“O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. And my soul is troubled exceedingly: but thou, O Lord, how long? Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O save me for thy mercy’s sake. For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell?”
This Psalm is one of the seven penitential Psalms, to be prayed in lieu of the marring of Christ’s beautiful image of pure love in your soul: “And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). Now, God does not judge with wrath: “But thou being master of power, judgest with tranquility; and with great favour disposest of us” (Wisdom 12:18) but rebukes with love: “Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise” (Apocalypse 3:19). The discipline of love is far different from that of an impartial or tyrannical scourging: “For thou didst admonish and try them as a father” (Wisdom 11:11), for it is a forgiving correction to make you better: “For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth: and as a father in the son he pleaseth himself” (Proverbs 3:12). No, it is the conscience itself which screams out under the weight of its own guilt. The first sentence denotes the attitude of the soul running back, unsure of what to expect, for the Psalms know you and speak for you. Thus it puts the words in your mouth of the Prodigal Son: “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee: I am not worthy to be called thy son” (Luke 15:18-19), but the Father runs to you to punish you with affection: “His father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and running to him fell upon his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). Looking to avoid rebuke or chastisement, you can come to God with tears in your eyes, looking for the love that cures all: “For it was neither herb, nor mollifying plaster that healed them, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things” (Wisdom 16:12). Pleading for mercy due to your weakness is to ask for God’s justice, for in His justice He sees how little and frail you are, and has compassion on your brokenness, which can support so little of a burden. This is what is meant by “my bones are troubled,” for the very foundations of your being can do nothing without the merciful love of God: “For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Therefore, in receiving forgiveness and love, the trouble of the soul can be lifted: “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit” (Psalm 50:14). This can also be voiced by a false God image, cowering in fear from the wrath of God: “And I will execute great vengeance upon them, rebuking them in fury: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them” (Ezechiel 25:17), not realizing that you are a beloved child to whom the Trinity longs to draw close: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear: but of power, and of love, and of sobriety” (2 Timothy 1:7). Such wondrous love and knowledge cannot reach the depths without an experience of this same love: “Convert us, O God: and shew us thy face, and we shall be saved” (Psalm 79:4). Thus you can cry out, “How long must I wait to know you in truth? How long must I misunderstand your unfathomable love? The one hurting turns to God to show the wound it has inflicted on itself, asking Him to turn His loving gaze, “The Lord hath looked from heaven: he hath beheld all the sons of men” (Psalm 32:13), upon what is contrary to love and heal it with His own love. This is done by God’s mercy, for He does not look on your merits, for you are as a baby, so preciously loved and yet helpless and capable of so little, and He will gladly come to you and raise your love to heavenly heights: “He sent from on high, and took me: and received me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me” (Psalm 17:17-18). God longs to give the gift of His love to His children, “Fear not, little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom” (Luke 12:32), and so you by way of the Psalmist can cry out that to remain far from Him is to be unable to know, love, and be loved by Him, so there is a confession that to fall into hell is not His will. Therefore, this Psalm is of great use when you seem far from God, when you doubt His merciful love, when you feel nothing, for in these times God is very near to you, drawing you deeper into His mystery, that you may cling to Him always in your weakness: “But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God” (Psalm 72:28), living entirely on His love.