Chapter 6
David is very troubled, and prays to God for help, for grace he doesn't deserve instead of the angry wrath he does deserve.
He asks God to keep him alive so that he can praise. He says in Sheol, they don't praise???
2024 - This verse: 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? [Psa 6:5 ESV]. This is interesting because elsewhere David implies that ALL people ended up in Sheol in that day. Was it different then, pre-crucifixion, when the soul could not go directly into God's presence because the atoning sacrifice was still pending? Even if that is so, why would saved souls in Sheol not remember, not know? MSB makes short work of it. It doesn't really say much. Just that in Sheol there is no public participation in praise offerings. Hard to see it being no more than that. Looked up the verse in Grudem and found this one also: 17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence. [Psa 115:17 ESV]. In is in a section on "soul sleep". Grudem says it this way on p. 1009: "But when Scripture represents death as sleep, sleep is simply a metaphorical expression used to indicate that death is only temporary for Christians, just as sleep is temporary." But I'm not buying that. How does "no remembrance of you" seem any more clear given that explanation. No. Still does not work. This sentence also from Grudem, p. 1009 directly addressing verses like Psa 6:5: "...these are all to be understood from the perspective of life in this world. From our perspective it appears that once people die, they do not engage in these activities any longer." I don't think this flies either as an explanation for the two verses above.
The Psalm ends with David saying God has heard his prayer, and that his enemies will be troubled now.
Why is it that David is so troubled, why does he have so many enemies, who are they? Is he worried about coup attempts, about assassination plots? Or is this written after Bathsheba and he feels isolated, alone, and estranged from God, and therefore more vulnerable to the random, and to earthly enemies and the plans of those who are always there to seek power and money? How does a king have so much fear of enemies?
2022- In the first 3 verses, David states his problem. There is no confession of sin. So this was probably before Bathsheba, when it was only enemies he had to worry about.
2022- in vs 6 he is sleeping in a bed or on a couch. So this is after he is king but before Bathsheba.
2022- vss 8-10, it is David's enemies, not his sin, from which he is delivered.