Psalm 6

Jesus assured His disciples that they would have trouble in the world. It should not surprise the church that we face enemies. We are told to pray for them, even to love them. The Apostle Paul tells the church that our struggle is ultimately not against flesh and blood, but against powerful demonic powers that stand against us. But the biggest trouble than a man can ever face does not come from fallen angels or from any human being. His most dangerous potential adversary is God. If God should be against him, how can he live?

For those who have truly called upon the Name of the Lord, we can say with confidence that God will not send us to hell. Christ has already covered our sins through the cross. We have the righteousness of Christ credited to us. Yet we can count on the fact that God will discipline those He loves. The worshiper of God does not deny his sin. He calls out to God for a more measured response than his offense deserves. He cries out, “O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.”

He asks for God to show him sovereign favor, and appeals to God's kind heart for the lowly. The Lord's worshiper is very weak with grief. His head is drooping. He is terrified in the depths of his body and soul.

This man has been calling out to the Lord in his troubles. As may often be the case, he wonders why the Lord does not act with the urgency that the situation requires. How long will it be until true deliverance comes?

Now would be a good time for some good news. Now would be a good time for relief from pain. Now would be a good time for healing in some important relationship. Now would be a good time for food and shelter. Now would be a good time for joy to return, and for a powerful oppressor to be defeated. Now would be a good time for Jesus to come with all the hosts of heaven. “Come now, Lord Jesus!”

But apparently now is not yet the time for heaven to come down and to renew the earth. The worshiper still needs to live in faith while he waits for help. He needs to believe that God is still working all things together for the good of those who love Him.

His plea before God in his extreme trouble is the steadfast covenant love of the Lord. It is because of the eternal faithfulness of the Lord to His own holy character, and because of the Lord's consideration of the perfection of His eternal Son who will offer Himself up as our Messiah, that the worshiper of God is not consumed. It is wise for a man to call upon God to remember His own steadfast love for us through Jesus Christ.

We are looking for life, and not for the grave. Is the grave the only destiny of man? The worshiper loves the Lord, and He knows that it is right for Him to live a life of worship. Dead bodies do not remember God. If all of the Lord's people are cut down by their enemies, how will there be any worship of God remaining on the earth? Will the promises of God fail? There must be some other answer.

But the weariness of petitions that do not seem to be heard is overwhelming to him. He moans to God, with sighs too deep for words. He cries out his eyes in secret moments, yelling to the God who is when no one else can hear. But where is God? His enemies are very near.

But now suddenly resources of heavenly faith rise up within his renewed soul. He finds the strength to speak, as if with the voice of the Almighty. Could it be that God visits us with faith, and therefore we speak? This man declares the Word fearlessly and forcefully: “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer.”

Though the enemies of God and His church may seem to have overwhelming power, the Lord alone is the Almighty God. Eternity is in His hands. Look to Him with faith and speak.

When a worshiper looks at those who hate him, when he meditates upon his fears, and considers the multitude of ways that everything can and will go wrong, he feeds his terror, and he nurses his grief. He must find some way to turn to the Almighty. He must hear the voice of God again, the voice that promises covenant faithfulness. He must gaze at the Messiah and declare, “The Word is faithful.”

Jesus has already completed the greatest struggle of faith. He cried out to God and was heard. He turned toward the Lord and believed with perfect belief. He confronted the depths of the deepest misery that could ever come to a man, the misery of this life and the next, and He declared, “It is finished.”

See His perfect faith, ask for the resource of that same trust, and receiving that great gift from the God of heaven and earth, speak out in Your surrender to the God who is faithful. May all of the Lord's enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled. May they be turned back and be put to shame in a moment. Surely they will be the ones in great danger when the Son of God returns as the Almighty Judge.