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Psalm SIX

 Psalms [Praying our tears] 

Psalm 6_ 

Tears are a biological gift from God. They are a physical means for expressing emotional and spiritual experience. But it’s hard to know what to do with them! 
If we indulge our tears, we cultivate self-pity. If we suppress our tears, we lose touch with our feelings... 

 

[Group discussion starter] What was the last film that made you cry? 

 

When we pray our tears, we enter into sadnesses that integrate our sorrows with our Lord’s sorrows, and discover both the source of and the relief from our sadness. 

 

[Read Psalm 6] 

 

What different emotions are expressed in this Psalm? 
 

 

It is not popular in our culture to talk of an angry God (verse 1). 
What experience have you had of God’s anger? 
 

 

Compare the first verse with the last. 
Are the tears because of the Lord or the enemies? 
Explain. 
 

 

In verse 3 we read “How long”, which is a frequent question in prayer. 
Considering the frequency with which it is uttered in scripture, God must welcome it. 
What in your life, past or present, evokes this question? 
 

 

What is the cumulative effect of the three verbs turn, deliver and save in verse 4? 
 

 

 
The emotional centre of this prayer is verses 6-7. 
How many different ways is weeping expressed? 

 

 
 

[Activity] Why the tears? 
Go through the Psalm and not every possible source. 
 

 

 

 

Tears are often considered a sign that something is wrong with us – depression, unhappiness, frustration – and therefore, either to be avoided or to be cured. But what if they are a sign of something right with us? 
What ‘rightness’ could they be evidence of? 
 

 

In verses 8-9 there are three phrases in parallel: weeping, cry for mercy and prayer.  
Are these aspects of one thing or three different things? 
Explain. 
 

 

Remembering and praising (verse 5) are held up as if they should mean something to God. Why should they? 
 

 

Are you practiced and skilled in remembering and practicing? 
Explain.  

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