Psalm 6
A David Psalm
1-2 Please, God, no more yelling, no more trips to the woodshed.Treat me nice for a change; I'm so starved for affection.2-3 Can't you see I'm black-and-blue, beat up badly in bones and soul? God, how long will it take for you to let up?
Father God- I think I get how David felt. Sometimes it feels like the discipline with never end. It reminds me of the times when I would be asked if I wanted my spanking now or later. A bit of a no win answer if you ask me.
Why did this psalm come up now Lord? Is there a message in the timing? These last few weeks have been a roller coaster of thoughts, feelings and circumstances for this journeyman.
David felt black and blue when he wrote this.What I know from the past is there are seasons of growth and change. Is correction a part of the process of grace? Absolutely! Do I like it? No. Doesn’t sound like David did either. Honesty was David’s default position...the place where given time and the work of your Holy Spirit he always returned to.
4-5 Break in, God, and break up this fight; if you love me at all, get me out of here. I'm no good to you dead, am I? I can't sing in your choir if I'm buried in some tomb! 6-7 I'm tired of all this—so tired. My bed has been floating forty days and nights on the flood of my tears. My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears. The sockets of my eyes are black holes; nearly blind, I squint and grope.
Father God--There he goes again...honesty and bruised in the soul is all right there. Ok, so he used poetic license a bit here, he was saying how it felt to him as he went through the process. When you are growing me, Lord, it feels as if the hurt will never end. The enemies that surrounded David were both an instrument of God’s using and at the same time out for their own ends.
When am I going to get that part Lord? That no matter what happens you are working at making the lemons into lemonade? The very people who while out for their own ends are being used by you to hone and polish your work in my life. All I need to do is co-operate, open my soul to the direction of the Spirit’s work. So often that is not my response.
8-9 Get out of here, you Devil's crew: at last God has heard my sobs. My requests have all been granted, my prayers are answered. 10 Cowards, my enemies disappear. Disgraced, they turn tail and run.
Father God--There will come an end to those who are the present cast of characters that surround, confront and confound me. There will be an ongoing process of change as to who the “enemies” are. David prayed that they would go away and be disgraced...that is a great start, but you call for more from your people don’t you?
Matthew 5:43-45
"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.
In this day, let my default position be honesty tinged with grace to those I encounter.
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