Psalm 6 (5): I am worn out

May 15, 2011

Thoughts from Psalm 6 in six parts (Each section begins with the verses I will comment on, followed by a prayer and a concluding verse).

=== 5 ===

I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.

There are no requests here, no plea for mercy or deliverance, no statement of faith, no occasion for dialogue. There are times when we have no wish to listen to reason or examine cause and effect. You would suppose that you know better than anyone what you are going through yet you can only see it from the inside and untangling reality from your perception is an almost impossible task. When someone casually asks how you are you might weigh up how you are doing financially, emotionally, professionally, arriving at an average where negatives are cancelled out by positives and you end up with a simple "OK". But David throws out all reason and appears to lose any sense of proportion. At first this appears to be a full-blown pity party but despite David's lack of objectivity we can see where his anxieties lie. His eyes grow weak for fear that he will be overtaken by his foes. In plumbing the depths of his emotions he arrives, not at objective truth, but at an understanding of where he's at and, therefore, where he must begin his recovery.

David was not a perfect king by any means but he was a man of integrity and depth. Before God he was prepared to face his demons and admit to his weaknesses. It's the way of kings and despots to be arrogant and dishonest. They feel they have to portray a man of strength with no weaknesses even though their people know this isn't true of any man. When people see you face life's difficulties with an honest and open heart they are more likely to respect you when tough decisions are to be made. It's said that Jesus was a man of sorrows yet we are prepared to follow him to the ends of the earth.

Prayer

Dear Lord, please bear with us when we open our hearts, even when they are filled with bitterness and lies. On the cross you bore all our sins so you know, first hand, all that burns within us and motivates us to do good and evil. It was not we who sought you out but you who sought us out so that we cannot claim to have found your grace by insight or sound judgement. While we were deep in sin you pulled us out. Father, lead us into all truth so that we can face life with integrity and sound judgement. Keep us from being arrogant and conceited, always having hearts open to you, so that we can be corrected and encouraged in the knowledge that you are our strength.

Verse

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (Colossians 1:21-23).

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