Psalms 6:6 NIVUK
[6] I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
There are always friends you know you can rely on to help you and encourage you when you are down. They are worth their weight in gold. Never let them go.
But there are others – and we need to be brutally honest about this – whom we avoid like the plague, because we know that if we are down, they will be sure to kick us.
It saddens me to say this, but some of these people claim to be Christians. You know the ones I mean, don’t you? You endure some misfortune and they are quick to ask if you did something to deserve it.
They remind me of this encounter in the Gospel of John:
John 9:1-3 NIVUK
[1] As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. [2] His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ [3] ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.9.1-3.NIVUK
Those are not the people you'd want to meet during the dark night of the soul.
But then again, maybe this is not a Psalm you would immediately reach for when you are down either. Look at it: something is affecting David and it is quite serious. The symptoms are pretty serious:
· Physical pain (v2)
· Deep anguish (v3)
· Feeling close to death (v5)
· Exhaustion and sleeplessness (v6-7)
This is not just feeling a little down because his team lost a championship game. This is way, way worse than that.
What is more, we are not given a reason for them. The Psalm doesn’t provide us with their cause. David sometimes does that – see Psalm 51 for an example. But here he doesn’t. And I think that’s a good thing – for two reasons:
1. It means that this Psalm can be applied to multiple causes that have the same symptoms, and this means that it can be used to encourage a wide range of people
2. It means that the Psalm can also be used to encourage people when they are sad without cause, for example, those who suffer from periodic bouts of depression or anxiety for which there is no root cause
So before we get into this Psalm, I want to ask you a very deep question: have you ever felt like this? Or, perhaps even deeper, do you feel this way now?
If so, please take these thoughts as my personal plea for you to hold on and put your trust in the God of David.
You see, this Psalm is a tough read, of that there is no doubt. Those who are unfamiliar with the dreadful struggles people with depression or bipolar disorders go through may see this as a bit of a ‘downer’. But this Psalm is actually highly uplifting.
Why?
Because in the midst of his struggles and his pain, David hangs on to his God, and ultimately He is the One who brings him through this dark night.
Three beautiful characteristics of God are taught in these darkly beautiful words.
The first is that He is The God Who Holds.
Psalms 6:3-4 NIVUK
[3] My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? [4] Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.
Right from verse 1, in words that may trouble those with a warped view of God, David makes his appeal for rescue from his troubles based on two things: God’s sovereignty and His love.
That is: God can do something about David's situation because He is sovereign, and God will do something about David’s situation because He is love.
He recognises that whatever is happening to him is happening because God is angry with him and bringing discipline into his life, but then appeals to God on the basis of His love to life the rod of discipline from him.
To our modern ears, that might sound a little odd. After all, there is so much around today that would discourage parents from rightfully disciplining their child, as our politically correct society cannot stand the idea of hurting anyone.
Now, I am not and I will never advocate abuse of any kind. It’s wrong – end of story.
However, loving discipline to correct misbehaviour and mould character is not and never will be abuse. It’s not pleasant, either for the parent or the child, but it is necessary.
Hebrews 12:7-11 NIVUK
[7] Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? [8] If you are not disciplined – and everyone undergoes discipline – then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. [9] Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! [10] They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. [11] No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. https://bible.com/bible/113/heb.12.7-11.NIVUK
Proverbs 3:11-12 NIVUK
[11] My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, [12] because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. https://bible.com/bible/113/pro.3.11-12.NIVUK
Proverbs 10:17 NIVUK
[17] Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
David sees God as in control of his situation – as holding him in the palm of His hand. He sees God as loving.
Yet he also sees the pain that has come into his life as discipline – as a means of making him better – and struggles with it deeply. So from the bottom of his heart, he pleads with God to take it away.
That is the point of this Psalm.
Right at the heart of it, at the very centre of it all, is the calm, if anguished, confession that his loving God is still in control.
So we see the God who holds – that is, the God who holds David in His hand and can use even the most distressing situations for his ultimate good.
That is where the sublime verse in Romans also comes from:
Romans 8:28 NIVUK
[28] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
But we move on from this to come across a beautiful concept, which is the hinge on which this Psalm turns:
Psalms 6:8-9 NIVUK
[8] Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. [9] The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.
This is a truth that sends shivers down our spine and can, on its own, life our soul from the mire.
Here we see The God Who Hears.
In David’s day, idolatry abounded in the people who lived around Israel. As the pagan influence on Israel grew, the prophet Isaiah had some tremendously scornful words to say about their idols:
Isaiah 44:12-17 NIVUK
[12] The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. [13] The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. [14] He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. [15] It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. [16] Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, ‘Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.’ [17] From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, ‘Save me! You are my god!’ https://bible.com/bible/113/isa.44.12-17.NIVUK
Even the Psalms pick up the disdainful refrain:
Psalms 115:3-8 NIVUK
[3] Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. [4] But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. [5] They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. [6] They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. [7] They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. [8] Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. https://bible.com/bible/113/psa.115.3-8.NIVUK
Psalms 135:15-18 NIVUK
[15] The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. [16] They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. [17] They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. [18] Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.
This might not seem like it's politically correct, but essentially the Bible is telling the truth: these idols are deaf because they are inanimate objects. Because of this, there is no point whatsoever in calling on them for help when you are passing through a dark night of the souk, because they cannot hear you – they are not alive.
That is a fact.
But David’s God – and our God – is entirely different. He can hear us:
1 John 5:14-15 NIVUK
[14] This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. [15] And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him.
We know He hears us because, in a spectacular moment in Revelation that never ceases to amaze me, the worship of Heaven is silenced so our prayers can be heard (Revelation 8:1-5).
But let me tell you something equally remarkable about this Psalm. David is undergoing something deep and dark and painful. At this point he has poured out his soul to God.
However, God has not yet removed the situation from him. His situation is still deep and dark and painful.
What comforts him in the pain is not that God has moved it from him, but that he knows God has heard him. God has noticed it.
More than ten years ago, I suffered a back injury, but I didn’t know what had happened. I thought I had just strained a thigh muscle. I didn’t know the signs of sciatica because I had never had them before.
So, rather foolishly, I went to work. On a twenty-five minute train ride.
I was sore at work, but I assumed it would pass. So I decided to push through it.
It didn’t pass. It got worse.
I was almost crying with the pain.
It was a colleague who saw my suffering and told me I should go home, then go to the doctor to get it checked out.
That was a very good call.
She noticed my pain.
It always makes things way worse when you are in a lot of pain but no-one sees it or hears it.
It’s way harder to suffer alone.
But listen to this and absorb this glorious detail: the Lord hears our cries and sees our suffering.
Right away, we see that He is superior to every other idol this world can create. Do those pop stars or sports stars here our pain? Do influencers hear it? Do market leaders hear it?
No.
But God does.
And not only does He hear it, but He is not in any way indifferent to it. Because as well as being the God who holds and hears, He is also The God Who Helps.
The next verse is really quite special. Because David knows and believes that God comes to the aid of His people, but note carefully the tense of these words:
Psalms 6:10 NIVUK
[10] All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
Everything us in the future: ‘will be overwhelmed... will turn back...’.
In other words, and this is particularly striking, it hasn’t happened yet.
David is still struggling. The cause of the pain he has endured for most of this Psalm has not yet been resolved. But he knows God will intervene.
Where else do we see this kind of faith?
Hebrews 11:13 NIVUK
[13] All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
This is the very faith of the Patriarchs and all of our ancestors in the faith. None of them experienced all that God had for them until they entered glory.
And neither will we:
John 14:1-3 NIVUK
[1] ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God ; believe also in me. [2] My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.14.1-3.NIVUK
Our faith requires us to look forward into things that have not happened yet.
Our faith requires us to cling on to promises that have not yet been fulfilled, and to believe that God will fulfil them.
Our faith requires us to trust ourselves to the character and Word of God, and to believe that there will be an end to our troubles.
And it is that faith that will pull us through them to the other side.
In 2003, the rap group OutKast released their smash hit song Hey Ya! It received airplay from numerous TV and radio stations and is regarded as one of the best songs of all time. It filled dancefloors wherever it played.
But those who were dancing to its beat and singing along with its huge hookey chorus did not appreciate the bleakness of its lyrics. They described the collapsing state of relationships in the era and how some people were opting for a miserable life.
This Psalm seems to be the opposite of that song. On first reading, it appears to be filled with sadness and misery. David has a lot worse than the blues. He appears to be plumbing the depths of human sorrow and psychosomatic illness.
And yet, within the depths of its sadness, we see a clear path out of the dark night of the soul. We see that David is pouring his heart out to the God who holds him in His hands, the God who hears his complaint, and the God who will one day help him out of the situation he is in.
This is not a Psalm of depression. Thus is a Psalm of hope.
A hope that is extended to all who have faith in God, and are not afraid to face some seriously negative feelings.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You for honest Psalms like this one. Help me to me honest with You when I am struggling and to put my life back on track by trusting in You. Amen.
Questions
1. Have you ever felt like this?
2. Where is God when David is so downcast?
3. What hope can we take from this Psalm when we are going through a dark night of the soul?
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