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Psalm 6; My Soul is Troubled; Be Gracious to Me!

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2025/05/04 Psalm 6; My Soul is Troubled; Be Gracious to Me; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20250504_psalm-6.mp3

Intro: Psalms

When the disciples asked our Lord to teach them to pray, he didn’t lecture them for hours what prayer is, how it works and why. He simply said ‘pray like this’ and gave them a prayer to pray. He granted them access and invited them to start praying with a model of what it looks like to pray. In the Psalms we have a whole book (and one of the the longest books) of divinely inspired prayers from a variety of circumstances, expressing a full range of human emotions. If we’re not sure how to pray, or just can’t seem to find the words, the Psalms can help.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called Psalms ‘the Prayer Book of the Bible’; he says: “This is pure grace, that God tells us how we can speak with him and have fellowship with him.” [Bonhoeffer, p.12; Psalms: the Prayer Book of the Bible; Learning to Pray in the Name of Jesus]

Psalm 1 speaks of the blessed man, the happy man, the Righteous One, who is planted by streams of water, the one rooted in and delighting in the instruction of the Lord, who prospers in everything he does, who bears much fruit. He is contrasted with the wicked, who are like empty chaff blown away by the wind.

Psalm 2 points us to YHWH and his Anointed (or Messiah; the Christ); that when wicked men plot against his anointed, they plot in vain; he who sits in heaven laughs. The Lord has set his king on Zion his holy hill. His only begotten Son will strike them with a rod of iron and shatter them like pottery. He warns all to submit to his son or suffer the consequences; all who take refuge in him are blessed.

The first two Psalms together provide an introduction to the Psalms, and set up the contrast between the way of the righteous and the way of the wicked.

Psalm 3 is a desperate cry of the Anointed to the Lord for rescue from his enemies. It was written when David fled from his son Absalom during his attempted overthrow of David’s reign. Psalm 4 could have risen out of the same circumstance, expressing David’s inner turmoil as his character was maligned and lies and half-truths were circulating about him. Psalm 5 is a prayer expressing David’s confidence in the God of justice.

Psalm 6

Today we are going to look at Psalm 6.

Psalm 6

To the Choirmaster; with stringed instruments; according to “The Sheminith.” A Psalm of David

1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath.

2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;

heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

3 My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O LORD— how long?

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?

6 I am weary with my moaning;

every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

7 My eye wastes away because of grief;

it grows weak because of all my foes.

8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

9 The LORD has heard my plea;

the LORD accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;

they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Sometimes, as in Psalm 6, we wish we knew more precisely the background of what was happening, but where specificity might render the Psalm inapplicable, the ambiguity of language allows us to adopt the language of the Psalm and apply it to our own varied circumstances.

Clearly this prayer arises out of a heart weighed down by grief, even depression or despair. It senses the Lord’s displeasure, his wrath, and yet cries out to him for help. Because verse 2 asks for healing, it could refer to some chronic illness or debilitating disease. Where the end of the Psalm turns focus to foes, the enemies could be gathering because they see the sickness as God’s punishment, or it could be that their attack and slander is the cause of the deep depression and distress, even leading to physical symptoms.

Whatever the source of our distress, there are words here to help us bring it to God and find hope and help in him. This is the first of seven penitential Psalms traditionally sung or recited on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent, the 40 days leading up to and reflecting on the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord.

Anger and Wrath; Rebuke and Discipline

The Psalm begins by acknowledging God’s anger and wrath, expressing an acute awareness of sin and its consequences before a holy and just God. God is just, and must punish sin; we are sinners and fully deserving of his anger and wrath. God’s righteous wrath is not wrong. It is not pleasant, but it is good.

The Proverbs extol the blessing of rebuke and discipline;

Proverbs 3:11 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. 13 Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding,

God’s discipline, God’s reproof, lead to wisdom and his blessing. David is not asking exemption from these instruments of God’s correction; only that they not be carried out to the full extent of his anger and wrath. In God’s covenant with David (2Sam.7:13-15) to build him a house and install one of his sons on the throne forever, God promised both his discipline and his steadfast love. David is not looking to escape these hard blessings of God, but rather to escape his anger and wrath.

This word ‘rebuke’ is a word taken from the law-courts; it points to a legal dispute, arguing a case, establishing who is in the right. We see this kind of language throughout the book of Job.

Job 9:28 I become afraid of all my suffering, for I know you will not hold me innocent. … 32 For he is not a man, as I am, that I might answer him, that we should come to trial together. 33 There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both.

Job 13:3 But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.

Appeal to YHWH for Grace

If the LORD has a legal case against me, to whom can I appeal? There is no higher court than that of YHWH himself. So we see in this Psalm the Lord’s anointed king calls on the name of YHWH. YHWH is the greatest threat (that is why the fear of him is wisdom); YHWH is also our only hope! So the first word of this Psalm calls on the covenant name YHWH; YHWH may you cease from rebuking in anger; cease disciplining in wrath.

In verse 2 he asks for grace. As sinners, grace is our only hope. Extend to me a kindness I do not deserve! Not in your anger, not in your wrath (both are deserved); but in your grace; extend favor I do not deserve. Extend kindness apart from my merit.

And here he gives a reason; I need your grace, YHWH, because I am weak. Frail, sick, languishing. How many of us like to admit our weakness? It takes humility to admit I am not strong enough, I am weak, I need your help. But that is our very best argument with God. It just doesn’t work to say ‘give me your grace, because I deserve it’ or ‘help me, even though I don’t really need help; I can do it without you’.

1 Peter 5:5 …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

There is no benefit in boasting of our own strength. We access God’s strength on our behalf, his grace, when in humility we own our weakness, our neediness, our lack. ‘Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am weak, frail, feeble’; be gracious, because I need your help.

Heal Me For I Tremble Violently

Heal me, for my bones are shaking; my soul is violently shaking. I am trembling, in terror, to the core of my being. This is the word from Psalm 2, where the Lord ‘will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury’ (v.5). A right understanding and awareness of who God really is, what he is like in all his majesting holiness and absolute righteousness, should create in us sinners a healthy fear of him; as Jesus said:

Luke 12:4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!

This is someone who believes he is experiencing the discipline and correction of the Lord, who is trembling and terrified in the presence of YHWH. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps.111:10). And yet that fear does not drive him to try to hide from the Lord but rather to turn to the Lord, to cry out to the Lord.

How Long?

His fourth cry to YHWH trails off. He doesn’t finish his thought; ‘and you, LORD…’ He doesn’t know what to say, but he knows to whom to direct his cry. ‘You, YHWH…’ I don’t even know what I need, but I know I need you.

All he can say is ‘How long?’ The implication is that it’s been too long, that he can’t endure much longer. But within the ‘how long’ is implicit hope, that things are not as they ought to be, but he is holding on to a promise that one day all will be made right. How long?

Save For Your Steadfast Love

Psalm 6:4 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?

Turn, YHWH. Turn away your anger and wrath. Save me. Why? Not for any good that I have done, but because of your own character. Because of your promises. Because of your faithfulness. Because of your covenant love. Save me, not because of who I am, but because of who you are.

Save me. Why? Because in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? This is not a denial of the conscious experience of the afterlife; we see clear signs of that even in the Old Testament; in Psalm 139 ‘If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!’

Job says:

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

For the believer in Jesus, to be ‘away from the body’ is to be ‘at home with the Lord’ (2Cor.5:8).

But the focus in the Old Testament is on worship in the congregation. We were created to worship; created to draw near together, to remember together and to remind one another of the goodness of God. The grave robs us of what we were created to do, and robs God of his due. It robs us of true human dignity and purpose. If he delivers us it frees us to sing to the praise of his glory.

Godly Grief Leads to Repentance and Salvation

Psalm 6:6 I am weary with my moaning;

every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

7 My eye wastes away because of grief;

it grows weak because of all my foes.

There is no request in this section, only an expression of overwhelming grief. It is right to grieve over our sins. True sorrow over sin turns the Lord’s heart toward us. A godly repentant grief over sin brings salvation (2Cor.7:9-10). One day God will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Rev.21:4).

Depart From Me

Psalm 6:8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,

for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

9 The LORD has heard my plea;

the LORD accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;

they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

There is a drastic change in the tone of this final section of the Psalm. As far as we know, nothing has changed in the circumstances. But the Anointed has run to the LORD for help, brought his request to the LORD, in humility and repentance, and is confident that the LORD has heard his weeping, the LORD has heard his request for grace, and that the LORD will accept his prayer.

Jesus; David’s Greater Son

There are a couple Jesus sightings in this Psalm that I want to bring to your attention. This is a Psalm of David, but David’s greater Son is the one who experienced the full reality of this Psalm, where David’s experience was only a shadow. ‘My soul is greatly troubled;’ Jesus takes these words on his lips in John 12

John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

We see this trouble of soul, this weeping in the garden of Gethsemane

Matthew 26:37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Jesus was about to drink the cup of the wrath of almighty God against all my sin on the cross, and the thought of it shook him to the core of his being.

What are you facing? Jesus understands. He is the ‘Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief’ (Is.53:3). You can ‘cast your cares on him, because he cares for you’ (1Pet.5:7).

‘Depart from me, all you workers of evil.’ Jesus also speaks these words, no longer as the suffering servant, but now as the sovereign returning king, purging his kingdom of all who have set themselves in rebellion against him.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

These are seemingly on his side, but have refused to come to him on his terms; they seek to impress him with what they do, not coming in humility, acknowledging their need, desperate for grace, eager for relationship. This is the only way we may come to him. Any other way, and we are ‘workers of evil’ and will be the ones who are ‘ashamed and greatly troubled’. Either we receive by faith that he was ‘greatly troubled’ for us, or we will be ‘greatly troubled’ before him on that day.

***

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

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