Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Taking Sin Seriously | The Writings | Psalm 6

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

The Bible teaches that sin leads to destruction, but do you really believe in that destruction? Do you see the outcomes of your sin? Whether you're devastated by your sin or aloof to it, Psalm 6 is for you. Join Keith in today's episode. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 6

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Anne Lamont is a very popular novelist and nonfiction writer, and she once said that she has three kinds of prayers. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, and help me, help me, help me. While that may be a bit oversimplified, the prayers we find in the book of Psalms can be categorized in kind of the same way. The Bible gives us prayers for every season of life. There are Psalms when we feel thankful. There are Psalms for when we feel sad or full of joy or when we're anxious or when we just want to worship. There are Psalms that deal with

loneliness and Psalms that deal with guilt. But one of the most common types of prayers we find in the book of Psalms is a prayer of lament. These are the prayers of people who are caught in the middle of hardship and suffering. Given that we live in a broken world, it makes sense that prayers of lament are so common in the Bible. God knows that life isn't always rainbows and butterflies. That's why in the Bible he provides concrete examples of what it looks like for his followers to come to him in prayer in the middle of their struggles. Today we're going to look at Psalm 6, which is both a help me, help me, help me, and a I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, prayer all rolled into one. Psalm 6 was written. by King David, and although we're not 100% sure of the circumstances surrounding this prayer,

we can be sure that David had messed up big time. He had sinned, and his life was falling apart because of it. We pick up in verse one. Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn Lord and deliver me. save me because of your unfailing love. Among the dead, no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long, I fled my bed with weeping and drenched my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow. They fail because of all my foes. The first thing we learned from David's prayer in Psalm 6 is the simple truth that our hearts never seem to be able to

fully grasp, and that is that sin has consequences. Sin has real consequences in our life. And our life now, and then of course it has eternal consequences also. Sometimes you might be tempted to think that God is like one of those adults in your life who told you when you were a kid not to do something, and when you asked why, they said, well, because I told you so. Sometimes we believe that God has made up a bunch of arbitrary rules, and there's not really any good reason to obey them. But that's not the way the Bible talks about God's commands or about sin. God's commands were designed to lead us to flourishing, They're his instruction manual for how human beings were designed to function. And who would know better how we are designed to live than God, the one who created us,

the one who loves us, the one who knows us better than we know ourselves. So when we break God's commands, we no longer live like we were designed to. We live out of step with how we were made to function. Imagine your sin is like speeding on the highway. And God doesn't pull you over because he loves. handing out speeding tickets. He pulls you over because if you keep driving that way, you're going to crash and hurt yourself and probably a lot of other people in the process. C.S. Lewis said, you can't go against the grain of the universe and not expect to get splinters. When we live out of

step with the way God designed us, then the splinters in our life often cause a lot of real suffering. If following God's commands lead to flourishing, then breaking God's commands, well, it will lead to harm. It'll lead to disappointment. And that's exactly what has happened in David's life. Instead of finding peace and joy as a true image bearer of God, David's sin has led him to deep anguish, groaning, crying himself to sleep at night. God desires our character development. Sin leads to character destruction. Do you recognize the destructive power that sin has in your life? Maybe you're like me, and it's easy to see the sin in other people's lives or the sin out there in the world, but remember, whatever you see out there is also at work in your own heart.

We tend to divide the world into good guys and bad guys, but that's not faithful to the Bible or our own personal experience. While spending years in the gulags of Soviet Russia, witnessing some of the most horrific crimes against humanity, Alexander Solzindsen wrote this. The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart. The book of Jeremiah says it like this, the heart is deceitful above all else. Now, when Jeremiah said that, he's not thinking that anyone is exempt from that. Every single person's heart is deceitful above all else. So Psalm 6 is a reminder for

us to examine our own heart and take our own sins seriously. Fortunately for us, Psalm 6 also reveals that God hears the cry of his sinful people. Watch the dramatic shift that happens in the final verses of David's prayer. We pick up in verse 8. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy. The Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish.

They will turn back and suddenly be put to shame. Some people believe that the prayer in Psalm 6 was written in one setting. and others believe that some time had passed between David's initial prayer of lament and his final prayer of praise. But either way, we can be sure of this. God listens to the prayers of sinners. And although David saw some sort of positive change in his life, ultimately we know that his prayer of lament in Psalm 6 was answered in Jesus. He was the suffering servant. He was the one who wrestled with God in prayer as he made his way to the cross. In Matthew 26, right before Jesus was arrested and killed, we find him in the Garden of Gassimony. And there Matthew tells us that

Jesus prays, my soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. And then he tells his disciples, stay here and keep watch with me. Going a little further, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, my father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will, but as you will. Just like David's sin in Psalm 6 led him to weep. So, Now we also find Jesus weeping, but not because of his sin. No, in the Garden of Gassimony, Jesus embodies the pain, the growing, and the sorrow of his people. Our sorrow is brought about by our sin. Jesus' sorrow was for the sake of our sin. In Jesus, we see the perfect and holy God, the God who is merciful to David, but we also see in Jesus a perfect human, who is just

like David, and he empathizes with the weaknesses of his people. So Jesus is the perfect fulfillment and embodiment of the prayer we find in Psalm 6. And because of Jesus, sinners like me and you have hope. Listen to what the author of Hebrews says in chapter 4 verses 15 and 16. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin. Let us then, approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Because of Jesus, we can come to God's throne of grace with confidence, even in the midst of our sinfulness. Are there sins in your life that you think have disqualified

you from God's love and mercy? Are there sins that you are afraid to confess to God and other people? Are there sins that you beat yourself up over with? You've asked for forgiveness, and in some sense you believe that God forgives other people, you're just not sure he forgives you, at least not for that really big sin in your life. While it's difficult to accept at times, these are the very sins where God most desires to meet you. God doesn't meet you in your pride and your success. He meets you in your humility and your brokenness over your sin. These are the areas of your life where God wants to bring healing, healing that comes by bringing our sin to the

foot of the cross day by day. David was confident that God would rescue him from his sin. How much more should we who live on this side of the cross be confident in coming to God in the midst of our sin and sorrows? Whatever's on your heart this morning, whatever burdens you feel, whatever guilt you are experiencing, take it to God. He listens to your prayers. He hears you. He loves you. Amen.