PSALM 6 – O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 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? Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.\

THEME OF THE DAY. REPENTANCE IS MET WITH MERCY. The Psalms have been rightly called “The windows of the soul”. They describe in vivid imagery and intense emotional transparency the wide range of human experiences. From the mountains of high praise to the deep valleys of depression, the Psalms give us a great portrait of ourselves and our ever-changing frames. The Psalms also are a great place to see the character of God in all His majestic power, blinding beauty, fear-producing holiness, and heart-warming mercy. Today’s Psalm is one of those “mercy” Psalms.

Quite a few Psalms give us a period of history prompting its writing. For instance, the familiar Psalm 51 is David pouring out his soul in repentance over his sin with Bathsheba. The Psalm we are looking at today is not one of those. We are not sure what circumstance led to its composition, but we do know what the Psalmist is experiencing. It, like Psalm 51, is a Psalm of repentance. We get a detailed picture of David feeling the chastening hand of God. He is hurting over his sin. Phrases like “I am languishing”, “My soul also is greatly troubled”, “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood by bed with tears; I drench my couch with weeping” and “My eye wastes away because of grief” are statements of inward spiritual pain resulting from God’s discipline in his life. And every child of God experiences these same pains from the rod of our heavenly Father. We know sleepless nights, unrest of heart, and even tears of sorrow over sins we have failed to deal with or refuse to give up. This Psalm is a perfect one to affirm we are God’s children by the discipline we receive from Him. A parallel New Testament passage is found in the book of Hebrews – For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:6-11).

But today’s Psalm is not all “gloom, doom and pain” from the heart of the Psalmist. In the midst of his deep and genuine repentance, a ray of hope and light shines. He writes, “The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.” Friends, this is our God. When we see our sin, exercise godly sorrow with repentance, what does He do? He hears us. He accepts us, not because of ourselves, but because of Jesus. This is hope. This is encouragement. Any and all repentance is always met with mercy. Don’t listen to conscience or the devil. True repentance always receives mercy. Rest in this truth of God. It will bring sustained joy to the heart.

PRAYER: “Father, thank You for loving me enough to correct me and always doing so in love.”

QUOTE: “Don’t grow weary of God’s correction in your life. It reveals that He has given you life in His Son.”