Psalm 6 - Deliver me

Sometimes we imagine that certain people cope well with things and that we are the only ones who struggle. In our journey through the Psalms we have already realised that David is a significant character in this book, with his voice lying behind much of what we read.

David was King in Israel and in all sorts of ways David was a very capable King. He was a successful military leader, a strong ruler and popular head of state. But in Psalm 6 we find a very vulnerable David.

David is ‘faint’ (vs 2), his bones are ‘in agony’ (vs 2), and his soul is in ‘deep anguish’ (vs 3). David is not in a good place. More than that as he searches his heart he realises that he is not where he should be in his relationship with God. David fears God’s anger, God’s discipline, God’s wrath (vs 1). 

Where does this weak and troubled David turn? When we first meet David, in 1 Samuel 16, we are told that he was ‘a man after God’s own heart’. The more we read of David’s story, and the more we read of the Psalms, the more we realise that David was not always strong and he was not always right. However what marked David out was that time and again in whatever situation he found himself, his heart turned to God.

So in this Psalm David calls to God for all that he needs; mercy, healing, and a deep experience of God’s love. David is worn out, his bed has become a place he dreads, a place of no sleep and tears. Even though this has been his experience today David is confident that God has heard his (as yet unanswered) prayer. So a Psalm that began with a cry for mercy ends with the assurance of mercy received. 

Pause for thought: There is much turmoil in the middle of this Psalm. However it is God’s mercy, asked for and received, that frames David’s life. How is it with your heart today? Take the opportunity of these moments to seek God’s mercy, thankful that He hears the cries of your heart.