Jesus Prays Psalm 6

In the Gospels we often read about Jesus’ prayer life – passages that describe His all-night prayers (Luke 6:12) catch our attention, especially in a time when our attention spans are decreasing at an exponential rate. How did He pray? Remember that the Psalms (the Bible’s prayer/song book) are about Jesus (Luke 24:44). Let me suggest that the Psalms are an insight into Jesus’ extensive prayer life on earth and as He intercedes for us in heaven (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25). Reading Psalm 6 this morning, let’s briefly explore how this is a Jesus-prayer.

“O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your wrath.
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?

Return, O Lord, rescue my soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
For there is no mention of You in death;
In Sheol who will give You thanks?

I am weary with my sighing;
Every night I make my bed swim,
I dissolve my couch with my tears.
My eye has wasted away with grief;
It has become old because of all my adversaries.

Depart from me, all you who do iniquity,
For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
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” (Psalm 6:1-10).

How is this Jesus’ prayer? The Lord Himself gives us the interpretive key to understanding this plea in His context.

He quotes verse 8a in Matthew 7 when He speaks of false confessors/teachers: “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  You will know them by their fruits.  Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?  So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:15-23).

 They may fool many people, but they do not fool Jesus the Judge. Jesus, in quoting Psalm 6:8a in this Sermon on the Mount teaching, reveals to us the greater context of His judgment of false confessors/teachers. In Psalm 6, we see that the damage they do within the covenant family (the Church) is taken personally by the Lord of the Jesus. What these liars and hypocrites do to the Church, they do to Him. Before Paul was apostle, he was Saul of Tarsus, chief among the persecutors of the Church. When Jesus knocked the man off his horse, the glorified Lord of the Church asked this question: “Why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4; 22:7,8; 26:14). To hurt the Church is to attack the Lord of the Church. He prays on behalf of His Church to His Father (even now).

The answer to the prayer is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Psalm 6, the Lord points out that God’s wrath and death itself must be conquered by God Himself before the adversaries of God’s beloved can truly be conquered. We often associate Jesus' prayer concerning His death with the Garden of Gethsemane alone. This is not necessarily true: “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety” (Hebrews 5:7). Psalm 6 was one of those prayers, prayed long before the Garden. The prayer was "heard," and answered. This, of course, happened in the saving work of Jesus on the cross, in His resurrection, and in His coronation seating at the right hand of the Father in heaven. The enemies were placed into the judging hand of the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:25). Prayer answered.

Yes, false confessors/teachers are a deadly threat to the Church in every age. They sneak in to the Church from the outside, and rise up from the inside. Unless we are diligent, we step into that role ourselves.

We should read this Psalm as the answered prayer of Jesus to the Father on behalf of His Church, which in His Body – in union with Him by faith, sealed by the Spirit. To hurt His Church with lies (in practice or doctrine) is to attack Him. Judgment is assured.

This is how Jesus prayed Psalm 6.