Steps Through Psalm 6: Love in our Languishing
Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
—Psalm 6:4 NIV
A Brief Introduction
When you know you’ve messed up, are you one to cower or to cry out?
As we step into a Psalm of David today—Psalm 6—we will see an insightful response to times of trouble. This man, David, has been described as “a man ofter God’s own heart”. (1 Samuel 13:14)
If you’ve taken a walk through the Old Testament narrative, you may have some questions about this title: In his most notorious moment, David stepped into an adulterous relationship with a woman named Bathsheba, having her husband murdered along the way. Did this graphic sin prevent him from fellowship with God?
While his faults were undeniable, his faith in God’s power to save was unbelievable.
This man, while riddled with sin, was also ridden with faith: conquering the giant Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. He didn’t view his own weakness as a disqualifier for God’s power to be shown through his life.
Now don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t characteristically hardened to holiness, but he was simply human. While fell short often, we see David’s tender spirit grieve his sin deeply. He accepted God’s ruling on things, all-the-while trusting in his goodness.
With that as our brief introduction to the author of Psalm 6, David, let’s dive into a psalm which illustrates quite well the principles of grace that we are invited to trust in as we walk out our own journeys.
Key Questions to Explore
As we read this Psalm together, I pray you will walk away having gained deeper understanding in regards to the following questions:
Does God hear my cries?
How might I approach God in times of trouble?
What does it mean that God is merciful?
Without further adieu, let’s dive in. Feel free to open Psalm 6 in a new tab.
Psalm 6:1-3
In this passage, we see David call on God’s mercy when he finds himself in trouble. In the ESV, verse 2 describes his state as “languishing”. This word in Hebrew—'ămēlāl, אֲמֵלָל—connotes a picture of drooping. Think about someone whose head is hung low, they feel weak in body and spirit, and in need of some sort of rescue or intervention.
David was drooping. Like a wilted plant in desperate need of fresh watering, David could feel his being was sapped in strength. In such a time, we see him call on the name of the Lord.
We can infer from this Scripture that David understood himself to be under the disciplinary action of God himself. Now, we know from New Testament text (or our own experience), that God’s disciplinary action is done in love. See the verse below:
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. Hebrews 12:6 ESV
And yet, discipline is painful. And I wonder if David understood the heart of God—as described in Hebrews 12:11—whose discipline is always intended to lead to a harvest of righteousness and peace.
God doesn’t punish for pleasure, but for our perseverance. He wants us to endure in holiness, and in pursuit of his good and righteous ways.
What really stood out to me as I was moving through this text, was how David cried out to God in the midst of disciplinary action. Rather than cowering like a child insecure in their parents love, he called out like a child who believed in their caretaker’s tendency toward mercy and grace. He asked God to relent. He described his pain and soul-ache to God.
As he asked God to hold back from rebuke and discipline, I found myself asking the question: how do I interact with God when I know I’m in the wrong? Do I call on his saving help, or do I cower and hide?
Take a moment and reflect on that question for yourself…
In the Eden account (Genesis 3:7-13), we see Adam and Eve make the choice to cower. They hid from the God whose fellowship they knew so intimately, and yet, as the story played out, God called to them, he clothed them, and he committed to the rescue of mankind. from the bondage of sin.
Through Scripture (Psalm 68:20 as an example), we see God referred to “The God who Saves”. This powerful title proclaims the truth our souls pant for: we need saving, and God is a Savior.
In perfect and beautiful culmination, we see Christ being given this title in Matthew 1:21. See it for yourself below:
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Mattew 1:21 NIV
The footnote below the verse reads this: “Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the Lord saves.” (Source: BibleGateway.com)
Remember that next time you call on the name of Jesus. We were always meant to be in relationship with him as Savior. When trouble comes—as it came for David here—even if the trouble is of our own causing, we can still call on the mighty and merciful name of the Lord.
If you’d like to explore this topic more, Psalm 106 and Psalm 107 offer beautiful, critical descriptions of God’s saving nature. (In the Bible Study booklet, found in my shop, I’ve created a resource that walks you slowly, sunnily, through Psalm 107. Check it out!)
David understood God’s nature to save, and he was willing to call on his saving help when he was in a pit.
(Other Sources: Blue Letter Bible: Hebrew Lexicon, Enduring Word Commentary: Psalm 6)
Psalm 6:4-5
Throughout the Bible, we see a regular correlation between God’s mercy to save, and the magnitude of this glory. You can almost think of it like this:
He saves; We praise!
Okay, I was actually going to draw that correlation out a bit more in-depth… but when it comes down to it, it really is that simple.
When we begin to understand the magnitude of God’s grace, we can’t help but overflow in praise as we respond to the mercy we have received. My favorite Scripture that speaks to this concept is Ephesians 1:4-6:
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians 1:4-6 NIV
In this sweet, simple, and encouraging word that the apostle Paul offers to the church at Ephesus, we see that God saved us—more than that: he sanctified, purified, and pursued us—because he wanted to. It was in accordance with his pleasure and will. (Further confirming the notion that it is not his pleasure to punish, it’s his pleasure to save. See John 3:17 for more on that idea.)
This beautiful and all-encompassing reality naturally carried into the “praise of his glorious grace”. This grace was given freely and generously through the person of Jesus Christ, aka the One who Saves.
David speaks to this truth when he asked the Lord to deliver and save him “for the sake of his steadfast love”. Knowing God’s steadfast love, David calls on his salvation. (There we go, now we are seeing an understanding of God’s own heart playing forth through the life of David!)
The relationship between God’s salvation and our praise is relayed in verses 4-5, as David first calls on the saving help of God—noting that in death there is no praise. By consequence we see: in life, as we are saved in love, we can live in remembrance and the worship of God’s great name.
He saves, we praise.
Psalm 6:6-7
This passage is as heartbreaking as it is relatable: who hasn’t encountered, at some point of their life, a moment of total desperation?
For David to relay this painful feelings to the Lord, you have to imagine that he was equipped with an understanding that it was worthwhile. That God cared.
Perhaps he had learned this from experience, or perhaps this deep faith was simply part of the gift and spiritual DNA that God has built into his servant David. Ether way, this reality that God does care is rooted in Scripture and potent enough to lift our souls in even the most wearying of moments.
As I step into this description of David’s grief, I am reminded of the reality that God sees us; we don’t need to hide our tears from him. In Genesis 16:3, God is given the beautiful name of “the God who sees me”. (This concept is also referenced in Isaiah 40:27.)
To be seen is one of the most uplifting experiences a human can undergo. To be loved in the process butts up against the very experience our souls were destined for. (Using the verb “butts” may have killed the moment… but here we are…)
Enjoy the grace of Psalm 56:8, that speaks to God’s tendency to pay special attention to our tears:
You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book. Psalm 56:8
God doesn’t just kind of notice us in our pain, he offers us a divine attentiveness. He doesn’t just leave us crying, but he calls to us—whether we are cowering or not—and beckons us to come to him, seeking his mercy.
Psalm 6:8-10
In final words, David makes faith-filled proclamations regarding God’s compassionate action on his behalf.
If you have never dug into the Biblical definition of mercy, today is your lucky—err, blessed—day! This word is one that, as you go deeper into the meaning, you are only encountering more richness and depth of the total goodness of God.
It’s meaning is beautiful, encouraging, and empowering as we walk into deeper journeys of faith, hand-in-hand with our loving Savior. You ready for this?
Simply put: mercy is compassion in action. Furthermore, it’s this concept of moving toward someone, desiring to help or save them, despite their blatant sin or wrongdoing. It’s to take pity and desiring to spare someone of a punishment—even one they are fully worthy of.
This draws us back to the opening of the psalm, when we see David calling on God’s mercy. We see him calling (in verses 1-3) on God’s to not rebuke him in his anger, or to discipline him in his wrath.
These passages don’t neglect God’s rightful disdain of sin, but they amplify God’s tender displays of mercy.
This “man after God’s own heart” articulated in these final verses, a total confidence in God’s faithful provision, generous mercy, and attentive care.
Verse 10 concludes that although David wasn’t in a present place of seeing his hardship turned back, he had full faith in God’s ability to address it momentarily.
May we have the same beliefs in our current trials!
(Source: Biblical Definition of Mercy)
Concluding Thoughts
May we all be encouraged in faith as we move through this psalm. May we understand, at a deeper level, that the dynamic in our faith journeys has always been one where we are to approach God in humility and hope for his saving help.
Naturally, this dynamic doesn’t mean that we are lackadaisical with sin. But rather, as we find rest in the fullness of God’s love and ability to help, we cling more tightly to him and his ways.
We understand his goodness more fully.
We aim to live our lives consecrated to the Savior of Our Souls, the one who is more benevolent to us than any other, the one who has our best interest in mind, and the one who beckons us into the most abundant of living with him.
To end, I will leave you with this reminder from Jesus, as shown in John 10:10:
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 NIV
He has always been for our good, people! May we trust in his mercy as our Savior. May we live our lives to please him as our King. Bless you today!
