Psalm 6-10
Wednesday Evening Bible Study
Introduction
Music touches the soul. It’s “soulish” in nature. It touches the emotions.
We’re going to find every kind of emotion possible expressed in the Psalms.
For every sigh there is a Psalm.
For most of us, this is what makes the Psalms so wonderful. We can identify. We can relate.
If we were honest, even darkest most depressing Psalms describe the very things we go through day by day.
Some people want to think that being a Christian means flying on Cloud Nine 24 hours a day. Yet we become disillusioned when we face difficult times or depressing emotions.
Some may say, “I’m not an emotional kind of person. I just worship God with my mind”
Yet worship is the very heart of our relationship with God. It’s the place where our soul, our emotions, connect with our spirit. It’s the place of intimacy with God.
Can you imagine your spouse saying to you as you are getting married, “I just want you to know I’m not a very emotional person. I just want to love you with my mind.”
What kind of intimacy is that?
May God help us to not just those who study these things academically, but may we learn to be worshippers.
Psalm 6
:1 To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.
Neginoth – meaning “a stringed instrument”. Apparently this song was to be played on a stringed instrument.
Sheminith – sh@miyniyth – Sheminith; perhaps an eight-stringed musical instrument; perhaps a musical notation, i.e. an octave; from sh@miyniy – eighth (ordinal number)
One suggestion is that in the middle of the song, when the tone of the psalm changes, the key changes or perhaps the octave changes to reflect the change in attitude.
This Psalm is commonly known as the first of the seven “penitential” psalms, (The other six are Ps 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143). It is called “penitential” because it expresses sorrow, humiliation, and the hatred of sin, which are the marks of a person who is truly turning to God.
A psalm for afflicted souls.
Perhaps some of you might identify with affliction tonight …
:1-7 Weeping
:1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
God chastens us for our good. Discipline is good for us, it helps us grow, it purifies us from wickedness.
An old song …
O keep up life and peace within,
If I must feel thy chastening rod!
Yet kill not me, but kill my sin,
And let me know thou art my God.
O give my soul some sweet foretaste
Of that which I shall shortly see!
Let faith and love cry to the last,
"Come, Lord, I trust myself with thee!"
Richard Baxter, 1615-1691.
Yet David prays that God will not chasten him in anger, because then he would be wiped out.
:2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak
mercy – chanan – to be gracious, show favour, pity
weak – ‘umlal – weak, feeble; from ‘amal – to be weak, to droop, to languish, to be exhausted
David is clinging to God’s mercy – a good thing for all of us to do. We don’t deserve the good things God does for us. We don’t deserve it when God withholds His judgment.
Lesson
Weakness
Weakness is not necessarily a bad thing.
We look at weakness as being a weakness J
But sometimes it’s the very thing that allows God to work in our lives.
When Paul asked God to take away the thorn in his flesh, God’s response was:
(2 Cor 12:9-10 KJV) And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon
me. {10} Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am
weak, then am I strong.
Maybe you feel like you need to quit because you are so weak. Yet perhaps this is the place God wants you to be at, the place where He can begin to work.
:3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?
vexed – bahal – to disturb, alarm, terrify, hurry, be disturbed, be anxious, be afraid, be hurried, be nervous
Spurgeon writes, “Calvin’s favourite exclamation was, “Domine usquequo” —O Lord, how long? Nor could his sharpest pains, during a life of anguish, force from him any other word. Surely this is the cry of the saints under the altar, “O Lord, how long?”
:4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.
So people could see God’s mercy on my life.
:5 in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
David feels he’s close to death.
It could be he’s physically ill.
Some have suggested that this Psalm might have been written while David was
living with the Philistines and pretending to help the Philistines, all the
while he was attacking the enemies of Judah
:6 all the night make I my bed to swim
He’s not talking about sleeping on a water bed.
:8-10 Consolation
:8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
iniquity – ‘aven – trouble, wickedness, sorrow; idolatry; trouble of iniquity
Lesson
Moving the right direction.
Repentance is practical – separation from sin.
Some weep as a way of trying and manipulating the audience. But David’s weeping is genuine, shown by his desire to get away from sin.
:9 The LORD hath heard my supplication
All that seems to matter to David is that God has heard his prayer. His situation remains the same. But God has heard.
Spurgeon:
“Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers, and of weeping as a constant dropping of importunate intercession which will wear its way right surely into the very heart of mercy, despite the stony difficulties which obstruct the way.”
:10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed
sore vexed – bahal – to disturb, alarm, terrify, hurry, be disturbed, be anxious, be afraid, be hurried, be nervous
return – shuwb – to return, turn back, repent
It’s interesting that David asks that his enemies be “sore vexed”, which is just what he’s been (Ps. 6:2-3).
Lesson
Pressing through
Pressing through in prayer – it seems that sometimes in prayer things don’t happen instantly. Sometimes prayer needs to be pursued with perseverance.
Jacob
(Gen 32:24-30 KJV) And Jacob
was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the
day. {25} And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the
hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he
wrestled with him. {26} And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he
said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. {27} And he said unto him, What
is thy name? And he said, Jacob. {28} And he said, Thy name shall be called no
more Jacob, but Israel
(Hosea 12:4 KJV) Yea, he had
power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him:
he found him in Bethel
We often see Jacob as an example of “prevailing prayer”. He wrestled all night with God.
Elijah
Praying for fire to come down – happened pretty easily
(1 Ki 18:36-38 KJV) And it came to pass at the time of the
offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said,
LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou
art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these
things at thy word. {37} Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know
that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
{38} Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the
wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the
trench.
One quick prayer and God sent fire.
Praying for rain – took some time
(1 Ki 18:41-45 KJV) And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat
and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. {42} So Ahab went up to
eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself
down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, {43} And said to his
servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said,
There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. {44} And it came to pass
at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of
the sea, like a man's hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy
chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. {45} And it came to
pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and
there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.
The rain didn’t come so easily. Elijah had to pray seven times before the
rain came.
Psalm 7
The song of the slandered saint
:1 Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of
Cush
Shiggaion – One thought is that “shiggiaon” might mean “variable” and that this song is “variable” in that it bounces back and forth from triumph to complaint. Another thought is that the idea of “variable” is that of a wild, irregular rhythm or beat.
Cush Cush
This is the first of the “imprecatory” psalms, songs that ask for God’s judgment against enemies.
:2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
Slander is like being attacked by a lion.
We too have an enemy like David’s:
(1 Pet 5:8 KJV) Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour:
One of the ways that Satan attacks us is through slander.
:3 O LORD my God, if I have done this
If David has done the things that Cush
:4 …(yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
David had several opportunities to kill his enemy, Saul, yet he didn’t do it.
:5 Let the enemy persecute my soul
Lesson
Be open to rebuke
I don’t think David is being insincere here. I think he truly means that if he’s done something wrong, he’s willing to take the consequences.
When we are faced with a criticism or a slander, we ought to be open to say something like, “Lord if I’ve done something wrong, I want to know about it!”
Illustration
Robert Cook, President of King’s College once related a true story from the
early years of his ministry. Evidently
at that time he had been receiving some rather pointed criticism. In fact, it had become of such great concern
to him that he sought the counsel of a friend, the beloved Bible expositor and
pastor, Harry A. Ironside. Pouring out
his heart, Bob Cook asked what he should do about the denunciations being made
against him. He wanted to know how to
handle them. Ironside gave the following
wise counsel: “Bob, if the criticism about you is true, mend your ways! If it isn’t, forget about it!”
:8 judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness
David is saying this in light of the accusations being given against him. I’m not sure we should look at this as if David is being self-righteous and claiming to be perfect. He’s saying he’s innocent of the things being said about him.
:9 for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
trieth – bachan – to examine, try, prove
hearts – libbah – heart
reins – kilyah – kidneys; of physical organ (lit.); of seat of emotion and affection (fig.)
(Ps 7:9 NLT) {9} End the wickedness of the ungodly, but help all
those who obey you. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous
God.
God knows our hearts.
:11 God judgeth the righteous
God knows how to judge us. We don’t need to be afraid of His judgment.
:16 his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
pate – qodqod – head, crown of head, top of head, hairy crown, scalp
:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness …
There is another slanderer. Satan is called the “accuser of the brethren”.
(Rev 12:10-11 KJV) And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our
brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. {11}
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Lesson
Overcoming the Slanderer
1. Putting the problem into God’s hand. Give it time
Illustration
“Have patience awhile; slanders are not long-lived. Truth is the child of time; ere long she shall appear to vindicate thee.”
Immanuel Kant
(1724–1804)
Be careful about listening to slander about another person:
“Close your ear against him who opens his mouth against another. If you receive not his words, they fly back and wound him. If you receive them, they fly forward and wound you.”
Francis Quarles
(1592–1644)
2. God knows how to judge us.
3. We have an advocate – Jesus.
4. Trusting Him enough that we can praise Him instead of being focused on being slandered.
Psalm 8
:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Gittith – an instrument from Gath Gath Gath
Maybe it’s okay to use secular instruments in music. God can use those electric guitars and drums.
:2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
Perfect praise comes from children.
(Mat 21:12-16 KJV) And Jesus
went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the
temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them
that sold doves, {13} And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be
called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. {14} And the
blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. {15} And when
the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the
children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they
were sore displeased, {16} And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And
Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
Little children know how to praise Jesus correctly.
:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
If the distance between the sun and the earth, 93 million miles, were represented by the thickness of one sheet of paper …
The distance to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, would be a stack of paper 73 feet high.
The distance to the edge of the Milky Way galaxy would be a stack of paper 310 miles high.
The distance to the edge of the known universe would be a stack of paper 30 million miles high.
Yet this is just God’s fingerpainting – the “work of his fingers”
:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Who do you go visit?
People that are sick, in prison, new to the neighborhood, someone you’re interested in getting to know better.
We have dignity and value because He has visited us.
:5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Yet one day we will judge angels – 1Cor. 6.
:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
We don’t see our dominion over creation quite yet.
(Heb 2:6-9 KJV) But one in a
certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or
the son of man, that thou visitest him? {7} Thou madest him a little lower than
the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over
the works of thy hands: {8} Thou hast put all things in subjection under his
feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is
not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. {9} But we
see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of
death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste
death for every man.
We do see Jesus having dominion over creation – calming the sea, etc.
:7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
:8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
Matthew Maury – ocean currents
:9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Psalm 9
:1 To the chief Musician upon Muthlabben, A Psalm of David.
Called a Psalm of Conquest.
It has been suggested that David might have written this after killing Goliath.
Muthlabben – “death of the son”, could refer to the name of the tune, could refer to the death of the greatest son of the Philistines, Goliath.
:1 I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart
whole heart – praising God with all that you have.
Lesson
Complete worship
Mary knew how to worship with a whole heart:
(John 12:1-8 KJV) Then Jesus
six days before the passover came to Bethany
Mary’s worship was very costly – David said, “I will not offer the Lord that which costs me nothing”. Mary’s offering cost almost a year’s worth of wages, perhaps all she had.
Judas complained about the extravagance of worship. Be careful when you find yourself complaining about worship. Remember whose example you are following.
Some thoughts from Jon Courson:
Her perfume filled the house – worship affects those around you – yet there would be two people who would carry the fragrance the longest – Jesus and Mary. For the others, the smell would wear off after awhile. Half-hearted worshippers can smell the fragrance, but it wears off.
Later in the week, the disciples will be arguing over who
can sit at Jesus’ right hand. There
seems to be no argument over who can be at Jesus’ feet. There’s plenty of room at Jesus’ feet. There’s plenty of room for people who will
worship Jesus with all they have.
:4 thou satest in the throne judging right.
satest – yashab – to dwell, remain, sit, abide
:5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen
Lesson
God’s Work
God did it. Whether or not this song was written at the time of Goliath’s defeat, the point is that David still saw God as having done the work.
:8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness
Lesson
God knows what He’s doing.
What about the aborigines in Australia
People have lots of questions that make us wonder if God knows what He’s doing when it comes to judging the world.
Yet in the end, we will know that He’s done everything perfectly.
When Abraham was negotiating with God over the deliverance
of
(Gen
God will do what is right.
When the angels in heaven are watching the judgments of the Tribulation, they will exclaim:
(Rev 16:5 KJV)
And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord,
which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee
Lesson
Trust Him
A recurring theme throughout the Psalms will be about trusting God. You can trust Him. He is worthy of your trust.
:16 …Higgaion. Selah.
Higgaion – higgayown – meditation, resounding music, musing; from hagah – to moan, growl, utter, muse, mutter, meditate, devise, plot, speak
This is a place to take time and meditate on these things. Have you been meditating on God’s Word?
Selah – celah – to lift up, exalt; a technical musical term probably showing accentuation, pause, interruption
:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
hell – sh@’owl – sheol, underworld, grave, hell, pit
Lesson
Avoid hell
Hell is a very real place. You don’t want to go there. You shouldn’t want anyone to go there.
Hell was created for Satan:
(Mat 25:41 KJV)
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Hell is eternal:
(Isa 66:24 KJV)
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have
transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire
be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
(Rev 20:13-15 KJV) And the sea gave up the dead which were in
it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works. {14} And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. {15} And whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
There is a way to escape hell:
(John
Jesus died on a cross to pay for our sins, the very reason
we are sent to hell. When we trust in
His death for us, our way is purchased out of hell.
Psalm 10
Some have suggested this is really an extension of Psalm 9, written after David’s conquest of Goliath.
:1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
It’s hard because sometimes this is exactly the way we feel. Where were you God???
:6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
The wicked does not want to face where he’s going.
:11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
Lesson
Forgetting God
This is one of the roots of wickedness.
When a person tells himself that God isn’t paying attention or God doesn’t care, then the restraints are thrown off.
Ezekiel had a vision where he was taken to Jerusalem Temple
(Ezek 8:8-12 KJV) Then said
he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall,
behold a door. {9} And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked
abominations that they do here. {10} So I went in and saw; and behold every
form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house
of Israel Israel
Secret images in the dark.
Wicked things. Because they
thought God didn’t care or see.
:13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God?
contemn – na’ats – to spurn, despise, abhor
:15-end Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
Lesson
Identify the enemy.
For us, when it comes to our battles, we need to be careful about who we identify as our “enemy”.
Sometimes our enemy is a real person.
Jesus said,
(Mat 5:43-45 KJV) Ye have heard that it hath been
said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. {44} But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; {45} That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the
unjust.
We need to be careful to love our enemies.
Paul wrote,
(2 Tim 4:2 KJV)
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
There is a place for reproving and rebuking.
Jude wrote,
(Jude 1:17-23 KJV) But, beloved, remember ye the words which
were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; {18} How that they
told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their
own ungodly lusts. {19} These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having
not the Spirit. {20} But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, {21} Keep yourselves in the love of God,
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. {22} And of
some have compassion, making a difference: {23} And others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Some people need compassion. Others need to taste a bit of fear.
Sometimes the enemy is a spiritual one.
Paul wrote,
(Eph
We need to be careful about making humans out to be our “enemies”. I know that there is a reality of people who are going to hate you and they are going to make themselves your enemies.
But our real enemy is Satan.
And God has smitten him at the cross.
Humans who don’t like us aren’t the real enemy. They’re held captive by the real enemy.
(2 Tim 2:24-26 KJV) And the servant of the Lord
must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, {25} In
meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will
give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; {26} And that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him
at his will.
We need to be acquainted with spiritual weapons for spiritual enemies.
Sometimes the enemy is me.
(Rom 7:14-18 KJV) For we
know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. {15} For that
which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that
do I. {16} If then I
do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. {17} Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. {18} For I know
that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is
present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Would I be willing to pray David’s prayer in Ps. 10:15 if it meant ME? Would I be willing to ask God to break my arm?