Psalm 6

0 To the leader: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1   O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger,
    or discipline me in your wrath.
2   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
    O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
3   My soul also is struck with terror,
    while you, O LORD—how long?
4   Turn, O LORD, save my life;
    deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5   For in death there is no remembrance of you;
    in Sheol who can give you praise?
6   I am weary with my moaning;
    every night I flood my bed with tears;
    I drench my couch with my weeping.
7   My eyes waste away because of grief;
    they grow weak because of all my foes.
8   Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
    for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9   The LORD has heard my supplication;
    the LORD accepts my prayer.
10   All my enemies shall be ashamed and struck with terror;
    they shall turn back, and in a moment be put to shame.

Daily Prayer (based on Psalm 6:2)

Dear Lord, by Your mercy I'm not in need of physical healing today. Though I know folks who are, and I pray for them now. [Take time to intercede for any you know who are in need of physical healing.]

Yet in so many ways, dear Lord, I do need Your healing touch. I ask You to heal the part of me that has such a hard time trusting You. Restore to me a childlike confidence in Your goodness.

Heal my scatteredness, Gracious God, my tendency to multitask to the point of confusing my soul, or to take on far more than I can possibly handle. Help me keep You in the center of my consciousness, and live in the simplicity of Your presence.

Heal me of my penchant for desiring other things more than You, Lord, or even things that take my heart away from You. Restore my heart's deepest and truest longing, for You and Your presence.

Postscript

The biblical language of salvation has often been minimized by our tendency to think of salvation only in terms of life after death. That we will experience life beyond the grave is wonderful, of course. But God's salvation is about so much more than this. It's a matter of bringing wholeness to human life: to individual persons, to families, to communities, and, indeed, to the whole world. Thus all of us need to experience God's salvation in an ongoing way, even as we celebrate the fact that through Christ we have been saved once-for-all from sin and death.

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Except for the Scripture text, all material of The Daily Psalm Copyright © 2006 by Mark D. Roberts

Note: You may download the contents of The Daily Psalm at no cost, for personal use or for use in a Christian ministry, as long as you are not publishing them for sale. All I ask is that you give credit where credit is due. For all other uses, please contact me at mark@markdroberts.com. Thank you.

The Scripture text used in The Daily Psalm is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved