Psalm 6 "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your wrath."
Psalm 6:1
When human beings go through difficult times, it seems to be the most natural thought that God has turned against us. "Why are You doing this to me?", we ask. The Psalmist is no exception. Psalm 6 appears to me to be a psalm of faith that is just barely hanging on. It is a plea for God's mercies: "Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed and my soul is greatly dismayed: But You, O Lord,--how long?" There is hope in the voice of the Psalmist but also doubt. "I am hanging on a cliff" he seems to be saying, "and I know that you hear my voice, so why don't you come and rescue me? Now would be a good time..."
The Psalmist then turns to a little bit of persuasion technique and appeals to the benefits that would come to the rescuer should He come through for the Psalmist: "There is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give you thanks?" "Look", says the Psalmist, "this is for Your glory as well as my good..." This reminds me of being a kid when some other kid who wants your toy offers to exchange it with you for being "your best friend". The person with the need really has nothing to offer except gratitude should the mercy be bestowed, but one can't be blamed for offering what little they have. But it will only be out of God's own goodness that mercy and deliverance will be granted. There is no such thing as a fair exchange here. The Psalmist knows this and quickly despairs of his attempt at bribery and returns to his posture of utter weakness, though I think that God is somehow pleased by the attempt to persuade: "I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has become old because of all my adversaries." And finally, despair gives way to hope and defiances toward doubt: "Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord receives my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; They shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed." I like the opening line to this paragraph: "Depart from me all you who do iniquity..." This reminds me of Jesus saying "Get behind me Satan!" The "enemies" in cases like this are often the voices inside one's own head which tempt us to abandoned or faith in God altogether. These voices are our greatest enemy but easily licked through faith in our faithful God. The Lord has indeed heard the voice of my supplication and He WILL answer in His own good time. My job is to hang on to my tiny faith until I see the day of victory. I assured by past experience and even more so by God's own good nature, that the day is guaranteed. So for You I wait O Lord.