WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.900 One of the great benefits of the Psalms is that they teach us how to pray through various seasons of life. 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.900 There are so many different types of Psalms. 00:00:12.419 --> 00:00:14.939 People through the years have attempted to categorize them. 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:17.039 Sometimes that's helpful, sometimes it's not so helpful. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:22.879 But undoubtedly, the Psalms are varied in their content. 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:25.379 They're varied in their mood and in their tone. 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:37.500 They teach us liturgically, worshipfully, ways to speak to God, worship God, commune with God throughout varying seasons and circumstances of life. 00:00:38.019 --> 00:00:45.599 There are Psalms of Adoration that teach us how to praise God when we encounter His nature and His character. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.840 Praising God, worshiping Him for who He is. 00:00:49.879 --> 00:00:51.780 There are Psalms of Thanksgiving. 00:00:51.780 --> 00:01:00.420 They teach us how to recognize God's benevolent love, common grace maybe even, that He would extend to all people. 00:01:00.500 --> 00:01:04.980 But then especially His special love, giving to His own people. 00:01:05.240 --> 00:01:11.040 They teach us how to praise Him for what He's done in addition to who He is. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:16.299 There are what we call imprecatory Psalms. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.480 They teach us how to pray about our enemies. 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:22.340 We saw a bit of that last week in Psalm 5. 00:01:23.980 --> 00:01:27.380 Then there are Psalms of lament. 00:01:31.140 --> 00:01:39.020 Lamentations that give us a framework for processing and speaking to God in our grief. 00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:42.920 Not just in basic sadness. 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:53.659 In deep, sometimes indescribable, sometimes unspeakable grief. 00:01:55.659 --> 00:01:59.599 Psalm 6 is fundamentally a lament. 00:02:01.340 --> 00:02:04.379 And it's not very hard to see that at all, is it? 00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:09.019 David is absolutely overcome with grief. 00:02:09.419 --> 00:02:11.259 Think about the language that we just read. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:14.400 He pleads with God, my bones are troubled. 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:18.740 My soul is greatly troubled. 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:19.819 Heal me. 00:02:20.259 --> 00:02:20.919 Save me. 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:22.060 Deliver me. 00:02:22.060 --> 00:02:28.920 At the heart of the Psalm is this amazingly vulnerable moment where He says, 00:02:29.379 --> 00:02:31.560 I just lay in my bed and I cry. 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:33.800 I just cry. 00:02:35.699 --> 00:02:36.719 Deep grief. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:41.000 Deep depression, we may even call it. 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:43.379 Psalm 6 is fundamentally that. 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:50.580 It's a lament to God, a prayer to God in the midst of really deep brokenness. 00:02:50.580 --> 00:03:00.200 It's also the first of what are traditionally categorized as penitential psalms. 00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:10.000 Throughout church history, many have viewed this as a psalm that teaches us how to confess our sins to God. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:16.840 How to respond to God when we're in the midst of facing the consequences of our very own sin. 00:03:16.840 --> 00:03:27.439 A penitential psalm is so categorized and labeled because it has some expression of sorrow or regret for sins that have been committed. 00:03:27.699 --> 00:03:31.640 And it teaches us basically a posture for genuine repentance. 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:34.360 It gives us a pattern for confessing our sins. 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:40.520 And in this psalm, David recognizes that the circumstances that have left him greatly troubled, 00:03:40.980 --> 00:03:48.260 the surface level things that have put him weeping on his bed night after night, 00:03:48.920 --> 00:03:52.680 he's come to realize and recognize those things are his fault. 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:59.260 That ultimately, it's the result of his own sin. 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:03.659 The consequences of his sin are being felt and lived out in his life. 00:04:04.360 --> 00:04:07.379 His enemies have once again mounted against him. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:10.520 Death feels imminent to him here. 00:04:10.520 --> 00:04:18.420 It seems as though God's blessing has been removed from his life, 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:25.340 that he has lost a sense of God's presence with him and a sense of God's presence for him. 00:04:26.620 --> 00:04:32.860 And it seems as if David understands all of that to be the discipline of God. 00:04:33.759 --> 00:04:38.900 That he is facing what he's facing because he's sinned and God is judging him for that sin. 00:04:38.899 --> 00:04:47.299 And it's, without a doubt, the most emotional prayer that we have covered so far in this book. 00:04:47.379 --> 00:04:50.620 It's one of the more emotionals in the entire collection of psalms. 00:04:51.479 --> 00:04:55.259 There is no shortage of feelings in this song, is there? 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:58.279 Sometimes that makes us uncomfortable, doesn't it? 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:03.699 Depending on maybe how you grew up and your family, 00:05:03.939 --> 00:05:07.759 depending on what the nature of your connection with church was, 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:10.560 what your church was like, the personality of your church growing up, 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:16.719 sometimes we feel like vulnerability is almost a sin in and of itself. 00:05:17.719 --> 00:05:24.399 That to show emotion and feeling in worship or in conversation with others 00:05:24.399 --> 00:05:28.000 is to admit a kind of weakness that God would be displeased with. 00:05:28.159 --> 00:05:33.620 As if to be vulnerable in any given moment is to reflect a lack of faith. 00:05:33.620 --> 00:05:38.860 And yet, David doesn't lack faith in this psalm. 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:41.720 He's actually quite emotional. 00:05:43.379 --> 00:05:45.160 I think we see the opposite of it. 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:46.340 It's not always in times of grief. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:49.879 We read a psalm to open our service in Psalm 47, 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:52.180 a psalm from the sons of Korah. 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:54.319 It was very emotional, wasn't it? 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:57.519 Sing loud songs of praise. 00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:01.259 Reflect on God's kingship over the whole earth 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:04.479 and let that overflow with a shout of joy. 00:06:06.479 --> 00:06:08.240 Why does that make us so uncomfortable? 00:06:09.599 --> 00:06:13.819 Why does it make us so uncomfortable to maybe even attend a worship service 00:06:13.819 --> 00:06:16.699 where the intention is that we gather with other people 00:06:16.699 --> 00:06:18.060 who believe what we believe, 00:06:18.180 --> 00:06:21.359 who have experienced what we have experienced in the work of Christ, 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:22.399 in the work of the Holy Spirit, 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:26.779 and yet we're so reserved and offering up joyful praise 00:06:26.779 --> 00:06:32.259 and intentional, emotive praise to the Lord. 00:06:32.479 --> 00:06:35.139 That's not the picture that we have in the psalms at all. 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:37.120 And when we come to this one, 00:06:37.199 --> 00:06:41.599 we find there is no shortage of feelings for David here. 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:45.179 David's sin has brought his enemies close. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:47.179 It's caused him to feel as if God has left him. 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:51.540 And the combination of those things has brought him into this experience 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:57.280 of what older writers called the dark night of the soul. 00:06:59.980 --> 00:07:03.780 A deep spiritual depression, 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.519 the likes of which only God can remedy. 00:07:08.680 --> 00:07:09.939 That's what we find here. 00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:13.019 But it's not just depression here. 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:18.359 There's actually a powerful sense of hope that courses through the psalm, isn't there? 00:07:20.459 --> 00:07:22.939 The same God who disciplines us in our sins 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:26.439 is the same God who renews his children, 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:31.099 who restores their worship through his steadfast love. 00:07:33.719 --> 00:07:39.279 There are consequences for sin that bring immense grief into our lives. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:43.679 There's also forgiveness from God that brings unspeakable joy. 00:07:43.679 --> 00:07:48.639 As deep and dark as our spiritual depression can be, 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:58.699 even more so is the brightness of the joy that can be experienced in Christ from God. 00:08:00.059 --> 00:08:06.500 And Psalm 6 gives us this opportunity to explore those two truths simultaneously 00:08:06.500 --> 00:08:13.459 so that we too may know how to escape the dark night of the soul. 00:08:14.100 --> 00:08:20.019 Because inevitably, there will be times when you will indeed, like David, 00:08:21.160 --> 00:08:26.240 have nights where you lay upon your bed and weep. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:35.200 And how nice, gracious of God to give us a psalm that we can resort to in those moments, right? 00:08:36.659 --> 00:08:39.759 My hope, my prayer is to be clear. 00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:41.759 I hope that I'm clear. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.639 I hope that I don't overcook the message here. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:54.419 Honestly, my heart this morning is that if you are in one of those seasons, 00:08:55.240 --> 00:08:56.899 a dark night of the soul, 00:08:57.779 --> 00:09:01.879 that kind of depression that is deeply spiritual, 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:07.439 that in this psalm, you will see that there is actually true hope. 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:11.500 And that hope can be yours. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:12.880 It's a gift from God. 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:18.840 Two facets of Christian experience are evident in the song here. 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.080 We've already noted them really in passing. 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:24.280 The first one is spiritual depression. 00:09:24.420 --> 00:09:25.940 The second one is saving hope. 00:09:26.980 --> 00:09:30.460 There's also a pathway described to each of those things. 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:34.540 David didn't just wake up one day and decide he's going to be spiritually depressed. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:36.220 It didn't happen that way for him. 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:41.639 There was a road that he walked that led to this moment. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:47.500 There was also a road that he walked that led him to the confident joy and hope 00:09:47.500 --> 00:09:50.340 that we find in the closing verses of the psalm. 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:54.899 So what I want us to do this morning is walk these two roads together. 00:09:55.060 --> 00:09:58.080 Rather than break it up in its different stanzas, 00:09:58.279 --> 00:10:00.560 I want us to look at spiritual depression first, 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:02.899 and I want us to trace it through the psalm. 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.480 And then I want us to return to the beginning of the psalm 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:08.460 and then trace saving hope all the way through as well. 00:10:08.539 --> 00:10:09.379 Okay, that's the goal. 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:10.940 That's the structure as we work through. 00:10:11.100 --> 00:10:16.920 The first thing we want to really look at is this idea of spiritual depression. 00:10:18.340 --> 00:10:24.519 There are two waypoints in the psalm that lead to the destination of spiritual depression. 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:27.360 The first one is very simply sin. 00:10:28.579 --> 00:10:29.100 Sin. 00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:30.019 Look at verse one. 00:10:31.199 --> 00:10:39.319 Oh Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:46.440 This verse, it includes language that in Psalm 2, we studied a few weeks ago, 00:10:46.840 --> 00:10:53.080 was reserved for the raging nations and the plotting peoples that rebel against God 00:10:53.080 --> 00:10:55.320 and face his divine judgment. 00:10:55.460 --> 00:10:57.080 You can probably set your eyes on it. 00:10:57.140 --> 00:10:59.480 Look at verse 12 of Psalm 2. 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:04.840 Kiss the son lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, 00:11:05.020 --> 00:11:07.960 for his wrath is quickly kindled. 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:11.660 Who is it kindled towards? 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:17.320 Who is being called to escape the anger of the Son of God? 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:21.379 Those who have rebelled against him. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:24.920 So it's peculiar then that when we get to Psalm 6, 00:11:24.920 --> 00:11:31.340 that David, who often typifies the blessed man of Psalm 1, 00:11:31.660 --> 00:11:36.759 would now be crying out for God to withhold anger and wrath from him. 00:11:36.759 --> 00:11:39.360 Rebuke me not in your anger, God. 00:11:41.580 --> 00:11:45.720 Please do not discipline me in your wrath. 00:11:47.100 --> 00:11:50.319 And there can only be one reason for this kind of prayer. 00:11:51.860 --> 00:11:58.319 David traced his affliction back to some moment in which he walked in the way of sinners 00:11:58.319 --> 00:12:01.460 rather than delighting in the law of God. 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:08.420 And in recognizing his sin against God, he pleads that God would bring an end to the rebuke. 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:14.000 He pleads that God would withhold further discipline that he's now enduring, 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:16.400 that he believes has brought him to the brink of death. 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:25.799 There's many moments in David's life where it was the sins of others that brought him grief. 00:12:26.459 --> 00:12:27.799 You know what that's like. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:32.360 You know what it's like to face deep discouragements in your life, 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:36.360 not because you did something wrong, but because someone did something wrong to you. 00:12:37.539 --> 00:12:38.399 David knew that. 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:39.399 He knew that experience. 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:44.000 This is not the experience of David here. 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:51.120 David's grief, many times in the Psalms, it stems from his own sin. 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:59.179 We don't know exactly which circumstance this is a reflection on. 00:12:59.279 --> 00:13:04.720 We could easily work through the narrative of David's life and find a number of different possibilities. 00:13:05.460 --> 00:13:07.939 The exact nature of it isn't the point. 00:13:07.940 --> 00:13:15.860 The point is that he recognizes that his condition is the result of his own sinfulness. 00:13:17.040 --> 00:13:19.380 Now, I want to be clear at this point. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:29.960 That doesn't mean that every hardship, that every mental health crisis that you may face 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:33.820 is the direct result of some wrongdoing in your life. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:35.340 That's not what I'm saying. 00:13:35.620 --> 00:13:37.340 It's not what I intend for you to hear. 00:13:37.940 --> 00:13:44.060 We understand severe bouts of depression can arise from many things, 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:47.660 including mental ailments that are beyond our control. 00:13:47.659 --> 00:14:01.159 It's also true that too much effort seems to be put into avoiding sinful behavior as a real and dominant cause of emotional distress. 00:14:02.620 --> 00:14:05.159 Why would we expect something different than that? 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:06.980 God has made it clear in his word. 00:14:07.439 --> 00:14:09.019 Sin destroys. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:11.899 Sin kills. 00:14:11.899 --> 00:14:15.279 Sin does not make things better for you. 00:14:15.279 --> 00:14:19.139 Sin always makes things worse. 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:31.480 And it will be to our own detriment if we scoff at the idea that mental anguish is divorced from rebellion against God. 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:33.480 Sometimes it is. 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:34.000 Sometimes it is. 00:14:34.659 --> 00:14:35.620 But it isn't always. 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:38.379 And David proves that to us here in this psalm. 00:14:38.800 --> 00:14:40.560 The particulars are unspecified. 00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:44.680 But a sense of guilt for sin is basic to the psalm. 00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:49.960 David ties his experience directly to God's judgment. 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:57.080 Sin is the first step on the pathway to this spiritual depression that he experiences in this psalm. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:14:59.040 Which brings us to the second point. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:14:59.980 Affliction. 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:01.680 Affliction. 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:07.820 David speaks of tremendous affliction flowing out of his sin. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:09.340 Look at verses 2 and 3. 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:14.120 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing. 00:15:15.300 --> 00:15:18.280 Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 00:15:18.540 --> 00:15:21.060 My soul also is greatly troubled. 00:15:21.680 --> 00:15:24.800 But you, O Lord, how long? 00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:32.740 Whatever it is that's come about in David's life at this moment, it has rocked him to his very core. 00:15:35.180 --> 00:15:36.780 Derek Kidner said it this way. 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:43.839 Whether his sense of God's displeasure is the cause or the effect of his sickness, 00:15:44.620 --> 00:15:49.519 he is shaken to the depths and he fears even for his life. 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:56.720 My bones and my soul are probably not meant as a contrast between the material and immaterial, 00:15:57.399 --> 00:16:01.259 but as an alternative expression for the whole man. 00:16:01.539 --> 00:16:03.199 What is David saying here? 00:16:03.620 --> 00:16:06.579 He's saying my whole being is distraught. 00:16:06.779 --> 00:16:09.799 It's greatly troubled. 00:16:10.339 --> 00:16:10.899 What is that? 00:16:11.439 --> 00:16:11.879 Affliction. 00:16:12.819 --> 00:16:13.259 Affliction. 00:16:14.139 --> 00:16:14.579 Anguish. 00:16:16.579 --> 00:16:22.679 His affliction had so permeated his being that it's as if he could not even finish his sentence in verse 3. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:23.779 Look at it. 00:16:24.839 --> 00:16:25.699 You, O Lord. 00:16:25.700 --> 00:16:27.640 How long? 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:31.800 It's almost as if he's going to continue his prayer, 00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:40.100 but overcome with this feeling of affliction that he experiences in this moment. 00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:42.280 He stops his prayer and he just says, 00:16:42.279 --> 00:16:44.740 How much longer, Lord? 00:16:44.740 --> 00:16:48.480 How much longer will you pour out your anger? 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:52.699 How much longer until you deal with my enemies? 00:16:52.819 --> 00:16:57.659 How much longer until you restore me in your kindness? 00:16:58.120 --> 00:16:59.459 You ever prayed a prayer like that? 00:16:59.460 --> 00:17:05.539 You ever got to a point in your life where you just didn't even know what to pray anymore? 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:11.160 And maybe all you can muster in the course of your devotion to God is, 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:12.720 How much longer, Lord? 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:14.559 How much longer will this continue? 00:17:14.900 --> 00:17:16.740 How much longer until you intervene? 00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:18.100 Until you do something? 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:24.319 Of course, the affliction is multifaceted, isn't it? 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:26.619 One facet was physical. 00:17:27.679 --> 00:17:32.000 David pleads for God to be gracious to him for he was languishing. 00:17:32.879 --> 00:17:35.319 To languish, it means to grow weak physically. 00:17:35.459 --> 00:17:41.379 It means to grow weak or feeble so that you can make no more progress in life. 00:17:42.719 --> 00:17:43.959 He's come to the end. 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:45.579 That's what he feels like here. 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:47.759 There's a physical dimension to this. 00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:54.140 Whether through some kind of sickness, it seems like there's a threat of enemies that are coming against him. 00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:57.619 Whatever it was, David believes that his death is imminent. 00:17:58.039 --> 00:17:59.339 It could happen at any moment. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:01.460 And that's contributing to his grief. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:02.960 Look at verses 4 and 5. 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:06.019 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life. 00:18:06.879 --> 00:18:08.879 Save me, he says. 00:18:09.259 --> 00:18:11.359 In death, there's no remembrance of you. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:13.539 In Sheol, who will give you praise? 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:15.079 He thinks he's going to die. 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:24.899 Another facet of the affliction, maybe the dominant facet, is deeply spiritual here. 00:18:26.439 --> 00:18:31.539 Verse 4, he asks for God to turn, which is the word for repentance. 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:36.319 Now, he's not suggesting that God had done something wrong. 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:40.679 He was asking God to turn from judgment to salvation. 00:18:41.679 --> 00:18:44.879 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:55.500 But I want you to consider for a moment the spiritual realities that are underscoring this prayer. 00:18:55.560 --> 00:19:00.340 There's kind of an undercurrent of spiritual distress here. 00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:09.779 David obviously felt that what should be happening to God's enemies, another reflection perhaps on Psalm 2, 00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:13.919 what should be happening to God's enemies was happening to him instead. 00:19:15.419 --> 00:19:21.379 And for someone who has walked with God, a man who, the Bible says at one point, is a man who had God's heart. 00:19:22.619 --> 00:19:23.559 A man after God's heart. 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:26.879 Imagine the spiritual distress he would have felt. 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:29.299 Now God is treating me as if I'm an enemy. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:35.919 He surely senses this deep sense of separation from the God that he loved and had served. 00:19:37.679 --> 00:19:42.759 Perhaps he'd lost the sense of God's favor and blessing on his life. 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:49.779 He was in anguish over the fact, I think, that his sin had interrupted his fellowship with God, 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:57.220 which was being evidenced in the physical suffering that God was allowing him to endure in this moment. 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:04.220 And again, that doesn't mean that every time you face physical suffering or hardship or mental distress, 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:06.180 that it's always the result of sin. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:08.400 But in this case, it was. 00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:10.480 It was. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:14.900 And it's possible that in your case, it is. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:19.900 That brings us to the third step, which is the depression itself. 00:20:21.140 --> 00:20:22.500 Verses 6 and 7. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:25.779 I'm weary with my moaning. 00:20:27.259 --> 00:20:29.860 Every night I flood my bed with tears. 00:20:31.140 --> 00:20:33.779 I drench my couch with my weeping. 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:38.180 My eye waste away because of grief. 00:20:38.180 --> 00:20:41.920 It grows weak because of all my foes. 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:46.360 Again, a reflection on this physical suffering, perhaps from the threat of his enemies. 00:20:47.100 --> 00:20:50.299 This is the cry of a deeply broken individual, isn't it? 00:20:51.820 --> 00:20:54.140 His moaning, his tears, his weeping. 00:20:54.360 --> 00:20:56.259 They're all rooted in his grief. 00:20:56.340 --> 00:20:57.880 That's what he says in verse 7. 00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.060 My eye waste away. 00:20:59.500 --> 00:21:01.960 That's a reflection of all of his crying that he's been doing. 00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:05.539 It wastes away because of grief. 00:21:06.579 --> 00:21:08.660 Because of this internal struggle. 00:21:09.779 --> 00:21:11.100 But his grief is layered. 00:21:11.600 --> 00:21:16.920 On the surface, it relates to his enemies who seem to have been successful against him. 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:19.000 But it's deeper than that, isn't it? 00:21:19.900 --> 00:21:23.220 His lament is fundamentally about his sin against God. 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:27.400 And the brokenness that has come as a result of it. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:36.279 So that the intensity of David's affliction paired with the realization that it's all the result of his own sin. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:40.279 It has produced in him this deep spiritual depression. 00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:43.519 This dark night of the soul. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:48.940 Have you ever experienced something like this? 00:21:49.720 --> 00:21:52.400 Maybe even just a taste of something like this? 00:21:52.400 --> 00:22:00.619 I would venture to say that at least at the moment of your conversion, you felt some sense of what David feels here. 00:22:02.460 --> 00:22:06.180 Recognizing that your sinfulness has produced nothing but death in you. 00:22:07.319 --> 00:22:10.500 Casting yourself then on the mercy of God. 00:22:10.500 --> 00:22:19.039 But perhaps even since you've become a Christian, you have had seasons that felt very much like what David describes here. 00:22:20.339 --> 00:22:22.940 Ever drenched your bed with weeping? 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:29.160 There could be a lot of reasons for that that have nothing to do with what I'm talking about right now. 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:33.859 But have you ever considered that your depression might actually be spiritual? 00:22:33.859 --> 00:22:42.339 That like David, your circumstances have come as a result of sin. 00:22:42.459 --> 00:22:49.799 And what you're facing is not something that can be diagnosed and treated with medicine or therapies. 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:58.579 That the only hope you have is a supernatural hope that comes from God. 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:05.960 Well, I want you to know that there is true saving hope in your grief. 00:23:06.119 --> 00:23:10.679 Whether you're experiencing that grief now or whether you'll experience that grief sometime in your future. 00:23:11.019 --> 00:23:12.359 There is hope and it's here. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:14.740 Which brings us to the second primary point. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:16.019 Saving hope. 00:23:16.119 --> 00:23:17.179 We've seen spiritual depression. 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:19.000 Now we're going to kind of work through the psalm again. 00:23:19.179 --> 00:23:23.240 Looking at the saving hope that is intertwined with it. 00:23:23.720 --> 00:23:26.720 There's a road map to spiritual depression here. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.500 There's also a road map to saving hope. 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:30.059 The first stop on the path. 00:23:31.500 --> 00:23:31.980 Repentance. 00:23:33.420 --> 00:23:33.860 Repentance. 00:23:34.519 --> 00:23:43.620 What do I do when I discover that what I feel that the grief that I have is really the outworking of my sin? 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:46.559 The first thing you do is the first thing David did. 00:23:47.100 --> 00:23:48.600 You turn from that sin. 00:23:49.460 --> 00:23:50.420 Verses 1 and 2. 00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:52.920 Oh Lord, rebuke me not in your anger. 00:23:53.539 --> 00:23:55.140 Do not discipline me in your wrath. 00:23:55.259 --> 00:23:56.259 Be gracious to me. 00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:57.099 I'm languishing. 00:23:57.279 --> 00:23:57.839 Heal me. 00:23:57.940 --> 00:23:59.099 My bones are troubled. 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:02.799 He recognizes his guilt. 00:24:03.779 --> 00:24:06.799 Knowing that God's anger and wrath are his just reward. 00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:11.759 So rather than double down on his rebellion. 00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:15.240 Claiming that God has been unjust toward him. 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:16.059 What does he do? 00:24:16.299 --> 00:24:19.619 He agrees with God about his sinful condition. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:22.099 Rebuke me not. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.460 Nor discipline me. 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:24.680 Be gracious to me. 00:24:24.879 --> 00:24:25.140 Heal me. 00:24:25.140 --> 00:24:27.940 Those are all expressions of a penitent heart. 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:32.660 That's why the church historically has categorized this as a penitential psalm. 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:35.480 The heart of David here is one of repentance. 00:24:35.480 --> 00:24:40.980 Of turning away from sin in order to pursue God once again. 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:47.519 David didn't only seek deliverance from his circumstances. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:48.620 I don't think that's true. 00:24:48.620 --> 00:24:50.440 Clearly that's on the surface. 00:24:50.700 --> 00:24:53.120 I think he also sought forgiveness for his sins. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:25:00.460 Otherwise, he would have defended himself rather than plead for God's mercy, wouldn't he? 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:08.799 When facing God's discipline for your sin, you will always be tempted to be angry with him. 00:25:10.140 --> 00:25:20.700 As if in contrast to what John said in 1 John 1.5, you convince yourself that there actually is some kind of darkness in God. 00:25:20.840 --> 00:25:23.019 There is some type of injustice in God. 00:25:23.019 --> 00:25:24.660 Why would he do this to me? 00:25:25.819 --> 00:25:29.900 After all I've done for him, why would he do this to me? 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:37.000 And rather than acknowledging the reality of your sinful condition, you charge him as if there's something wrong with him. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:43.380 That's always going to be a temptation when you are facing grief as a result of sin. 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:47.640 But no hope will come to such a hardened heart. 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:48.920 No hope. 00:25:50.180 --> 00:25:54.859 It is a broken and a contrite heart that God will not despise. 00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:56.700 That's what David says in Psalm 51. 00:25:56.960 --> 00:25:58.740 And it's echoed throughout the Old Testament. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:03.339 God does not despise those who recognize and agree with him about their condition. 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:10.139 In fact, he moves toward them with hope and love and grace. 00:26:11.659 --> 00:26:13.919 Which brings us to the second point. 00:26:14.859 --> 00:26:16.859 It's not only repentance that we find here. 00:26:17.159 --> 00:26:18.220 We find faith. 00:26:19.179 --> 00:26:19.599 Faith. 00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:21.839 Verses 4 and 5. 00:26:22.639 --> 00:26:24.439 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life. 00:26:24.859 --> 00:26:28.519 Save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:32.240 For in death there's no remembrance of you. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:35.700 In Sheol, who will give you praise? 00:26:36.980 --> 00:26:44.019 So in partnership with repentance is the faith that God is willing and able to show mercy in salvation. 00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:48.099 Again, that's what surfaces in his language here, isn't it? 00:26:48.920 --> 00:26:52.339 He's convinced that hope can only be found in the Lord. 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:55.299 So he prays for God to deliver him. 00:26:55.299 --> 00:27:08.759 And underscoring this prayer for deliverance is faith that God will, perhaps another reflection on Psalm 2, bless those who take refuge in him. 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:15.299 So David then makes his appeal on the basis of God's steadfast love. 00:27:15.299 --> 00:27:18.119 Notice again, verse 4. 00:27:19.180 --> 00:27:23.220 Save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:25.259 David essentially prays here. 00:27:25.579 --> 00:27:27.419 Deliver me, O Lord, because you love me. 00:27:28.379 --> 00:27:31.159 Come to my aid, God, because I know you love me. 00:27:31.799 --> 00:27:34.799 And that your love for me does not end. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:39.980 You ever said that to your wife after a fight, sweetheart? 00:27:39.980 --> 00:27:44.360 Now, now, I know you love me. 00:27:45.120 --> 00:27:46.819 You can't be mad at me forever. 00:27:49.460 --> 00:27:52.200 Some might say this is awfully presumptuous of David. 00:27:53.819 --> 00:28:02.620 That it's a great presumption that he's made here that God does love him and will continue to love him, 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:06.019 even in his sinfulness. 00:28:06.019 --> 00:28:08.259 And they'd be right. 00:28:09.460 --> 00:28:14.299 It is presumptuous if there's no basis for his claim. 00:28:15.319 --> 00:28:17.559 But David didn't invent this idea. 00:28:19.420 --> 00:28:24.759 David didn't conjure up and fabricate this idea of God being full of steadfast love. 00:28:25.779 --> 00:28:29.480 It's used hundreds of times in the Bible to describe God. 00:28:29.480 --> 00:28:39.740 In 52 different Psalms, steadfast love is noted as praiseworthy, as part of who God is. 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:45.099 Every Psalmist that is actually noted, including David, but also the others, 00:28:45.339 --> 00:28:50.059 the sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses, Asaph, 00:28:50.279 --> 00:28:54.640 they all mention at some point in their Psalms the steadfast love of God. 00:28:55.380 --> 00:28:56.660 That's interesting, isn't it? 00:28:57.299 --> 00:28:58.319 It's not just David. 00:28:58.319 --> 00:29:00.539 Where are they getting this idea? 00:29:02.139 --> 00:29:05.679 To those who are suffering with any type of depression, really, 00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:09.220 it's hard to believe that anyone will love you, let alone God. 00:29:09.579 --> 00:29:15.980 So how can the Psalmist and the other authors of the Scripture be so certain that God loves them? 00:29:15.980 --> 00:29:20.259 Because God himself declared that he did. 00:29:20.259 --> 00:29:23.779 Because he said he loved them. 00:29:24.360 --> 00:29:31.799 Because he backed up that statement by proving it over and over and over and over. 00:29:31.799 --> 00:29:36.619 Isn't that what we learned as we studied those six months in the book of Judges? 00:29:37.119 --> 00:29:39.359 You know what the biggest question is at the end of Judges? 00:29:40.159 --> 00:29:41.859 Why does Israel still exist? 00:29:43.819 --> 00:29:45.019 Why are they still here? 00:29:46.059 --> 00:29:47.440 And there's only one answer. 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:50.159 The steadfast love of the Lord. 00:29:51.139 --> 00:29:52.859 He exemplified that love. 00:29:52.919 --> 00:29:55.960 He showed that love to them even when they did not seek it. 00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:58.700 Boy, that sounds real familiar, doesn't it? 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:04.140 He shows his love, though we do not even seek it. 00:30:05.400 --> 00:30:07.120 David wasn't being presumptuous. 00:30:07.779 --> 00:30:09.720 He was just simply believing the Bible. 00:30:09.720 --> 00:30:14.279 God said this to Moses in Exodus 34. 00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:17.420 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, 00:30:17.940 --> 00:30:23.700 The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful, gracious, slow to anger, 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:27.460 and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:30.799 keeping steadfast love for thousands, 00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:34.180 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. 00:30:34.180 --> 00:30:40.980 How did God want Moses and the people of Israel to know him 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:44.120 as being full of steadfast love? 00:30:45.019 --> 00:30:47.440 Why is David so certain of that? 00:30:47.900 --> 00:30:50.360 Because it's God who said that he loved him. 00:30:52.779 --> 00:30:57.560 And of course, the greatest display of God's steadfast love 00:30:57.560 --> 00:31:02.000 is seen in the person and the work of his son, Jesus Christ. 00:31:04.180 --> 00:31:06.700 Greater love hath no man than this, Jesus said, 00:31:07.580 --> 00:31:09.779 than that a man laid down his life for his friends. 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:16.920 Greater love has never been known in all the world 00:31:16.920 --> 00:31:21.799 than that God himself would humiliate himself 00:31:21.799 --> 00:31:24.740 to become a man, 00:31:26.740 --> 00:31:29.160 to live, honestly, a wretched life, 00:31:29.160 --> 00:31:31.860 to identify with sinners 00:31:31.860 --> 00:31:34.180 and bear their sin. 00:31:35.860 --> 00:31:37.720 There is no greater love than that. 00:31:38.320 --> 00:31:40.500 And that is not a love that has been fabricated 00:31:40.500 --> 00:31:42.940 in the minds of those who just really wish it were true. 00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:46.880 It is a love that is proclaimed by God himself, 00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:50.759 displayed by God himself at the cross, 00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:55.440 which is why Paul reflected on it in Romans chapter 5. 00:31:55.440 --> 00:31:59.400 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, 00:31:59.680 --> 00:32:02.779 though perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die. 00:32:03.580 --> 00:32:06.779 God shows his love to us in that while we're sinners, 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:08.220 not good people, 00:32:09.360 --> 00:32:10.940 Christ dies for us. 00:32:12.840 --> 00:32:14.299 Of course, you know John 3, 16. 00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:16.000 God so loved the world. 00:32:16.700 --> 00:32:17.460 How do we know 00:32:17.460 --> 00:32:20.259 that he gave his only son 00:32:20.259 --> 00:32:23.480 so that whoever will believe in him 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:24.960 will not die, 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:28.079 but will have eternal life? 00:32:28.879 --> 00:32:30.119 Now, how can anyone believe 00:32:30.119 --> 00:32:32.039 that God is full of steadfast love 00:32:32.039 --> 00:32:34.480 to forgive and deliver those who come to him in faith? 00:32:35.460 --> 00:32:36.640 Because he proved it. 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:40.400 He proved it in the person of Jesus. 00:32:42.879 --> 00:32:45.259 He dies as a substitute for sinners, 00:32:45.259 --> 00:32:49.640 making propitiation for our sins, 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:54.220 full satisfaction for God's wrath. 00:32:55.299 --> 00:32:57.160 And then Christ rose from the dead 00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:01.440 to show that his death was enough. 00:33:04.180 --> 00:33:05.420 It was enough. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:10.379 What love is that? 00:33:12.900 --> 00:33:14.119 And then what does he do? 00:33:15.259 --> 00:33:19.599 He invites you into this loving grace, doesn't he? 00:33:21.319 --> 00:33:23.319 He extends his arms wide open 00:33:23.319 --> 00:33:24.480 and he says, come to me. 00:33:25.660 --> 00:33:27.480 Come all who are weary and heavy laden, 00:33:27.539 --> 00:33:28.319 I'll give you rest. 00:33:30.500 --> 00:33:32.140 Is this not the faith 00:33:32.140 --> 00:33:35.339 that David exemplifies in the midst of his depression? 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:37.539 He turns from his sin 00:33:37.539 --> 00:33:40.059 and he trusts in the steadfast love of the Lord. 00:33:41.339 --> 00:33:42.960 He doesn't trust in his ability 00:33:42.960 --> 00:33:44.619 to work his way back into favor. 00:33:44.619 --> 00:33:48.099 No, he just cast himself holy on the mercy of God. 00:33:48.899 --> 00:33:50.519 That is true faith. 00:33:51.379 --> 00:33:52.299 True faith. 00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:56.839 And that brings us to the final thing, 00:33:56.979 --> 00:33:59.000 which is hope, the hope itself. 00:34:00.459 --> 00:34:01.539 Verses 8 through 10. 00:34:03.579 --> 00:34:05.479 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. 00:34:06.220 --> 00:34:07.900 Interestingly enough, just as a side note, 00:34:08.240 --> 00:34:09.380 Jesus quotes this. 00:34:10.219 --> 00:34:12.360 He quotes this phrase in Matthew chapter 7. 00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:14.039 He's speaking to a different group of people though. 00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:15.800 He's speaking to the religious people 00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:17.800 who will come to him in the final judgment 00:34:17.800 --> 00:34:19.380 and say, Lord, Lord, have we not done 00:34:19.380 --> 00:34:21.199 many wonderful things in your name? 00:34:21.260 --> 00:34:22.980 And Jesus says he will turn to them 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:24.960 and he will say, depart from me, 00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:26.599 you workers of iniquity, 00:34:26.860 --> 00:34:27.760 you workers of evil. 00:34:28.099 --> 00:34:28.860 Interesting, isn't it? 00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:33.320 David says this confidently about his enemies, 00:34:33.539 --> 00:34:36.320 making it an appeal to the righteous judge. 00:34:37.579 --> 00:34:42.360 Jesus says it because he is the righteous judge. 00:34:42.680 --> 00:34:43.280 Interesting, huh? 00:34:43.680 --> 00:34:44.440 Notice the confidence. 00:34:44.800 --> 00:34:46.579 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, 00:34:46.840 --> 00:34:49.079 for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 00:34:49.340 --> 00:34:50.740 The Lord has heard my plea. 00:34:51.079 --> 00:34:52.640 The Lord accepts my prayer. 00:34:53.059 --> 00:34:55.760 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:59.520 They shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. 00:35:00.340 --> 00:35:02.560 This is quite the mood swing, isn't it? 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:06.400 He went from utter despair to confident joy. 00:35:07.220 --> 00:35:08.620 There's so much we can unpack here. 00:35:08.980 --> 00:35:12.240 I wanna give you maybe two or three things 00:35:12.240 --> 00:35:14.520 that I think will be an encouragement to you 00:35:14.520 --> 00:35:16.680 as we bring this to a close. 00:35:16.940 --> 00:35:17.920 The first thing is this. 00:35:18.680 --> 00:35:20.620 God is not indifferent to your grief. 00:35:21.740 --> 00:35:23.740 He is not indifferent to your grief. 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:27.480 Notice how David emphasized, 00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:29.880 God had not only heard his prayer, 00:35:30.120 --> 00:35:32.520 God had heard his weeping. 00:35:33.120 --> 00:35:34.340 Do you see it there in verse eight? 00:35:34.860 --> 00:35:36.960 The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:40.360 If you're in a dark night of the soul, 00:35:40.600 --> 00:35:42.580 whether it's related to your sin or not, 00:35:42.900 --> 00:35:44.900 God is not callous to your condition. 00:35:47.020 --> 00:35:49.860 He may not seem present, but I promise he is. 00:35:50.420 --> 00:35:51.080 He's there. 00:35:51.640 --> 00:35:52.340 He hears. 00:35:52.640 --> 00:35:53.380 He sees. 00:35:53.640 --> 00:35:54.680 He hears your cry. 00:35:54.679 --> 00:35:56.039 He knows your tears. 00:35:56.299 --> 00:35:58.379 He's not indifferent to the despair 00:35:58.379 --> 00:36:00.179 that you feel so deeply in your soul. 00:36:00.539 --> 00:36:04.419 Your weeping speaks to him as if it was words. 00:36:06.179 --> 00:36:07.619 He's not indifferent to it. 00:36:07.659 --> 00:36:08.879 He's not callous to it. 00:36:10.460 --> 00:36:16.659 Secondly, notice that hope can come before relief. 00:36:17.859 --> 00:36:19.679 Hope can come before relief. 00:36:19.679 --> 00:36:24.839 Now, notice he speaks in past tense. 00:36:25.460 --> 00:36:29.379 The Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 00:36:29.759 --> 00:36:32.559 The Lord has heard my plea. 00:36:32.980 --> 00:36:35.960 The Lord accepts my prayer. 00:36:36.379 --> 00:36:37.879 Those are confident assertions. 00:36:38.579 --> 00:36:40.179 But the next phrase is future. 00:36:40.179 --> 00:36:48.379 He, all my enemies, shall be ashamed and greatly troubled. 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:52.339 They shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. 00:36:52.340 --> 00:36:56.539 This indicates David's physical circumstances, 00:36:56.760 --> 00:36:59.640 those things that have surfaced as the consequences of his sin, 00:37:00.160 --> 00:37:01.500 they haven't changed yet. 00:37:03.340 --> 00:37:07.660 The judgment of his enemies is still a future reality. 00:37:07.659 --> 00:37:14.159 So the hope that he expresses here was not after God brought relief. 00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:15.819 It was before. 00:37:16.879 --> 00:37:19.139 And this shift is so helpful, isn't it? 00:37:19.299 --> 00:37:23.279 Because it shows us that deliverance from spiritual depression 00:37:23.279 --> 00:37:27.319 doesn't require a change in physical circumstances. 00:37:28.699 --> 00:37:31.279 Hope doesn't come through a change in your situation. 00:37:31.879 --> 00:37:33.599 Hope comes through knowing God. 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:36.059 Hope comes through turning from sin. 00:37:36.059 --> 00:37:39.779 Hope comes through trusting in his steadfast love. 00:37:40.579 --> 00:37:42.639 You don't have to wait for life to get better 00:37:42.639 --> 00:37:45.460 before you can experience the hope of Christ. 00:37:46.059 --> 00:37:48.139 You need only turn and believe. 00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:51.139 And the Spirit of God will produce this joy in you 00:37:51.139 --> 00:37:54.860 that is inexpressible, Peter says, and full of glory. 00:37:56.380 --> 00:37:58.940 Maybe we could add a third thing here, a third encouragement. 00:38:00.159 --> 00:38:04.360 And that is for the believer, deliverance is a certainty. 00:38:04.360 --> 00:38:04.500 It's a certainty. 00:38:05.220 --> 00:38:06.260 It's a certainty. 00:38:06.880 --> 00:38:09.960 David's confident that his future was brighter than his present. 00:38:11.539 --> 00:38:12.960 Because he knew God. 00:38:13.220 --> 00:38:15.380 He knew his enemies would be put to shame. 00:38:16.160 --> 00:38:19.579 He may not have known exactly how or exactly when, 00:38:19.800 --> 00:38:22.460 but he was confident at some point in his future, 00:38:22.640 --> 00:38:25.340 things would be better than they were then. 00:38:25.340 --> 00:38:31.840 Those in Christ know the future is brighter than the present, don't we? 00:38:32.660 --> 00:38:34.440 We know that salvation is certain. 00:38:36.140 --> 00:38:37.900 Know what a glorious truth that is. 00:38:39.440 --> 00:38:40.539 Let's finish this way. 00:38:40.539 --> 00:38:47.259 Do you see how the psalm is so beneficial for your worship? 00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:49.079 This particular psalm. 00:38:50.219 --> 00:38:52.400 You maybe wouldn't pray this prayer every day. 00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:54.139 If maybe you would. 00:38:54.659 --> 00:38:55.739 Hopefully you wouldn't need to. 00:38:57.420 --> 00:39:00.079 But you can see moments where this would be useful, right? 00:39:00.820 --> 00:39:02.079 I know it's moody. 00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:07.119 And people don't usually like to dwell on depressing songs. 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:07.960 I get that. 00:39:09.259 --> 00:39:12.340 But Psalm 6 is indicative of real life. 00:39:14.199 --> 00:39:16.579 It's full of hardship and grief, 00:39:16.940 --> 00:39:19.139 often resulting from our own failure. 00:39:19.299 --> 00:39:21.239 And perhaps that's the worst kind of grief. 00:39:21.420 --> 00:39:22.960 When you know it's your fault. 00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:24.319 You did this. 00:39:25.139 --> 00:39:26.199 God is judging you. 00:39:27.719 --> 00:39:30.799 But it also reminds us of God's steadfast love. 00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:36.000 giving us hope for forgiveness and salvation. 00:39:36.640 --> 00:39:39.460 So that whenever you enter a dark light of the soul, 00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:42.100 you can turn and pray this psalm to the Lord. 00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:45.780 You may not always sense his presence, 00:39:46.500 --> 00:39:48.720 but you can always trust his word. 00:39:49.860 --> 00:39:51.740 Which is why we want to study them. 00:39:52.580 --> 00:39:53.620 And reflect on them. 00:39:54.160 --> 00:39:55.019 And remember them.