Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / July 7, 2024 | Summer in the Psalms - Psalm 6: How Much Longer, God?

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July 7, 2024 | Summer in the Psalms - Psalm 6: How Much Longer, God? · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're in Psalm 6 this morning, and uh Psalm 6 is uh what we would call a uh a penitential psalm, right?
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to remember that, but in the early church um there were seven psalms that they sang um as part of worship uh that specifically referenced sort of the humility and uh the submission before God that is required when we recognize that we have done wrong and we're seeking uh sort of his mercy and his favor.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and so Psalm 6 was one of those psalms that would have been sung at the temple uh during sort of uh the period of Lent.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: The interesting thing, though, about Psalm 6 is that it does not really match the framework that we would expect from some of these other penitential psalms.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: What you would expect is somebody to go, God, I've messed up.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: God, I'm sorry, please forgive me for that, and you know, basically turn uh whether it's you know, send me your grace, send me your mercy, like let me see my future days, whatever the request is, it's sort of reflective on I have done wrong.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 6 is interesting because King David is going through a real low point.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, hasn't that been like all of the Psalms with King David?
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of, you know.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um we're sort of in the Psalms are kind of grouped together in sections, and so we're sort of going through King David's Psalms right now, and oftentimes when he went to the Lord, and what God preserved for us was his his lament or his sadness or his broken heart.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: And those are good for us because we get sad and we are brokenhearted and we are depressed, and we can pray these psalms.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: The unique thing about Psalm 6, though, is David recognizes, and we don't know exactly how, but he's recognized that the hardship that he is experiencing, and he's gonna talk about it, the pain that he's going through, uh, the sadness, the anxiety, the depression, all of these things, they're from his enemies, but David recognizes that the Lord is disciplining him, chastising him, bringing correction to him because of his sin.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is why it's a penitential psalm, is because we're gonna see David basically go, Lord, I've done something wrong.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've gone against you, I've rebelled against you, and I know what you are doing through my enemies right now is a sort of response to that sin.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: You are correcting me like a father does.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: And basically, I am overwhelmed, I am anxious, I am burdened, and I don't know how much longer I can go.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: God, please will you stop?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is the nature of Psalm 6.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as we go into the text, we're going to see David begin by recognizing God as the source of his discomfort here, which for some of us might make us uncomfortable, right?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, do not discipline me in your wrath.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking, my whole being is shaken with terror.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you, Lord, how long?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: You should definitely read that last line as kind of like the just sort of the end of the question is left off.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how long?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: How long are we gonna do this thing?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the biggest part about this psalm, and the thing that is probably the biggest hurdle for us to get through, is the fact that God does discipline those whom he loves, right?
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you've been at Walmart and you see somebody who, a child who has not been disciplined, and you're like, where are your parents, right?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: You are just roaming the candy aisle right now, right?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we look at scripture and we have to understand that discipline, correction, chastisement, that God will use sort of the language of a parent to a child to explain what he is doing.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, even within that, to say, this is how one of the many ways that I express my love to you is by bringing this discipline to you at the appropriate time and place, as a response to your sin.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: You have done, you have done things against me which require this, but nevertheless, it is for your growth.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is not punitive, it is not just because he wants to see us suffer or something like that, as much as even David is going to get in some of those moments here, but rather God is causing growth.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is a consistent theme in Scripture.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like uh Proverbs talks about this over and over again.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh listen, my son, to your father's instruction, and don't reject your mother's teaching.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Listen, sons, to a father's discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: A wise son responds to his father's discipline, but a mocker doesn't listen to rebuke.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, why all the father's son?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because Psalms is written from a father to a son.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's the audience.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And what they're getting at there, as Proverbs is a book of God's wisdom, is they're like, as you hear these things and understand them, know that listening to the discipline of the Lord, working through it, growing from it, is part of what it means to draw closer to God.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, God's discipline, we're gonna get to the hard part here in a second, but God's discipline is actually something we should be thankful for.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's a natural part of his care for us.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's good for our ongoing sanctification or transformation into the image of Christ.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's drawing us towards Jesus.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's an opportunity for us to respond in repentance and faith.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of the question of the book of Job, right?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is Job going to respond in faith to the Lord even when hard things happen?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, it's a reminder that we're fallen people living in a fallen world.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: We don't anticipate the there is not going to be discipline, correction, rebuke when we get to heaven, where there is no more sin.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is something that is a product of not only our fallen world, but our fallen nature as well.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And for David, we don't know what, but he has done something, and he recognizes that God has brought difficulty to him through his enemies because of that.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: So just because um it's ultimately good, nobody said it's fun, right?
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's no part of us that looks at discipline and, or I just it's a rare bird, I'd say, who looks at discipline and is like, yes, more please, right?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: You're a kid and you're a discipline, you know, you get sent to timeout, right?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: You're chastised at work for failing to do something you should have done.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: You get a red card in soccer.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, discipline is often brought upon by our actions.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: That is good discipline, but rarely anybody ever enjoys it when it's happening.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And Psalm 6 is not going to try and make the case.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is not one of those psalms that's like, hey, on the on the level, it's good for you.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if you can look at it with a good perspective, you're gonna be happy about it.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is that's in the Bible.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is not one of those psalms.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: This is David going, How long are you gonna do this to me?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why why are we still I get that?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I get the message.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I under I understand I was wrong.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I can't take it anymore.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the language he uses is about his bones shaking.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's he's not having seizures.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh the bones uh were sort of a euphemism.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's some really beautiful language in the Old Testament.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever they refer to like organs or bones, or oftentimes they're just describing their whole body.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I am overwhelmed with grief.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: He's gonna mention later on that he has been soaking his bed with tears.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I am I am shaking, I'm in terror.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: I have immense anxiety, I am depressed, I am saddened, like his enemies are causing this to him, but he recognizes that the Lord has allowed them to prosper for a time.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's another interesting element to this is that um there are periods, even in David's life, where David would sin and God would bring a specific judgment against him.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, this is because of what you've done.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And a prophet maybe would tell David.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's like the case with uh his sin with Bathsheba.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but in other locations, David just senses uh that the natural sort of course of what is going on doesn't match really with what he has seen the promises of God to be, and therefore his conclusion is well, God has intervened in this moment specifically to bring about this hardship.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um many times it would look like the natural course of sin.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we know, for instance, like David, and I'm speculating here, this is we don't know what this psalm is about, but for instance, we know that David had a period of time, this is actually back to the story with Bathsheba, where he stayed in Jerusalem when he should have been away at war with his armies.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: He was having them sort of fight by proxy, and he was a king that should have been with his army.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're like, well, did God sort of give his enemies victory because he wasn't carrying out his duty?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like, where is it that the enemies have come and have sort of taken over here?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: But whatever it is, David understands intuitively and through prayer and through the Spirit, he's like, this is not just normal.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I know that God's hand is behind this.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh David is going to talk about his enemies, but in reality he understands that the Lord is working through them.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so David asks these big questions.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, like, God, why are you so angry with me?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Why won't you just give me a break?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Will you please have mercy on me?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: When will this end?
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: I think Psalm 6, if I were presenting a case for why God doesn't need a PR team, okay, this would be one of those Psalms.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because if God was so concerned, as everybody in our world today is about presenting this perfect image, not having any criticism, needing to sort of massage the headlines and all of those things, you would not put Psalm 6 in your word, right?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because all David is going to do here is be like, I don't get it.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm mad about it, and in fact, I uh I'm tired that you haven't responded to me.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is God saying that he is comfortable and in fact invites us, even in the most difficult and brutal times in our lives, to go to him in prayer.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And that is why these psalms are included.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you read through the Psalms and you're like, oh, I can't imagine somebody saying that, like, it's because God wants us to know, He's like, I can take it.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm big enough to handle David saying that I was angry and wrathful with him and that I wasn't responding to him in love, right?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: God is big enough to handle those kinds of things.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so instead of silence in these moments, we should go to the Lord.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: As we move on, though, this is just going to continue.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: David is now going to turn this into his petition to God.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to ask him now, right?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's like he's been asking these questions.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: God, how long are you going to do this to me?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: I don't see the end.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Then he says, Turn, Lord, rescue me, save me because of your faithful love.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: For those there is no remembrance of you in death, who can thank you and sheol?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Just as the source of David's suffering in this case is from the Lord, the source of his deliverance is going to be from the Lord as well.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so he is both praying to God and asking about God's timing, God's intention, and all of those things.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: In the back of his mind, you can imagine, David is a faithful man, understanding that God is working something out, but his questions right now are the particulars.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Yeah, but God, what about tomorrow?
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: Why are we still walking through this?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: I've gotten the lesson.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so what David does then in his petition is he brings up two things, two reasons why the Lord should respond to his prayer now.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: The first one is he says, God, you have a covenant love for me, your faithful love.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's what it is in the Hebrew.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's a specific kind of God's love that he's referencing, which is the love presented in his covenant promises.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, that's number one.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: The number two is I can't worship you when I'm dead, right?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's kind of funny, okay?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, God, I can't, I can't do this.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm dying right now.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, how do you expect me to bring sacrifices to your temple when I'm in a grave?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so David is going to bring these two things out.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: And when he talks about God's covenant love, um, like I said, it is a particular commitment that he's referencing.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: God uh shows his love to the world in many, many ways, right?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: But his covenant love is a particular kind of love that he has promised will always endure no matter what.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is the kind of love that at this point in time he has for the nation of Israel, and in today's world, he has with anybody who has trusted in Christ.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just like there is a difference between saying you love your best friend and then you have made a commitment to love a spouse in the covenant of marriage.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: There is a difference here between what David is referencing, and he's going to the most extreme form.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Lord, this is the kind of love that you said is enduring.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: We'll go throughout the generations, we'll move from one to the next.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, even when we sin against you, God, you have said that you are going to love us.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And what David is saying is, I don't feel that love right now.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't feel like you love me.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't feel like you care about me.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, you should answer my prayer because it would be a sign that you do love me.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's um a unique, I think, characteristic of us that the moment we start to doubt, we sort of make these grand claims.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: A couple months ago, Hannah and I were driving to Arkansas for a vacation, and we were taking my car, which it's a 10-year-old car, it's been great for us.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's got almost a hundred thousand miles, and um the like day we're leaving, we got in the car, we've got a baby in the back, it's loaded to the gills, my AC stops working in my car, right?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: On, and it's like not cool outside.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so we drive down to Arkansas, and and the whole time, right, it's like you're just you're talking, your backs are sweating, you know, you've got a b a baby in the back that is also very hot.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like all these things are going on.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: And in my mind, I was like, what a piece of junk this car is.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, of course it's when we're trying to drive down there, of course it's a four-hour trip where my AC doesn't work.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then the next day, one of those weird things that happens, you the car just starts working again, right?
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: The AC is working.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is what I'm reminded of when I see David here.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not, I'm not trying to, I'm trying to balance, I'm not trying to be make light of what David is saying.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: But my point is there is a difference between the truth and what we feel.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, Psalm 6 is what David feels, okay?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: We often don't feel maybe that God is carrying out his promises the way that he has said he would.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: That is not the truth of the matter.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, God often invokes his own covenant love to describe why he is going to continue to care for Israel even though they have disobeyed.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like overwhelmingly, God says, My covenant love shows that I stick with you even when you've messed up.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: And David is like, I've messed up and you're not with me, right?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: David is in a season and he doesn't feel like God is with him.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing, though, that David brings up is he says, God, I can't praise you when I'm dead.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there is a huge part of the worship of the Lord, particularly in the Old Testament, when we see the nation of Israel, where they are called to remember God.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this is their oral tradition, their holidays, names, uh, altars that they put up everywhere, public gatherings, rituals, sacrifices.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many things that are a part of the Israelite culture that are about sort of jogging your memory that God has done and been faithful to your ancestors, and therefore you can expect that he will be faithful to you.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna set up stones here, we're gonna have this holiday, we're gonna do this sacrifice regularly so that we would not forget God and his good works.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so what David is referencing when he talks about remembrance there, right?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is this is what he's getting at, is he's like, Lord, I know uh that you desire for us to remember your good works.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not that David is saying, when he references Sheol, Sheol is like the shorthand version in the Old Testament for like the realm of the dead.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's not the same thing as heaven or hell.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's just saying the point David is making is like, I can't praise you in the land of the living when I'm not living.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like God, I know you want the living to remember you.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: I know you want us to bring worship into your heavenly throne room because of your good works, and I can't do that if you're gonna kill me.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so David here is appealing to these two things.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: So is this what it looks like to bargain with God?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Or is David just sort of presenting the facts?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, who knows?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what exactly is in David's heart, but I do know that in times of my greatest distress, I've often made prayers that sound like this.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Where I'm just going, like, Lord, if you would just, like, God, where are we at?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: What's going on?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I want to see you do this because, God, you've said you would.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Those kinds of prayers.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, I know, I'm sure there are many of you, right, who have made some kind of prayer where you're like, Lord, I'll go back to church.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'll start reading my Bible again, I'll start like giving to the, I'll start whatever it is, Lord, I'll start doing it again if you answer my prayer.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: We've all been in the negotiating table with God.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Two things to keep in mind when you're there.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: One, you never come with leverage.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there is never a situation where you go before God and He's like, wow, you have you have made a good point there.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I didn't think of that one.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: We don't come with leverage before the king of the universe in those moments where God has graciously, and I I know plenty of times where it happens, where he does the thing that we've asked, and then we're like, okay, well, now I am gonna follow through, I am gonna do those things.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: You need to understand it's out of divine love that he does that, not divine need.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're reminded of Matthew 3 here, where Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, and he's like, God can raise up sons of Abraham from these stones.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: He does not need us, but he desires to have a relationship with us and for us to know Christ as our Savior.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so God often does work through these things, and he's like, Okay, you'll do the thing, sure, but I'm doing it because I love you, right?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we never come before God with leverage.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Having said that, there are a number of examples in the Bible where people pray like this, and it moves God to action.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: A good example would be at the end of Deuteronomy 9.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: We actually talked about it two springs ago, um, or just this past spring, excuse me, where Moses is the intercessor, right?
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And he appeals to God's reputation before the nations, and he's going, like, Lord, if you don't deliver like, well, let me take a step back.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: What God wants to do is destroy Israel, and Moses is like, please don't.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And his prayer is he says, Lord, what will the nations around us say if you destroy your people, right?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is unique about these prayers, and if you're going to sort of make these kinds of appeals to God, what you need to keep in mind is that when they are successful, they are always prayed within the will of God.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, what that means is nobody in the Bible has ever gone before God and said, Lord, I, you know what, like, show me you're not evil and do this thing.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Show me that you actually, you know, are not the one, the author of my pain.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, show me, God, prove to me.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like these challenges to God are never responded to well.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: But when we pray within God's will, which is what David is doing, he says, like, Lord, you have promised to love me.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: I want to see that love again.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, I know you want me to worship you.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: I promise that if this happens, like I'm you will see my worship, but I can't do it when I'm dead.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: David is praying within the will of God.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't have any sort of leverage, but praying like this, God preserves this in his word for a reason.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is a good prayer.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: As we move on, though, we get to the hardest part of this psalm, which is simply, I mean, David is it's absolutely brutal, right?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm weary from my groaning.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: With my tears, I dampen my bed and drench my couch every night.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: My eyes are swollen from grief.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: They grow old because of all of my enemies.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's not um a huge point to make from this section.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is just David putting words to how he feels, right?
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it's it's almost for those of you who struggle with poetry, okay?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um psalms are probably difficult for you at times because the language that is used is just so expressive.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes it's not facts, it is how I feel.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for those of you who very much respond to that, the psalms are probably a great place of worship for you.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: But David is feeling right here.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, really, the only point that I want to make is, and I have made it a couple times, but I think this is probably the best place to do it, is that you have to remember as you're reading through the Psalms, God is preserving this for a reason.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Why did God preserve this Psalm of David?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think there's an element of David's absolute, sort of brokenhearted, I mean, he is suffering physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, like all of these things are happening to him.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: His enemies are on the outside, but he knows it's this divine sort of retribution for what he has done.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: And this is his response.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that it's a great reminder to us that praying to the Lord is not necessarily, boy, I woke up with my cup of coffee, I opened my highlighted Bible, you know, I've got my journal next to me, the sun is streaming through the window and just casting the perfect glow.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's not always this picturesque moment of sort of sitting down and going before the Lord, right?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it is in cries of pain and anguish and anxiety and depression.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's 30 seconds, it's random thoughts, but all of those things, it's going to the Lord in prayer.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some of us who are walking through seasons of pain or have in the past or will in the future, and instead of sort of accessing that path, that communication channel, we isolate, we isolate from our friends, but really most of all, we isolate from the Lord, and then we kind of begin to wonder like, why am I feeling lonely and like God has left me?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, well, you you stop talking to him.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: And the hard part about that is speaking to the Lord and in fact re-engaging that communication with him, like delivering these things up to him, even just these painful moments, is not something that feels natural.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, it's not something that you are going to probably feel the fruit of, or in other words, feel comfort from doing just because you did it once.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: David is somebody who's going before the throne of God over and over and over and over again, and the wide variety of his prayers are a sign that he brought everything to God.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: And as he brings everything to God and expects a response from God every single time that is born out of experience, right?
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: He is not somebody who once a year or just when he's at the very bottom sort of sends up this flare prayer and it's just like, God, do something if you will.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we do that, but then we sort of dive back in over again.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I would just encourage you, you know, like if you're at that place where you're like, I don't even know what to say, pray Psalm 6.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: You can pray over these Psalms.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: I encourage you to do it.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: Pray over these Psalms.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine yourself in David's shoes.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: Use his words to sort of provide words to your own emotions and pray these things to the Lord.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: But don't back away, even if you feel like this.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: As we close out Psalm 6, we see that David is, it's going to be kind of jarring, but he's really he's gonna almost do a 180.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he's now going to start warning his enemies that their destruction is imminent.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: It says, Depart from me, all evildoers, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord has heard my plea for help, the Lord accepts my prayer.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: All my enemies will be ashamed and shake with terror, they will turn back and suddenly be disgraced.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: Total flip here and attitude.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: You almost get whiplash, especially from the last couple verses.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, we don't know.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is this does this kind of prayer immediately follow what just came before?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I've drenched my couch in tears.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's like, watch out, everybody, you know, God is coming.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but in whatever sort of timeline it happens in, for David, these are connected emotions.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so what he is doing here is just as he recognizes his discipline is through God, or from God, through his enemies, rather, that a sign of God's deliverance will be then when he's able to defeat those enemies, right?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's going to overcome his circumstances.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then David is kind of, we've done this the last couple weeks, you know, he mentions his enemies a lot and what will happen to them.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this is just sort of one of the ways that David praises the Lord is by describing how God is going to handle those who oppose him.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: And he has really three reasons for confidence.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: He says, God, you have heard me.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: God, you have accepted my prayer, and God, you're going to destroy them, right?
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because even though the Lord has used David's enemies, we might even say as a tool for his discipline, they are still the wicked who have rebelled against God.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: And God still has plans for the wicked.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Nevertheless, David recognizes, he's like, you guys need to get your stuff in order because God has been using you for a period of time to teach me a lesson, but ultimately you've got a bigger lesson coming, right?
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: So this is a reminder for us as this closes out Psalm 6, that as David, he kind of turns the page, right?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: All seasons ultimately have their time and place.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, seasons of grief and longing and desperation, they do change into a different season.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And David is looking ahead to that season.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: The plans of God never fail, only that our understanding of his timeline is rather short.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: And there are moments when we're in that timeline, when we're in the midst, sort of the crucible, right?
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: Where we're just going like, we're asking these questions.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like, Lord, how long?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: For what purpose have I not learned?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: And in God's infinite wisdom, and he just goes, Not yet.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: But know that it is coming ultimately for your good, right?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is how we walk through and process these things.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: We have to remember Proverbs, that ultimately what is happening to David here is good for him, even though he is not loving it, right?
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Just as any child needs to be disciplined in order for them to grow up and be a healthy adult, right?
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: It is a necessary part of growing up.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: It is for us too as we grow up in God's kingdom.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_00: So a couple things I want you to take away from this this morning.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: The first is that every, like I said, every season is temporary, but all of them can draw us closer to Christ.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: Really emphasizing can there, because some of us walk through these seasons and don't use it for the purpose that is intended.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and this is all seasons.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is seasons of uh fantastic joy and success and um sort of blessing.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Those seasons can draw us closer to Christ if we would simply acknowledge what he is doing and be in thankfulness and appreciation.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes that's actually the when we don't go to God is when things are going well.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then there are the other seasons that are difficult and we experience hardship and discouragement.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we do go to God there, but then it's just like, God, when are we going back to the other seasons, right?
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: And all of these circumstances, they can be used to draw us closer to Christ.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: Two things to keep in mind, though.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: All of this information is for those who know Jesus as their Savior.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: The main way that God is transforming you, right, is through discipline into looking like the Son of God.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: And as he is doing that, right, there are a number of ways that he will do it, but it is only for those who have accepted the gift of salvation.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: David might expect that God is going to discipline him as his dearly beloved child because he is a child of God, because he is somebody who is adopted into the kingdom of God.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, like understanding this, we should have an expectation that God is going to do these things, that we should be able to see him moving and working in these ways because we have accepted Christ as our Savior.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: There are many other, like the wicked that David references at the end of his psalm.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are many who have not accepted Christ, and there is a different sort of judgment there, right?
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: But for David, he goes in his understanding like this is part of the process, and this season is going to be used for my growth.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: God is transforming us into the image of Christ because He is holy, He is our Savior, He's our Messiah, He is our King, right?
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: We want to look like Him, and this is part of it.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, the moments of discipline might be the most painful, but they bring the most growth.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, truth that we wish wasn't true, right?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um I would love it.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I'll be honest with you, one of my prayers is uh I very much rely on God telling me in James that if I pray for wisdom, he's going to give it to me.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so I ask for wisdom often.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: And also one of my prayers is that I would learn it through his word and not by experience.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: I like the easy lessons.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a huge fan of them.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but I also recognize that some of the hardest moments in my life are the times when I've actually begin to understand some of the things that God has been telling to me that I've only just heard beforehand.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we do fall short, like David did here, right?
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, God's promises come alongside us as a loving father to provide this correction and discipline.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: The truth is, God's love had not left David, but rather was being expressed through this moment.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: And anybody who has had to deliver discipline in any respect understands if you love the person who is receiving it, why that is a conflicting emotion, but at the same time why it is necessary for their good.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is how God is working through these things.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: And if we would respond to those moments of pain, when we recognize, I'm not just saying pain writ general, okay?
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: There are ways to respond to that and draw closer to Christ.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: But Psalm 6 is David has done messed up, okay?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: And when we have messed up, what is our process of returning to the Lord look like, and how quickly will we do it?
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: Third and finally, the promises of God assure us of his presence and love, even in the toughest spots.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: God has given us promises, okay, to help us endure these moments.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: His faithful and unconditional love, that is one of his promises.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is what David is relying on.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: We have God's word, which tells us the plan for humanity, past, present, and future, and that it is truthful and we can rely upon it, that we can fall back on things like Psalm 6 and know that they are there for us.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that also that God has given us his program, which is the church, to be able to carry out all of these things in community.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: We can't separate from that, right?
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Our faith is not individualistic.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: It is supposed to be done in community.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so as we're walking through these things, we have to understand that pain and suffering is something that is actually supposed to be shared.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not that we inflict it upon others, that's the wrong kind of sharing.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: But that when we suffer and we feel pain, that we would lean on others who are around us, right?
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: And the closer our community is, uh the shorter we have to fall before we fall lean on somebody else next to us.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so God has given us these promises so that even through the toughest spots we might have his truth.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're reminded of Matthew 16, right, where he says Jesus is speaking about, this is where he speaks to Peter, and he says, like upon this rock I will build my church.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_00: And right after that he says, and not even the gates of hell will prevail against it.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: All of the difficulties in this world are something that can be overcome through Christ.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: Here in a moment, we're going to pray and then we'll transition to a time of communion.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I want you to keep in mind as we do that, as we take the Lord's table together, that this is one of the promises of God, that He is given to us as an act of remembrance, so that we might be able to walk through hardship, knowing that His promises are true, and that what we are looking at in the future is a time where there is no more pain, there is no more suffering, there's no more discipline because we've done wrong things, but rather everything is as it should be.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: As we take the Lord's table and his bread and his body, his blood, right?
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: As we do these things, we have to remember it is the forgiveness of Christ that in fact enables us to be able to pursue him at all, and that in that space we are going to walk through hardship, even sometimes brought upon by God, but it is ultimately turning us into the image of the Son, right?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for today.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you for your goodness.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I know that there are some who are probably not in the space to be able to make this prayer right now, but I thank you for your discipline.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, I thank you for how you are working out your plans, even the ones that require hardship on our part.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because, Lord, we have rebelled against you, we have fallen short of your standard, and God, oftentimes we want to go our own way.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: God, thank you.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: I thank you that you bring us back onto your path.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: But Lord, that process is not an easy one as you know, because you've included things like Psalm 6 in your word to help us walk through it.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: God, you are not shocked by our prayers.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know what is in our heart before we offer it up to you.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: You are not, it is not scandalous, Lord, when we tell you that we are angry, when we are frustrated, when we are just wondering how much longer you're going to do this.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_00: But God, rather, I do pray that because of your love, these seasons of pain would be short.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: And God, that in those moments of relief, we would lift up praise to you as you desire, just like David said.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you for these things.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_00: And most of all, we thank you for the Son of God who died so that we might be able to draw close to you.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's in his name we pray.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to take out the um the elements for the Lord's table, this is something for those who have trusted in Christ as their Savior.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because only to them are these promises true and meaningful.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus was with his disciples, and he told them, he took bread, and then when he had given thanks, he broke it, and he said, This is my body which is for you.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: Do this in remembrance of me.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: In the same way also he took the cup after supper and said, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we proclaim your death as it is the sign of our forgiveness, the absolution of our sins, the adoption into your kingdom, and God, also the anticipation that we will be corrected because you love us.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you for the resurrection, which reminds us over and over and over again, Lord, not just that you have defeated death as if that wasn't enough, but Lord, that we have a future with you where all of these seasons of pain have their end.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: All of them have their answer, and Lord, all of them have their glory ultimately, that we would use them for your goodness, Lord.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, for our goodness, as you say in Romans 8, Lord, as you are working all of these things out for our good, might we remember, Lord, that that good is what you think is good for us.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that being transformed into the Son does require pain.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we thank you for this.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the psalm that David has given to us here through your word.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's in Christ's name we pray.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for being with us.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: Love you.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_00: Have a good week.