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We can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 6 as we continue to work our way through the Psalms of David, Psalm 6. I'll read beginning in verse 1 to verse 10, pray, and then we'll look at this psalm in some detail. So to the chief musician with stringed instruments on an eight-stringed harp, a psalm of David.

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver me. O save me for your mercy's sake. For in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave, who will give you thanks?

I am weary with my groaning. All night I make my bed swim. I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled. Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these Psalms of David and how they show us our Lord Jesus Christ, that greater Son, that greater Lord of David. We ask for the spirit to guide us, to lead us, to illumine us, and to cause us to reflect upon what we have in the man of sorrows, that blessed one who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, assumed our humanity, lived in our place, died in our place, and was raised again. How we thank you for so great a salvation, how we pray that more and more people would come to this, believing on him for their lives. And we ask that you would forgive us and cleanse us in the precious blood of the Lamb, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Well, as we have set to set forth, I believe that Jesus is the subject, the object, the author, the composer, the singer, and the prayer of the Psalms. And while David wrote them, and David certainly experienced the things that he indicates here in the Psalter, they point forward to or foreshadow the Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that what we have here is the prayer of the man of sorrows. In fact, as we've looked at the Psalms previous, we've seen as prayer at night.

If you look at chapter 4 at verse 8, I will both lie down in peace and sleep for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. We've also seen the prayer of the Savior in the morning. Notice in 5.3, my voice you shall hear in the morning, O Lord. In the morning, I will direct it to you and I will look up. And here we see the prayer of the Savior while He's in bed in those night hours. In fact, look at verses 6 and 7. I am weary with my groaning. All night I make my bed swim. I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all of my enemies.

I think that Bonar is right in his book on the Psalms of David. He calls it Christ and His Church. He says, Awakened souls experience horror of soul and alarming apprehensions of divine indignation, such as this psalm expresses. Still, it is chiefly of the true David that this is written. We may suppose that every word used by him in some of those nights which he passed in the desert places or in the garden of Gethsemane. In fact, Bonar entitles the entirety of the psalm, the comfortless couch of the righteous one.

And again, speaking specifically of verses 6 and 7. So I think the psalm breaks down into two major sections. First, we'll look at the sorrow of the psalmist in verses 1 to 7. And then secondly, the confidence of the psalmist in verses 8 to 10. But notice, with reference to his sorrow, there's three things to consider. the nature of his distress in verses 1 to 3, the petition for his relief in verses 4 and 5, and then the depths of his distress in verses 6 and 7. Again, the comfortless couch of the righteous one.

But with reference to his distress, notice that the psalm starts off with a cry for mercy. O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

Now certainly David experienced such things. David understood his own sinfulness. Remember David is the subject of 2 Samuel chapters 11 and 12. David went into Bathsheba and then to cover up that act of adultery he conspired to commit murder by putting Uriah in the front part of the battle so that he would be dead. So David understood this kind of effect from his own sin.

In fact, this is one of seven penitential Psalms in the Psalter. The others, Psalm 38, Psalm 118, I'm sorry, Psalm 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. Well, the psalmist is keenly aware of his own sin. He is keenly aware of God's anger towards sin. He's keenly aware to that aversion that the Holy One of Israel has with reference to sin, which is the antithesis of his own nature. But as I said, it speaks concerning David's greater son. And one of the ways that you can take the Psalms that speak concerning the sinfulness of the psalmist and apply it to the Lord Jesus Christ is through the doctrine of imputation.

2 Corinthians 5.21, the Apostle Paul says that God, the Father, made Him, God the Son, the Lord Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

He doesn't become transformed. He doesn't become morally impacted, but rather it's by way of imputation. And then when we see the psalmist crying out and bemoaning sin, it's not Jesus' personal sin. It's Jesus' sin of His people as the representative for them. And again, it's not just the Psalms of David that point to this direction, but it's also the prophet, specifically the prophet Isaiah.

So when it comes to a verse one, for instance, O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Think of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane. Think of the Savior who says something very similarly in the Garden of Gethsemane to what he says here. Do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Remember when Jesus prays, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. In other words, he understands God's holy revulsion against all that is sinful and all that is wretched and all that is contrary to God. And Jesus, again, is not morally transformed. He didn't actually commit adultery. He didn't actually commit murder. He didn't actually go onto the internet and look at pornography. But rather, as our representative, he bemoans our sins. As our representative, he knows he's going to the cross for our sins because God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So the psalmist here, again, really happened with reference to David. He understood his sin against a holy God. It's really applicable and foreshadows the ministry of our blessed Savior.

Oh Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. But as well, if we continue on in the Garden of Gethsemane, what does Jesus show on behalf of his people? Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. So in other words, He has this resolve to carry out all of the obligations laid upon Him by the Father for us men and for our salvation. So here in the psalm, Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done, Father, true humanity is marked by an understanding of God's aversion to all that is sinful and contrary.

And while Jesus hadn't committed adultery, Jesus hadn't lusted, Jesus hadn't murdered, Jesus hadn't embezzled, Jesus hadn't cheated, Jesus hadn't lied, He is representing us liars. He is representing us cheats. He is representing us sexually immoral. He is representing us idolatrous. So the psalmist cries out at the thought of God's wrath, at the thought of God's hot anger with reference to the sin that God justly opposes. So there is this distress in the heart of the Savior. And again, I mentioned Isaiah the prophet, chapter 53, verses 5 and 6. And I think that this is the window or one of the interpretative helps to see Jesus as the subject and as the object of the Psalms. Again, it's not just me saying, oh, I think you should believe this weird interpretation. This weird interpretation was universally held by the church up until, you know, the 19th or 20th centuries.

The Psalms were about Jesus. Remember, Jesus says you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. These are they which testify of me. It's not just a messianic psalm here or there. It's not just a royal psalm here or there, but the entirety of the Psalter. Jesus composed it. Jesus prayed it. Jesus sung it. Jesus is the subject. Jesus is the object.

And David, foreshadowing, tells us so that the man of sorrows would be acquainted with grief, just like the prophet. He was wounded for our transgressions, Isaiah 53, 5 and 6. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Again, Paul, 2 Corinthians 5, 21, and many other places, by the way, in the New Testament, but here the prophet tells us that Christ is our substitute. Christ is our representative. When Christ, the divine word, assumes to himself our humanity, one of the aspects or one of the realities of true humanity is to understand the very nature of God, to understand the very wrath of God, and that's why in Gethsemane, Jesus, knowing full well what's going to befall him, Christ to the Father, if it is possible, let this pass from you. That is indicative of true humanity. That is absolutely positively what we would expect from true humanity.

Understanding that they're going to suffer the full weight of God's wrath and fury. Of course it evokes that, and that's why the psalmist is saying here, Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

Again, things that we should have no problem predicating of the Son of God, who assumed our humanity. Whatever is not assumed is not healed. If He only assumes part of us, If he only takes our arms, but he doesn't take our souls, if he only takes those things that we're okay with, then he's not truly man and he's not truly able to function as the mediator between God and man. Psalm 6 is the prayer of the man of sorrows as he reflects upon the holiness and the righteousness of his father, as he reflects upon the fact that God is opposed to sin and sinners. He's already mentioned that in Psalm 5. And as He is in Gethsemane, for instance, going to bear the weight that is due to the punishment of our sins.

It is most blessed. But then notice verse 3. Verse 3, my soul also is greatly troubled, but you, O Lord, how long? Get it? Reality for David. Another psalm of repentance is, or penitence is, I don't want to say penance, make sure you get it. I'm not saying penance, we're not papists, brethren. Penitence, repentance, Psalm 130, verses three and four. What does David say there?

He's pondering his own place before a holy God. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? A moment's reflection upon that statement in Psalm 130, verse 3, absolutely positively. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

Nobody in the world that has any inkling whatsoever of their own sin before a holy God would ever suggest for a moment, yeah, I think I could. I think I got it. I mean, there's very few of us that sound like that rich young ruler. Remember the rich young ruler comes to the Lord Jesus, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What does Jesus do? He runs him through the second table of law. And what does the guy say? All these things I've kept from my youth, what do I still lack?

It's a pretty brazen, bold statement. Thankfully, even in the church, our Pharisees aren't quite that Pharisaic, but this kind of arrogance is, yeah, it's there. I'm sure it's there, but it's not as prevalent as perhaps we might think. I think more people, even non-Christians, would agree.

Yeah, I messed up. I got some issues. I got some, you know, internal bents that are dark and odd. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But, he says, there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. Whatever my issues are because of my iniquities, whatever my issues are because of my sins, whatever my issues are connected to my depravity, and I know that if you mark those, Lord, no one could stand, but there's forgiveness with you. Well, notice in verse 3 of Psalm 6, he says, My soul also is greatly troubled. David understood soul trouble after having sinned against God. Again, the situation in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.

God, through his prophet, says to David, the sword's never going to depart from your house. There was always a reminder of David's sin of adultery and murder subsequent to David's adultery and murder. Why? Because God ordained it such that the sword will never depart from your house.

When Absalom usurps his authority and usurps his kingdom, you know, ultimately David has nobody else to thank but himself. against thee and thee only I have sinned and done this evil in your sight. Psalm 51 we just sang. So David understood this but so did the Savior.

So notice in verse 3, my soul also is greatly troubled. Two places in the gospel narratives where our Lord expresses the exact same thing. Think first of Gethsemane again. Matthew 26 at verse 38, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful even to death. Why is that? Because as he enters into Gethsemane, he knows that Golgotha is on the other side. As he enters into Gethsemane, he understands all too well the repercussions involved and the consequences assumed by him for standing in our stead, for going to that cross, for satisfying divine justice. Of course his soul is exceedingly sorrowful even under death.

That's why in Luke's narrative he tells us that he sweat drops of blood. He's looking at this God who has anger towards sin and sinners, who chastens in hot displeasure. He cries out for mercy because he's weak. He cries out for healing because his bones are troubled.

And then he expresses, my soul also is greatly troubled. but not only in Gethsemane, probably not far from Gethsemane, not just locality-wise, but with reference to the timeframe, John 12, 27, and 28. What did Jesus say? Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. So the movement of the psalm seems to suggest that David's grief, David's sorrow, David's difficulties, David's problems foreshadow what David's greater son and Lord is going to undergo. The seal of Alexandria comments on John 12. He says he had to, had to. When a church father repeats something twice, you have to listen. You have to. He had to, had to show himself through these to be a man born of a woman. Not in appearance and fantasy, but naturally and truly experiencing the full human condition except for sin.

Don't the Psalms flesh that out for us? Yeah, we've got those statements in the gospel records, but there is no more detailed expression of the suffering of the Savior on the cross than Psalm 22. There's not. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John just kind of scratched the surface. They tell us that He was crucified. They tell us that the crowds, you know, mocked.

They tell us that all these things took place, but it's the Psalms of David that gets us in sort of behind the veil, as it were, and sees the psychology of the Son of God according to His humanity. The Word of God then united to Himself the entire nature of a human being in order to save the whole person, for what is not assumed is not healed. So when we're going through the Psalms and we're seeing their application specifically to the Lord Jesus Christ, again, not that it doesn't apply to David and not that it doesn't spill over to benefit the church.

I hope all of us have those moments in prayer where we cry out to God, do not rebuke me in your anger. nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. Do you ever have those times of prayer?

The good that you wish to do, you don't do, Romans 7. And the evil you don't want to do, you find yourself doing. You ever think about Galatians 5, the spirit lusts against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit. These are contrary to one another so that you don't do the things that you want.

Do you ever have a Psalm 6, 1 to 3, cry to God, do not rebuke me in your anger. Don't cut me off in your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, Lord. Or a Psalm 133 and 4 moment. God, I know if you marked iniquities, oh Lord, who can stand? But I rest in the fact that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. So the Lord Jesus Christ, true humanity, is expressing his understanding of the situation he's in in the gospel narratives. Ash says, the troubled David prefigures the troubled Messiah in the shadow of the cross. And then I think that question, verse 3, my soul also is greatly troubled, but you, O Lord, how long?

Just cuts off. How long what? How long what? I think that's the sign of a soul understanding rightly the sin that they have, and again, not him experientially, the sin issue, if you will, just cries to God, how long? How long do we continue in this body of death? How long do you come in glory to judge the living and the dead? Perhaps how long do you give me more of your Holy Spirit so that I get my act together and stop doing the same stupid things over and over again? God, how long? In other words, what we see here is the actual effects and consequences of somebody that is conscious of their sin in light of a thrice holy God. How long? In other words, all things being equal, and I know that Christians, when they sin, there's no gun put to their head, nobody's got you with your arm up and, okay, go out and do this wicked thing.

We do it, but we hate it at some level. We say with the apostle, the good I want to do, I don't do. The evil I don't want to do, I find myself doing. How does he end that bit in Romans chapter seven? O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? In other words, how long? When we understand our sin before a thrice holy God and the reality that the blood-bought children of God who possess the Holy Spirit, we don't hate sin as we ought. We don't hate sin as we should. But by God's grace, we hate it a bit.

We didn't used to hate it. We used to traffic in it. We used to thrive in it and flourish in it. There was no conviction. There was no consciousness of God's wrath and aversion to our lives as sinners. But those things are present now. We bless God for that. And I think at times it casts us upon this how long? This is, you know, the spirit of John the Apostle at the end of the book of Revelation. Even so, come Lord Jesus. There's a weariness about sin. There's a taxingness about sin. There's a horrible routineness about sin. And the saint of Christ cries out, how long?

We're ready for that vindication, not contrary to God's will of course. We're ready for Emmanuel's land. We're ready for that ability to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. You ever consider how many times in the New Testament we're told to behave ourselves?

Not by scolding mothers. Not by nagging apostles, but by men who understood the doctrines of justification and sanctification. Yeah, you've been forgiven. You've got a righteousness that avails with God. Now live in light of that righteousness and be faithful.

It's tough at times, brethren. It's tough for us. We've got to understand it was tough for David, and it was tough for David's greater son, because David's greater son is crying out in this psalm, Don't show me that displeasure. Don't show me that disfavor. Notice his petition for relief in verses four and five. Verses four and five. Return, oh Lord, deliver me. Oh, save me for your mercy's sake. For in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave, who will give you thanks?

So basically, the petition is simple in verse 4, and then his argument, I think, is simple in verse 5. Notice in verse 4, Again, can Christ pray that on behalf of His people? I surely hope so, and I have confidence that He does such. Confidence that he does such. I want him to pray this as my representative. I want him to pray this as my mediator. I want him to pray this as the one who's going to go to the cross to take the full fury of God's justice and wrath against my sin. That's exactly the kind of prayer I want. Return, O Lord, deliver me. O save me for your mercy's sake.

This shows the inevitable connection between a bemoaning of sin, verses 1 to 3, And then the seeking for relief in verse 4. It's beautiful, isn't it? God, I'm such a wretch, verses 1 to 3. Help me be a better me, verse 4. I'm so abysmal, verses 1 to 3. Help me put on some good moral transformation, verse 4. I'm disgusting and deserving of God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come, verses 1 to 3.

Help me to get up early tomorrow, God. I should really read more Bible. I'm not suggesting any of those things are bad. But you know what's best? Have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. It's not me getting out of bed tomorrow, any earlier or any later that's gonna make the difference here. Again, get up early, deadbeat. Read your Bible and pray. There's your lecturing nagging mother. What is it we're dependent upon?

But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. Have mercy on me. The problems of verses one to three are not resolved by the doer of, in our case, the sins of verses one and three. The solution comes in verse four. Have mercy. Show grace. Show kindness. abundantly pardon my iniquities.

Show me that glorious work of your son on behalf of all those whom the Father had given him, that one who lived in perfect obedience to the law of God that we never did and that died as a substitute and sacrifice on that cross in order to satisfy divine justice. so that we could be forgiven.

And then he's raised again the third day, and as Paul summarizes it, he's delivered up because of our offenses, and he's raised for our justification. Verse four, I don't wanna say key, because that seems weird, but it's the key to the whole solution. It's the mercy of God that we desperately stand in need of. Listen to Spurgeon on the wretchedness of our sin. Ah, when the soul has a sense of sin, it is enough to make the bones shake.

It is enough to make a man's hair stand up on end to see the flames of hell beneath him, and an angry God above him, and danger and doubt surrounding him. Get that from verses one to three. Jesus representing us, garden of Gethsemane, on the heels or in the shadow of the cross, certainly these things are true of him. True of David, guy committed adultery and covered it up with a conspiracy to commit murder.

But us too. Because Christ is the subject, because Christ is the object, because Christ is the composer, because Christ is the singer and the prayer, they become Christ's bride's gift. In other words, the psalm is to assist us at the throne of grace to pour out the very problems that we face. Do you ever struggle with prayer? That's like asking people, do you ever breathe? Someone well said, if you wanna humble a Christian, ask him about his prayer life. So I'm doing that right now. No, I'm kidding. But do you struggle with prayer? Wouldn't it be amazing if God gave us, say, a collection of 150 prayers to help us along?

Huh, you mean we can pray these Psalms as our own, even though they're primarily about Christ? Yeah, because the covenant of grace was made with Jesus and all the elect in him. So whatever is in the Psalter that shines the light upon the Savior is also there for the benefit of His blood-bought children. We can just pray through the Psalms. Just take it as our own. Why? Because Christ did that for us. What do you think He wants us to sing in public worship? What do you think He wants us to pray in our closets? Doesn't God rejoice in His Word? In Psalm 138 it says that God magnified His Word above His name.

What does that mean? It means He's never going to get tired of you bringing His Word to Him. pleading his promises back to him, saying, you know, right here, Lord, you said there is abundant forgiveness. Right here, Lord, you said there's mercy. You know, right here, Lord, the same passage that talks about your wrath and your anger and your aversion to sin, there's mercy to be had.

Do you think God's going to say, I can't believe you're bringing my word to me? No. Honestly, and I don't know the mind of God, psychologically speaking, but if there's a complaint that the Most High would have, it's probably not, man, this church is just wearing me by being so biblical. They're just wearing me by praying my psalms back to me. Be innovative, be creative, get in touch with your, no, get in touch with the scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments, given by inspiration of God, profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.

That the man of God may be thoroughly equipped unto every good work. Is prayer work? Yeah. What's gonna equip you for that work? It's gonna be the Spirit and His Word. Pray these things. See the blessing of these things. The argument is simple. It appears often in the Psalms. We won't go there because I don't want to keep you all mourning, but Psalm 38, verse 9, Psalm 88, verses 10 to 12, Psalm 115, verse 17, Hezekiah's prayer in Isaiah 38, and then also in Ecclesiastes 9,

10. Notice the petition, verse 4, return, O Lord, deliver me. O save me for your mercy's sake.

What's the argument? For in death there is no remembrance of you. In the grave, who will give you thanks? Simple argument, right? Right now, God, while I have breath in my lungs, while I am sort of representing you on earth, I'm talking about us here, while we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, we wanna do it well, we wanna testify of your mercies, we wanna glorify your name, because once we breathe our last and they put us in that dirt, it's not gonna happen anymore. It's not a metaphysical sort of commentary on whether or not there's life beyond the grave. That's not what's in view. We know there's life beyond the grave. We know the spirit departs and is present with the Lord at the time of death. We know that there's an intermediate state. We know there's a resurrection.

That's not what this is. It's not a developed sort of metaphysic on what happens when one enters the grave. Well, what happens? You went to the grave tomorrow and you owe your mortgage company on Tuesday, they're not going to get paid. Right? You enter the grave tomorrow and you had a dinner date for Tuesday night, that date is canceled.

In other words, God, send your mercy. Let me know it powerfully. Let me experience it richly. And let me glorify you accordingly. For in death, there's no remembrance of you. In the grave, who will give you thanks? Great argument. Keep me alive, keep me benefiting from your mercy, and keep me praising and glorifying your great name. In other words, this is sort of an Old Testament counterpart to what Paul says is the function of the church in this new covenant era.

Shine his lights in a crooked and perverse generation, holding forth the word of truth. It's the argument. If we're all dead and buried, there's no holding forth the word of truth. There's no shining as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. It's a very beautiful argument.

And then verses six and seven, again, underscore the depth of his distress. I am weary with my groaning. All night I make my bed swim. I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my enemies. I don't think that, again, when we read through the gospel narratives, without the insight of the Psalms and the prophets, we really wouldn't get what a man of sorrows and one acquainted with grief he was.

But in verses six and seven, he shows us that according to his humanity, functioning as the mediator between God and men, functioning as the only redeemer of God's elect, it's tough business. How do we know it's tough business? Because it affects him in his bed. That's how we measure toughness in life, isn't it?

I'm not really sleeping well. Yeah, usually that's because you stay up too late or you get up too early. Those are the common obvious responses. It's because you're eating garbage and your body can't break it down and your head is buzzing because you just swallowed sugar before. Yeah, that happens.

But don't we measure stress and anxiety and difficulties and hardships based on how well or how bad we sleep? I'm just not sleeping good. Again, usually that's not commentary on, I need to fix my diet, I need to get to bed sooner, I need to sleep longer. It usually isn't. When we say things like, I'm just not sleeping well, I'm vexed, I got anxiety, I've got issues, I got problems, I've got challenges.

So again, Jesus, true humanity, wouldn't we expect that? The one who is saving his people from their sins, which necessitates Gethsemane and then Golgotha and the satisfaction of divine justice through the payment of a penalty, wouldn't that affect you on your bed? You got a tough meeting tomorrow. You might have a tough time sleeping tonight. You don't have Golgotha tomorrow. You don't have the wrath and fury of God. You don't have substitutionary curse bearing. You don't have being the ram prophesied by Abraham in Genesis 22. You don't have that pressure, if you will.

But he did, and when he describes it, he describes it using very evocative language that shows us the depths of and the difficulties associated with being the surety of a better covenant. I am weary with my groaning. All night I make my bed swim. I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my enemies. Again, the prophetic announcement, he is despised and rejected by men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him.

Isaiah 53.3. Obviously, this is metaphorical. Obviously, it's not a literal description. I mean, true humanity has only so much tears in the dot.

But metaphorically speaking, his grief, his sorrow, his pain, his hardships are such that he soaks his mattress at night at the thought of the fury of a righteous God. at the reality of bearing the sins of all those whom the Father had given Him. Again, Bonar's title, The Comfortless Couch of the Righteous One. Groaning, grief, pain, sorrow, hardship in bed. So if you asked him, how are you sleeping? Oh yeah, my bed's wet. My eyes are growing old. What do you got going on?

Well, I'm gonna bear the wrath and fury and judgment of God Almighty to pay divine justice. And I'm gonna do it for a bunch of thankless wretches, a bunch of people that don't deserve it. Isn't that beautiful? We had a meditation this morning from Pink on the word grace. Nature doesn't teach grace. There's no grace in nature. It's survival of the fittest. Just kidding. To a degree, right? If you're weak in nature, you get wiped out. The gods of nature don't say, well, we're gonna be gracious to you. No, not that there's gods of nature. I'm just speaking as a man here.

Where do we learn of grace? God's revelation of himself. This is why I'm always a bit, you know, wary of Christians who want what's fair. I want grace. Fair is me and hell, forever and ever, world without end, amen. I want grace. You should want grace too.

Justice. Justice, fundamentally, is not about grace. I mean, we stand in awe of a judge. I think I saw a scene of a judge recently, a woman that had to convict a guy and gave him a hug. That's nice. That's not part and parcel and elementary of justice. That's a gracious response on her part, but justice demands that you either A, get executed or spend the rest of your life in prison. Grace that taught our hearts to fear. It's grace that is absolutely splendid and magnificent. It's grace that we stand in awe of and the Lord Jesus Christ is the very vehicle and mechanism by which this grace is available for us.

My eye wastes away because of grief, it grows old because of all my enemies. That brings us finally and quickly to the confidence of the psalmist in verses eight to 10. Verses 8 to 10. What do you think brings him confidence? I know this is going to be repetitious here, but the judgment of his enemies.

We're so not like Jesus. I'm not trying to hurt you. He said, I'm not like Jesus. If you know yourself, you're going to say, yeah, I'm not like Jesus. That's why we needed Jesus. We needed the holy, harmless, undefiled one who is separate from sinners to bring us to God.

But notice this judgment of his enemies in the favor of his God. verses 8a and 10. Look at the declaration in verse 8, depart from me all you workers of iniquity. Verse 10, let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled. Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.

Remember, in the mind and heart of David, As he's writing this psalm, bemoaning his own sin, casting himself upon the mercies of God, reflecting on the reality that even his bed is uncomfortable because of the condition that sin has brought, David is nevertheless the king of Israel. David is nevertheless the one clothed with authority. David is nevertheless the one who can say to all of his enemies, depart from me. You get that? You see that? Verse eight, depart from me all you workers of iniquity.

The same is true with our Lord Jesus. The man of sorrows and acquainted with grief tells as clearly and as plainly and as certainly what's gonna happen when the Son of Man returns again in glory to judge the living and the dead. He is going to separate them, sheep on the one hand, goats on the other. He is going to judge them and render a verdict, and he is going to say specifically to the goats, according to Matthew 25, 41, then he will also say to those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Sounds just like David in Psalm 6, 8, depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.

In other words, Jesus, in doing all that Jesus did for us men and for our salvation, never once compromised divine justice, never once compromised God's righteousness, and never once in the application of grace to those whom the Father chose to receive that grace, diminished or mitigated the certain reality of judgment to all the enemies of God. Intriguing that that's one of the components that encourages our Savior according to His humanity. We've seen it in Psalm 1. We've seen it in Psalm 2. We've seen it in Psalm 3. We've seen it in Psalm 5. Up to this point, there is a clear understanding in the minds of David and David's greater son and Lord that the judgment of God upon the enemies of God provides for the people of God impetus to persevere. Joy in the Lord. This concept where, oh no, it's wrong to cry out with the psalmist that God judges enemies. Why is it wrong? We're supposed to image God. We're supposed to image those things true of God.

According to the psalmist, righteousness and justice are the foundation of the throne of God. Intriguingly, when the apostle Paul comes to deal with justification by faith alone, before he gets to the benefits accruing to men who believe, he first deals with God. He first shows how in the gospel God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus, Romans 3. Paul says the cross demonstrates the righteousness of God. Yes, grace. Yes, mercy. Yes, love. Yes, kindness. Yes, goodness.

But when Paul comes to deal, he wants to make sure that nobody can charge God with being unrighteous in the justification of unrighteous sinners. No, that's the beauty of imputation. It's the beauty of Christ going in our stead as our representative, taking the punishment that was due for us, such that God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This concept that has somehow affected the church today, rendering in some ways anemic, you know, we're not supposed to ever want the justice of God. Where do you find that in the Bible? Again, not justice for the person that cut you off in the, you know, the cereal counter at Walmart. You don't go out in your, you know, your car, you know, God, that person reached for those Wheaties and was very rude.

I want them to meet the end of all filthy sinners. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, bad. But for God to cut off the enemies of Christ and his bride, That's good. Jesus seemed to think so. Jesus according to his humanity could pray, depart from me all you workers of iniquity.

Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled. Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly. The shame of the enemies isn't their subjective feeling of badness. Let them feel miserable. That's not it. It's the objective loss of honor. It's the objective exclusion from the presence of a thrice holy God. It is the objective repercussions of living a life in abject rebellion to the living and true God. So, judge my enemies, and that's founded upon the favor of his God, verses 8b and 9.

Notice, the Lord, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. Can you imagine that? The voice of my weeping. There's a man familiar with tears. You ever meet that in the church? Oh, I can't believe that guy cried. Really? Because perfect manhood cried. The Apostle Paul warned the Ephesian saints with tears. Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, which he knows or knew was going to feel the wrath and fury of Jesus.

It's okay. It's okay to express that kind of grief and to understand that at times it's almost like the voice of weeping, but that God hears it. That's pretty amazing. You know, if you're one of those that have, you know, unkind friends, oh, you're crying again. You'll cry. God's not like that. God's good.

The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping, the Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord will receive my prayer. We sang this morning at the outset of prayer meeting, Psalm 116, verses one and two. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications, because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call upon him as long as I live. I love him because he hears my prayer. And because he hears my prayer, I'm gonna keep calling on him. You can't fault the logic of the psalmist. I love God because He hears my prayer. Because He hears my prayer, I'm going to keep praying.

A, good syllogism. Wonderful. Not A in Canada, but A, you're right. That's great logic. I love God. Why? Because He heard the voice of my supplications. Because He hears the voice of my supplications, I'm going to keep crying to Him. It's the way we ought to be. That's the way we ought to live.

He's already rehearsed this in Psalm 5. In Psalm 5 he tells us that God is a hearing God, verses 1 to 3. God's an answering God, verses 8 to 10. And God's a protecting God in verses 11 and 12. We have that bit in James. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. We have Hebrews 11. By faith we must believe that God is and that He's a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Tonight, brethren, we're going to consider a bit on praying in Philippians chapter 4 verses 6 to 7.

Be anxious for nothing, Paul says. Be anxious for nothing. Why? Because that's just a peppy Christian response? No, be anxious for nothing. in everything, with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. I'm going to argue that prayer is not the only antidote against anxiety, but it's certainly a helpful one.

Luke 18, same thing. Jesus taught this parable so that men would not lose heart, but pray. He talks about the impotent widow and the judge who neither feared God nor man and nevertheless gave her exactly what she was after. And so Jesus' implication, shall not the judge of all the earth avenge his elect who cry to him day and night? Of course. So the psalmist rests himself confidently upon God's judgment and upon God's ear.

He hears the voice of my supplication. David understood this. David's greater son understood this. He prayed, Father forgive them for they do not know what they do. He prayed, assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise. He prayed, woman, behold your son, behold your mother. He prayed, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He prayed, I thirst, it is finished. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

He understood that God hears prayer. He understood that God hears the voice of his weeping. He understood all too well that God most high is for his people. Well, in conclusion, I think to see the wretchedness of our own sin is very helpful in verses 1 to 3, but then as well to remember the glory of the Savior who dealt with that sin. He dealt with it. He fetched out mercy for us. He made it such that we can cry, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. It's based on what Jesus did in his life, death, and resurrection that we have everlasting life.

I think Psalm 6 sets forth before us the incarnation of the Son of God. It's a true man that prays Psalm 6, not an appearance, not an apparition, not a phantom, but rather a true man. But I think it shows us as well the divinity of the Son of God. That one incarnate was the Word who was with God and the Word was God. How do we see that? Well, the unity of the divine nature. The Father's about judging and cutting off his enemies. So is the Son. In fact, the Son speaks in John chapter five of God befitting tasks. You know what one of them is? Judgment.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of our blessed God, has come to save us from our sins. He has borne for us all that was necessary in terms of our breach of God's holy law. He took to Himself our punishment. He took to Himself our pain. He took to Himself all that the Father laid upon Him in order that we may have everlasting life.

Yeah, see your sin as offensive to God. See your sin as wretched before a holy God. But see your sin atoned for by the Son of God and live in light of that and pursue holiness without which no one will see the Lord. And if you're not a believer, believe on the one who had the comfortless couch in his earthly life. who had this aversion to sin and nevertheless was identified with us, was made sin for us, can never question, does God actually care? Does God actually love? Does God actually intend to save sinners? He most certainly does, and He demonstrates it in the mission of the Son of God, that whoever believes on Him will have everlasting life.

Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this psalmist. We thank you for David and his original context and the foreshadowing of his greater son and Lord. We thank you so much for what we have in Jesus in terms of the forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness received by faith alone. Bless this word as it goes forth and may more and more people come to believe on him. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.