Psalm 6. Psalm number 6. The title of the psalm, the title
I'm going to give to this message is found in verse 4. Oh, save
me. Oh, save me. That's a blessed cry, isn't it?
Oh, save me. Lord, deliver my soul. Save I'm lost. Save me. And do it because of thy mercy
sake. Lord, save me. Save me. Now this psalm is known as one
of the seven psalms of repentance. And I didn't realize that until
I started looking at this particular psalm and reading the commentaries. Brother Spurgeon has a good,
good commentary on the Psalms called the Treasury of David,
and I often read that when I'm studying these Psalms. But the
other six Psalms, including this one, seven altogether, that are
considered Psalms of repentance, Psalm 32, Psalm 38, Psalm 51,
Psalm 102, Psalm 130 and Psalm 143. Now, in time, Lord willing, we'll
get to some of those. And I enjoy reading the Psalms
and studying the Psalms. I find myself there. When I see
David crying for mercy, I see Tom crying for mercy. When David
cries out, O Lord, save me, that's the cry of my heart. O God, have
mercy on me, the sinner. The words of this psalm certainly
express that true repentance that does not need to be repented
of. True sorrow over sin, true brokenheartedness
over sin, and a hatred for sin are marks of a sincere sinner
turning to God from his idols as a mercy beggar. When Paul
writing to those believers there in Thessalonica, he said one
of the things that was evidence of their election is how they
turned to God from their idols to serve the living and true
God, for that is repentance. It's a turning. It's a turning
from self unto God, the true and living God. The Apostle Paul,
writing in 2 Corinthians 7, talked about this repentance. He said,
A godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented
of. But the sorrow of the world,
it just works death. A God-given brokenheartedness
over sin is the gift of God. In Acts chapter 5, when the early
church was praying there upon the release of Peter and John
from prison, they cried out in glorious praise and adoration
unto their God for all things, including the exaltation of the
Lord Jesus Christ and how He hath granted repentance unto
His children. He's exalted to give repentance. Now hold your place here in Psalm
6, I want to show you a characteristic of true repentance. In 2 Timothy
2, do I have true repentance that is God wrought, and I mean
by that God given. Do I have just some temporary
sorrow over some particular circumstance? Well, that's the sorrow of the
world, which works death. But that brokenheartedness, that
true, genuine brokenheartedness over sin, someone described repentance
this way, is taking God's side against myself. In other words,
it's agreeing with God. When he says, guilty, a repentant
heart says, Lord, you're right. I'm the bird. I'm the guilty
one. But it also has this characteristic
here. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, look
at verse 25. In meekness, instructing those
that oppose themselves, if peradventure if God perventure will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. to the acknowledging
of the truth. Now, if a man tells me that he
has, and it's not some isolated experience, repentance is an
ongoing life in a believer. We continually have this attitude
and state in mind of repentance, and we're continually acknowledging
the truth of salvation in Christ Jesus. But if a man tells me,
oh, I have a repentant heart, and then rejects the gospel of
God's grace, He doesn't have a repentant heart. He has a rebellious
heart. Turn over here in Titus, a couple
of pages over, Titus 1. It's the same thing. Faith is
a gift of God. Repentance is the gift of God.
These things don't bloom in the heart of a depraved sinner. They are sovereign gifts of God.
And faith, like repentance, have this same quality of acknowledging
the truth. You see, Titus 1.1, Paul, a servant
of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God
the elect, and the acknowledging of the truth. which is after
godliness that glorifies God. God forbid we should glory save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is a gift of God,
no doubt about that, but so is repentance. Blessed, sovereign
gifts of God. And I cry unto the Lord, Lord
give me faith. Lord give me repentance. Give
me broken heartedness over sin. Now look back at verse Verse
1 of Psalm 6. Psalm number 6. In verses 1 through
verse 7, we have in this Psalm, David's plea in his great distress. David's plea in his great distress. Now, put yourself in there. This is David's psalm, but it's
the cry of the believer before God. And then we have in verses
8 and 10, we have two divisions here, verses 1 through 7, David's
plea, David's great distress, and then verses 8 and 9, we have
David's confidence, David's confidence in the Lord's deliverance. David's
confidence in the Lord's mercy. Now let's look at that first
division, verses 1 through 7. The sinner's distress and grief
over his sin against God. And that's the issue. That's
the issue. We've all sinned. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. We've come short of that
standard that God's standard is absolute holiness. That law
of God, the benchmark of God's law, He set it so high so as
to cause us to despair, to cause us to despair and drive us to
the Lord Jesus Christ for help, for salvation. Now let's read
verse 1. O Lord, O Lord, rebuke me not
in anger, rebuke me in love. Neither chasten me in your hot
displeasure. The Lord graciously in love rebukes
his children. But we need to be rebuked. We
need his chastening rod, as we read in Hebrews 12, for whom
the Lord corrects. For whom the Lord loves, he corrects. For whom the Lord loves, he convinces
us of what we are. What are we? Sin, that's right,
through and through, sin. He convinces us and convicts
us what we are. He uses two means in rebuking
us in love. His word, the word of God is
quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, and then
the rod of the spirit. When God the Holy Spirit has
come, our Lord said He'll convict, He'll convince, He will rebuke. I can't convince you that you're
a sinner, but I know God the Holy Spirit. He's able to convict,
to convince that what, who we are and what we are before God. But He does this unto His own,
to His own children. It's a rebuke and a chastening
of love. As the father chasteneth his
children, even so the Lord chastens those whom he loves. The Lord
does rebuke the reprobate in his holy anger and will justly
condemn them and rebuke them in his wrath. Look over at Psalm
2. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and he shall vex them in his sore displeasure. In Psalm 7, verse 11, God judges
the righteous, or is a righteous judge, and God is angry with
the wicked every day. If he does not turn, he will
wet his sword. He hath bent his bow, and he's
made it ready. Judgment's coming. Judgment's
coming. The Lord does rebuke His children
in love. And I'm most thankful that He
doesn't leave us alone, that He does convict, that He does
convince of sin. Now look at verse 2. So that
leads us to this. Where else can we go? Have mercy.
Yes, Lord, what You saved me is true. I'm sinful, I'm a sinner,
I've sinned, I've broken your law, now have mercy on me. That's the only plea I have.
Have mercy on me, oh Lord. Look what he says in verse two.
I'm weak, I'm weak, I'm weak, I'm sinful. Oh Lord, heal me. Have mercy on me and then heal
me. Heal me, for my bones are vexed. My bones are troubled. Have mercy
upon me, not because I'm deserving, but rather because you're merciful.
Rather because you're merciful. As he says over here in Psalm
51, if you want to turn there, here's another one of those psalms
of repentance. This is a well-known psalm by
those who are students of God's word, Psalm 51. Have mercy upon
me, O God, according to your loving kindness. according to
the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgression. Wash me throughly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgression
and my sin as ever before me against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou mayest be
justified when you speak and clear when you judge." I was
shaping an iniquity. And in sin did my mother conceive
me. So we cry out for mercy. For mercy. Have mercy upon me,
O Lord. And then he says, heal me. You
see that? Heal me. Heal me. Because I'm
so weak. I'm so sinful. I'm so guilty. Heal me for I'm weak. How weak
are we? Well, too weak to honor the law. The law is strong. It's demanding. Too weak to honor the law. How
weak are we? Too weak and too sinful to produce
any righteousness of our own. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. All flesh is as grass, and the
glory of man is a fading flower, therefore I only cry For healing
is His mercy. Have mercy upon me, O Lord. You know our frame. Turn over
here to Psalm 103. You know our frame, O Lord. Look
at verse 13 of Psalm 103. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Verse 13,
you got it? He knoweth our frame. He remembers
that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass,
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. The wind passeth
over it, and it's gone. The place thereof shall know
it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his
righteousness unto the children's children. Have mercy upon me,
O Lord, and heal me. I found this scripture in Hosea. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. Hosea 6, verse 1, Come, let us return to the Lord,
for he hath torn, and he will heal us. He hath smitten, and
he will bind us up. The good shepherd, the good shepherd,
he came to heal, to bind up, to set at liberty those who are
brood, to set the captive free. He is our good shepherd. So we
look to Him for healing. With His stripes, we are healed. Oh, have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am weak. I am weak. Every one of you who
believe the gospel knows just exactly what David here is crying
unto the Lord. Heal me for my bones, my bones. I'm shaking to the core. My bones
are vexed. Look at verse 3. My soul is also sore vexed, but
thou, O Lord, O Lord, how long?" Old Matthew Henry said, every
page of Scripture proclaims the fact that salvation is of the
Lord, man is a sinner, and his case can only be reached by God's
sovereign mercy. My soul is sore vexed, but thou,
O Lord, how long? How long? I'm vexed, I'm convicted,
I'm shaken. And David cries out, how long,
oh Lord, how long? How long until the Lord is pleased
to send Christ unto our soul? How long till I see my sin completely
taken care of in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, how long? How long
until God in His infinite wisdom sends relief to my soul in Christ
and bathes my soul in the blood of Christ and makes me a new
creature in Him? Lord, how long? You see what
he's saying here? How long? The Lord knows the
time of our Humiliation. The Lord knows the time of our
conviction, and He knows the time of our comfort. The time
of our exaltation in Christ Jesus. Turn over here to Psalm 34, 18.
Psalm 34, 18. The Lord is nigh unto them of
a broken heart, and He saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. The Lord is nigh unto them of
a broken heart, I tell you, there's not many things that are useful
that are broken. A broken wheel won't turn. A
broken down car won't get you anywhere. It's not good for anything. But I tell you what is good,
because it's God giving a broken heart. A broken heart. God will not despise a broken
heart. Now look at verse 4. Return.
Psalm 6 verse 4. Return. Return, O Lord. return and deliver my soul, don't
leave me to myself. Oh, save me, save me for mercy's
sake, for mercy's sake. David begs for a sweet return
of the Lord's gracious presence. I believe it's Psalm, what is
it, Psalm 73, when David beholds the prosperity of the wicked,
and then he said, Lord, is your mercy clean gone? Is there any
hope for this sinner? David begs for the sweet return
of God's gracious presence, God's deliverance and redemption of
his soul. Oh, save me. Oh, save me for
thy mercy's sake. You see, David knew something.
of the rigor of the law, the demand of the law, and he knew
something of that sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ and
that saving atonement and that saving mercy, so he appeals unto
God, not on the basis of covenant law, but upon the basis of covenant
mercy. Have mercy upon me, O God. I like what Jeremiah lamented
in Lamentations 3, verse 22. It is of the Lord's mercy that
we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not. Great is thy faithfulness, O
Lord my Father. And as Paul writes to Titus,
he said, it's not by works of righteousness which we've done,
but it is according to His mercy that He saved us. That's a good plea. Oh, save
me. And we can read it this way,
for Christ's sake, have mercy upon me for the Lord Jesus Christ's
sake. We ask for mercy for salvation
not upon our merit, but upon His grace and love in Christ
Jesus. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
has taken care of the law issue. He's redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. He's taken care of the
sin issue. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He's taken
care of the death issue. He ever lives to intercede for
us. He said, I'm He that liveth and was dead. Behold, I'm alive
forevermore. I'm going to cry out to God to
save me for Christ's sake. How about you? Now look at verse
5. Psalm 6 verse 5. For in death,
for in death there's no remembrance of thee in the grave, who shall
give thee thanks? For in death there's no remembrance
of thee in the grave. Now this verse here along with
other verses found in scripture, some denomination, some in works
religion, false religion, one denomination that calls itself
JWs or Jehovah's Witnesses. They use this verse and others
to suggest that the believer in death does not go to be with
his Lord, but rather remains in the grave until the day of
resurrection. That's not so. And that's not
what this verse is teaching. That's not what's being taught
here. What's being said here in death, the mortal flesh ceases
any audible praise and service to God and men in this life.
The graveyard, you go out to the local cemetery. You know,
it's a place that's pretty quiet, isn't it? There's no dead folks
out there praising the Lord. Those dead bodies are dead and
cold and rotting. And that's what he's saying here.
When death takes hold of this body, the flesh ceases any audible
praise and service to God and men. The graveyard is a place
of complete silence. He's saying here, Lord, save
me now that I might praise Thee while I have breath, while I
have being. Here's another verse that will
help us here. Psalm 88, turn over there. Psalm
88. The soul of the believer at death
enters into the immediate presence of the Lord. Psalm 88 verse 11,
I think, is what I want to look at. Let's begin at verse 10. Will thou show wonders to the
dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy lovingkindness
be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in destruction?
He's talking here about what happens to this body when this
body is put in the ground and when this flesh goes back to
the dust. The soul of the believer at death, there is that separation
of the soul from the body. The soul of the believer at death
enters into the immediate presence of the Lord. The Lord told that
dying thief that day, remember what he said? Today you'll be
with me in paradise. To be absent from the body, the
apostle wrote 2nd Corinthians 5, to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord. So we know that verse is not
talking about the believer dying and he stays in the grave and
he doesn't go to be with the Lord. That's not what he's saying
here. He's talking about the flesh, the flesh, the flesh. Paul said
to live is Christ, to die is gain. To die is gain. So he's saying here, Lord, save
me now so I can praise Thee in this flesh and honor Thee in
this flesh. Look at verse 6. I'm weary with
my groanings. I'm weary, I'm weary. All the
night make I my bed to swim. I water my couch with tears. That's brokenheartedness, is
it not? We groan, believers do, especially under conviction of
sin. We groan under the weight and
judgment of sin until we see and understand that the Lord
Jesus Christ, He took our judgment, He took our sin. and He made
complete satisfaction for our sin. And He blesses us with all
spiritual blessing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, putting away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. But listen, we will never rightly
rejoice in Christ our righteousness until we see something of our
ruin in Adam. We'll never rejoice in Christ
our Savior until we understand something of our own sin. When Paul cried out, oh, this
old Pharisee of old, Saul of Tarsus, so proud, so arrogant,
but when he was stripped, when he was laid in the dust and made
to cry for mercy unto God, he cries out, oh, wretched man that
I am. Who can deliver me from this
body of death? I carry this old plague of sin
around with me. And the answer comes back, remember?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Look at verse 7. My eye is consumed
because of grief. It waxes old because of all my
enemies. David's eyes so fixed on his
sin causes him to be filled and consumed with grief. Being so
consumed with grief over sin, he felt the helplessness before
God because of all his spiritual enemy that railed against him. And that's the experience of
a believer. It's no light thing to feel and know yourself a sinner
before God. It's a blessed thing, but it's
no light thing. It's a heavy, heavy load, heavy
burden. I think of that scripture in
Job 42, when Job said, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the
ear. But now my eyes seeth thee, wherefore I abhor, I hate myself,
I repent in dust and in ashes. Brother Isaiah had the same experience
when he saw the Lord high and lifted up. And he said, woe is
me. Woe is me. I'm the man of unclean
lips. I'm the one that's deserving
of God's just wrath. Have mercy on me, oh God. Something else here. Is not also
this a picture of the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ? When I think about my eye being
consumed because of grief, And it waxes old because of my enemies. Can't you see something of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the greater David, the Lord Jesus when praying
for us in the garden of Gethsemane and being in such agony? We don't
know anything about the agony as the Lord begins to lay on
him our iniquity and our sin, being made sin for us. His holy
humanity, under the weight of that sin being put on him, his
holy humanity just starts sweating great drops of blood. That's agony over sin. We have
not, what we read over here in Hebrews 12, we have not yet resisted
unto blood striving against sin. He did. He did. Well, let's close the message
by looking at verses 8, 9, and 10 and see something of the believer's
confidence in deliverance from sin. Verse 8, depart from me. Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity. Where have we read that before?
Matthew 7, isn't it? Depart from me, all ye workers
of iniquity, for the Lord, the Lord hath heard my voice, the
voice of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication.
The Lord will receive my prayer. Let mine enemies be ashamed and
sore vexed. the believer's confidence in
his Lord. It is a part of God's people,
God's purpose for his people in this life to live among workers
of iniquity. We see the sheep among the goats,
the tares among the wheat. Lot lived among the perverted
in Sodom. David lived among those who hated
the living God. Remember, they came to him and
said, David, where is your God? Our God's in the heavens, David
replies. Elijah faced off with 850 false
prophets. Our Lord Jesus Christ also lived
among those who hated God, those Pharisees, Sadducees, and the
scribes. Paul preached the gospel to thousands
who were idolaters. We live among workers of iniquity,
but someday, Someday there will be a full and final and just
separation, when the Lord gathers His sheep together on the right
and the goats on the left, and He'll say to them, enter into
the joy of the Lord. The Lord will separate the tares
from the wheat, And he will separate the goats from the sheep. There
will be a day of separation. For the Lord hath heard the voice
of my weeping. The Lord hath heard my supplication. The Lord hath heard the voice
of my weeping. Is it not sweet to understand
that our tears are understood even when words fail? God knows our heart. That's what
he's saying here. The Lord hath heard the voice
of my weeping. Someone said tears are liquid
prayers. When you just so grieved in your
heart that you cannot even utter a word, the Lord knows our heart. And as we cry unto Him, the Lord
hath heard the voice of my weeping. Verse 9, the Lord hath heard
my prayer, my supplications. We're told in the book of Philippians,
let our request be made known unto God. The Lord hath heard
my prayer. The Lord hath heard my request
is the word supplication. The Lord has heard my prayer
because he is the true and the living God who can hear and that
answers the cry of his people. The Lord will certainly answer
the cry of his people as he did the prayer of Elijah when God
prayed for the fire to fall. You remember what happened? The
fire fell. In Luke 18, the Lord said, and
shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night
unto him? Though he bear long with them,
the Lord hears the cry of his people. I want to cry. I'm going
to cry unto the Lord. The Lord hath heard my request.
The Lord, now watch this, the Lord, the Lord will receive my
prayer. The believer has special privilege
and confidence at the throne of grace to offer up prayers
that will be received through Christ our high priest. through
Christ's blood, through Christ's righteousness. That's why the
writer of the book of Hebrews in chapter 4, when he talks about
Christ, our great high priest, that has ascended into heaven,
that he ever lives to intercede for us. And then he says, let
us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The Lord will receive my prayer.
He ever lives to intercede for us. In closing, verse 10, let
all my enemies, let all my enemies be ashamed, and let them be troubled,
vexed, and let them return and be ashamed suddenly. This psalm,
like those previous psalms we've studied, show the difference
between the righteous and the wicked. In the day of death and
judgment, the wicked will be terribly, eternally, and suddenly
ashamed when he hears that pronouncement, depart from me, I don't know
you. While those found in Christ will
never be ashamed. Will never be ashamed. Let me
show you that. Find Isaiah 45. There will come a day when the
lies of refuge will be exposed, and those who have hid themselves
under falsehood will be exposed. You find Isaiah 45, but let me
read you this in Isaiah 28. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God, behold I lay in Zion for foundation a stone, a tried stone,
a precious cornerstone, he that believeth shall not make haste. shall never be ashamed, will
never be forced out. Now watch this, Isaiah 45, 16. Isaiah 45, 16. They shall be ashamed and confounded. Isaiah 45, 16. All of them, they
shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But
Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed nor
confounded, world without end. And then in verse 22 of Isaiah
45, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For
I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
has gone out of my mouth in righteousness. It shall not return, that unto
me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess. Surely
shall one say in the Lord, have I righteousness and strength?
Even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed. but in the Lord shall all the
seed of Israel be justified and shall glory." Well, a psalm of
repentance, a psalm of repentance.