Do You Ever Feel Completely Broken? (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: Come to Jesus honestly, appeal to His love and salvation, and...praise Him.
SCRIPTURE: Psalm 6
I am glad to be able to address Psalm 6 after preaching on Psalm 5 last week (and, yes, I know that’s the natural progression☺️) because it gives me a chance to clarify something I said last week in closing. There is a balance here I don’t want to miss. Last week, I closed by saying, among other things, that “Christians should be the happiest people in the world”. That’s true! However, I don’t want that to be mistaken as “Christians will never be sad, or broken.” That is absolutely not true. Though we have every reason to rejoice and that, rather than sadness, should be the defining characteristic of our lives, being heartbroken is not “unchristian”. Psalm 6 gives us a clear picture of this. It’s written by David. A man of great valor. He’s no “weakling”. His faith is real. His character is strong. Yet, he was often broken.
"1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD--how long? 4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment."
There is so much encouragement for the heartbroken here. And let’s be honest, many of us here have been just that. Therefore, I don’t want to spend too much time leading into it. I do, however, want to make this quick observation as not to be misunderstood. There are times when Clinical Depression requires medication to be treated. This is in no way ignoring what this passage teaches, nor doubting the sovereignty of God...any more than seeking medical treatment for any illness would be. God has blessed us with medical professionals. He uses them. Are they a replacement for His care? By no means! We know He works in ways that far exceed their capabilities. Yet, can He use them to bless us? Of course. Just food for thought.
That being said, let’s just dive straight in. We can break this passage down by looking at his condition, his need, and his desire--and then, of course, considering some takeaways☺️. Here’s our gist: Come to Jesus honestly, appeal to His love and salvation, and...praise Him.
I. DESPERATE CONDITION (1-3, 6-7)
"1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD--how long? … 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.
Extreme Despair. As is the case in many of the psalms, and especially in the ones we have considered so far, the opening verses give us a glimpse into the writer’s condition. Now, these psalms were used in corporate worship, so these conditions were meant to have universal applications, and they continue to speak to us today. Let’s just break down how he describes himself in these verses.
Languishing (Weak). He’s honest about his condition. He is not strong. He comes admitting from the beginning that he is in need. It’s hard to cry out for mercy if in your heart you’re just looking for vindication.
Troubled to the Bones. He feels physically ill, aching down to his bones. It doesn’t really matter if David’s condition here was real or metaphorical because this truth applies to both. We can cry out to God whenever our hearts are so broken we feel absolutely miserable, and we can do the same during physical illness. Regardless of the cause of the pain, in pain we can cry out to our Father!
Soul Trouble. Hold onto this one for a second. I’m going to come back to this point in our next observation. Let’s suffice to say being trouble to the soul, spiritually broken, is deep despair.
Weary with Moaning. In verse 3, he asks God, “how long?”. How long until this sorrow is ended and he sees God’s intervention? Doubting that God will intervene is sinful. Desiring Him to intervening now, while at the same time trusting in His timing, is not. (That could be a whole nother sermon in itself! For now, I’ll just float that observation out there.) David is literally exhausted from weeping. The actual picture he uses in the following verses is of his bed swimming in tears and his couch being dissolved by them. His eyes are wasting away because of them (which could possibly be referring to his sense of direction). That’s a lot of tears! He is doing some serious weeping.
Agitating Foes. Verse 7, almost abruptly, also mentions foes. Broyles, in his NIV commentary, pointed out that these foes were “likely mentioned late because they are agitators rather than direct causes of his pain.” This would be much like Job’s friends who were less than helpful in his agony. Rather than lead him to the place of forgiveness and healing (which we now know is the cross!), they are just stirring the pot. There is a time to remind someone of their sins. In fact, we’re called to do that. Yet, pointing to sin without pointing to the Savior isn’t really helpful. Like telling your kids not to do something without explaining why. It might cause temporary guilt, or prevent the action for a time, but the effects won’t be long term because there is no real “fixing” of the problem.
So in short, David is completely broken. This is a picture of extreme despair. And if you’ve ever felt this, this psalm should resonate with you.
So, Why Mention Wrath and Rebuke? This is the first of seven penitential psalm...psalms of confession and repentance (and I doubt we will get to any of the others this summer☺️). Therefore, while this psalm is not just about repentance...it’s not excluded either! Look at the language. Wrath refers to judgment on sin. Rebuke implies correction. Troubled to soul is talking about spiritual depression. All of this is pointing to sorrow brought on by sin.
Therefore, let me make these observations.
1) Personal sin is not the direct cause of all sorrow. I’m trying to word this carefully because generally speaking sin actually is the cause of all sorrow. If there was no sin in the world, there would be no sorrow. In Heaven, there will be no weeping. Yet in Hell, which will be consumed by sin, the weeping will never cease. Nonetheless, your sorrow is not always caused directly by some sin you have committed. Because we live in a fallen world, there will be many reasons to be sad that are not directly connected to your personal sins. (*If I need to clarify this further, please message me directly. I know this can be a very heavy and confusing concept).
2) But it is a cause of great sorrow. We need remember this. If you take your sin seriously, you will weep. Tears may not actually flow, but you will be deeply troubled. Troubled to the bones. Spiritually aching. This should be our experience at conversion--faced with the severity of our sin and our need for a Savior. I was very young when I was saved. I don’t remember feeling this sorrow then. Yet, there have been many times since when I have come face to face with my own weakness and my desperate need; I remember those clearly.
So, you might be here today saved and filled with sorrow because of external circumstances outside of your control. This psalm is for you. Or, you may be here today aware, or becoming aware, of your own deep-set sinfulness (saved or not). This psalm is for you. Or, you might be here feeling absolutely jubilant! Praise the LORD! Yet, you are a sinner in a sinful world. Sorrow will come. This psalm is for you, too!
II. DEEPEST NEED (1-2, 4)
"1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled…4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
What Does He Call For? So we see his condition. Now, I want to look at what he needs. We see this in his petition, what he asks for.
Rebuke & Discipline (Direction) Now, it almost seems like he’s not asking for this. But, that’s not really the case. We know God disciplines those He loves (Proverbs 3:12, Hebrews 12:6). So, he isn’t asking not to be disciplined, but not to be disciplined in anger and wrath. How can we avoid the wrath of God? Only through salvation! We’ll come to this again, but he’s appealing to his state as a saved sinner, a child of God. He’s remembering the truth. I know I have probably harked on this again and again these last few weeks...but I’m going to do it again anyway. This is yet another reminder of how very important it is to feed our emotions the truth. Are you angry? Remind yourself of the truth of the gospel. Are you afraid? Remind yourself of the truth of the gospel. Are you sorrowful? Remind yourself of the truth of the gospel! There is hope in Jesus!
Be Gracious (Grace). He remembers the truth, and calls for grace. I listened to an old sermon by Stuart Olyott and he made this point which really struck me, ‘David wants God’s favor above all else. He’s weak, so is in exactly the right position for requesting mercy!’
Turn (Presence). Why would he say this? In his despair, he feels God has turned from him. This word could be translated “return”. He wants to be in the presence of God. Why? Because he knows he needs Him to-->
Deliver & Save (Salvation). He sees his condition and calls for salvation! Bottom line, he needs God--His direction, grace, presence, and salvation!
Why Does He Make These Requests? For the sake of God’s steadfast love! This is key. In his despair, sinful though he is, he appeals to God’s love and salvation. Knowing who he is, a man in need, he appeals to God as God!
III. DEVOUT DESIRE (5, 8-10)
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?...8* Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.
Lastly, I want to look at his desire, or you could call this his heart. Why is he crying out to God in his sorrow? Because he knows he’s heard and wants to praise.
Can’t Praise From the Grave? This might have struck you as odd when you read it. Won’t we be spending eternity praising God? Absolutely! So is David just unbiblical here? I don’t think that stance is supported. We need to look at what he’s trying to express. If he’s gone, he won’t be here to testify to God’s goodness. He won’t be a witness to others. He seeks rescue so he can continue praising! Life without worship is no life at all. (Broyles) So, he wants to praise...and does because he knows he is-->
Heard & Accepted! Amen! God not only hears our weeping, but also accepts the repentant and pleading cries of His children! This psalm applies to both. I know I frequently come back to “having kids examples”, but that’s where I live. When my children are weeping, be it in sorrow, or pain, or because they know they’ve done wrong, I come to them. And I’m a sinful dad. God’s not. Now, maybe I won’t come if they’re just throwing a fit, which is just loud self-pity. We’re guilty of this as adults, too. In fact, sometimes we do the exact same thing and call it prayer. That’s not what we’re talking about here. God hears the sincere tears of His children, and He comes to them! Remember, David came knowing he needed God, not thinking he deserved Him.
Ashamed Enemies? Đ¢his might seem like a harsh way to end the psalm, and it does speak of God’s justice. Those who oppose Him will be ashamed. However, I think there is something more here. Stuart Olyott pointed out that being ashamed of sin points to repentance. I agree. Are sinners ashamed of their sin? Most often, no. Or, if they are, they try to fix them by earthly means, which do not work, or ignore them, which is equally ineffective. Being ashamed is being convicted. Now, does all conviction lead to salvation? No. However, is there salvation without the conviction of sin? No. David’s enemies will never be heard and accepted until they are first ashamed.
TAKEAWAYS
1. Be honest with Jesus about your emotions. Lay out your heart. Don’t sugarcoat it.
2. Appeal to His love...and salvation. Regardless of the cause of your sorrow, you need these truths.
3. Live a life of praise. It is hard to sulk when you’re rejoicing.
4. Desire the same for those around you...even your enemies. Likewise, it’s hard to be bitter when you’re loving. Pray for their conviction, so they can be saved!
Lord’s Supper Connection
Like I mentioned before, while sorrow is not always directly caused by personal sin, our personal sin will cause sorrow. If you’ve never come to know His forgiveness, before we share in remembrance of that great grace, please come.
1 Corinthians 11:23-28, "23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup."
*Psalm 6:8 is quoted by Jesus in Luke 13:27
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