Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
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Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Psalm 6:1-10; A Psalm for Suffering
Jason Sterling June 15, 2025 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL Bulletin
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If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me to Psalm 6 this morning, psalm chapter 6. We're going to continue our study this morning through the Psalms, and we come this morning to another Psalm of lament. I said this maybe every week since I've stood up here, but laments make up a lot of the Psalms. About 40% of the Psalms are Psalms of lament, and so it should be no surprise that we're looking at another one. But this one is particularly difficult. This one I found even hard to read this week. Have you ever had a night where you cried so hard that you wet and soaked your pillow? Have you ever felt such grief inside of you and in your life that it felt like that it was eating you alive from the inside out? Well, if you felt those things, you're in good company.
Speaker 1:The Psalms, particularly this Psalm, speak to that experience, and our temptation as we come to the Psalms, particularly Psalms of lament, is to think that they're just records of whining. And maybe our temptation is to say come on, quit complaining. We know we live in a fallen world, we live in a broken world. Life is hard. Deal with it. But what I want you to realize is that, instead of normalizing pain and brokenness, the Psalms actually protest and rage against it. That's what they're doing, because the Psalmists have this deep conviction that they carry with them through the world, and that is that suffering and death and pain are wrong, and it's not the way that God intended the world to be. And so the Psalms are not records of whining, they're actually records of faith, faith in God's righteousness. And so, with that in mind, let's read God's Word, psalm 6, starting in verse 1.
Speaker 1:O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, o Lord, for I am languishing. Heal me, o Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, o Lord, how long? Turn, o Lord, deliver my life, save me for the sake of your steadfast love, for in death there is no remembrance of you In Sheol. Who will give you praise? I am weary, with my moaning. Every night I flood my bed with tears. I drench my couch with my weeping. My eyes waste away because of grief. It grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea. The Lord accepts my prayer, all my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled. They shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. This is God's word.
Speaker 1:Let's pray and let's ask for the spirit to help us this morning. Let's pray together. Father, I pray for all those listening that you'd give us ears to hear and that we would be ministered to, that you would speak to us through the preaching of your word, through your spirit. All of us in some way need to hear this psalm and need you to speak to us, and I pray that you would be with me as I preach it. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be good and pleasing to you. O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. In Christ's name, I pray.
Speaker 1:I want to begin this morning by asking you to reflect or think about traditional wedding vows that a bride and groom say on their wedding day. Have you ever noticed how unromantic those vows actually are? And it's actually why I'm a huge fan of the traditional wedding vows versus writing your own. Think about it. From day one, a couple is acknowledging that their life together is going to be filled with suffering and hardship and pain. Think about the vows in those sobering words that are included in them Sickness, poverty, sorrow, worse and death. Let's go eat some cake and dance and celebrate. But I love that, because what is actually being declared from day one is that faithfulness and growth and love and intimacy and life is actually forged, yes, in joy, but mainly through suffering and hardship, and that reality is not just limited to marriage. It's true of all relationships and friendships and parenthood and, most importantly, your spiritual life and your relationship with God. The Christian life isn't always an energizing pep rally. The Christian life is learning to walk faithfully with God, even in the valley of the shadow of death. That's why there's so many laments in the Psalms.
Speaker 1:Notice the superscription. If you have your Bible open, you'll see that at the top of the Psalm of Psalm 6, to the choir master with stringed instruments. To the choir master with stringed instruments. In other words, this song of sadness and grief was meant to be sung in worship services over and over and over again throughout the generations. There was lots of sadness in that sanctuary back then and there's lots of sadness in this sanctuary this morning. That's why we need this psalm and we're going to look at this psalm, psalm 6, where King David gives us a vocabulary to pray and to live out our suffering when it completely overwhelms us and our life completely falls apart.
Speaker 1:So, whether you're facing an illness or the loss of someone you love, or maybe family troubles or emotional turmoil or depression, or your relationships are breaking down or a financial crisis or spiritual drought or unemployment relationships are breaking down, or a financial crisis or spiritual drought or unemployment, whatever it is, this psalm meets you in your darkest hour. And in your darkest hour, david, through this psalm, gives us three things we need to remember. We need to remember number one God is always at work, remember. We need to remember number one God is always at work. Secondly, that suffering is comprehensive. And lastly, we need to remember our future glory. So that's where we're headed. God's always at work. Suffering is comprehensive. Lastly, we need to remember our future glory. Let's take those in order. Number one God's at work.
Speaker 1:When suffering hits your life, the temptation is to think that God has left the building, that he has forgotten you or that he has checked out on you. But one thing is very clear from this psalm is David knows that he has God's attention, knows that he has God's attention. He knows that God is interested and invested in every detail in his life. He is not wasting time trying to convince God to care for him. He knows God cares for him and is already deeply invested. We have to remember that when the wheels come off in our life, we have to remember that when the wheels come off in our life, how do we see that?
Speaker 1:Well, notice the word Lord in all caps, verse 6 and in Psalm 6. You see it in nearly every verse. It shows up. I say this a lot from this pulpit, but it helps us to be good Bible readers, because that's a big deal when when you see the Lord all caps, that is important and it's very helpful because that's God's personal and covenant name. And so throughout the psalm, david is operating from that conviction that God is his Lord, that he's in personal relationship with the Lord, that the Lord knows him and he knows the Lord. And so this is very personal. He knows God, is not distant, but is intimately involved and active in every detail of his life. And you see that again in every request.
Speaker 1:Look at verse 4. He pleads for deliverance. Verse 2, he asks for healing. Verse 5, he attempts to bargain with God. Why would David make such appeals Only one reason he's convinced that God is personally engaged in his circumstances and that his prayers actually matter and that his pleading makes a huge difference. He knows God is listening. Look at verses 8 and 9. The Lord has heard.
Speaker 1:We don't know exactly what's going on in David's life, but there seems to be, at first glance, a lot going on in his life. He seems to be suffering terribly. That seems obvious. But why? Well, we have a couple clues. Look at verse 2, 5, 6 and 7. It appears that David is suffering from some sort of physical illness. And then you go to 8 and 10, and he starts talking about his enemies again and how they're trying to harm him. So we don't know exactly what's happening, whether it's illness, enemies or both. But then notice what he says in verse 1, and that's where I want to stay for a second.
Speaker 1:David wonders if his suffering might be a result of God's discipline. Look at verse 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Most of our suffering, yes, comes as a result of living in a fallen world, of living in a fallen world. But the Bible also teaches and Scripture is very clear that God disciplines those that he loves. He disciplines His children. If you look at Hebrews 12, verse 6, it talks about that.
Speaker 1:We also know that because of the work of Jesus. We also know that because of the work of Jesus that discipline is always done in love, never in anger. It's always for redemptive purposes and never for condemnation. We also know this about God's discipline is that sometimes it has physical consequences. And if you read 1 Corinthians 11, if you look at verse 30 in particular, the Apostle Paul warns the church at Corinth about that, saying that God's discipline is why many of you are weak, ill and have even died. And so the possibility of a loving father using illnesses and hardship and suffering to correct and redeem us is not just an Old Testament idea, it is a New Testament reality.
Speaker 1:And David is very conscious His conscience has been pricked that that is a possibility that God is actually disciplining him. Why? Because he believes God is always at work, that God is present in his life, even when that presence is painful. David doesn't compartmentalize and say God's only here in the good times and he's absent in the bad times. No, he realizes that God's intimately involved in every detail.
Speaker 1:And I realize that maybe that sounds troubling for some of you this morning, but can I tell you that I think it's actually really good news and I think it's actually deeply comforting. And you know why? Because if God's intimately involved in your life, in the good things and the bad things, that means your suffering is not meaningless, that your suffering actually has purpose, that it's not random. Because think about the alternative, think about the alternative of meaningless pain a distant and uninvolved God who just throws you out to navigate this life and your suffering and the storms you encounter, all alone, completely random. All alone, completely random. No, you see, this psalm gives us confidence to pray because it teaches us whether your suffering's coming from discipline, god's discipline, loving discipline or from living in a broken world, you are never facing those things without the loving, intimate knowledge of God, who cares and loves you. The Lord holds you in his hands and knows you completely. He is not watching over you from a distance. He's intimately involved, working through things in your life and responding to your cries. You see, that is why we can pray with confidence in our darkest moments, not because we're guaranteed that the outcomes that we want are going to happen, but because we're guaranteed that we have God's attention and that he is actively involved because he loves us. Secondly, suffering is comprehensive. This is hard to read, as I mentioned earlier, but aren't the Psalms refreshing? I think they're so refreshing because the Psalms keep it real and they actually speak to real life and speak to your life, and this Psalm is speaking to exactly where some of you are this morning. Some of you have been here, some of you will be in this place.
Speaker 1:David is talking about something that doesn't have a quick fix. He is talking about something where this suffering has invaded every dimension of his life. Look at verse 2. I'm languishing, my bones are troubled. Verse 3. My soul also is greatly troubled. The word troubled get this means terrified, dismayed or thrown into confusion. So David's bones and his physical being and his soul, they're in complete upheaval. Look at verse 6 and 7. I'm weary. He cries himself to sleep. He drenches his couch with weeping, his eyes waste away. It feels like because of his grief. Notice the progression from bones to soul, to night, to his eyes.
Speaker 1:Friends, the point is this is not just a bad headache, this is not just a bad day. This is complete, total meltdown. His body has gone offline. The breaker switch has been thrown. His physical strength is gone, his emotional stability is shattered, he cannot sleep, he has no more tears left to cry, and that teaches us that suffering knows no bounds. It has no boundaries, that it makes its way into every area, oftentimes, of a person's life, and some of you know exactly what this is like Because you have experienced suffering that has taken not the breath out of you, where you walk into the room and all you can do is collapse or fall to your knees.
Speaker 1:You've lost a child, your spouse has betrayed and left you. You've been diagnosed with a terminal illness that's not getting any better, it's only getting worse. You've lost your job Fill in the blank and what follows isn't just grief, it's a complete invasion into every corner of your life. You know what this is like. I've been here. You can't sleep, you can't eat, your relationships suffer, you start to question God's goodness, you're so stressed that your immune system crashes and it seems as if you're sick all the time. It feels like you're in a free fall. David and the Bible speak to that experience, and I think that is really good news for us, because if you are there or been there, you're not alone. Let me give two very specific applications and then we'll move on One to the sufferer if you're suffering currently. Move on One to the sufferer if you're suffering currently. Second, to us as a community as we walk alongside suffering people.
Speaker 1:If you're Likewise, stop shaming yourself for your suffering. You ever do that, I do this. I can't believe that this has affected me that much. Or you say things like I mean, I know this is hard, but I should be over this by now. Stop shaming yourself for your suffering. Resist, over-spiritualizing your pain and your suffering, saying things like I just got to pray more, I got to read my Bible more. Like I just got to pray more, I got to read my Bible more.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's always spiritual, but it's a lot broader than that. It is physical, it is emotional and it impacts every area of a person's life, the whole person. And what that also means on the flip side is that your restoration and healing is also holistic. Yes, it involves spiritual care, but it also involves physical rest. It might involve doctor's visits, it might involve counseling and relational support, and emotional support and spiritual care. All those work together. That's how God made a human being and that's how you heal as a whole person, not in isolated pieces.
Speaker 1:And then, lastly, if you're suffering healing, you've got to hear this healing comes in community. You'll never heal in isolation, and so maybe a very specific application for you this morning is find, if you haven't find, someone you can share your how long, oh lord with and bring your suffering into community and relationship. John John Cox says suffering shared is halved, suffering alone is doubled. And then what about our community? Or what about those who walk alongside those who are suffering? We want to be a church that loves well, and particularly loves well those who are suffering and hurting and in pain. How does that happen?
Speaker 1:We could say a billion things, but here's a couple of thoughts. Don't minimize someone's pain by saying things like well, at least it's not blank. And fill in the blank with whatever awful thing that we normally fill in the blank with, or at least your situation is not as bad as so-and-so's situation. You see, when we compare our situations and other people's pain, it doesn't help, but it actually adds more shame to an already overwhelming burden. Instead, acknowledge and recognize the comprehensive nature of suffering. And then, lastly, very practically, don't just simply say let me know if you need anything, show up in the driveway. Need anything? Show up in the driveway, pick up the phone and say I'm bringing dinner over on Tuesday, just go mow the grass. Say I'm coming on this day to sit with you and have a cup of coffee. Or hey, on Thursday you sleep in, I got your kids for carpool.
Speaker 1:Suffering is comprehensive and it's part of the human experience and God has given the church to be part of his comprehensive care. And may God, by his grace, make this a place where hurting, suffering people heal and bring it into community where they are loved and cared for and have someone to walk alongside them. Lastly and finally, future glory. Look at verse 3. We need to remember our future glory. Notice the how long O Lord David has just described think about this. Just described, think about this. Just described the comprehensive nature of suffering, and now he reveals what I think is the most terrifying aspect of all of it he doesn't know when it's going to end. Some of you know what that's like, and here's the question I want to end with what do you do? What do you do when you don't know if this is going to end and when it's going to end and you see no light at the end of the tunnel?
Speaker 1:Two things for us to think about as we leave this morning. First, we've got to cling to God's love. Look at verse 4. Save me for the sake of your steadfast love. There's another word. You see it all throughout the Psalms. If you see steadfast love, you better like the Lord all caps, you better lock on to that, because that's very important. It is a deep, rich word that refers to God's covenant love for his people. It's a word that says God's never going to leave his people, that God is with you, that he binds himself to you no matter what.
Speaker 1:And so in his suffering, in his how longs, david is latching onto the love of God. What is true, even though he doesn't feel like it's true in the moment? That's faith, and we must do the same. We must remind ourselves in our darkest nights that God's covenant love, that he binds himself to us and he will not leave us and he loves us like he loves his son Jesus. And think about that. As we have the reminder, don't we An even greater reminder than David? Because we have Jesus.
Speaker 1:Jesus who came and remember. He was called a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Jesus, god in the flesh, knows the pain of losing friends. He knows the pain of being betrayed. He knows the pain of feeling like he's been forgotten by God. Remember he says my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So whenever you find yourself in that place of darkness, look at the cross. God has not left you and God understands your suffering. And the other thing we need to latch on to in the middle of our how longs is we need to keep our eyes forward. We need to keep our eyes on our future glory.
Speaker 1:I love this about the Psalms. So think about in Psalm 6 here, david is not in a good place. He is full of sorrow and sadness. But notice, in verses 8 through 10, the Psalm ends on a note of confidence, and I think it's very helpful. And here's why it's helpful, because you can be sorrowful and have joy at the same time. You can be hurting and you can also, at the very same time, be hopeful. You can be sad and confident. You can be weak and you can be strong. We see that in this psalm. Look at verse 10. Notice, he anticipates a deliverance. This is really important A deliverance in the future. Look at verse 10. All my enemies will be greatly troubled. Then he goes on and says they will turn back.
Speaker 1:There's no evidence that his present situation has improved, but his head is lifted up by faith in what is coming, by faith in what is coming. Friends, the only way I know that you survive a broken world where suffering knows no bounds, and for you to walk through life and remain faithful and hopeful is to keep your eyes forward on your future glory, the coming of the new heavens and new earth. And you've got to pull that glory and that hope that we all have. If you're a Christian, you've got to pull that into the present. You've got to hold on to that. You've got to ground yourself there. To ground yourself there Because from where I stand, I can't tell you if your illness is going to go away.
Speaker 1:I can't tell you if you're going to get any better. I can't tell you that the depression is going to for sure lift and the sadness that you feel over the loss of someone you love. I'm not sure you get over that in this life. Does it get better, of course, but I'm not sure it fully goes away. David is able to look out and he's able to say I'm not living for those days. I'm living for that day, that day in the future, a much more glorious day, when the righteousness of God and glory will be revealed.
Speaker 1:Here's what I want you to remember as you walk out of here your story doesn't end with suffering. Your pain does not have the last word. The God who sees every tear is the God who is one day going to wipe away every tear. The God who is with you in the valley of the shadow of death is the God who is going to lead you into eternal joy, into a world where there's no suffering, no sorrow and pain and mourning, and all things will be made new.
Speaker 1:That is the day that this lament and all the laments are aimed, and that is the day that the laments point to, and we must protest and rage against anything less. Rage against anything less. And so, whether you're flooding your pillow with tears tonight, like David, or whether you're walking alongside someone who is, remember God is always at work. Yes, suffering is often comprehensive, but so is God's care. And remember to keep your eyes focused on the future, of the day when God's glory will encompass your pain that you feel at this moment.
Speaker 1:Until that day comes, we have each other, we have the Holy Spirit, we have God's Word and we have this table. Did you know? That's why we come to the table, or one of the reasons we come every single week? Because most of the time somebody walks in here they're hanging by a thread and in the middle of the worst week of their life, and we come to this table. Yes, we remember the death of Jesus, but this table points us forward to that day of glory, the great wedding feast of the Lamb, when God will make all things new. Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we are declaring that our story doesn't end in tears, but it actually ends in eternal joy. Amen, let's come to this table this morning. Let's pray. Father, thank you that you see every tear, that you see every sleepless night and every broken place. Help us to remember you're at work, help us to focus on the future and I pray that hope, the hope of glory, would break into our present circumstances, whatever they are. In Jesus' name, amen.