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 flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. 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. – Psalm 6:1-10

A soul in deep anguish…this could have been a song sung by Job during his sojourn in the storm.  The writer of this Psalm says something that I was yearning for Job to say — “save me because of your unfailing love”.  As far as I can tell he really never did, but that is what God has promised — to save us with his unfailing love.  This is an especially poignant message as we approach Easter and our celebration of God’s unfailing love.

Next comes an interesting turn of phrase — “Among the dead no one proclaims your name”.  What is the meaning of this statement?  It is a bit like the pirate mantra “dead men tell no tales”.  This seems to be saying that we had better do our “proclaiming” of God’s name while we are alive.

The person in this passage seems to have lost hope and is consumed with weeping, shedding samples of an anguished soul.  In fact weeping so much that these tears to God fill the furniture.  God hears the cry for help and overwhelms our enemies with shame and anguish — God has our backs.  He will always come for us when we feel lost and alone, just like He did when He showed up in Galilee.

Prayer: Thank you God for loving us, comforting us when we feel lost and alone, and sending you Son for us to follow.