When David cried out to God in Psalm 6:2, he demonstrated for us the most basic nature of a person’s relationship with God: “Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed.” In Hebrew it is literally: “Show me favor YHWH, because frail/feeble I. Heal me, YHWH, because they are disturbed/dismayed/terrified my bones.”

While this is in a sense a very simple verse, we find it some of the most basic theology of our relationship with God:

— We are weak, physically and spiritually: “I am frail … my bones are dismayed”
— God has the help we need: “be gracious to me … heal me”
— From our weakness we call out to God and ask Him for help: “be gracious … heal …”
— When we call to God, what we ask for is His “FAVOR” or “GRACE” — never what we deserve! From our weakness we cry to Him for help.

These truths summarize our basic relationship with God. It begins with salvation: we realize that we are sinners, and cannot save oursevles, so we ask God to save us because of what Jesus did on the cross for us. But there is a sense in which we never really grow out of that same basic interaction with God: all through our Christian lives, we continually recognize our weaknesses, and ask God for help which we do not deserve.

“Be gracious to me, LORD, for I _____ .” The specific need may change, but our interaction with Him doesn’t. It is just “Relationship 101” with God.