So many questions: Feeling and thinking in Psalm 6

 Feeling and thinking in Psalm 6

Psalm 6

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by an eight-stringed instrument.

1 O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger

    or discipline me in your rage.

2 Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.

    Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

3 I am sick at heart.

    How long, O Lord, until you restore me?

4 Return, O Lord, and rescue me.

    Save me because of your unfailing love.

5 For the dead do not remember you.

    Who can praise you from the grave?

6 I am worn out from sobbing.

    All night I flood my bed with weeping,

    drenching it with my tears.

7 My vision is blurred by grief;

    my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.

8 Go away, all you who do evil,

    for the Lord has heard my weeping.

9 The Lord has heard my plea;

    the Lord will answer my prayer.

10 May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.

    May they suddenly turn back in shame.

So many questions are sparked by this Psalm. Let me list a few:

Was David really afraid of God’s anger?

Did David think that God would really deal with him in an angry way?

Was David in agony because of His sin?

What was the cause of David’s heart sickness? I assume he meant some deep emotional pain and not a real physical heart problem but I do think He had real physical pain too  caused by whatever was bothering him emotionally and mentally.

Was God really far from David? Did God leave him? Did David think God had really left Him?

What does David need rescuing from? Is it the feelings, or the situation that sparked the feelings, or was it the results of the feelings or situation that made Him feel that way?

Did David really think the grave was the end of his existence? Didn’t He believe in heaven, life after death? Didn’t David think He’d praise God forever in God’s presence?

How much of this psalm is hyperbole and how  much of it is a reasonable reflection of David’s emotional state? Was David really crying so much? Why is He crying? What do His enemies have to do with his tears and eyes? Is it a godly desire to want you enemies to go away? How does David know God heard him? What is the confidence and tension between past tense having heard and future tense will hear?

David is emotional that is obvious. Was this a reflection of sin? Does David lack faith? Is David being sinful when He cries, fears and thinks God has left Him? Does this state evidence that the Spirit is not with David?

If David showed up like this to the leaders meeting of the priests or even the warriors planning meeting would he have been removed from office? Was David depressed? Is this response to your problems appropriate? Why did God include this in the Bible? Are we being encouraged to respond to our enemies in the same way? Is this a Godly way to struggle with fear and sadness?

What do you think? Can you see the Psalm from this point of view? 

Psalm 6 in an illumination from the Hours of Étienne Chevalier (by Jean Fouquet, c. 1450).^[a]

Handwritten in cursive Psalm 6 (NLT) in ball tip pen.