O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?
4 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.
10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
Reading this just makes me wonder what David was going through when he wrote this. He sounds so distraught and depressed. Of course we are all sinners but sometimes a person does something that they just feel is the worst thing ever. I mean, David slept with a married woman and killed her husband... I could see him writing this in a journal while he's going through the guilt of that sin. He knows he has angered God but he begs for God to not have wrath against him. He knows his weakness and knows he is just a broken human. He begs God to have mercy on him, knowing these things about him, and to heal him. He is repenting of what he's done and wants God to give him the strength to change. He may feel as though God has left him because he asks for God to return to him - to deliver him and save him from this awful sin he has fallen into.
David is exhausted with the depression. He is crying so much his bed and couch are soaked in his tears. Now this is true repentance. He is totally consumed with the grief he feels. David tells the people against him just to leave... he knows God has heard his cries and is going to pull him out of his grief. God has heard his supplication... God has heard his prayer... he will receive that prayer. David's enemies will become ashamed of their actions. God will show them their wrong and they will acknowledge it. That will give David some relief.
My friend Meagan sent me a couple more verses from her Bible study:
2 Corinthians 5:17 - "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
This is one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible. I need to memorize it and I'm not sure why I haven't yet! She describes the "theme" of this verse as "fresh start". When I got baptized six years ago, I wore certain clothes into the swimming pool I was baptized in, and then of course I brought a change of clothes to change into. I bought a black shirt and did puff paint on it that said, "New Woman!" I was so excited to start my new relationship with God. Although there are days that my relationship with God doesn't feel new and fresh to me anymore (due to me - laziness usually, or just pure busyness) I have not reverted back to the old person I was. And I am so, so, so thankful to God for that. I never would have changed on my own. It took Him changing me from the inside to turn my life around.
Psalm 27:13 - "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
She describes this as "energized by God's goodness". Yes, how often I feel lack of energy, or "faint"! If I didn't have that belief that one day I'm going to see God's glory from this life, how easy it would be to just sit back and do nothing.
I can think of a couple of people off the top of my head who seem to have endless energy for God. They are so happy to work for God - and that means big things like conducting church services in nursing homes all the way down to vacuuming after a church service. They do all things for God's glory. I believe the reason they can do so much with so much happiness and energy is because they believe in why they are doing those things. For God's glory. What an awesome testimony these people are!
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