PSALMS 6


     We will begin this lesson by quoting this Psalm in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                           Chapter 6

verse 1  "In thy great indignation,Lord, Do thou rebuke me not;
          Nor on me lay thy chastening hand In thy displeasure hot."
verse 2  "Lord, I am weak, thy mercy show, And me restore again;
          O heal me, Lord, for thou dost know My bones are filled with
          pain."
verse 3  "My soul is sorely vexed, but, Lord, how long stay wilt thou
          make? Return, O Lord, my soul set free, Save for thy
          mercies' sake.
verse 4  "Because of thee in death there shall No more remembrance be;
          Of those that in the grave do lie Who shall give thanks to
          thee?"
verse 5  "I with my groaning weary am; Through all my night of woe,
          My weeping made my bed to swim, My couch with tears to
          flow."
verse 6  "By reason of my vexing grief My eye consumes away;
          And through my foes, it waxes old In failure and decay."
verse 7  "But now depart from me, All ye that work iniquity,
          Because Jehovah heard my voice When I did mourn and cry."
verse 8  "And to my supplicating voice The Lord did hearing give;
          When I to Him address my prayer, The Lord will it receive."
verse 9  "Let all my haters be ashamed, And smitten with affright;
          In shame let them be driven back, And put to sudden flight."

     We will now begin with chapter and verse of the King James
version of Psalms chapter 6. Psalms 6:1 "{To the chief Musician on
Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.} O LORD, rebuke me not in
thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure."

     We see David asking God not to turn away from him. David, like
many of us, is very aware that he has sinned. He knows, as we do, that
he deserves to feel the rebuke of God. He is asking for mercy. Except
for the mercy of Almighty God, we would feel the displeasure of God.
The grace of God is what David is asking for. I do not believe that
David wants to avoid the chastening that makes him grow in the Lord,
He just asks that the chastening be done in love and not anger.

     Psalms 6:2 "Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I [am] weak: O LORD,
heal me; for my bones are vexed."

     We are all weak and heavy laden, burdened with a load of care. We
are told to cast our cares upon Him for He careth for us. We all cry
for mercy and not justice. In our weakness, He is strong. God heals,
not only the body, but the soul, as well. The bones being vexed means
that he is sick to the bone.

     Psalms 6:3 "My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how
long?"

     We see in this that, sin brings terrible guilt. Physical hurt can
not compare to the sorrow that comes with knowing you have sinned
against God. This sorrow is so great, that you could not endure it
very long. The only thing to do, is repent and accept forgiveness,
before it destroys you. This cry {how long} is heard under the altar
in heaven. Revelation 6:10 "And they cried with a loud voice, saying,
How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our
blood on them that dwell on the earth?"  I think that in the verse
here, in Psalms, it is saying, how long before the Saviour comes who
forgives?

     Psalms 6:4 "Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy
mercies' sake."

     Notice, David is admitting that he does not deserve God's
forgiveness. He pleads for God's mercy. It is only by the mercy of God
that any of us are forgiven. This is not only David's pleading for a
Saviour, but all of mankind's pleading for a Saviour. We can not save
ourselves. God sent His Son to save us from our sinful way of life.
Titus 2:13 "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;"  The only hope for
David, or any of us, is that God would send a Saviour. He sent Him,
not because we deserved it, but because He loved us.  He had mercy
upon us the sinners. I John 4:9 "In this was manifested the love of
God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him."  I John 4:10 "Herein is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be]
the propitiation for our sins."

     Psalms 6:5 "For in death [there is] no remembrance of thee: in
the grave who shall give thee thanks?"

     Luke 20:38 "For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living:
for all live unto him."  It is in this life, that we are grateful to
God for His blessings. It is too late to give Him thanks after we are
dead. There is nothing so silent as the grave.

     Psalms 6:6 "I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my
bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears."

     This groaning shows the intensity of the praying David is doing.
When prayer becomes so intense that you run out of words to say, you
groan things that cannot be uttered in words. This prayer brings
tears, as well. In fact, there are so many tears, the bed is wet. This
is a prayer of great agony of spirit. This is the type of prayer that
gets God's attention.

     Psalms 6:7 "Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old
because of all mine enemies."

     When a person experiences such grief as this, there are physical
signs around the eyes and in the eyes. The eyelids will become very
swollen from much crying. We would, also, see dark circles form around
the bottom of the eye on the cheek. The eyeballs themselves would
become red and have liitle lines in them. My own opinion about eyes,
is that they are the window to man's soul. We can look deep into the
eyes and see what is going on inside of man. Great sorrow of spirit
shows up first in the eyes.

     Psalms 6:8 "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the
LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping."

     Suddenly there is a change here. David's sorrow has been turned
into joy. David has gotten an answer to his prayer. What joy, at the
end of such agonizing prayer to suddenly be aware that the Lord has
heard and answered your prayer. The first thing David did is to get
rid of those evil people around him. Do not fellowship with evil
people.  People who do not put their trust in God will cause you to
get down, if you are around them. There is a time of weeping, but
praise God! it is followed by joy. The enemy may come as a storm
against us, but if we stand, he will flee. Do not stay in this
depressed state. You may weep and cry for help from God, but then
begin to thank Him and rejoice for your deliverance. The best policy
of all is; fellowship with the household of faith. You can build each
other up in His most holy faith.

     Psalms 6:9 "The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will
receive my prayer."

     In this particular instance, supplication means graciousness, or
favour, or grace. What this is saying then is this; The Lord has been
gracious to me a sinner and has forgiven me by that grace. We see the
confidence of David that all is well with him and God. We call this
praying through. Have you prayed until you knew beyond a shadow of
doubt that God heard your prayer? He knelt down feeling guilt and
shame, and arose feeling forgiven of God. Notice {will}. David is
saying, I am not doubtful that God heard my prayer and answered it. No
one can take this assurance away from you. This is called trusting
God.

     Psalms 6:10 "Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let
them return [and] be ashamed suddenly."

     We saw in the story of Job, where even his friends {so called}
had believed that the terrible thing that came on Job was because of
sin in his life. How sweet it was when these very same friends had to
come to Job for prayer, before God would forgive them for their false
accusations. David says to God here, Lord open their eyes and let them
see that I am a servant of God. Many ministers feel the terrible
rejection of those around them that David felt here. We, too, some
times want to pray; Lord open their eyes and let them see that I am a
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, doing the job He has given me to do.
We know that Jesus said in John 4:44 "For Jesus himself testified,
that a prophet hath no honour in his own country."  Usually the very
ones, whose moral support you need so badly, are the very ones who
will not support you. David, as well as workers for Jesus today, can
take comfort in the fact that Jesus' half brothers and sisters did not
believe He was Messiah until He arose from the grave.

What lesson can we glean for today out of this Psalm? This is actually
telling us how to cope with seemingly impossible problems around us.
Pray with your heart and soul. God will hear. God has already won the
war. This, too, will pass. Do not expect the people you live with, or
those around you to realize that you are really called of God. Stay
humble, dependent on God to be your support. Grow from every trial
that comes along. Search the Scriptures; for in them is life.











































                             Questions 6

1.  What type of rebuke was David asking God not to have?
2.  What is David really asking God for in verse 1?
3.  What type of chastening is David not trying to avoid?
4.  We are all weak and _____ _____.
5.  Why are we to cast our cares upon Him?
6.  We cry for mercy and not ________.
7.  What does the bones being vexed mean?
8.  What does sin bring to the sinner?
9.  What is worse than physical hurt?
10. Where is the cry {how long} heard in heaven?
11. What does the author believe is meant by {how long} here in
    Psalms?
12. David and all mankind were actually pleading for a _______.
13. Who is the blessed hope?
14. 1 John chapter 4 verses 9 and 10 describe whose love?
15. In _______ there is no remembrance of thee.
16. God is God of the _______.
17. There is nothing so silent as the ______.
18. What does David's groaning show us?
19. How much had David cried in this prayer?
20. What are some of the physical signs around, and in, the eyes that
    shows grief?
21. What does the author believe about the eyes?
22. In verse 8, David's sorrow has been turned into what?
23. What was the first thing David did when he realized God had
    answered his prayer?
24. The enemy may come as a storm, but if we stand, what happens?
25. Why is it good to fellowship with the household of faith?
26. What does supplication in verse 9 mean?
27. He knelt down feeling guilt and shame and arose feeling what?
28. What did Job have to pray for his friends?
29. A prophet hath no honour in his own _______.
30. What can workers for Jesus today, who are rejected by those around
    them, take comfort in?
31. Name some of the lessons we can glean from this chapter of Psalms.