Scripture Daily

Context No. 2946 of 4322 · Psalms

Context · Reflection

Psalms 6:1-10: in context

1LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath. 2Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. 3My soul is also in great anguish. But you, LORD—how long? 4Return, LORD. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness’ sake. 5For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks? 6I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears. 7My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries. 8Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. 9The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD accepts my prayer. 10May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.

This is a psalm of anguish. LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger; have mercy on me, for I am faint; heal me, for my bones are troubled and my soul is in deep anguish. How long? Every night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes waste away with grief. For most of its length the psalm is pure lament.

And then, without any change of circumstance being described, it turns: depart from me, you evildoers, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. The psalmist becomes suddenly certain, not because the trouble has lifted, but because he knows God has heard. Sometimes the assurance we most need is not that the pain has ended, but that God has heard our crying. That single certainty can steady a person in the middle of a grief that has not yet resolved.

In the middle of unresolved grief, can I come to rest, like this psalm, in the certainty that God has heard my weeping?

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