Slices
Prepare
Reflect on ways you are failing to be the person God calls you to be. Spend time confessing these sins to God and asking forgiveness.
Bible passage
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;
heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish.
How long, Lord, how long?
4 Turn, Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from his grave?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
Explore
This psalm combines pain and confidence remarkably. The writer brings their despair and anguish to God (vs 1–7). The Lord is the source of the suffering, for the psalmist appeals for freedom from God’s deserved rebuke and discipline (v 1). These verses portray how to speak to God when we suffer, especially when it is because of our sin. Notice the graphic images (vs 5–7).
Amid pain, the writer appeals for God’s help (vs 2–4). It’s all too easy when we suffer, especially when we suffer because of our sins, to dwell on our pain and fail to look to God. This psalm encourages us to take our pain to God honestly, to confess our failure, and to ask for restoration.
The change in verses 8–10 is amazing! Something has brought renewed confidence, perhaps an encouraging word from another or the realisation that God will hear. This part of the psalm sits between being assured that God will answer and the arrival of that answer. Praying this way makes a difference not because it changes the psalmist but, much more importantly, because of the assurance of God’s response. God hears and will act.
Respond
Think of a time you were struggling in your life. How did you respond? Does this psalm offer you a different way of dealing with such situations for the future? Talk with God about that.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 57,58; Hebrews 11
Pray for Scripture Union
The Schools team of SU Northern Ireland is facing a period of transition as new members join. Pray for stability and for new team members to feel established quickly. Pray also for SU Groups as the team seek to equip them for the year ahead.
