Great Afflictions, Greater Consolation
Psalm 6:1-10
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.…


The language m this psalm may seem exaggerated and unreal. But it is not so. Want of imagination and sympathy in some, and want of experience in others, make them unfit judges. We neither know our strength nor our weakness till we are tried. The man who may have stood up to help others in their troubles may be cast down and disconsolate when visited with trouble himself (Job 4:3-5). Learn -

I. THAT THERE ARE WORSE AFFLICTIONS THAN WE KNOW OF. We must not make our life the limit, nor our experience the standard. Besides what we see, there is what we only hear of, and besides all these, there are miseries beyond our wildest imaginings. Even as to ourselves, let our case be ever so bad, we can conceive of its becoming worse. What a glimpse have we of the dread possibilities of the future in that solemn word of our Lord to the man who had for thirty and eight years been a helpless cripple, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (John 5:14)!

II. THAT THERE ARE ADEQUATE CONSOLATIONS FOR THE SEVEREST TRIALS. Come what will, God is our Refuge and our Strength. Let us therefore be patient and trust. Let us also be thankful. Things might be far worse than they are. Let us also bear ourselves gently and kindly to others who suffer. It is those who have themselves been sorely tried who can best sympathize, as it is those who have themselves been comforted who can best comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). - W.F.



Parallel Verses
KJV: {To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.} O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

WEB: Yahweh, don't rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath.




God's Anger Terrible
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