The Bible is suffering-filled history. From Cain’s murder of Abel to the slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt to Paul’s painful apostolic life to the tribulations of the church and the outpouring of God’s wrath in Revelation, Scripture shows us life with all its afflictions.
Hanging Jews. The concentration camp crowd was forced to watch a triple hanging. From somewhere among them a prisoner muttered, “Where is God?” Fellow prisoner Elie Weisel answered to himself, “This is where–hanging here from this gallows.” He meant God was as dead as the three about to be hanged. As helpless before his own creation as the victims he was forced to watch. As weak in the face of depraved human power as the one little sad-eyed, pale boy around whose neck the noose was now being fastened.
Suffering in Psalm 6. Is God “dead”? Helpless? Weak? A silent spectator to human suffering? Or does he see, hear and answer our cries? I cited Psalm 6 in part 1 of this series. Let’s use it to answer our questions.
In the first five verses, David cries out. “O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD–how long? Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” (6:1-5).
The poignant, “O LORD–how long?”, echoes against a silent heaven. Any Jewish concentration camp prisoner could have voiced that prayer. But here we find it on King David’s lips. In verses 6 and 7 he continues to weep over his weakness and grief.
“I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.”
Defiant Faith. But suddenly, in verses 8-10 David prays with defiant faith: “Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.”
David’s enemies remain. But, in the midst of his suffering David has a sudden “attack” of defiant faith. He orders his enemies to leave. Why? ” . . . for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.” Then David declares with almost brash assurance: “All my enemies shall be ashamed . . . they shall turn back . . . ”
The future tense shows that David’s enemies have not yet turned back. His outward circumstances haven’t changed; his tormenters remain. But inwardly David is different.
The Sources. From where did his defiant faith suddenly come? I suggest three sources. First, David has prayed to the LORD (6:1,2,3,4). The Sovereign over all situations. The God who has introduced himself to Israel by his personal name–Yahweh. We can repeat his exalted name again and again–and what initially might sound like mocking in our painful circumstances becomes an assurance that the One who is “LORD of lords” is our Lord.
Second, the Lord steadfastly loves his people and will act for the sake of his steadfast love (6:4). Yahweh’s love “is great, higher than the heavens” (Psalm 108:4). That’s how big his love is for his people. And for the sake of that love–that is, for the reputation of his name as “The Steadfast Lover”, he will save his people who trust his love.
Third, David has been infused with faith. God has acted inside him. The transformation in David between verse 7 and verse 8 is stunning. Verse 7–“My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.” Verse 8–“Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping” (6:8).
How can we account for such a stunning transformation when David’s circumstances remain so harsh? A skeptical psychologist may say, “David, like a cornered snake, simply lashed out in self-defensive anger.” Perhaps. Or maybe the LORD, who acts for the sake of his steadfast love, gave David a sudden gift of defiant faith. Faith is a gift of God the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:9). So perhaps praying to the LORD who loves steadfastly, David was given by the LORD a gift of defiant faith.
Not the response we want. We know this, don’t we! Sometimes God’s answer isn’t the one we want. We want the circumstance changed. When we pray and it isn’t we presume God hasn’t heard or doesn’t care. Or we get angry at him and think about resigning from him. But often God is doing what we don’t want for the greater good of what he wants. And instead of defiantly trusting the LORD, the Steadfast Lover, we act like unbelievers and ask, “God, where are you when I need you?”
Instead of questioning God’s loving sovereign presence, perhaps we should pray Psalm 6. As he gave David, he may give us defiant faith–and show us where he is!
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