HOW LONG, O LORD?
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Opening Prayer
With all of the saints and heavenly host, Lord God, I come to worship you today, to offer you thanksgiving and praise.
Read PSALM 6
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Psalm 6[a]
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, Lord, how long?
4 Turn, Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Lord, I confess that I am often overwhelmed by the sorrows of the world. So I turn to you, merciful Savior, trusting that you will hear my prayer.
David has experienced the Lord’s anger against him. When he sinned against Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite, he became aware of the Lord’s anger—not only through Nathan’s prophetic rebuke1 but also through his experience of wasting away physically, emotionally, and spiritually.2 It was only when he confessed his sin that the burden of God’s anger was removed and David experienced the relief and joy of a contrite heart reconciled to God. We have all experienced this pattern of sin, repentance, and reconciliation. God’s Word encourages us to recognize that the Lord is angry with sin in our lives, and we must submit to his discipline.3
David is experiencing God’s anger differently here, however. God’s anger with the world and with the unrighteous has an impact on those who are trying to walk with him. We can experience this as spiritual groaning against sin and the darkness in the world;4 we can be directly or indirectly affected by others’ sinful behavior (as David describes here); we can see our loved ones suffer at the hands of others. As with David, it impacts our walk with God, our ability to pray and praise and offer our lives in worship.
What do we do when we are affected by sin and suffering in these ways? David teaches us to turn to God, to lament, to speak out against evil, to intercede in prayer. He also teaches us to confess our faith in God when we feel poor in spirit, to trust in God’s steadfast love, and to continue to worship.
Apply
How easily do you allow negative things and people around you to impact your own outlook and behavior?
Closing prayer
Lord, help me to know your mercy and, in turn, show your mercy and grace to all—friend and foe. Help me, that my walk with you will continue to be one of steadfast devotion, gratitude, and praise, a testimony to those around me.
1 2 Sam 12 2 Ps 32 3 Heb 12:4–11 4 Rom 8
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