Psalm 6
My early thought on reading through the Psalms is that I can best understand them if I can put them into my own life. Yes, I can see applications in David’s life – his enemies, his confidence in deliverance, etc., but his prayers are often less relevant to me. But this morning’s Psalm 6 squarely got my attention.
I’ve had shoulder problems (rotator cuff) for a number of years – one of those four tendons attached to my shoulder bone is torn loose and another is damaged. I am disinclined to go through shoulder surgery like Bruce did last year and I’ve been treating it (mostly successfully) with daily physical therapy and cortisone shots two or three times a year. My last cortisone shot on 11/30 “promised” me relief for some four to six months. Then I fell on a frosty hill on December 23 and landed on that bad shoulder. The pain and the restricted movement that the cortisone relieves came back immediately. It made for a difficult Christmas season for me. Although time and light PT help, I can’t get another cortisone shot until the end of February so I have to work through it. The pain problem is most acute at night when I’m trying to sleep. Last night was particularly bad. So verse 2b and 6b both spoke to me this morning: …heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled… [and] …every night I flood my bed with tears…
Continuing, I also fully related to verse 9: The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. My first thought when I fell and felt the pain and the severely restricted movement was that the surgery that I had been avoiding was now inevitable. However, Carol (my personal prayer warrior) and I have prayed through it and I’m back to that “old normal”. The pain is mostly light and the movement range is mostly back, though still somewhat restricted. I’m praying that I can still avoid the surgery. But some nights…! I would appreciate the rest of you praying with me for this issue.
I will indeed be praying.
This psalm at first glance was just so full of heartache. As I was sitting with it I noticed the confidence he showed in God before any relief was given. He knew he was seen and heard by the great I Am and help would come. It reminded me of Philippians 4:8. “whatever is true, whatever is honorable…let your mind dwell on these things”.
I love the tension this Psalm seems to portray. Hard difficulties and confidence in God. Somehow the knowledge of this gives me great peace.
Fred,
We will join together in prayer for your relief from shoulder pain.
Kathy,
Philippians 4:4-9 has always been my favorite Bible passage. I keep it posted on my closet door, and read it often.
All,
Psalm 5 yesterday was particularly timely, in view of the current review of the events at the Capitol last year on this date. I re-read it today, and its pertinence to the riot and to those who instigated it, gives me hope that God will reward the good and eliminate the bad. That is worth our prayer today.
4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
I think this is very interesting. David, like a good negotiator, is presenting God with a “win-win” argument for healing him of his afflictions. If God heals him, David will continue to live; and God will continue to hear his praise. However, if God does not answer his prayer, David will be consigned to Sheol and will apparently be cut off from God so that his praises will no longer reach God’s ears. I have read that Sheol is the land of the dead; a place of total darkness where the righteous and the unrighteous go at death and where they are cut off from direct contact with God. A pretty bleak prospect for eternal life.
This also underscores how revolutionary Christ’s message of salvation was (and still is). Christ offers redemption and everlasting life in communion with God. Good news indeed.
“Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak;”
This is my favorite verse in this psalm and a prayer I can (and do) pray. Like Fred, I have a physical weakness—knee arthritis—and I am also trying to avoid knee surgery. So it speaks to me this way. But more particularly about moral weakness—not always doing what God wants me to do (sins of omission) and occasionally also sins of commission too.
My study Bible says that the phrase in vs. 4 (Oh, save me for your mercy’s sake!) uses the most significant single term in the Hebrew text regarding the character of God—mercy here, but also could be rendered the loyal love of God.
I am glad that God loves us no matter what.
I was really struck by David’s belief that he had displeased God – the Uriah/Bathsheba story or any number of other sins; David (and I) are certainly not perfect. But he gave no excuses and threw himself on God’s mercy. We plead that every time we use the general confession, for what we have done and what we have not done. And with that lamentation and confession, he receives confidence that God has heard him. What joy! We have that same joy when we communicate deeply with God who is so good to us and loves us more than we know.