When I was a high school senior, I audited an upper-level English literature course at a local college. The professor assigned two novels, both written in 18th-century English and extremely hard for this 18-year-old to decipher. Luckily, the professor explained each reading at length. Though much of that course has disappeared from my memory, I’ll never forget a quote from George Eliot’s Middlemarch. For some reason, it implanted itself in my mind, and I doubt it will ever leave.
“If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heartbeat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.”
What I take from that quote is this: If we could hear “all ordinary human life,” it would be deafening. Can you imagine hearing everything? From the simple growth of the grass all around us to the cries of children in the night from hunger, to the millions upon millions of groans that go up to the Lord each moment? I cannot fathom the sound.
That’s why, when it comes to Psalm 6, I know I’m on holy ground.
I don’t know for certain what left David so shaken that he wore himself out with groaning—although there are plenty of scenarios to choose from in 1 and 2 Samuel: His best friend’s father was trying to kill him. He had to hide away in enemy territory for decades. The only men who went with him were desperate, indebted criminals (1Samuel 22:2). In many ways, he was alone in the world.
I don’t know exactly why David wrote this psalm, and I don’t know how you’ll relate to it either. Perhaps the imagery of crying nightly against your pillow is no imagery at all. Perhaps that’s your reality. Marriages falter under the weight of years of sorrow. Children defy our expectations and hopes. Relationships plunder our hearts, leaving us to clean up the wreckage. Even the best, most hopeful times of our lives leave us wondering what lurks around the next corner.
If your eyes are open and your heart is beating, you know that life is full of perpetual aches. As George Eliot said, if we could hear it all, “we should die of that roar.” But here is the beautiful thing about our God: He hears every prayer. He catches our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). And though we are unable to bear the weight of that much sorrow, He can. And He has (Isaiah 53:3–4).
After reading the seven preceding verses about grief, I love the final three in this psalm and how the idea of hope emerges from them. I can imagine David writing them, taking a deep, post-cry breath—you know the kind. Maybe it’s still shaky. But it fills your lungs with oxygen and enables you to sit up straight and wipe the tears from your eyes. David rises to face his fears, not because his circumstances have changed, but because he is confident that the Lord has heard his weeping and accepts his prayer (Psalm 6:9).
Whatever tears you shed today, rest in confidence that the Lord hears you clearly. He knows you, accepts you in Christ, wants to commune with you, and longs to be gracious to you, even in the darkest hours (Isaiah 30:18).
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55 thoughts on "A Prayer for Mercy"
I really needed this today. I ache and my soul hurts. I need you Lord. Hear me. Help me. Heal me.
Amen
Thank you Lord for hearing my every thought and murmur! How vast is this world, and you can hear each and every person on it!
Hallelujah!
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These verses described my current situation exactly. My heart is heavy with grief and hurt and I have felt a heaviness in my spirit for some time. I fall asleep most nights crying and I spend so much of my time crying out to the Lord to be delivered. I know that in my moments of pain and weakness Jesus is near to me. And I know he will not leave me in the midst of my sorrows forever. Today my hope is in Him
A psalm for the reality of this difficult life.
My favorite part is where it says that god hears me, he knows me, he accepts me, he wants to be in communion with me, and he longs to be gracious to me in my darkest hour. How freeing that is and what a testiment to his faithfulness. Remembering these truths today!
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Needed this
Love this and so sobering! As I’m in a trial, I’ve had glimpses of hope, but struggle with the despair of feeling alone and unable to find a solution. Desperately looking for wisdom and grateful to the Lord that ultimately he has me and he has saved me from my sin. I don’t doubt his ultimate love. However in my situation, I have not excepted encouragement well from the Lord. My cynicism has withheld good, not God. He is good and his love endures forever! Thanks, Sister!
Praying for all of the requests shared. I am really enjoying this devotional. Tomorrow is my open house and I get to meet my students for this school year! I am excited but nervous as well. Praying that God leads me in helping these kids grow this school year.
This couldn’t have come at a better time. Someone from my past sent me a hurtful text targeting some painful memories I carry. Could you cover me in prayer?
“Even the best, most hopeful times of our lives leave us wondering what lurks around the next corner.” This sentence in the devotion reminded me of Jennie Allen’s book “Get Out of Your Head” which has a chapter on cynicism. Before reading it, I wouldn’t have thought of myself as cynical. But there was a period of time when I went through a number of difficult circumstances and found myself identifying with this description: “Either we’re afraid of something that might not even occur, or we project something that has occurred onto all the days that are to come. We buy into the lie that it’s too risky to be vulnerable or hope for good things.” Now when I notice myself getting into those thought patterns I ask God to forgive me for believing the lie. I do not know what is going to happen – including all the bad things that could happen. I have no evidence that those fears will come true. What I do know and what I do have evidence for based on my experiences is that whatever happens, God is there for me. He will never be taken by surprise by anything that happens to me. He will get me through whatever I face, and he will work it all together for my good in ways that I could not anticipate because I am not God and I don’t know the things he knows.
I love that the Lord is with us wherever we are. He sees us and will give us exactly what we need. I am a mom to two young girls, and have felt myself languishing lately. Feeling a lack of motivation due sleep deprivation. It’s hard to be passionate about anything. But the Lord is still with me, and I feel him giving me his strength to be the best mom I can.
I haven’t read the study yet. Can I ask for prayer? I’ve never had a toothache before, but woke up in the night in pain. Of course we leave on a trip tomorrow. I have a call into an endodontist, but it’s getting late. Praying I get through the week without a big issue. I’d like to deal with it here because I like the doctor a lot. Thank you
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CEE GEE Thank you for thinking of me in my quest for a better lifestyle. I didn’t make the progress I had hoped to. But God has laid it on my heart and I know if I continue to listen to him, I’ll get past the obstacles and eat and exercise in a way to honor my Lord.
I am praying for all the requests from everyone. I am so blessed to be a part of this community.
@Rebecca as a 76-year-old follower of Jesus, I have been where you are many times. God always tested us with our finances and we were blessed with six wonderful children to take care of. In the early years of my marriage I had trouble trusting God for those finances. I can attest that he has always provided everything we need and often more than that. One of the other lessons I have learned is not to second-guess our decisions, especially when we have prayed for wisdom and making them. He promises if we ask to give us wisdom liberally without reproach. But just because things happen a little differently then when we made the original decision doesn’t mean that we were unwise or out of the will of God. He often gives us what we ask for, but his intentions toward us for our good often don’t turn out the way we anticipated. He will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory.
Praise the Lord & Amen ♥️
I also wanted to share with you something I’ve been noticing. I have loved looking at interlinear resources when reading these psalms over the last two weeks because it gives greater meaning to see the original text and words that the psalmists are using. I see a lot of repetition of the same words in Hebrew, and it’s been eye-opening to see that no matter who’s writing, but especially if it’s David, the psalmist uses many of the same words over and over to talk to God. It’s also interesting to see the different names that he uses for God when he addresses him throughout the psalm. It depends on exactly how he’s asking or what he’s saying which term he’ll use.
In today’s psalm, Psalm 6, I noticed that the psalmist, David, doesn’t go back and forth between which names he uses for God here. This whole time — in his deep brokenness — he is calling for Yahweh/Yehovah over and over and over again. There’s no time for different names of adoration. Here it’s just desperation. He gets right to the point and calls God by his proper name. I think that says so much. What do you think?
@SHES, ALL of you are in my prayers today.
This is my prayer from day 8 that kind of spills into day 9.
God, please help my daddy. You know where he is, and I know You see him. You are intimately acquainted with his struggles. You know how lonely, weary, and worn his physical body is. I hate to see him suffer this way, and I know that You do, too. It breaks Your heart to see his suffering and the suffering of countless others all over the world. Can You not relieve their pain if only for a little while? Please, Abba, help my abba and Your other children. Give them peace. Give them joy. Give them strength. Heal them, LORD. Amen.
I share this prayer with you, Shes, because I know that for a lot of you, this could be your prayer, too, for yourself and for those around you. Suffering is so hard. We know we serve a good God, and yet because of sin, suffering still exists. We know our good God will make all things new in the end, but sometimes, it’s so hard to wait.
Thank You, God, for the hope that we have in You.
SHARON, JERSEY GIRL thank you for praying!! And AMEN!!! I completely agree and praise God for answering prayers before we even need, think and express them!! So good and faithful He is to us!! ❤️
Wow! Talk about the LORD knowing what I needed. This hit it on the head. I have found out some not great news about my health and my eyes are swollen because of the intense sorrow I’m feeling.
Knowing GOD is still in control, still listening,helps.
I will tuck this psalm away in my heart.
Thankful for a merciful God who meets us where we are at.
Praying for everyone of your requests as I am trying to catch up from the past three days. ❤️
In my early 20s, after calling off my engagement, I rebelled in turned to drinking and partying as a way to delay the grief it all brought me: the end of the fairytale, the loss of vision I had for my life, the hope of a future I was really looking forward to.
In the midst of that rebellion I heard God call me back, but also felt the deep sorrow I had caused Him in the handling of the situation, the need to comfort myself as I saw fit. I felt rebuked at it did cause me agony and regret. I needed to confess and return, and just like David, as soon as I did, I felt that immense comfort and CONFIDENCE that the LORD had me, he had my grief, and He had my future, all safely in His arms where He welcomed me wholeheartedly!
Fast forward to today, I am married to that same man from the first engagement. We have a good life, 4 kids, our dream home we are slowly fixing up….so it’s not the sorrow I feel today, but this line in the devotion just about stopped me in my tracks: ” Even the best, most hopeful times of our lives leave us wondering what lurks around the next corner.”
We’ve certainly seen some times of trials and sorrow in our marriage, but God was there through it all. And even though it feels like a peaceful meadow time in our lives right now, I know this life has the potential for the sorrow and grief to, indeed, be lurking, but I also know I can jump to Psalm 6:8-10 and declare with confidence that “The LORD has heard my supplication, the LORD receives my prayer.”
God is so good, even in chastising His children. He longs for restoration and redemption. He longs for relationship, with me, and that is such a comforting, humbling, beautiful thing to remember!
Praying for the many requests as I read. It is staggering to think how many prayers are lifted up to our Lord every moment of every day. Yet He hears them all! Great is our God who encourages us through his holy word while we wait on him.
We have all been through seasons of life where we have had more pain than other times. But because of God’s mercy and grace, we are able to wade through it. I love that David is so open and honest with his prayers. It makes him so human, it makes him so much like me and like you. As many times as he battles depression, fear, hopelessness, cries out to God – he always ends on a positive, encouraging note, kind of like a “but God”. Thankful for this study, for all the comments and that we can learn from and encourage one another. As someone said earlier, “we are not alone – we have God, and we have our sisters here.” I’m thankful for each one of you!
Continuing to pray for all of your requests, and especially for those mentioned today.
@Erb – praying for your childhood friend – that God willing, he will be healed and that he will come to know Christ personally whether he does or doesn’t get healed. As for the doctors who said it’s incurable – obviously they don’t know our wonder working, miracle worker God!
@Rebecca – praying that you will find peace in your decision and in your marriage. May you have hope, in knowing that God is our all-sufficient provider…it would be easy to trust Him if everything worked out perfect every time, and we always had enough money to cover everything – we growth the most in our faith when we trust Him because we have to,
because it will only be provided by Him and His working. We serve a great big God that owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine!! Trust Him even when you can’t see how it would ever work out. That’s the beauty of our faith.
@Lacey Bankhead – praying that God will give you relief from your chronic pain today.
A blessed Tuesday to all my SRT sisters!
This is my life right now. I’m in the murkiest of depths grieving the death of my mom. So so thankful for Gods mercy.
I’m so thankful that we can bring everything to the Lord in prayer. We need to just remember to have the conversations with God no matter how we feel. Even if it is just,”Jesus help me!” He is faithful and true and He always there for you.
NIV: Psalm 6:8-9: “ Away for me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. Interestingly, just before starting my devotion this morning, I was praying for the people I used to work with before getting my new position. My flesh wants justice, but then, not really. I was praying, just before reading this, that someone would talk to them and share with them it’s not OK to treat people that way or to have those work ethics. I was praying that someone would talk to them and train them and show them the “good work ethic way”. And then I read this. I love how God works. Loving reading through the Psalms with all of you. It’s time for me to get dressed for work. I wish I could stay here. I love you all and have a wonderful Tuesday sweet She’s.
Good Morning.
I love this reading for today to share at our Enduring Chronic Pain group! Today the topic is the link between chronic pain and depression. Although I have never suffered from “clinical depression” I know all too well how easy it is to get depressed when you are in pain for long, never-ending time, for I am on my 19th year of bad back pain. Most of the time I am on the half-full side of the glass, knowing there are many things that could be worse and grateful for the blessings I have, and how I can use my pain to relate to others with empathy. We only have about 6 or 7 other people in my group, but 1 has become a new friend. She is only in her 30’s and has been diagnosed with MS. She has two teenage kids. She walks with a cane, and has a hard time with balance. She has leaned into God on her journey, but it can’t be easy. Where I have pain, it is not life threatening, like many other cancers and conditions. I will share this Psalms with them today. That our God and creator hears our cries, he wipes away our tears, and though we may not understand why some must suffer in certain ways, we know there is a good outcome for it all. I can’t imagine the loss of a baby or child, and I pray for those that have gone through this unimaginable kinda of loss. Sometimes the world looks and feels so bleak when we hear and ponder on such hurt around and among us. But yet, knowing Jesus was aware of it and he himself felt it in human form is the hope we need. Thank you She’s for being so vulnerable. That’s what makes this community so beautiful.
“Whatever tears you shed today, rest in confidence that the Lord hears you clearly. He knows you, accepts you in Christ, wants to commune with you, and longs to be gracious to you, even in the darkest hours (Isaiah 30:18).”
I am sharing the NLT:
Blessings for the Lord’s People
18 So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God.
Blessed are those who wait for his help.
Continued prayers for all requests! CATHERINE MCVEY – for peace and wisdom, LEHUA K – surgery and recovery,
LYNNE from AL – Jack’s procedure and the adjustment to routine,
TERESA DONLEY – encouragement for you as you seek a healthy eating plan. You were on my heart yesterday as I wondered if you had made a start.
ERB – joining in prayer for your friend and family, that they will seek the One True God for strength and peace.
SEARCHING – any changes in the legal issue?
REBECCA – financial adjustments and peace about provision,
KRISTEN – for your heart in remembrance.
ALL SHES whether I mention your name or not – you are every one in my prayers. Thankful that our God sees and knows every need even before we know.
Wow, living this study! It is striking so many chords in me.
Today. I’m lovin the “how long”. David is not wondering IF the Lord will show up, he is Wondering WHEN. That you for the reminder that You Lord, always show up, indeed you never leave!
But God….and his perfect timing is sometimes tough for us.
Praying requests for all you lovely shes!
Rebecca – a new house and baby are A LOT. Give yourself and hubby some space and grace! It sounds like you asked the Lord, and He confirmed these decisions. Waiting for provisions is tough. But God…will show up. He is with you now. Our ultimate provider. Breathe and rest in that knowledge, my dear. He is with you…
For
Wow, did I need this today…
Recently feeling the pinch of the economy as last year my husband and I bought our first home last January, and then this spring we found out we’re having our first baby. It’s caused a lot of tension in our marriage and I definitely feel like David as for months my “eye are swollen with grief”. I’m kicking myself in the pants because I often wonder if I was unwise? Even when we felt God‘s affirmation for both house and baby, I’m struggling to see him as provider.
Going through another round of chronic illness I needed this today.
Yes, @Erb, we come in agreement with you for this man. God, let them see who You are. Let their be no fear of death, for You have overcome. Let them know You, God. Let all other forms of faith fall away and let them see it is you alone, Jesus, who has the power to save. You have overcome death. We speak life over this man, his wife, and children. Let their hearts turn to you in this moment of weakness. God, let your mercy be upon them and be near to them, as they walk this out. Thank you, Jesus.
@Kristin- praying for you as you remember the day of this life passing. Let your story continue to encourage others that they are not alone. Let any sorrow you have had be an ultimate blessing and encouragement in faith, as God works all things together for good. God bless all the mothers here who have lost children too soon. God sees. God hears. God loves you. <3
Continuing to pray for those on here facing sickness and poor health, Jesus be their healer. God, be near to the downcast. Encourage them to keep going. Help them face life with you at the center, not in the back of their mind. Let them continually reshift their gaze to you. You are the center. Be exalted.
God bless you, Shes. I am thankful for the blessing of the Lord. Here we are, another day. No matter what happens, we walk with the Holy Spirit and are never alone.
I have had plenty of moments where my prayers have been from a place of agony. I’m thankful for a God who hears them all and meets me there to lift my head. When I look back on my darkest moments, those are also the times that I sensed God the strongest. Those are the times when I felt his care like a Father most tangibly.
ERB – praying today for your friend and his family. praying for healing and that God may be glorified
LEHUA K – praying for your surgery
HEIDI – praying for Kin
Amen
Thankful for a gracious God who hears, sees, knows, and understands our pain. He is near to us.
Lifting up all the prayer requests <3
Amen sisters. It’s good to know we can be brazenly honest before God and He thinks it’s okay. He does hear our heart’s cries and sees our tears. We hope in His faithfulness
Thankful that God has big ears!
I am thankful that the Lord showers us with his mercy again and again. Especially when we need it the most! God is the only reason I’ve made it this far.
Prayer Request: A childhood friend was recently was diagnosed with a pretty serious fast spreading cancer. It is in his brain and the doctors are saying it is inoperable and incurable, and that the only thing they can do is try and slow its progression down… he, his wife, their tween kids and their families are devastated!!! They are not believers, but they have asked for prayer!!! And we know what prayer and God can do!!! So we trust Him and lay all at His feet!! We pray against this cancer, we pray for healing, for miracles, and for their hearts to be returned to You!!! Thank you ladies for joining me in prayer!!! God has big things. ❤️
So beautifully written, Claire. And so true. We’ve all had those moments of utter anguish. I love how David appeals to God in verse 4, “Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.” It’s not based on what I do, but based on who he is. Thank you, Jesus, for your love and what you have done for me ❤️
From HRT-Ryan Diaz: Psalm 6 can serve as a model for honest Christian prayer. Prayer without pretense or pomp and circumstance. It’s a guttural prayer from the depths of the human soul. It’s a kind of prayer that God delights to hear—not because He delights in our misery but because He desires to meet us in those broken spaces.
Reading through today’s Scriptures, SRT & HRT, what showed up for me is the realization that “honest” prayer – crying out to the Lord, bringing my brokenness, grief, concerns, what ifs, challenges, areas of indecision – is for ME! He already knows what I’m dealing with today, what I’m struggling with from my past and what I will face tomorrow so He doesn’t need me to fill Him in. BUT I need to acknowledge God’s ability and willingness to hear my prayers, to realize He does in fact hear and answer, guide and protect, to humble myself as I reach out to Him and to be honest with myself – I can’t handle things on my own. Alongside bringing all my needs, I can never forget to bring Praise and thankfulness to my Heavenly Father.
LYNNE FROM AL – praying for you and Jack with today’s appointment ❤️
CATHERINE MCVEY – praying as you meet with the oncologist today
LEHUA K – praying for successful surgery today and a speedy recovery
Also praying for –
ALLISON BENTLEY – Husband’s health
HEIDI – Kin (thanks for camp update), and for your grieving friend
LAURA – joining you in praying for your daughter
TRACI GENDRON – Stephanie and her family, also her expecting friend, Brandon & his family
CAROLYN – healing for grandson’s lungs
JENNIFER ANAPOL – thank you for sharing your testimony
CHERYL BLOW – so sorry for your losses. thank you for the reminder to focus on our memories ❤️
KRISTIN ❤️
What a beautiful reminder of mercy
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
Jesus, the suffering servant, who is the Only Savior! I heard John MacAuthor say that Jesus was aware and could actually feel the pain of the people around Him during His life here. (I can’t remember his exact words.) Just imagine what He endured each day. Thinking about what Claire wrote about being able to hear the cries of children in the night from hunger, to the millions upon millions of groans that go up to the Lord each moment. She cannot fathom the sound. We could never handle this! But Jesus did and still does! I pray that every time we hear Psalm 53, we remember Jesus’s suffering and are beyond grateful, amazed, and in awe of Him. May that lead us to worship! He is worthy!
@Traci Gendron I understand the pain of that couple. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day that I gave birth to my daughter. She was stillborn and I knew this going into labor which they induced. I was devastated and heartbroken. I was longing and desperate to talk to anyone that could help me! I remember talking to a stranger on the phone.(Just one of God’s mercies bestowed on me at that time.) Years later, one day before, which would be today, my friend called me from the hospital. Her baby had passed. I was able to be there for her. In fact, I’m going to text her this morning.
When I thought of how you reached out to her, I thought of this Scripture:
God of All Comfort
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Prayers for you and all today!
We are not alone in our sorrow and suffering. What a blessing to know that we are not alone. This community hears, God hears. Somehow we find the strength to rise.
Thank you Lord for taking on the weight of all our sorrows. You hear our prayers! Amen
We serve the Lord who hears, the Lord who sees, the Lord who died to make us free. Free to come to Him. Hallelujah!
Prayers for your requests. And I know God hears them all.
AMEN. @CLAIRE GIBSON!
‘If your eyes are open and your heart is beating, you know that life is full of perpetual aches…’
Ain’t that the truth!
BUT GOD..
‘But here is the beautiful thing about our God: He hears every prayer. He catches our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). And though we are unable to bear the weight of that much sorrow, He can. And He has (Isaiah 53:3–4).’
Thankful that God did, and continues
to hear my ‘cry outs’, my prayers, both silent and spoken, throughout my journey of loss. I have been in the wars.. BUT GOD.. has been there every step, and I know our relationship, covered in His Mercy, Grace, Hope and Love, will see me through the ‘wars’ to come..
Tears may flow in the night, and for many, many, many nights, but joy comes, by His grace, wrapped in His unfailing Love and Hope in the morning..
Thank you God, Thank you.
AMEN.
For all remembering, going through, or just plain worn out, covering you in prayers for your answers to come, for peace of heart, for resolution and resolve, to see through the fog and hold fast to the hope and truth that God is near. He is near, always..
Blessings dear hearts covered in love from across the pond. ❤️