A Short Prayer

Let us open our Bibles tonight once again to the book of Psalms, and tonight let's turn to Psalm 6. Psalm 6. I've entitled my message, A Short Prayer. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed, but thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul. O save me for thy mercy's sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee. In the grave, who shall give thee thanks?

I am weary with my groaning. All the night make I my bed to swim. I water my couch with my tears. Mine eyes consume because of grief. It waxeth old because of all mine enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed. Let them return and be ashamed suddenly. I'm sure that we all recognize that to read the book of Psalms, to read the Psalms like all of the scripture, we need to always be looking out for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remembering what he told his disciples after his resurrection concerning the scriptures, he said, which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. And also remember he told the Pharisees one day, the scriptures, they speak of me. And then when Peter was sent down to the house of Cornelius, the first Gentile to whom the gospel was sent after the day of Pentecost, Peter said to him, that is to Christ, give all the prophets witness. David was a prophet. Peter said that on the day of Pentecost as well.

David was a prophet and so in these Psalms we are looking to see the Lord Jesus Christ. In this Psalm we see that David was in great affliction but we should also recognize and see that David's son our Lord, David's Lord, who is our surety and the substitute for God's people, that he experienced the greatest affliction of any. David, there's no doubt as you read through this psalm and you remember the life of David that is recorded He had many troubles. He had a crown upon his head, yes, but that did not exempt him from afflictions and troubles in this world.

But his afflictions cannot even begin to compare with the afflictions of the Lord Jesus Christ that he experienced in this world. words in verse 8 that we read, if you look down there, depart from me all you workers of iniquity. Now we recognize that these words are words that the Lord Jesus Christ told his disciples that he will one day speak to the lost in that day of judgment, he will say these words, depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. And that's what a lost person is. That's what every unsaved person is. He is, she is a worker of iniquity. We don't like to think that about our children. We don't like to think that about our friends. We don't like to think that about ourselves. But that's just the truth.

According to the Word of God, the Apostle Paul said, there's none good, no, not one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after God. I mean, the description the Word of God gives us of all men, not just some, not just those on skid row and those that are the dregs of society, but those that are, as far as the world is concerned, at the highest echelon. No. We're all, by nature, workers of iniquity. So we see that as we go through this psalm, we will see, yes, David, the writer, and his experience of afflictions, but we're also to see the Lord Jesus Christ as well. I have four divisions to the message. First of all, David cried to the Lord in affliction. Verse one, O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me in thy hot displeasure. I want you to notice that David did not ask. He did not cry to the Lord that he not be chastised.

Now, as the apostle in Hebrews chapter 12 tells us, and every believer, every child of God knows this, no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. When you chasten, or correct, or discipline, whatever word you want to use for that word, chasten your children, it's not supposed to be fun. It's not supposed to be fun. It's not joyful. It's grievous.

I remember a story, and it's a true story. A man and woman took into their home a young child, and they already had several children. And after a while, the father, as he should have, corrected his own children, disciplined them, but he was not necessarily disciplining the one they'd just taken into the home. And you know, this child started doing things to provoke the man. Why? Because she wanted to be part of the family. Part of the family was being corrected.

And David knew, as we read in the New Testament, if we be without chastisement, we're of all, A-L-L, all are partakers, then are we illegitimate and not sons. Now, when we talk about chastisement or discipline, we recognize that there's different kinds of discipline. There's different kinds of chastisement. You have children, and most likely, if you have more than one child, you realize that what discipline one child needs, the other child maybe can be corrected in a different manner, and it'd be better. So you learn to discipline your children. God knows how to discipline his children, but the fact is, God had one son without sin. He had no son without chastisement.

I remember making that statement one time on a television program that we had here in Houston, and a lady called me up, and she just could not see that. She just wanted to argue that point with me, because many times people believe, well, chastisement is the result of sin, and it is sometimes, but not always. God disciplines his children, he chastens his children for our good, that we might grow, that we might learn.

And yes, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was chastened. In fact, the scripture says in Hebrews 5, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered. Experience, experience is learned through affliction. And from suffering, Christians should learn this when we think about the Lord Jesus Christ, how He was chastened, The chastisement of our peace was upon him. In other words, for you and I to have peace with God, he was chastened. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. We read that in Isaiah chapter 53.

Now, when a person's being chastened by the Lord, a believer, a child of God, and as I said, it could be in various different ways. I believe when God just hides his face. He's chastening his children. You say, what do you mean, hides his face? I mean that sweet fellowship that you have with the Lord sometimes is not there.

Sometimes prayer is such a blessing, right, and coming to the services, and other times it's work. Well, God chastens his children and Satan or the flesh insinuates, well, how could you be a child of God? How could you be saved and be experiencing that? Well, just remember this. Did he love his darling son? Absolutely. Yes.

And yet he chastened him. It pleased the Lord, the scripture said, to bruise him. David's affliction, he cried unto the Lord. And this is what the Lord Jesus Christ did as well. You notice it, and David, as I said, look back to that verse one. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me or chasten me in thy hot displeasure. The Lord was chastened and he was chastened in God's hot displeasure. Could there have been any hotter displeasure than the Lord Jesus Christ experienced on the cross when he cried out, forsaken of God? Of course not.

He experienced God's hot anger and he did that for you. He did that for me. He did that for his children. for those that he loved, those that were given to him in that covenant of grace. But in David's affliction, he cried unto the Lord, and that's what the Lord Jesus Christ did. That's the reason I say we see Christ here in this psalm.

David is being chastened and he cries unto the Lord. Well, the Lord, the scripture says, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying, he cried unto the Lord with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared. Why was the Lord Jesus chastened? Why was he afflicted? Surely, as we read in Isaiah 53, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows and we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

So that's the first thing. David cried to the Lord in affliction. And then I noticed the second thing, that David confessed his soul was afflicted. Notice in these next few verses, verses 2 through 4. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed, but thou, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul. O save me for thy mercy's sake. Now, David, as you read this psalm, it's obvious he was physically sick. He was suffering from physical pain, physical sickness, and he cried for physical healing, bodily healing.

And that's something that we as God's children, we have every right to do. And in the letter of James, of course, we're told to call the elders of the church and let them pray for us. This is something that God's children, like David, we have this privilege when sick. We don't look first to the medicine. We don't look first to the doctors. We look first to God.

He's the great physician that's sympathizing Jesus, as we just sang. Now, you know that sometimes it's God's will to heal his children from physical maladies. Sometimes it is his will to heal these bodies, but not always, not always. Now physical sickness was not true of the Lord Jesus Christ. David here is praying in this psalm for physical healing.

The Lord Jesus Christ never did that. He never would need to do that because he never knew sickness, physical sickness. You say, why didn't he? Because he had no sin. He had no sin. all the sinless infirmities that are true of us, the Lord Jesus Christ experienced. Sinless infirmities. You say, what do you mean? I mean like being hungry. Nothing sinful about being hungry, is it? About being thirsty. Nothing sinful about being thirsty, being weary.

He experienced all the sinless infirmities that we experience but not physical sicknesses. But you notice David here confessed not only for or prayed not only for his bones, oh Lord heal me for my bones are vexed. The bones is the constitution of the body, right? It's the framework of the body.

But he also, notice he prayed, my soul, my soul is also sore vexed. Now, do we not see Christ here in some of the Words of our Lord that always seem to move me more than any others are those words that he spoke that night in the Garden of Gethsemane when he said, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. Soul sorrow. In Isaiah 53 we read this, in verse 10 it says, Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him.

He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. But we don't separate his soul and body as an offering for sin. What that verse is telling us is when he made his soul an offering for sin, the complete human nature, the body, which represents physical and spiritual, the soul. We shouldn't think of his soul and his body as being separate as far as being an offering for sin. He, the person, The God-man, he was made an offering for our sins. And thank God he made an atonement. He made a satisfaction. He satisfied God. And we know he did because the Lord Jesus Christ came out of that grave on the third day.

Now the third division here in verses five through eight, David, and I hope I put this as clear as it should have been, but David uses a certain truth in his plea for mercy. Let's read that verses five through eight. For in death there's no remembrance of thee, in the grave who shall give thee thanks? I'm weary with my groaning, all the night make on my bed to swim, I water my couch with my tears, my nigh is consumed because of grief, it waxeth old because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. I said he uses a certain truth in his plea for mercy. He's pleading for mercy, and he uses this truth. What is it?

It is that only in this world, only in this life, Do we have the privilege of serving the Lord and giving thanks unto the Lord? Once this body is laid in the grave, now the soul, he's not teaching soul sleep, I'm not saying that, and we know that in heaven we serve the Lord. The scriptures tell us that. We serve him. We rest and at the same time we serve. But as far as our service in this life is concerned, when this life is ended, that's over. We'll never have another opportunity to serve God in this world once our body is laid in the grave.

It doesn't mean we're not going to continue to serve the Lord, but not in this world. Now our Lord Jesus, he lived, he lived his life under that recognition. Because I say that in John chapter nine and verse four, when his disciples asked him about that man who was born blind, who did sin, this man or his parents? And our Lord said, neither. It was for the glory of God. But then he went on to say, I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man worketh. And the night's going to come for me. It's going to come for you. It comes for every person. And as far as I serve in the Lord in this world, it's going to be ended. And there will be no praising God. in the grave.

You know Hezekiah, King Hezekiah, you know the story of him when the prophet was sent to him and told him, set your house in order for thou must die. He turned his face to the wall and began to pray. And God added 15 years to his life. But in his prayer, he used this same argument or plea.

He said, for the grave cannot praise thee. Heal me. In other words, heal me. Because the grave, once I'm in the grave, I cannot praise thee. The grave cannot praise thee. Death cannot celebrate thee. We're given a space of time, our life. And once that's over, once that's ended, we're not going to be able to serve God anymore in this world. And I don't know if I'm getting that across to us, but I hope that I am, that we realize that today we have the opportunity to serve the Lord. But once, once our life is ended, that's over. We don't want to have any regrets.

We've got the day before us to serve the Lord. I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh. The night cometh. In the grave there's no praising Thee. There's no giving thanks unto Thee. Day. Now is the time to give thanks unto the Lord. To praise Him. Now.

Now the Lord Jesus suffered in the sinner's place that we might live with him in glory. He suffered that we might exchange this spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise. Spirit of heaviness, that is because of our sin, being convicted of our sin, a spirit of heaviness. It was said of him to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. In this world, as an unbeliever, we mourn, we're covered with ashes, We have the spirit of heaviness, but when the Lord saves a person, those things are exchanged for beauty.

I was thinking about that infant in Ezekiel chapter 16. Remember, it's a picture, first of all, of the nation of Israel, but it also applies to individuals. The infant that was born and just cast out there to die until God came by and God said live. And God clothed that child, washed it, clothed it, made it beautiful.

I mean, you read through that, those verses. Speaking of the nation of Israel, how God took Abraham and Sarah, just a couple, called them out of earth the Calvaries, and from them made a great nation, a great nation of the world. But what happened? They began to serve other gods, and God had to bring judgment upon them. Well, let me close with this.

David, in verses 9 and 10, David ends his song fully persuaded, knowing the Lord had heard his prayer. The Lord hath heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed. Let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

He knew, he knew that the Lord had heard his prayer. And not only that he had heard his prayer, but that he would receive his prayer. And that same confidence that David displays here, that should be the confidence of all of us, all of God's children, knowing that Christ ever stands ready to hear us when we pray. And we know this according to his word, and he cannot lie. He cannot lie. If we asked anything according to his will, he heareth us.

But I want you to notice in closing that last word, suddenly. Suddenly. It's amazing, isn't it, how quickly the Lord can turn sorrow into rejoicing. how he can turn heaviness into praise, how he can turn weeping into rejoicing. I mean, in just a few seconds, you can be bowed down with cares, trouble, and affliction, and suddenly the Holy Spirit can heal that. I was looking at the hymn How tedious and tasteless the hours when Jesus no longer I see. One of the verses is, content with beholding his face, my all to his presence resigned. No changes of season or place would make any change in my mind.

While blessed with a sense of his love, there it is, while blessed with a sense of his love, a palace, a toy would appear. And prisons would palaces prove if Jesus would dwell with me there. How suddenly the Lord can turn the captivity of his people, of his church. We know he's done that over the years, the history of our nation. There's been several times when God has sent a great revival. We think about the two great awakenings. But those are not the only times, maybe not as far spread, but at various times in different places, the Lord has suddenly, quickly sent a spirit of revival to his people and how things are changed. May the Lord bless his word. We're going to sing our last

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