David had always been the example of virtue and Godliness, but David had now sinned by committing adultery with another man's wife. This sin had become known openly in the palace. Over the years this had led to growing disenchantment within his own close group of advisers and friends, as some of them now despised the one they had looked up to so much. It is probably at the time just before Absalom's uprising, when trouble was simmering, that David penned these words:
"O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure... Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly." (Psalm 6:1,10)
David appears to have known that the danger to his life was acute:
"For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" (verse 5)
The title of the Psalm mentions Sheminith, a musical instrument, and the only other Psalm that does likewise is Psalm 12. By linking the two Psalms in this way, God means us to read them together and draw conclusions. What details can you find in Psalm 12 that give us a fuller view of what went on at this time?
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"Food for thought in Psalms" is out now in all good bookstores.
