---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title “Cush, a Benjamite”—There is no person mentioned by that name in Scripture. Possibly he is a Benjamite who mocked David when David fled from Absalom. This man’s tribe, Benjamin, is important. The former king, Saul, was a Benjamite. David may have been accused of killing Saul and his sons in a blood coup. Yet David had always sought to protect Saul.
Verse 8 “According to my righteousness . . . integrity”—As a child of God, a new creation, David served the Lord. David does not say that he is holy. Rather, he says that he is innocent of the charges brought against him by his enemies.
Discuss
1. In verses 1-6, David asserts his innocence against the charges brought against him by Cush, a Benjamite. David asks the Lord to deliver him, but before he does this, David asks the Lord to examine him. Why does David do this?
David is being falsely accused. He asks the Lord to examine him and see if he is guilty of these accusations, and if so, then God should punish him. In a sense, this is an oath. “May God curse me if I have done what my enemies claim I have done.”
2. For what two things does David pray in verses 7-10?
David asks the Lord to vindicate him and all God’s innocent people. He asks the Lord to judge the wicked.
3. David often asks the Lord to do something in the future. Yet he follows up his prayer with words of confidence. What confidence does David express in verses 11-13?
He is confident that God is a God of wrath and that God will judge his (God’s and David’s) enemies.
4. In verses 14-16, David expresses a general truth. What is that?
The wicked will experience the harm they plan for others. They will fall into their own traps.
Apply
5. How does David end this psalm? (verse 17) What does that teach us about how we should end all our prayers?
David ends with thanks and praise. We can always thank the Lord, because we can be sure the Lord will answer our prayers and always show us his love.
6. Can you give some examples of how the wicked fall into their own nets?
Bible history and secular history are full of examples. Think of people like Saul, who tried to destroy David. Think of the Egyptians, who tried to imprison the Israelites, of Judas, who tried to destroy Jesus. In modern times, think of the communist states, who seek to destroy religion and, in the end, only destroy their economies and themselves.
David asked the Lord to put a stop to the plans and actions of the wicked. He expressed his confidence that God would help him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalms 3 through 6 have much in common. All are morning or evening prayers; all are called psalms, songs sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument; and all refer to affliction or suffering at the hands of enemies. David wrote all of them, perhaps during Absalom’s rebellion. Psalm 6 is one of the chief psalms of repentance. The first seven verses are an anxious prayer. The last three verses are a prayer of confident trust.
1. David had destroyed Uriah’s family through adultery and murder. Now David was experiencing God’s chastisement. See 2 Samuel 12:10, where God had told David that his family would experience continual strife. What is David’s fear as he goes through the Lord’s chastisement? What does David pray for? Do we have the right to make this prayer?
Note verse 1. David is afraid that God is rebuking and disciplining him in anger. In that case, David could not be sure of the outcome. He could not be sure that God would deliver him from his enemies. So David prays that God chasten him in mercy (verse 2). We too can ask God to discipline us in mercy. We willingly undergo his fatherly chastening, but we are confident that God will use this time of chastening for his good purposes.
2. How does David feel during this period of chastening?
• Verse 2 He is faint; his bones are in agony.
• Verse 3 His soul is in anguish. His suffering seems to never end.
• Verse 6 He is worn out from his agonizing prayers, weeping because of his troubles.
• Verse 7 His eyes are weak from sorrow.
3. What argument does David raise in verse 5 for why God should help him?
He asks the Lord not to let him die. He argues that if the Lord lets him live, he can praise the Lord before his countrymen and tell them about God’s deliverance.
4. When David spoke verses 8 and 9, had God actually answered his prayer? Support your answer from verse 10.
No. Yet David concluded his prayer as if it had already happened.
5. Think again of David’s prayer in verse 5. Have you every prayed like that? Give a situation where right now you might offer that kind of prayer.
Answers will vary. This is a fine argument to present to God. Ask him to help you with the promise that you will glorify him for his deliverance.
6. Sometimes when we are finished praying, we take a wait-and-see attitude. How do the last three verses of this psalm help correct that attitude?
We should never end a prayer with a wait-and-see attitude. Because of God’s unfailing love, we know all things work out for our good. In that sense, the Lord has already delivered us.
Because of his unfailing love, God is merciful and delivers us in every time of trouble.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalms 3 through 6 have much in common. All are morning or evening prayers; all are called psalms, songs sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument; and all refer to affliction or suffering at the hands of enemies. David wrote all of them, perhaps during Absalom’s rebellion.
Verse 8 “Righteousness”—This word appears often in Psalms and in the Old Testament in general. God’s righteousness is normally his faithfulness to his covenant, or the “right” way on which he leads his people to keep them faithful to him. He leads his people on right ways so he can continue to bestow his grace on them and fulfill his covenant to them.
1. Before you look at the details of this psalm, try to determine its outline. After each title, write the verse numbers that fit.
• Believers have access to God in prayer. (Verses 1-3)
• Unbelievers have no access to God in prayer. (Verses 4-6)
• Believers have access to God in prayer. (Verses 7,8)
• A prayer against lying tongues (Verses 9,10)
• A prayer of blessing on tongues that praise God (Verses 11,12)
2. What is a good thing to do each morning? (verse 3)
Go to the Lord in prayer. Lay out your plans before him and wait in expectation to see what he will do.
3. In verses 4-6, David turns to those who take pleasure in evil. What is the Lord’s attitude toward those who continue in their wickedness?
The Lord hates and abhors them. It is confusing to say that the Lord hates sin but loves the sinner. The Lord loves all people and wants them to come to faith. In the case of those who rebel against him and resist his call, he hates them and their deeds. In the case of those who serve him and do what is right, he loves both them and their deeds.
4. David had spoken about the wicked, whom the Lord hates. Why did the Lord love David?
By the Lord’s great mercy, he opened the door for David to come into his house and worship him there. Because of the Lord’s great mercy, David could ask the Lord to guide him in his righteousness (see the note in the “Look” section).
5. In verses 9 and 10, David had asked the Lord to punish the unbelievers for their many sins. What does he ask God to do for us in verse 11?
He asks the Lord to protect us, so that we will be able to give him glory.
David prayed that God would suppress the lies of the wicked and bless the prayers of the godly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
List three ways we use the word “love” in 21st Century America?
Do you think most people think of love as an action or emotion? Which way is more dominant in your life?
How does God describe love in the following passages?
Song of Songs 8:6
Jeremiah 31:3
John 15:13
Is the Scriptural focus more on the action or the emotion?
Read I Corinthians 13:1-8. What are things that love does (or doesn’t do)
List four examples of Jesus putting love into action
List the last four times you have put love into action
Read Deuteronomy 7:7 and Matthew 9:36. How is love described as an emotion?
Prayer: Dear Lord, You have both loved me and demonstrated your love for me through actions, most importantly the sending of Your Son to die for my sins. Move me to both love others and demonstrate that love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
This Bible study is based on a Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly article by Professor John Schuetze.