How Long, O Lord?

Psalm 6 “How Long, O Lord?”

We have been in this section of lament Psalms for 4 weeks now, stretching from Psalm 3 to Psalm 7. We have one more week to go before we encounter a different type of psalm. Several weeks ago, my wife asked me about this sermon series in the Psalms, and wondered if I had trouble finding something new to say. She wondered if there was going to be a lot of repetition. I thought I was going to have that problem. But every week I find something new about God and his grace. God’s Word is amazing.

In my last church, we had a retired pastor who taught Sunday School. His theme one year was the unsearchable riches of Christ. I asked him when he was going to finish his series. His response: “It’s the unsearchable riches…so no time soon.” We’ll discover more and more about God throughout eternity. I hope you will discover with me not that these psalms are lamentable but that they are full of God’s treasure for us.

We are at Psalm 6. Psalms 1-2 are life from God’s perspective. The righteous flourish; the wicked perish. Psalms 3-7 are life from the perspective of a fallen, sinful world. In Psalms 3-5, things have not been that terrible. David has enemies, but he has found God as his refuge and is trusting in Him. In Psalm 6 the bottom has completely dropped out of David’s world. We aren’t sure of the exact circumstances, but it did involve some of his enemies.

David is drowning in grief. What will he do? Our culture struggles to handle grief. We mask it with pleasure or medicine. If we see a friend facing grief, we often don’t know what to do, and hope they find someone that can help them. Sometimes even in the church, you are likely to get the response: “just trust God and be joyful.”

The Psalms see the locomotive of grief barreling toward them and they stare it down. My prayer is that these lament Psalms will help you live in a grief-filled world. Not just as you face your own grief, but as you comfort others who grieving.

Read Psalm 6

We can divide up the Psalm into 2 parts:
-Verses 1-7 are David’s pleas to God mixed with the description of his grief.
-Verse 8-10 speak of David’s confidence that God has heard him.

We will first look at the 5 ways grief is described, then investigate how David became confident in God.

First: Grief Described:

1. Grief feels like God is angry (1)
Because of his intense grief, David feels like God is angry with him. His prayer is that God would not use anger or wrath toward him. David was under God’s discipline.
God’s discipline is given to his children because he loves them. But in the midst of God’s work in his children’s lives, it may seem like God is angry or that God has forsaken us. But God is at work not as an angry judge, but as a loving Father.

2. Grief is anguish of the soul and body (2-3)
David prays for God’s grace because he is weak. This word can also be translated “languish.” Other places it is used to describe a leaf withering (Isaiah 24:7; Joel 1:10). Think of the sun scorching a green leaf until it is dry enough to crumble in your fingers. That’s what grief does to the soul. Grief feels like a desert in your heart.

Verses 2-3 use the word “vex” in the KJV or “trouble” in other translations. Anguish would be a good translation. David’s bones are in anguish and so is his soul. Bones refers to the inner person, the core of who you are. The O.T. sees less of a distinction between the body and soul that we might see. The body and soul are connected. We know that. But perhaps more than we realize. Grief of the soul wilts the body. Sickness in the body can wither the soul. We could translated the last part of verse 2 into verse 3 like this: “Heal me, O LORD, for I am in agony to my core. My whole person is in great anguish!”

3. Grief feels like it will never end (3)
The cry “How long, O Lord” is the cry of a person who wonders if God will ever answer. It is the cry of a person who wonders if God will ever take away his hand of discipline. This is a cry of someone who feels trapped in grief that seems like it will never end. This is the cry of someone that has a life-long affliction or trial.

4. Grief feels like death (4-5)
David feels like he is going to die. That’s how bad his anguish is. “God,” he cries, “how can I serve you, how can I praise you on this earth if I’m dead!” He knows that his only hope is God’s mercy. This word for mercy is the word we saw last week- khesed, which means loving kindness or faithful love. Love based on God’s promise to us. The only thing that will rescue David is God’s love. When we are trapped in grief, the only thing that can help us is God’s love…even if we don’t feel like God loves us.

5. Grief feels drowning in tears (6-7)
Grief is exhausting. Sleepless nights. Crying yourself to sleep. You can’t see because your eyes are constantly filled with tears. Burning and blurry. This description is of a person who is drowning in grief…swimming in tears. There is absolutely nothing left.

I don’t know if you have been here before. If you are here right now, its OK. The Bible takes on the deepest human anguish unflinchingly. It will happen. It doesn’t cover it up, or paste on a fake smile. The question is, when you have cried all your tears, when you have prayed all your prayers, what happens next?

Second: Confidence described (8-10)
All of sudden the psalmist takes a huge turn. It was midnight and suddenly the sun is shining high in the sky. Overwhelming grief is replaced with confidence. David tells the source of his grief—his enemies—to get going. He has confidence that God has heard his prayer and that his enemies would be gone.

What just happened? Why the change? The transition between verse 7 and verse 8 should be a shock to our system. Like stepping out of your warm house into a nice -20 NY night. If you have been with us on Sunday evenings, you will remember the 3 stages of lament psalms: disorientation, reorientation, and orientation. It seems like we skipped a stage.

How did David go from overwhelming grief to confidence in God? What did he do? I want to know! NOTHING. It doesn’t say. “Tell us, David, I want my grief to go away!”

We American love instructions. We want the map or GPS to tell us how to get from point A to point B. We have 12 step programs, we have instructions on how to assemble furniture. We wish babies came with instruction manuals. I’m not sure how Zachariah survived 2 years so far, and how we survived. Somehow we have learned to manage and care for him.

Some people say the Bible is our instruction manual for life. Certainly God’s Word guides in how to live for him. But it is more than that. It is first God’s revelation of himself to us. Psalm 6 is not an instruction manual on how to overcome grief. That part is missing. It doesn’t say: here are 5 steps David took to move from grief to confidence. Other Psalms do talk about that, but not Psalm 6. And Psalm 6 has some of the deepest grief in the book. What happened between verses 7 and 8? God. God happened between verses 7 and 8. God did everything. When David was crying into the might, God did something. God heard his prayer and answered him. The only real answer to grief this deep is the sovereign work of God in our lives. And for that we pray and wait.

David received God’s grace in his time of need. Let’s look at verse 10 carefully. The enemies are still around; they will or shall be ashamed and turn back in a moment. That’s how we live in this world before God makes all things new. We have confidence and hope that God loves us. We find him as our refuge and strength. But, we will still face evil, sin, and death. But we have God. And he loves us.

After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples. In the account in Luke, he says this to them: “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” The Psalms speak of Jesus. They point to him in a myriad of ways. We think of Jesus’ words on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That’s the beginning of Psalm 22. The lament psalms point to the anguish of Jesus’ suffering for us. Think of his prayer in the garden in Luke 22:

“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

I think also of Hebrews 5:7-9
7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him…

Jesus is not just a good example of suffering. He bore the grief and suffering for us. Jesus lived Psalm 6. He bore suffering and grief beyond what we could bear, and came out on the other side victorious. By his suffering he rescued us from sin and paved the way to heaven, where one day, all grief will be obliterated.

Isaiah 53:3-5
3 He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.

As we wait for heaven…we will cry. We will lose loved ones to death. We will face death ourselves. We will live with broken bodies and broken hearts.

How long, O Lord?!

We long for Christ to return and wipe away every tear. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come!