Psalm 6

In Psalm 3 and 4 we’ve repeatedly seen the theme of David’s peace and rest through the night.
Here in Psalm 6 David is unable to sleep because he is so distraught from what he views as hopeless and helpless circumstances

The opening superscription, or title, of this Psalm calls for “sheminith,” which, to the best of our knowledge, is a musical notation that lets the reader and performer know that the Psalm is to be played in a low octave using an 8 stringed harp.
This is a dark Psalm surrounding impossibly difficult circumstances accompanied with a broken and beaten down heart.

vs.1

• The opening verse of this Psalm informs us that this is David’s penitential response to some unknown sin in his life.
• This is a Psalm of return and repentance.
• Here we find a pattern for our own repentance before God.
• “Your anger” is a reference to the Holy justice and Righteous anger of God.
• “Your hot displeasure” is a phrase that expresses God’s emotional state toward David.

vs.2,3

• David is apparently aware that he is in need of chastening from the Lord.
• Sin without punishment is often an unjust response. Without some form of punishment from the Lord an individual is more likely to return to their sin without fear and an awareness of God.
• Just like it would be unjust for a parent to spare the rod from their child, it is unjust for God to spare us some form of chastisement when we live in sin.
• Plus, it is also important for us to understand that if we petition God to forgive us without chastising us and He answers our prayers we miss out on the blessing that accompanies punishment.
• So it is here that David asks for God to respond to his sin as a loving parent as opposed to an angry one.
• “I am weak... my bones are troubled... my soul also is greatly troubled.” Notice the effect that sin has on David.
• David is so conscious of his sin that it is effecting every aspect of his being.
• Here we witness David returning to the Lord without excuse or explanation for his sin but with total brokenness and helplessness because of it.
• This too should be our response to sin.

vs.4

• “deliver me... save me for Your mercies’ sake!” it’s this phrase that gives us a glimpse into the reason that God forgives His wayward children.
• It’s not for the good of the individual because it would be so much better for a child of God to be taken out of this world and to be delivered into the presence of God.

vs.5

• Instead, forgiveness is for the sake of God’s glory.
• We are restored into a right relationship with our Heavenly Father so that we might bring more glory and honor to him having come through our sin to the other side of forgiveness.
• It’s like a battle wound that should have been fatal but miraculously is healed. The scar will never go away... but the scar tells a story. A story of salvation through failure, a story of grace and mercy from hopeless circumstances.
• When we are forgiven from our sin we are equipped with a very specific message of God’s power and goodness.
• Our lives will stand as a testimony to the fact that God forgives. And this forgiveness is not something to hide away.
• While it may seem prudent to cover the scar of sin and continue on as if nothing had ever happened so as not to draw attention to yourself, we must understand that God forgives so that the healed wounds may be seen by those with fatal open wounds.

vs.6,7

• These verses speak to David’s sleeplessness... tears replaced his rest.
• “All night I make my bed swim... my eye wastes away...”
• I think that it’s important to recognize that private nature of David’s brokenness and repentance.
• It is not all day and all night, is is merely all night that David is reduced to incapacitating tears.
• Repentance begins privately and is made public once the individual has been restored.
• God is not glorified in the public nature of an individual’s sin... He does not demand that the person be morally burned at the stake.
• When an individual is in need of forgiveness from any sin, whether public or private, whether it involves only them or any number of others, it is the biblical pattern to first petition and receive forgiveness from the Lord and then to go and seek forgiveness from others that have been sinned against.

vs.8

• Apparently news of David’s broken condition had reached his enemies. This suggests that David had traitors serving in his own court.
• Being that David wept in private and even though his personal anguish must have been, on some level, transparent during the day it’s apparent that news had leaked outside of the kingdom walls to David’s enemies.
• Here there is a sudden shift in David’s strength and in his prayer.
• The focus changes from hopelessness to confidence. The explanation is simple, God answered David’s prayer.
• This, in my opinion, is what forgiveness and restoration from God is like. It’s immediate, it’s unconditional, it’s refreshing.
• This seems like a totally foreign concept from our human perspective.
• Often when sin is committed against us the process of forgiveness is long and arduous... it is often conditional and partial.
• Intellectual forgiveness is often the first step. We have heard the request for forgiveness from the individual, we acknowledge the request and understand that it is our duty to God to forgive the person for their sin against us.
• However, emotional forgiveness does not frequently accompany intellectual forgiveness.
• Emotional forgiveness, for us, takes a significant amount of time and often may never fully take place.
• This is not right but it is reality. We tend to separate forgiveness from trust... however, true forgiveness is never complete until trust is restored.
• Because we do not have the divine knowledge and heart of God it is imperative to understand that total forgiveness (including the restoration of trust in a relationship) will and should take time... this is, often, the only wise way to live.
• It would be foolishness to fully trust a person without proof of their true repentant nature and their divine restoration.
• Since we do not have access to the spiritual state of an individual’s heart than without time there is no way to know if they have truly repented before the Lord and have made the 180 degree turn from their actions required by true repentance.
• To that end, forgiveness is a process that must be actively pursued by both the guilty party and the party sinned against.

vs.9

• Notice the immediate nature of God’s forgiveness. The Lord heard, the Lord received (or accepted).
• God made Himself known to David once again and restored his confidence and this had immediate results.

Closing note.

• Did you notice how often in this Psalm, even in the midst of his greatest anguish, David calls upon YHWH?
• Five times in the first four verses... three more in the concluding verses.
• If there is a key to the power of repentant prayer this is it... it is the name of the God of our covenant promise.
• Understand that forgiveness is essentially the restoration of a broken covenant.
• It is not that we have lost our ultimate salvation, this is not at risk in the New Covenant, it’s that we have lost the openness and blessing of a relationship with our Creator.
• The reality of a severed relationship with God should physically, emotionally, and spiritual reduce us to weeping. Where is hope, peace, and mercy without an ongoing, unfettered relationship with the Almighty God?