 Chastening. It is a term we don’t use much in modern Christianity. Some would view the teaching of God chastening us as a negative teaching - one that is thrown out with things like legalism and law. But the fact of God’s chastening is something that is not just an Old Testament truth that went away with the Gospel and the New Testament. God chastens those He loves and He scourges every son He accepts. Those words come straight out of the twelfth chapter of Hebrews, where we are warned not to despise when God comes to us in this way. It is proof that He loves us. David writes for us a chastening song - to help us grasp how we are to walk through these times of God’s discipline and displeasure with us.
DAVID’S PITIFUL CRY “O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD—how long?” Psalm 6:1-3 First we should probably identify when this most likely happened. This is one of seven “penitential psalms” that David wrote during the time when he was dealing with his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and the subsequent cover-up where he sent her husband Uriah to his death in battle. David was dealing with a horrific sin he had committed - and was struggling to come to grips with repentance and receiving God’s forgiveness. His first cry is for God’s mercy - that the Lord would not rebuke him and chasten him in anger and wrath. This is something we just don’t grasp as well as we should in this current day. God is angry with sin - every day. God’s wrath is not something that comes when He supposedly loses it over our sin. It is a settled disposition that He has always had toward our choice to disobey and embrace sin in our lives. David feels the displeasure of God very consciously in his heart and spirit. He cries out for God’s grace as he is “pining away.” This word speaks of a weakness and despair that seizes us when we grasp when God’s powerful hand begins the process of chastening us. David also complained of problems he felt physically. Not all sin leads to or causes sickness - but in this case David here and in other places speaks of how his health was affected by his sin. His bones were dismayed. That word means to disturb or to terrify - and speaks of something that comes upon a person suddenly. Possibly for David an illness he could feel in his bones came upon him with a suddenness that terrified him. But the malady in his physical body was nothing compared to what was going on in his soul. David used the same word again to speak of how his soul was greatly disturbed. His soul was filled with an even greater sense of being terrified and sick. He was a mess both spiritually and physically. The cry of his heart at the thought of all that was rightfully coming upon him was this - But You, O Lord — how long? David finishes this first section with a literary device called aposiopesis, “sudden stop.” It is a dramatic stop in something said - and it reveals just how devastated David is as he faces God’s chastening and realizes his sin which brought it to pass. DAVID’S 3-FOLD PLEA Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness. For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks? I am weary with my sighing; Every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; It has become old because of all my adversaries. Psalm 6:4-7 David, after initially reacting to the chastening of God, makes a three-fold request of God. He first makes a plea based on God’s grace. He calls for God to rescue and save him because of God’s covenant love. The word “lovingkindness” speaks of God’s grace and the covenant He made with His people. David appeals to this covenant and cries out for God’s grace in light of it. When we deal with chastening it is wise for us to follow David’s example and cry for mercy on the basis of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. The second plea of David was that God would rescue him and give him a second chance to serve God and honor Him. David speaks of death, which would be his eventual end if God refused to heal him. David’s life and voice would be silenced by death - and in the place of the dead (Sheol) there would be no opportunity to serve and honor God. We too should plead with God for a gracious second chance (or third or fourth, etc.) so we can honor and glorify Him as He deserves. David’s third plea was one based out of grief over sin. We could call it the deep repentance plea. David speaks of how his sin has made him grieve - sighing and weeping over his godless behavior. He used a strong figure of speech in stating this - saying that he has so many tears that they dissolve the couch upon which he sheds them. Here is where I want to take a moment to ask us to consider David’s example. Too often I hear preachers and teachers say that crying, tears, and weeping are not necessary for us to experience repentance. In principle I agree with this - because becoming upset does not necessarily mean that we’ve come to repentance. But - with that being said - I am concerned that we are encouraging a tearless repentance and confession as the norm. What I see in Scripture seems to disagree with that premise. When I read of those experiencing confession and repentance in the Word - I see people weeping and experiencing tears of sadness and grief. Could it be that we are setting ourselves up for failure by not embracing the grief that should be attending our realization and confession of sin? I fear the answer to this is seen in the current spiritual condition of the church. DAVID’S BREAKTHROUGH Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.The LORD has heard my supplication, The LORD receives my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed. Psalm 6:8-10 One of the dangers of sinning is that rather than repenting and responding to God’s chastening, a person would turn away from God further and begin to embrace the lifestyle of those who live their lives in sin and iniquity. David responded to the chastening of God in a way where he saw the folly of this kind of choice. There is a radical change in this psalm where David experiences a breakthrough with God. He turns and finds mercy, grace, and forgiveness. He begins by telling those who want him to come over to a sinful lifestyle to depart from him. He has broken through the to LORD and knows that God has heard his voice, heard his weeping, heard his request. Rather than be rejected by God - David knows that God has accepted him and receives his prayer! What a glorious thing to remember in times of chastening! God hears us as we pray and weep before Him. We don’t need to heed the siren call of the devil and the world when we find ourselves far from the Lord due to sin. That call tells us there is no hope - and that we might as well hang it up and quit. Nothing could be further from the truth. God disciplines and chastens those He LOVES! The very chastening the devil says means God hates us is actually proof that He loves us. He is using it to lead us to repentance and bring about a return to Him. God receives our prayer! He accepts us! He welcomes us back in our repentance! That is a truly glorious truth we need to embrace! David also knows that his enemies, who saw his sin and spiritual demise as an opportunity to bring him down, will be turned back by his restoration to God. They saw this as a chance to not only bring David down a few notches - but also to bring his God down as well. But when God restores us and revives our hearts our enemies take a huge shot that will dismay them. The world’s thought is this - you mess up - you are done. A mess like David’s must surely mean his is history - washed up - over. But God’s grace and forgiveness changes everything. We are restored - and our enemies are ruined. They see God’s work and are dismayed that He receives us again. They turn back from their attack - and are dismayed at grace. Chastening seems bad at first to all who receive it. Even Hebrews 12 acknowledges that. It is not pleasant to be chastened - it hurts. Oh, but what wonderful fruit it brings to us. What a marvelous harvest of forgiveness and grace is ours as God’s chastening plows our hearts, plants the seeds of repentance, and waters them with our tears. Knowing this should make us far more receptive to God’s love in the future when, due to our sin, our spiritual welfare requires that we sing the chastening song.
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Psalm 5:4-7 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You. 5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. 6 You destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit. 7 But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.
Prayer is communication with God. That is what David is teaching us in Psalm 5. There are times when you talk with God about your requests and what you need. But there are other times when God is communicating to you - even in what you pray. That is what is happening in this second part of David’s song about prayer and seeking God. David walks through a process of reminiscing about God. He reminds himself Who God is as He is seeking Him. What a good reminder this is to all of us as we come into the presence of God. We need to be reminded of Who God is - so that prayer does not become a one-way street where we don’t quite remember who exactly we are talking to as we pray. Another term for this is process is reverence. We need to revere God - honoring Him - respecting Him - even fearing Him as we approach Him to pray. David speaks of 7 different things he knows about God. His reminder of God’s character could be described as praise to God. God Takes No Pleasure in Wickedness David is basically reminded that God is holy. He does not take pleasure in wickedness. The word David uses for wickedness basically means someone who is lawless and a criminal. Those who disobey God and His word - who fight against His will being established in the world are lawless criminals - and God takes no pleasure in their behavior. There is a thought that may shock us a little. Disobedience to God is not just a crime against Sunday School lessons - it is a crime against the God of the universe Who should be obeyed. No Evil Dwells with God Evil is the word “ra” which is the basic word for evil in Hebrew. Thus we see the lawless criminal is evil in God’s sight. Evil is a word we don’t use that much any longer - because to many it is offensive. You can ask someone if they have sinned or are a sinner, and many will agree with you that they are a sinner or have sinned. But ask someone if they are evil - and they will take exception with being described by that Word. Yet to set ourselves in a contrary way than God’s way IS evil. And God said that evil will not receive any kind of hospitality from Him. that is what the word “dwells” means here. It speaks of hospitality - one who is received graciously and who is treated well as they stay with another. God will show NO hospitality or gracious treatment towards evil. Boastful, Foolish People will not Stand Before God David is praying in the midst of the situation with Absalom, who was a foolish, self-centered, proud, boastful man. Here was a conceited, handsome man who had charm and charisma - but who thought that by these he could claim the throne. He was a foolish young man and thought far too highly of himself. Such a self-boaster would be odious in God’s eyes. God hates pride. If we come to Him in prayer with a boastful, self-serving attitude, we can know that we won’t stand in His presence either. God Hates Those Who do Iniquity Not many people realize that God said that He hates things - but He does. The short of it is that God hates sin. The word iniquity speaks of those who chase after empty, meaningless, vain things. God hates it when mankind spends their lives chasing after emptiness and meaninglessness. God calls us to a meaningful life lived for His glory and honor. It might help us to remind ourselves as we seek God’s face - that He has a purpose for our lives - and that His purpose is NOT that we spend our days running after meaninglessness and frivolity. God Isn’t Too Keen on Falsehood Two things are said about those speaking and living in deceit. First off God will destroy them. The word David uses is “abad” which can mean a literal destruction or that God takes what someone does and reduces it to disorder and futility. The second thing God says is that he abhors the man who gives himself to bloodshed and deceit. The word abhor is “ta’ab” and it means to find something utterly abhorrent, detestable, or an abomination. Once again - God is speaking in terms we may think are objectionable for Him to use - and yet He feels that strongly about sin - violence (i.e. bloodshed) and deceit. At this point we might be thinking to ourselves that it is going to be impossible to come into the presence of God to pray. Apart from Jesus Christ - it actually is. The things David describes makes this fairly clear to us. We could become despondent about this whole matter of prayer if it were not for how David finishes this section. Grace and Reverence David’s final statement before he turns to requests is one that should bring a flood of relief to those of us who are sinners and who do evil (which is all of us). There is a way to come before God and be welcome and accepted. It is by the lovingkindness of God. That word “lovingkindness” is precious to us because it means “covenant love.” It is the closest word in the Old Testament to the New Testament word “grace.” It is worth noting that David says it is by “abundant lovingkindness” that he enters God’s house. This is something we MUST remember as we come to pray. The primer on prayer tells us that God is holy. God hates and abhors sin. God despises the very things of which we are guilty - and even promises destruction to those who do them. Therefore we can NEVER step into His presence based on our own works or our own supposed goodness. We would be consumed much like Nadab and Abihu if we come before Him in any way that does not plead for His grace on our behalf. Jesus made the way for us - and it is only and always through Him we will find our entrance to the place of prayer. But, when we come in the name of Jesus, knowing it is His blood that speaks for our sin - and His righteousness that makes us acceptable to God - we are WELCOME! We CAN come into the presence of the Lord - we CAN pray - we CAN know He will receive us graciously. What a glorious reminder! I’ve heard people say we should preach the gospel to ourselves daily. Often I do that as I come into the presence of God to pray. I do it because I feel like I might not be accepted - I might not be welcome - my sins may be too horrible for God to see me that day - or to want to even talk to me. But the truth is that by God’s abundant grace I can enter and I can pray. |
Pastor John LawrencePsalms for Life . . . God moved on several people to write the Psalms. This is a book of songs and poems written by people who were seeking to be devoted to God as they walked though their lives. This is a collection of songs and poems that express the true, wonderful, and often raw emotions that we have as we journey through life with God. I hope you will be blessed and encouraged as you read. But more than that I hope that these expositions and writings will help you to seek Him in the midst of the life you live in this world. It will be at times comforting and encouraging, while at others it will be challenging and awkward. Regardless of where you find yourself on this spectrum as you read, it will be a reminder that God invites us into His presence to truly walk with Him, know Him, and at times, pour out emotions of joy, sorrow, frustration, anger, and everything else you can imagine. He not only invites you to do this - He delights in it too! Hope you enjoy your journey! Archives
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