Reflections on Psalms 6

 Psalms 06(Contemporary English Version)

1. (A psalm by David for the music leader. Use stringed instruments.) Don't punish me, LORD, or even correct me when you are angry!
   
2. Have pity on me and heal my feeble body. My bones tremble with fear,
   
3. and I am in deep distress. How long will it be?
   
4. Turn and come to my rescue. Show your wonderful love and save me, LORD.
   
5. If I die, I cannot praise you or even remember you.
   
6. My groaning has worn me out. At night my bed and pillow are soaked with tears.
   
7. Sorrow has made my eyes dim, and my sight has failed because of my enemies.
   
8. You, LORD, heard my crying, and those hateful people had better leave me alone.
   
9. You have answered my prayer and my plea for mercy.
   
10. My enemies will be ashamed and terrified, as they quickly run away in complete disgrace.

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The 6th Psalm is another Davidic Psalm prompted by suffering from illness that is further intensified by his enemies. The specific occasion is not known but the illness from which David suffered caused his bones to shake from the pain. It was so severe he feared for his life. He assumed, as we are all prone to do, that the illness was a result of God's discipline for sin in his life. We are quickly drawn to this conclusion with any prolonged suffering since we begin to have the feeling that God has abandoned us causing us to feel that our suffering is His punishment or discipline for sin in our lives. While this can be the case, it is not necessarily the reason for our suffering. It can also be an opportunity for God to display His power through our healing, or a means of producing spiritual fruit in our lives. Or, it can also be a natural result of our own poor choices.

When faced with illness or any type of suffering it is not productive to seek to know the reason for the suffering. That knowledge may come in time and it may not. But in the midst of our suffering we are not likely to know and our efforts to know may only lead to bitterness. Neither is this productive. Our best course to take is to turn to God, placing ourselves fully at His mercy, which is where we are anyway. We just need to recognize it. David's plea to God for deliverance was based on two arguments: God's faithful love, and David's inability to give God praise from the grave should he die from the illness. If God should heal him it was an opportunity for Him to display both His faithful love and His power to heal, prompting David's praise.

Through prayer, David gained confidence that God would answer and heal him which he states in verse 8: "the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping." This he voices to his enemies who were evidently gloating because of his suffering and possibly because it appeared God had abandoned him. But David confidently told them that the Lord had not abandoned him for He had heard David's plea and accepted his prayer. As a result, his enemies would be ashamed and would shake with terror.