Psalms 6 NASB
¹O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath.
²Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed.
³And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O Lord-how long?
⁴Return, O Lord, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
⁵For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks?
⁶I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears.
⁷My eye has wasted away with grief; It has become old because of all my adversaries. ⁸Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. ⁹The Lord has heard my supplication, The Lord receives my prayer.
¹⁰All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.
Devotional
We know from the Bible that there can indeed be a connection between sinning and getting sick (cf. Numbers 12; John 5:14).
But illness is not always the result of sin against God (cf. Job 2:1-8; Luke 13:16; John 9:1-3).
- David sees his ailment as a punishment for his transgression against the LORD.
- David does experience his ailment as an expression of God’s wrath for what he has done (Psalms 6:2).
He begs the Lord for mercy and prays to Him for healing.
The thought that it might end in death grips him. How long will God delayed His answer (Psalms 6:3,4)?
Now see what David is going to do and what every believer must do in such a case: plead God’s goodness.
David asks the LORD to restore the relationship with his servant and to let him live. He also puts forward an argument: in the grave he can no longer praise and praise God (Psalms 6:5,6; Cf. Psalms 88:11-13; 115:17,18).
He has another reason to plead for his cure.
His enemies are waiting impatiently for his death. To possibly destroy the good that David, with God’s help, accomplished for his people (Psalm 6:9).
The thought of this gives him great sorrow. (Psalms 6:7,8; Compare Psalms 38:13, 20, 21; 41:6-9).
But… David’s enemies will be ashamed when they see the LORD heal his servant (Psalm 6:11).
For God takes heed of the wretched condition of his children.
He heard and answered David’s penetrating prayer (Psalms 6:9, 10).
David was often seriously ill (Compare Psalms 38:1-11; 41:5). But he confessed and found that the LORD forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases (cf. Psalms 103:1-5).
Therefore, whoever is sick may go to God and plead his goodness.
And thereby appeal to his Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ. He bore the penalty in our place (Isaiah 53:3-6; Matthew 8:14-17).
For God does not want the sinner to die, but that he should repent and live (Ezekiel 18:30-32).
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
Prayer Suggestion
- Thank the Lord for His forgiving grace.
Read more of these messages at: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
Download your Bible pictures from: http://bijbelplaatjes.nl
Follow me on Twitter: @schoemakerharry
Email: devotionals@harryschoemaker.nl
About Author
