Confidence in Mercy

I love taking time while reading the book of the Psalms to compare the state of mind of the psalmist at the beginning of a psalm with his state of mind at the end.  When there is a change, I like to hunt through the psalm to find what made the difference.  Because I often find myself feeling the psalmist at the beginning of a psalm - life has gotten me down, and I desire to get from there to where the psalmist got - looking to God and resting in Him.

The 6th psalm seems to turn on 2 things.  The psalm is full of the tears of David:

I am weary with my groaning; 

all the night I make my bed to swim; 

I water my couch with my tears.

Psalm 6:6

While a good cry can do wonders, David was weary with his tears.  The tears did not accomplish the change for him.  David had concerns for his enemies who were a threat to David unto death:  He told God that he needed salvation because

. . .in death there is no remembrance of thee:

in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

Psalm 6:5

David was also concerned that he had violated God's law and stood in danger of being punished for it.  He cried out to the Lord to spare him from rebuke and chastening.  He cried out that he was weak.  He cried out for mercy.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD;

Psalm 6:2a

Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: 

oh save me for thy mercies' sake.

Psalm 6:4

When David remembered God's mercy, he started to dwell on the solution, rather than the problem.  He cried out for God to save him for the sake of his mercies - and God's mercies are many toward us.  As he thought on God's mercies, his confidence in God returned.  His assurance that God would answer overwhelmed him so that he wrote:

The LORD hath heard my supplication;

the LORD will receive my prayer.

Psalm 6:9

When we want to go from overwhelmed with worry and fear to overwhelmed with assurance from God we simply have to do what David did.  We need to dwell on God's mercies.  We need to plead for God to respond in his mercy, and we have the assurance that God hears, God's mercies are new every morning, God will answer the prayers of his children.