A Psalm of Contrition: Psalm 6

A Google search reveals that contrition is “the state of feeling remorseful and penitent.” According to the International Bible Encyclopedia, “A contrite heart is one in which the natural pride and self-sufficiency have been completely humbled by the consciousness of guilt.”^[1] In other words, a person who feels contrition has recognized their sin, does not minimize it, and humbles him/herself before God by recognizing their need for grace.

Psalm 6 is one such example of a God-follower demonstrating contrition. Perhaps the most famous example in all of Scripture is Psalm 51, in which David acknowledges his guilt before God (for raping Bathsheba, stealing Uriah’s wife, and plotting Uriah’s death to cover his own tracks) and throws himself at the mercy of God. Unlike Psalm 51, we don’t know the specific act(s) that David is remorseful about in Psalm 6. Nevertheless, God can shape us in substantive ways towards his character as we look at this psalm. In fact, the intentional vagueness of David’s offense is actually helpful, because it helps us see that godly remorse for sin and God’s compassion translate across any and every conceivable situation.

This psalm is divided into two parts. Verses 1-7 make up David’s plea, and verses 8-10 reveal David’s joy at God’s response. Here are a couple observations from verses 1-7:

• Notice what David says in verse 1. “O LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage.” (New Living Translation) Notice the qualifiers of “in your anger” and “in your rage.” The great 19^th century pastor Charles Spurgeon is so very helpful here. He says, “The Psalmist is very conscious that he deserves to be rebuked, and he feels, moreover, that the rebuke in some form or other must come upon him, if not for condemnation, yet for conviction and sanctification….[David] does not ask that the rebuke may be totally withheld, for he might thus lose a blessing in disguise….If thou remindest me of my sin, it is good; but, oh, remind me not of it as one incensed against me, lest thy servant’s heart should sink in despair.”^[2] In other words, David does not ask or expect God to withhold discipline, for this would actually not be good news (Hebrews 12:5-11). Instead he asks that God discipline him without discarding him. Every good parent desires to discipline their child out of love, while not causing it to enter into the mind of that child the possibility that the parent would give up on them in anger. This is the line that David is pleading for God to walk.
• In verses 2 and 4, David pleads for the compassion of God. And notice that he doesn’t base this plea on his own merit. He bases this plea on his own weakness and on the unfailing love of God. It seems that David believes there is something about his own admitted shortcomings against his flesh that actually attracts God to pay attention to him. David affirms this in another psalm: “The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14) This goes against the grain of our natural thinking; we are prone to think that God is opposed to us in our weakness against sin. He is opposed to sin, but he is with us in our opposition against our own sin. Provided that we hate our sin and come to God in a spirit of dependence, the Lord is only for us, not against us.

Verses 8-10 serve as a joy-filled turning point. Spurgeon here says, “The Psalmist has changed his note. He leaves the minor key, and….He tunes his note to the high key of confidence, and declares that God hath heard his prayer, and hath delivered him out of all his troubles.”^[3] Here are a couple happy observations about this section:

• David declares in verse 8 that “the LORD has heard my weeping.” Spurgeon adds here, “Is it not sweet to believe that our tears are understood [by God] even when words fail! Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers.”^[4] The entire basis of David’s change of heart in this psalm is that he is convinced that God has heard him.

Finally, let’s notice in verse 9 that David’s confidence stretches in time from past to future. “The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD will answer my prayer.” David is confident that God has already cared for him and heard him. And because of this, David is convinced that God will continue to care for him. “Here is past experience used for future encouragement.”^[5] Every instance of God’s faithfulness builds up David’s assurance that God will continue to be gracious and faithful going forward. May that also be true with us as we borrow David’s words to shape our own hearts towards our kind Savior.

_{[1] https://www.internationalstandardbible.com/C/contrite-contrition.html}

_{[2] Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms, Volume 1, 56.}

_{[3] Spurgeon, 56.}

_{[4] Spurgeon, 59.}

_{[5] Spurgeon, 59.}