Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 6:6-7   Clear off!

                        Back to the Psalm!  Have you ever had a night of tears? A night of groaning with the agony of the deep suffering that you are going through? One translation suggests that this verse reads as follows; “I am weary with my groaning, all night long I make my bed to swim, I water my couch with tears.”This kind of suffering goes deeper than just physical pain, awful as that can be. This is grief and loss and helplessness and emptiness and deep, deep anxiety where life loses perspective and all we can see and think about is the immediate darkness. There is no way out, life as we have known it is over, nothing will ever be the same. Woe is me! As we have seen, David is at such a low point in his experience here that he fears death itself.

In v7 we discover that maybe David’s torment is not all self-imposed; he has enemies that revel in his discomfort.  It is probably safe to assume that the King is isolated, holed up in his bed, attended by friends, family and physicians – such as they were.  He is receiving the best advice and attention that can be offered in 1,000 BC but he is deeply troubled by his enemies, they still assert themselves in his thinking even as he struggles with illness and perhaps impending death.  Failing strength can cause eyes to grow weak, so can grief and deep anxiety but this king is full of sorrow and weeps because of his enemies.  He sounds like a man who is worn down, unable to face his foes, full of self-pity and a sense of defeat. We are in familiar territory here, Satan is a past master at linking depression and fear to illness.   In times of physical trial he sends his demons, their quivers full of accusations and their daggers sharpened with despair. David comes to his senses and recognises his enemies, “Away from me, all you who do evil.” There are times when we have to prop ourselves up on the bed of desolation and hopelessness and shout at those adversaries “Clear off!”