RESCUE ME! (PSALM 6)

These are called "Knockout Roses" and are a hedge variety.

I decided they were an appropriate illustration for 

the month I got "knocked out" by pneumonia!

T

Today's entry begins a series on psalms to read when you feel down, as recommended by David Seamands in his book Healing for Damaged Emotions (Victor, 1981). 

Pneumonia recently claimed a month of my life.  I woke up one day just feeling “off.”  Then came chills and a high fever, body aches including a horrific headache, no appetite, and finally a nasty cough.  After a week, my husband took me into our “walk in” clinic.  The doctor who listened to my chest said it sounded like pulling Velcro apart.  “You have pneumonia,” she said.  An X-Ray confirmed it. Her choice for an antibiotic (given this was my second bout with pneumonia in two years) had some scary side effects.  But I lived. 

When I read the opening of Psalm 6 after this experience, I wondered what a modern doctor would have diagnosed for David’s illness.  He was faint, his bones in agony.  He was totally worn out and emotionally in the pits.  And depressed—so much so that his pillow become a sponge for copious tears. 

My pillow got wet from an ice bag, but David’s tears are a hint that his illness was emotional, too.  Tears come easily when we’re at the end of ourselves.

The psalm’s turning point is 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. (v. 9)

Just when David wrote this psalm isn’t known. He had his share of “down times” as he tried to elude the murderous intents of mad King Saul.  His physical life and destiny were in jeopardy. He faced utter hopelessness—except for the Lord.  When David cried out for mercy, the words of his heart weren’t bouncing off the cave ceiling.

The Lord has heard....the Lord accepts. I’ve highlighted those verses in my Bible. I need their reminder that when I face bewildering events and hostile people, I am not alone! I may not see the answers right away, but God is at work—in me, and in my circumstances.