For the director of music.
With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.
A psalm of David.
1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint;
heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, LORD, how long?
4 Turn, LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
Comments from McGurgle:
David begins this psalm by rehearsing the sad condition in which he found himself. The word's are faint, agony and anguish. These are strong word's and heartfelt. We don’t know the cause of David’s pain but whatever the cause, he sought God for the remedy. He knew that the problem could only be remedied by God Himself. Here was “a man after God’s own heart” who had not only fallen but who persisted in pretending publicly that nothing was wrong. Any Spiritual man who is out of touch with God, because of unconfessed sin, knows what it is like when prayer becomes a mere mouthing of words. There can be little doubt from the first few verses of this psalm that David is suffering from the way he has been living. David’s sin with Bathsheba was a terrible thing. She was the wife of one of his great military men who had stood faithfully on David’s behalf. David seduced her and arranged with Joab for Uriah’s murder. Then David married Bathsheba to try to cover up the whole thing.
David’s agony is expressed in several ways in this psalm:
Through a gnawing of conscience (vv. 1-5) (spiritually).
Through physical problems (vv. 6-7) (physically).
Through embarrassment of moral failure (vv. 8-10) (morally)
He pleads with God for mercy in many a sleepless night as he fills his bed with tears which Spurgeon referred to as “liquid prayers.” It had become increasingly clear to David that he wasn’t fooling anyone as he was “waxing old in his grief” and his sorrow was evident on his face. He did not want to be like this any more. This feeling and anguish of David is called conviction and for the child of God it is a gift from God, without the deep feeling of bankruptcy and brokenness there can be no true repentance and restoration.
Application
I need to ask myself if I am carrying the weight of any past sins that needs to be confessed to God? I need to ask if i have been suffering because of the way i have been living. I need to take a look at my life and confess my wrong doings, confess any evil way, motive, feeling or action. This is why the Lord has put I John 1:9 in the Bible. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." As a child of God I need to claim this truth and see my life transformed by it. How are you living?
David’s agony is expressed in several ways in this psalm:
Through a gnawing of conscience (vv. 1-5) (spiritually).
Through physical problems (vv. 6-7) (physically).
Through embarrassment of moral failure (vv. 8-10) (morally)
He pleads with God for mercy in many a sleepless night as he fills his bed with tears which Spurgeon referred to as “liquid prayers.” It had become increasingly clear to David that he wasn’t fooling anyone as he was “waxing old in his grief” and his sorrow was evident on his face. He did not want to be like this any more. This feeling and anguish of David is called conviction and for the child of God it is a gift from God, without the deep feeling of bankruptcy and brokenness there can be no true repentance and restoration.
Application
I need to ask myself if I am carrying the weight of any past sins that needs to be confessed to God? I need to ask if i have been suffering because of the way i have been living. I need to take a look at my life and confess my wrong doings, confess any evil way, motive, feeling or action. This is why the Lord has put I John 1:9 in the Bible. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." As a child of God I need to claim this truth and see my life transformed by it. How are you living?
McGurgle
