A Prayer for Healing - Psalm 6

Psalm 6

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you;
    in Sheol who will 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 eye wastes away because of grief;
    it grows 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 plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

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As in almost all the psalms, the specific trouble the psalmist faces is only vaguely described. In this way, Psalm 6 can speak to many difficulties and troubles. That being said, however, this psalm has often been seen as a prayer for healing. The psalmist says:

2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O Lord—how long?
4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

which seems to suggest he has some kind of illness.

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Note that “Sheol” [v 5] is what the ancient Israelites called the place of the dead, a shadowy place without hope. The psalmist tells the Lord that if he dies, he will be unable to praise him from there.

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The psalm ends with a note of hope, the psalmist feeling better with having made his requests known to God.

9 The Lord has heard my plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

A Prayer for Healing [Psalm 6]

Psalm 6

As in almost all the psalms, the specific trouble the psalmist faces is only vaguely described. In this way, Psalm 6 can speak to many difficulties and troubles. That being said, however, this psalm has often been seen as a prayer for healing. The psalmist says:

2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O Lord—how long?

4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

which seems to suggest he has some kind of illness.

---

Note that “Sheol” [v 5] is what the ancient Israelites called the place of the dead, a shadowy place without hope. The psalmist tells the Lord that if he dies, he will be unable to praise him from there.

---

The psalm ends with a note of hope, the psalmist feeling better with having made his requests known to God.

9 The Lord has heard my plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Of Pigs and Human Nature

Do you actually want to change, or would you rather wallow in the filthy status quo?

5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Mark 5:1-20

Jesus performs an astounding miracle in their village, freeing this forsaken man from filth and misery, and the villagers would prefer he leave than cause any more changes to the way things are.

You don't think that those villagers had parts of their lives that needed healing? But rather than begging Jesus to stay and work among them, their immediate response is to beg him to leave and never come back.

How true of human nature--so often we prefer the pain we know to the possibility of change.

[This was previously published for the Gospel of Matthew readings, and has been updated.]

Today’s Scripture

Mark 5:1-20

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Jesus Forgives & Heals a Paralyzed Man

In Mark 2, Jesus first forgives a man of his sins, and then heals his paralysis. Why? Because the man needed both–spiritual healing and physical healing. Jesus clearly knew that if he had only healed the man’s legs, the man would still be lacking. It would be false to say that our material needs don’t matter–the baby would never have been born in Bethlehem if God didn’t love the material world–but it is true that our deepest problems are spiritual. (Think about it, if the material world was all that mattered, then all rich people would be happy.)

The good news: the God who is Spirit entered into material reality and fixed our problem himself.

Today’s Scripture

Mark 2:1-12

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Of Pigs and Human Nature

Do you actually want to change, or would you rather wallow in the filthy status quo?

"When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.  ^'What do you want with us, Son of God?' they shouted. 'Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?'
Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding.  The demons begged Jesus, 'If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.'
He said to them, 'Go!' So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region."

Matthew 8:28-34

Jesus performs an astounding miracle in their village, freeing these two men from filth and misery, and the villagers would prefer he leave than cause any more changes to the way things are.

You don't think that those villagers had parts of their lives that needed healing? But rather than begging Jesus to stay and work among them, their immediate response is to beg him to leave and never come back.

How true of human nature--so often we prefer the pain we know to the possibility of change.

Today's Scripture

Matthew 8:28-34.