Psalm 6: When the darkness doesn't leave!!!
Ever felt like you couldn’t take one more step in life? Ever felt like darkness was covering you like a smothering blanket? Ever felt so sad and alone that it physically hurt? Ever felt so sad that you saw no hope in this life, and you wanted out?
I know I have…and more than likely you have too.
We all go though things in this life that deeply wound us and as the events mount up, and those wounds are not given time to heal - we feel the dreaded sting of depression. I know I have. There have been periods of time in my own life where my depression has been deep and it has been deadly, with overwhelming thoughts of just checking out of this life because of what was going on.
When I was at my worst, for the first time in my life (up to that point) I knew how I was going to do it. Life was so dark for me, I could see no good in it, so I wanted out. I remember it vividly, even now many, many years later. There were three things from that night that still stick with me, they are:
I called out to God - I just put a song called “Cry Out To Jesus” by Third Day, on repeat - and called out to Jesus “Jesus help…” over and over and over again.
Then in a vision/dream I was taken to a place of complete darkness, there was no light there at all. And the only noise I could hear was myself screaming. I was alone, totally alone - the presence of God was not there at all. I knew then…that was exactly what God had saved me from. And he was saving me from the darkest depths of sin and despair.
Jesus heard me and acted on it. I was in bed, awake, but with my eyes shut and I felt the physical touch of a very large hand over my upper body (I’m a big guy, and so it was a very large hand as it covered all of my upper body). Peace swept over me, even though there still seemed to be a battle in my spirit.
Psalm 34:17 reminds us that “The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.” - if we call out to Him, then he will hear our pleas and will act on them to save us from destruction.
King David - despite all his glory, all his wealth, all his heightened reputation, all his skill in battle, all his closeness to Yahweh - still suffered from depression. His depression stemmed mostly from being constantly attacked by family, friends and distant enemies alike. At times, it was due to his sin.
Psalm 6 is a cry from the deepest depths of King David’s heart and soul to God. In it we will find statements and phrases that are common to many of us.
Psalm 6 says…
Verse 1: “O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage.”
Sometimes (not all the time though) our despair and depression is a direct result of our sinful actions and attitudes.
If we are Christians and living in sin, or holding onto sinful attitudes, then there will be a war within our soul. Our sinful nature, inherited at birth wars against the Holy Spirit which resides in us when we believe in Jesus as our saviour.
That war will bring about spiritual and emotional turmoil to our lives.
And like a good father - God will rebuke, chastise and discipline his children if they are disobedient.
Verses 2-3: “Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me?”
How often do we cry out to God like this? When life is a real struggle and nothing seems to be going right - and we literally feel like our bodies and minds are failing us because of the despair.
I am guessing that any Christian who has lived long enough has experienced painful and traumatic times in their lives. Times that have left emotional, physical and spiritual scars on them - body, mind, soul. And when we get to that place, we cry out, just like David did.
We cry out “Hey God…how long do I have to endure this? How long before I get a victory in my life? God, please have some compassion on me!!!
What this psalm does tell us is this - “It’s okay to be brutally honest with God - he already knows how you are feeling, and the causes.”
Verses 4-5: “Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave?”
Personally I love these verses. David just lets out his despair and his logical reasoning at the same time. There is nothing like well thought out lamenting.
Firstly, David calls out to be rescued…he is acknowledging that his situation is going to overwhelm him…we all will have times in our lives that threaten to overwhelm us. Either we have been through some already, we are in one now, or you will soon face one.
But even in the midst of his pain David worships God and presents us with a glimpse of God’s divine character when he says “because of your unfailing love”…this phrase is one that gets repeated several times in David’s psalms.
God has an abundance of unfailing love…just think about that for a moment…”Unfailing Love”….we cannot get that from another human being. Only God has unfailing love, and because of that unfailing love he is able and willing to rescue us from things that threaten to destroy us.
David isn’t finished in these verses - he ramps up the logic where is saying “Hey God…here I am still praising you, but I can’t do that if I’m dead. Nobody can talk to you while they rot in the dirt!” - Not only is David articulating the depth and severity of his situation, but he is also letting God know “Hey I want to be around to continue praising and worshiping you and not six feet under”.
This stance is one we can and need to take with God.
Verse 6-7: “I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. My vision is blurred by grief; my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.”
Tears….tears…and more tears. We have all been there sometime in our life…right. Those days or nights when we have faced situations that cut us deep, and it feels like our world is caving in around us.
Or those days and nights when it all gets too hard - when failure after failure, disappointment after disappointment, setback after setback washes over you like a series of tsunamis.
Tears never make things better, tears never make the pain go away…all tears are is a physical manifestation of the emotional and spiritual trauma we are releasing.
But know that God sees each of those tears and makes note of them - Psalm 56:8 says “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”
Verses 8-10: “Go away, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified. May they suddenly turn back in shame.”
David concludes this psalm by making several statements aimed at those who oppose him.
In these statements he warns his enemies that God has indeed heard his prayer, and that God will answer his prayer - and that they had better watch out because Yahweh is coming for them.
If you are going through tough times, much like David was experiencing in this psalm, hold on to Romans 10:13 which states “ For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
God knows what you are facing, turn to him and he will do one of two things…
A) He will give you the strength to endure the season of life you are in, and you will exit out the other side of the storm stronger and more full of faith than ever before… or….
B) He will actually put a stop to the things that are afflicting you, so that they do not overwhelm you.
Either way, you need to pray that God’s will be done in your life and that God is with you.
I hope and pray that if you are facing the darkness, that you lift up the holy name of Jesus in prayer and in worship - and he will be faithful, in his unfailing love to act in your circumstances.