| Psalm 6 O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long? 4 Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. Although David ends this Psalm in confidence and assurance that God hears his prayer and rescues him, he begins the song with a plea to God for help. David is languishing, his bones are troubled, his soul is disturbed, he moans, he cries, and he is filled with weakness and grief. Believing in God, trusting in Jesus, does not mean immunity from all the "evil" the world has to offer. We suffer all of the natural events of this life including the many diseases and sicknesses that surround us every day. Most of us have had colds, food poisoning, kidney infections and the like. I have had many times in my life where I thought I was about to die because I hurt so much and I could not see my life making it through this event. I have had over 100 kidney stones with pain so sever one time that I was given pills and shots over a period of 2 hours and I could still feel the pain as if the doctors had given me nothing at all to help. I have been rolled up in a ball on the tile floor of my house with the fever and pain of a kidney infection and the only thing that brought comfort and a small amount of relief was the cool surface of the tile. What is different about the current virus going around the world? Well, one thing is the death rate. It is reported to be huge and scary. But if they would say it the other way around it would not be quite so ominous. Instead of saying the death toll is 10% higher than the common flu, they could say that the chances of dying of corona virus is much less than dying of heart disease this year. While I don't want anyone to die, people do die. We have over 700 deaths per year in Santa Cruz County. This year we might have 150 more than last year. Unfortunate, but not alarming. Another thing about the current virus that is different. The news media will not stop talking about it. The more something is talked about the more we become afraid. And we don't know very much about the virus. The unknown makes this virus different. Even though the news media can talk about this virus all day long, they really don't know much about it. We can look at the places where it has swept through and still don't know enough to keep it from coming our way. Although Wuhan today did not report any new cases, which is comforting, we don't fully know what that will mean for us in Santa Cruz County. Things are different, things are difficult, and things will continue to be that way for a while. David, pointed out his weariness from all that he was going through. We talk about that as well amongst our friends as we chat on social media. But we have if the reports are correct a few months left of this condition. So what did David do in the midst of his crisis? He spoke against the workers of evil and he confessed his faith in God. "Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer." Speak against your fears. Say, "Be gone from my mind. I put my trust in Jesus to care for me, no matter what comes my way." Turn off the constant barrage of the media from time to time, step away from the TV and radio. And pray, sing, read. Confess your faith, "Jesus, I trust you to be the one who oversees the needs of my friends, my community, my family, and myself." As the great hymn says, "Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; There is no shadow of turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be. Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Pastor Edd | 
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