“Cry Me a River (Then Change Your Sheets)”
Psalm 6
30 June 2013
Disaster, disease, danger, and death are all around us. Just read your newspaper or watch the evening
news. Or, you can consult the system of 18,000 codes that hospitals and doctors use to describe the
medical services and bills that they send to insurance companies. Apparently 18,000 codes is not enough
for administrators when they describe why a patient sees a doctor. So a new federally mandated version
called ICD-10 (the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related
Health Problems) will expand the number of codes from 18,000 to 140,000 codes when it rolls out this
October. They will add codes that describe precisely what the medical condition is and what caused it.
There are codes for injuries in opera houses. There are codes for injuries in squash courts. There are
codes for injuries in a chicken coop.
W61.11XA- is the code for injuries related to being bitten by parrots. So if you get bit by a parrot and you
go to the hospital or your doctor and they treat you, then your doctor will let your insurance company
know that W61.11XA was the reason for your visit. I guess just writing in the phrase “bit by parrot” on a
form is not satisfactory! W61.11XA sounds like a robot from Star Wars!
There are separate codes for being bitten by a turtle and being struck by a turtle.
Here’s another: R46.1- Bizarre personal appearance. (Some of you may think I have that!) Go ahead.
Email the elders and tell them that Pastor Benji suffers from R46.1! I’ve dealt with it my whole life.
If you walk into a lamppost for the first time, the code is W22.02XA
If you are dumb or clumsy enough to walk into a lamppost for the second time, the code is W22.02XD“Walked into a lamppost subsequent encounter.”
There are all kinds of codes for injuries received for sewing, ironing, crocheting, doing hand-crafts, etc. I
don’t think there is a code for injuries sustained while shopping, but I’m sure it will be in ICD version #11.
V91.07XA- Burns due to water skis on fire.
Well, guess what? There’s also V91.07XD- Burns due to water skis on fire subsequent encounter.
Listen, if your water skis catch on fire twice, somebody needs to buy you some cookies. Man, that is a
rough life.
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904103404576560742746021106.html)
(http://www.emrandhipaa.com/emr-and-hipaa/2011/09/23/crazy-and-funny-icd-10-codes/)
Though somewhat humorous, the truth is that disaster, disease, danger, and death are all around us. It’s
been this way since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. And it was certainly true in David’s day.
David’s prayer in Psalm 6 feels like he is praying the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and
Related Health Problems for believers. David is under some serious stress here. He is plum worn out. He is
being disciplined by the Lord for some sin. He is exhausted and about to lose it. And David teaches us that
no matter what is happening in our lives, we serve a God who loves us and loves to hear and respond to
our prayers… even when we have blown it.
Our big idea todayNEVER GIVE UP BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU WITH A NEVER STOPPING, NEVER GIVING UP,
UNBREAKING, ALWAYS AND FOREVER LOVE.
Some of you may recognize part of our big idea. Part of it is a phrase that is repeated throughout The
Jesus Storybook BibleNever stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.
I highly recommend this book to read with your kids. Every time I read it I learn something and am once
again dunked into the Gospel. If you want your kids to grow up with the Big Idea of the Bible, or if you
want to know the big picture of the Bible, then I would get one.
In Psalm 6, David is wrestling with God’s never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever
love. Here’s why: Psalm 6 is a “lament” psalm. David is in pain- physically, emotionally, spiritually. He is
suffering. He is at the end of his rope. He is being disciplined for some sin. But he will not give up because
of who Yahweh is. He will not give up, even though he may be tempted to, because he knows God. He
knows that God loves him with a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.
LOOK AT VERSES 1-3…
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I
am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O
LORD—how long?
David is suffering here. But we don’t know why. We get no clues as to why he was being disciplined by
Yahweh. But he is. I picture him with blood-shot eyes, looking haggard, hair all messed up, scruffy
beard…well, just picture me! Seriously, he’s looking like he is paying the high cost of low living. And he
really is. David is being disciplined by the Lord for some sin. That’s why he asks Yahweh to taper his
discipline in verse 1. David is asking the Lord to be gracious to him, to ease up and give him relief. By
asking Yahweh to “ease up” (if you will), David is confessing his sin. He’s praying like the tax collector in
Luke 18, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Notice the two words rebuke and discipline in verse 1. These words are both used throughout the Old
Testament for corrective and disciplinary actions taken in relationships, like a father dealing with a son.
My son, do not despise the LORD’S discipline or be weary of his reproof. For the LORD reproves him whom
he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:11-12
Proverbs 3:11-12 functions like a commentary on David’s situation. I can picture David laying in bed,
covered in sweat, hair messed up, bloodshot eyes, pillows soaking wet from his tears and wondering why
all this is happening, wanting to scream out, “Why? How long?” (which he does in verse 3), and yet if
David had access to the book of Proverbs he would find his answer in chapter three verses eleven and
twelve: Yahweh loves you, David. He delights in you. In love He is disciplining you. Therefore, don’t
despise his discipline. Don’t be weary. He loves you.
David will appeal to that very love in a moment, but first notice the toll this is taking on him.
I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you,
O LORD—how long?
Everything within David is troubled. There is physical, emotional, and spiritual distress. Everything hurts.
David says that his bones are troubled and his soul is greatly troubled. The Hebrew word for troubled
means “terrified.” His bones are terrified. When’s the last time you went to the doctor and when he asked
what was wrong you said, “My bones are terrified!” Maybe there is a code for “terrified bones” in the
International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems?
But David’s soul is terrified, too. Everything about David hurts. Physically he’s sapped. Emotionally he is
empty. He’s scared through and through. He has nothing left in his tank. The Lord is pruning him. His
enemies are giving him grief. In fact, his enemies are most likely the tool that the Lord is using to
discipline David.
And David can’t take it anymore. So he says in verse 3, “But you, O LORD—how long?” It’s as if David just
drops off in mid-sentence. It’s as if he was about to say, “How long, O Yahweh, will you discipline me and
let my enemies attack me and gloat?” But he can’t even get those words out. All he can muster is “How
long?”
David’s prayer exposes one of our many problems: we often take issue with God’s timing.
God’s calendar doesn’t sync up with ours and we don’t like it. “There’s a deadline, God! …And there it
goes.” For some reason we truly haven’t figured out that God is not like us. For some reason we keep
thinking that He’s made of Play-Doh and if we can just get close enough to Him, then we can catch Him
and then we can mold Him into the God that we want. I have a feeling that we are more like Aaron and
the infamous golden calf incident of Exodus 32 than we may realize.
But the saddest part of all is not that David’s deadline has come and gone. The saddest part is that
David’s fellowship and intimacy with the Lord has taken a hit. The friendship, the closeness, the intimacy
is missing. Ever been there? Of course you have. We all have. And when you’re in that place where you
know you have treasured things more than Jesus and you are experiencing the loving discipline of the
Lord, thank God that David’s story in Psalm 6 and your story doesn’t end with verse 3. There’s always a
verse 4! We don’t deserve it, but there’s always a verse 4 because God loves us so much!
And because there’s always a Psalm 6:4 just around the corner in your life, you should-
NEVER GIVE UP BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU WITH A NEVER STOPPING, NEVER GIVING UP,
UNBREAKING, ALWAYS AND FOREVER LOVE.
Verse 4 is always coming! Why? Why is there the hope of verse 4 when we drift from the Lord and
experience His discipline? Because God loves you and he can’t keep Himself away from you! He will not let
your rebellion and your wayward heart go unchecked! He loves you too much! Therefore, He will discipline
you to get your heart back because when He has captured your heart, you are where you are supposed to
be.
I guess I’ve hyped verse 4 enough, so we ought to take a look at it.
LOOK AT VERSES 4-5…
Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no
remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
The whole ground for David’s plea for relief is bound up in Yahweh’s steadfast love. This is the Hebrew
word that many of you know by now: hesed. This is God’s unwavering faithfulness to His people and His
promises. Hesed, translated here as steadfast love, is Yahweh’s loyal, covenant love. I think one of the
best ways to translate the Hebrew word hesed isNever stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.
David wants Yahweh to save him because that’s the kind of God Yahweh is. I love the way Dr. Allen Ross
describes David’s situation in Psalm 6The loyal love of the Lord is the reason he should be delivered, not simply because he has a covenant that
is characterized by God’s faithful love to his people, but because the covenant promises of the LORD’s
loyal love would fall into disrepute if he did not demonstrate them by delivering the sufferer. David has no
other basis on which to make his appeal than God’s faithful love— but he needs no other. God’s faithful
covenant love is sufficient; that is why it is at the heart of all his dealings with his people, even when they
are sinful and need discipline.
God’s steadfast love is all David has, but it’s all he needs. And it on the basis of Yahweh’s character that
David appeals. David’s only hope is what he knows about God. And it’s our only hope. And people think
that the doctrine of God is boring? Are you kidding me? My prayer life is built on and empowered by the
character of God! The reason I pray, the reason David prayed, the reason any believer prays, is because
we believe what God has said about Himself in His word.
Now notice the reason David gives for pleading for deliverance. Notice how he is trying to motivate God to
answer his urgent requests: For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you
praise?
Sheol is the Hebrew word that can refer to several things in the Old Testament*
*
*
*
the grave
death
extreme danger
hell or hades (the realm of the departed spirits of evil men not in covenant with Yahweh)
In Psalm 6 David is speaking about dying and leaving this earth. David does not want to die. He wants to
live. David knows that he exists to ignite a passion in every person (including himself) to glorify and enjoy
God everywhere and in everything. If he dies, he will not be able to do ministry. He will not be able to lead
the nation of Israel. And he will not be able to keep declaring the praises of Yahweh. In other words,
death will shut David up.
So David is basically saying to the Lord, “If you do not intervene, I will die, Lord. And if I die, I won’t be
alive on the earth to glorify You. I won’t be able to join the congregation and sing, “You stay the same
through the ages, Your love never changes. There may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning’
I won’t be able to sing ‘Your Love Never Fails’ if I die, Lord! They don’t sing that song in Sheol! They don’t
sing that song in the cemetery!”
David knows that the whole point of his existence is to glorify and enjoy the Lord. If he dies, that ends, at
least David’s doing that on earth. Of course David believes his spirit will go be with the Lord while his body
decays in the ground, but David can’t ignite a passion in every person to glorify and enjoy God
everywhere and in everything in Heaven! They already do that there! And they sure don’t do it in Sheol!
But they do that on earth, which is why David is not ready to go. He wants to see more people come to
faith in Yahweh as he lives to glorify Yahweh.
And that’s why David is trying to motivate the Lord here. He’s saying, “If I die, whose gonna be vocal
about you? You know I will. Lord, you know that I tell everyone about you. You can’t let me die yet.
People need to hear about You! And if you spare my life and give me relief from this situation, I’ll get up,
take a shower, get dressed, change the tear-soaked sheets on my bed, and I’ll get out there in the world
and start telling people how you rescued me once again. I’ll tell everyone that I see about You!”
I have a feeling that God likes to hear and answer those kind of prayers! We serve a God who says, “Cry
me a river. And then get up, change your bed sheets, and start telling people what I did for you.”
In other wordsNEVER GIVE UP BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU WITH A NEVER STOPPING, NEVER GIVING UP,
UNBREAKING, ALWAYS AND FOREVER LOVE.
Never give up on God. Never give up on praying. Let the character of God, what you know of Jesus, be the
springboard that catapults you to pray “faith-full” prayers like Psalm 6! And David’s prayer is full of faith
because of what he says in verses 6-7.
LOOK AT VERSES 6-7…
I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.
David actually believes that Yahweh cares! That means he is praying “faith-fully.” His prayer is full of faith
because he assumes that the Lord actually cares and wants to listen to him. Someone might think, “Yeah,
but doesn’t the Lord already know all this about David? Doesn’t Yahweh know that David’s bed sheets are
soaking wet because he’s crying over his situation? Doesn’t the Lord know how weak and exhausted David
is?” Yes. “So why is David telling Yahweh all this stuff?”
The answer is that David assumes that the Lord actually cares! David assumes that his pain and sorrow
and blood-shot eyes and soaking wet bed actually interests the Lord! David assumes that God’s cares and
wants to hear and respond!
Understand this: your misery makes God’s mercy manifest. Your pain and sorrow arouses God. God loves
to listen to every little heartbreak, every little detail about your grief. God does not treat His children’s
prayers the way we typically deal with some “User Agreement.” Do any of you read all of the iTunes “User
Agreement and Terms and Conditions” when it updates? No! You just lie (like all of us!) and click “I
acknowledge that I have read and understand” and you move on.
God doesn’t do that with your prayers! He listens and “reads” every little detail, every paragraph, every
sentence, every word, every verb, every subject, etc. And He even listens when your sobbing like a baby
and your pillow is soaked from your tears and snot. He listens and understands when you are crying and
praying like David in verses 6-7, “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I
drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my
foes.”
David’s enemies, however, are not as sympathetic as Yahweh is.
LOOK AT VERSES 8-10…
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. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they
shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.
I picture David crying a river to the Lord and his enemies come along and say, “What’s the matter, David?
Did Yahweh block your number? Is He not returning your call? What’s the matter little crybaby?”
To which David replies that the Lord has heard his cries. But even better, Yahweh not only hears our
prayers, He accepts it! Proverbs 15:8 was true of David’s prayers and it’s true for ours…the prayer of the upright pleases him.
It pleases God, it brings Him pleasure, it delights Him when His children cry out to Him! What a God we
serve! He listens, He cares, and He responds to our prayers! But even better, it brings Him pleasure! He
loves it when we cry a river and have to change the bed sheets! God loves it when His children come to
Him with blood-shot eyes, tears running down their cheeks, snot oozing out of their nose, and they pray
unintelligibly, “Tourn, O MWORD, dwiver muh life; sve me fr th ske of ywour stedfwast lovf.” That’s how I
picture David praying verse 4. And God loves it!
And that’s why David can tell his enemies to get lost. His enemies will turn back with their tail between
their legs because Yahweh will answer. His enemies will be greatly troubled because they don’t something
about Yahweh: Yahweh gets a kick out of His people’s prayers! There is no god in ancient Near East like
Yahweh. Our God enjoys listening to and answering our prayers! Even when we go into our prayer closets
and mumble and speak “cry baby” and have to wipe our snotty nose on our sleeves.
And why not? This is how Jesus “rolls,” if you will. This is what He is like. David cries out with tears just
like the “other David” that the Old Testament prophets constantly spoke of, namely JesusIn the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who
was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Hebrew 5:7
Jesus knew that He could go to His Father in prayer and cry His eyes out. David knew that he could go to
Yahweh and cry his eyes out. And we too can go to God the Father in prayer and cry our eyes out because
we have access to God because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
Jesus is proof that God loves sinners with a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and
forever love. This table and these elements, the bread and the cup, are proof that God loves us. The
Lord’s Supper is proof that the Triune God loves to be with sinners! That’s the Gospel. And so the Gospel
teaches us toNEVER GIVE UP BECAUSE GOD LOVES YOU WITH A NEVER STOPPING, NEVER GIVING UP,
UNBREAKING, ALWAYS AND FOREVER LOVE.
But it also teaches us that we serve a God who says to us, “Cry me a river. And then change your bed
sheets.”
Let’s cry out to Him in prayer right now and prepare our hearts to eat and drink. I have a feeling that He’s
about to get pleasure as we pray. I have a feeling that we’re about to delight His heart once again as we
pray. I have a feeling He is going to listen to every word, every syllable, every verb, every moan and
groan, and He won’t tune us out. I have a feeling that we should never give up praying because God loves
us with a never stopping, never giving, unbreaking, always and forever love.
And when you’re dealing with a God like that, doesn’t it make you want to pray? It does me. Let’s bring
Him pleasure once again.