Daily Devotional • October 14
Psalm 6
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
3 My soul also is struck with terror,
while you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, save my life;
deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who can give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief;
they grow weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my supplication;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;
they shall turn back and in a moment be put to shame.
Meditation
Reading this Psalm, it’s impossible not to notice the writer’s distress. “I am languishing,” the psalmist says. And “my bones are shaking with terror.” These are the words of a desperate person. Someone in pain. Someone who needs help.
If you’re like me, often the first thing I do when I need help is try to solve the problem myself. I’m often slow to ask God for help, a reality that betrays what I actually believe—that prayer has no efficacy.
I don’t know if this psalmist has tried everything and is only now turning to God. What I do know is that it’s never, ever too late to turn to God and ask for help. If we learn anything from the parable of the lost sheep, we know that Jesus is always willing to go the extra mile for the one who seems absolutely lost. We can take a lesson from this Psalm and, the next time we’re in trouble, turn to God, tell him what’s going on, and ask him for what we need.
I love how this psalmist bargains with God. This is such a human thing to do! The psalmist reminds God that “in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?” In other words, I’m useless if you don’t help me. So, help!
God works under the logic of grace, which doesn’t require anything of us to receive his mercy and love. That said, I have a hunch that God appreciates this way of thinking, the way the psalmist puts his God-given mind to work to try to make a deal with God. After all, this is proof that the psalmist believes God is real and has the power to take action. Whatever form your prayer takes, he wants us to turn to him, and, as the psalmist says, he will hear every prayer.
Elizabeth Hamilton’s writing has appeared in the Dallas Museum of Art, Southern Humanities Review, and Texas Monthly. She has an MFA from Seattle Pacific University. Find her work at elizabethannehamilton.com
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Patna – The Church of North India (United)
