MAKE I MY BED TO SWIM

The psalms speak of the full range of human experience - joy, sorrow, outrage, hope, and other contrasting emotions all find expression in this trove of Hebrew poetry. There is a psalm for every occasion. Since they are common aspects of this life, sad­ness and pain are especially well-represented among these classic songs. This is not some literary work for an ivory tower existence untroubled by pain. Rather, it is the expression of real life with all of its attendant trials and difficulties.

As the sixth Psalm shows, ‘The sweet psalmist of Israel’, 2 Sam. 23. 1, knew what it was to weep profusely during long nights of grief. In verse 6, the mournful tone is set. The opening phrase, ‘I am weary with my groaning’, describes his ongoing state of melancholy. ‘All night’ is rendered ‘every night’ by many translations, such as The English Standard Version and The New King James margin; this indicates ongoing trouble. His continual sufferings fatigued his soul and led to the shedding of copious tears. This mournful flood is vividly represented by the next statement, ‘I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears’ NKJV. This extensive outpouring of woe was like a deluge of weeping, soaking his bed nightly.

The opening verse of the psalm indicates that David’s suffer­ings were the result of God’s disciplinary activity. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 11 notes the pain that accompanies such divine correction, affirming, ‘Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby’. Admittedly, the discipline is difficult, but it results in the saint being brought into the obedient pathway that pleases the Lord. The chastening is essential to God’s pur­pose for His people, but it is only temporary. The crying ceases and the sorrows abate, leaving spiritual maturity and godly character in their place. Another song encouragingly expresses this phenomenon thus, ‘weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning’, Ps. 30. 5. Some day, the Lord Him­self will wipe away every tear - whether it was produced by discipline, persecution, or other sources, Rev. 21. 4.