Disciplined By God

It takes discipline to learn anything worthwhile in life. Learning a musical instrument can be very frustrating at times. I can’t even tell you the number of times I had to stop playing the guitar and put it away because I was getting angry that I couldn’t get something right. I never left it alone for long. I picked it back up and tried again and again until I got it right. The same is true for our Christian walk. Often, it takes discipline to get it right. It takes learning from our mistakes to become who God has created us to be. Every faithful believer is at times disciplined by God. In Psalm 6, David is being disciplined by God for his sinful actions. God disciplines those he calls his children because he loves us, not because he is angry and wants to punish us. Just like any well meaning, loving parent, when his children disobey, he wants them to learn from their mistakes and never disobey again. Sin should cause in us the reaction that David had. He says “I am sick at heart” (Vs 3), “I am worn out from sobbing” (Vs 6), and “My vision is blurred by grief” (Vs 7) David was a man after God’s own heart and he was truly broken over his actions of rebellion against God. He was truly sorry, but God, in his loving mercy, still disciplined him. I have felt that strong hand of discipline in my own life. I was worn out from crying all the time and I spent a lot of time on my face, literally, on the sanctuary floor at my church weeping over the sins that I had committed. I was truly sorry and I know that God has used and continues to use those times of brokenness in my life to help me to learn from my mistakes and to help me to never make them again. In the midst of being disciplined, David doesn’t forget who God is. He knew that God heard his cries and he knew that God would answer his plea. While I was in it, there was such a struggle for me to believe that God heard me. I remember feeling a whole list of emotions from anger, to sadness, to despair and so on. I wanted it to stop. I begged for it to stop. So did David. “Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony” (Vs 2). “Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love” (Vs 4). I pleaded with God in very much the same way that David did and even though he didn’t answer me right away, I still felt the loving presence of God right along with his strong hand of discipline. The next time you feel the strong hand of discipline in your life, don’t forget to thank God for it.

“The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer” Psalm 6:9