lord.” This word is also used in Genesis 3:19 which says, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and
unto dust shalt thou return.” The word is also used in Psalms 54:4 and
is translated reward. “He shall reward evil unto
mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.”
If you trust in God, you are going to find that
suddenly you will have enemies. Your enemies will be whoever opposes the truth.
Christ is going to return and bring deliverance and salvation. But the enemies
of Christ have for their final fate to return to the
dust of the earth, and for a reward they will be cut off by the truth of God. It is easy to become too focused on the wrong that other people
do, especially those that are your enemies. God will deliver you from your
enemies. God will bring justice and judge the wrongs others do if they don’t
turn to Jesus. Make sure
even in the face of your enemies you focus on keeping yourself right with Christ
and let God deliver you. This is what King David did: he prayed. There will
indeed be times in life when you will be so vexed you will want nothing more
than such. Be sure to pray, “But, thou, O Lord,
how long? Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’
sake.”
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Copyright; 2011 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved