Psalm 6

Psalms 6:1

“'For her that obtaineth the inheritance' — since in the fifth psalm we discussed, interpreting that the psalm had been sung in the person of the Church, which has obtained the inheritance of Christ. But the sixth pertains properly to the resurrection of the Lord, which is the eighth day. For we have both a first day and an eighth day. For on the eighth day we received the kingdom of heaven. The eighth day is after the sabbath, the first at the beginning.”

Psalms 6:1

“Having read through the first division, in order to see it as a whole, we will now look at it verse by verse. "O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger." The Psalmist is very conscious that he deserves to be rebuked, and he feels, moreover, that the rebuke in some form or other must come upon him, if not for condemnation, yet for conviction and sanctification. "Corn is cleaned with wind, and the soul with chastenings." It were folly to pray against the golden hand which enriches us by its blows.”

Psalms 6:1

“No matter though sickness make his bones ache, if God's wrath do not make his heart ache; therefore his prayer is, " Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath; let me not lie under the impressions of that, for that will sink me." Herein David was a type of Christ, whose sorest complaint, in his sufferings, was of the trouble of his soul and of the suspension of his Father's smiles.”

Psalms 6:2

“Every fault arises from weakness because the spirit is always inclined to a wicked disposition, on account of which it flees to the Savior and Healer, namely, the Son of God. For when one comes to the word and reason of God, he gives up his unreasonable actions; as wisdom frees the spirit from foolishness, justice from injustice, truth from lying.”

Psalms 6:2

“Have mercy - I have no merit. I deserve all I feel and all I fear. O Lord, heal me - No earthly physician can cure my malady. Body and soul are both diseased, and only God can help me. I am weak - אמלל umlal. I am exceedingly weak; I cannot take nourishment, and my strength is exhausted. My bones are vexed - The disease hath entered into my bones.”

Psalms 6:2

"Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak." Though I deserve destruction, yet let thy mercy pity my frailty. This is the right way to plead with God if we would prevail. Urge not your goodness or your greatness, but plead your sin and your littleness. Cry, "I am weak, " therefore, O Lord, give me strength and crush me not. Send not forth the fury of thy tempest against so weak a vessel. Temper the wind to the shorn lamb. Be tender and pitiful to a poor withering flower, and break it not from its stem.

Psalms 6:2

"O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed." Here he prays for healing, not merely the mitigation of the ills he endured, but their entire removal, and the curing of the wounds which had arisen therefrom. His bones were "shaken, " as the Hebrew has it. His terror had become so great that his very bones shook; not only did his flesh quiver, but the bones, the solid pillars of the house of manhood, were made to tremble. "My bones are shaken."

Psalms 6:2

“The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, if that be in good plight; but, if that be wounded, the grievance is intolerable. David's sickness brought his sin to his remembrance, and he looked upon it as a token of God's displeasure against him; that was the vexation of his soul; that made him cry, I am weak, heal me.”

Psalms 6:3

“My soul is also sore vexed - The word “soul” here is used in the sense in which it is commonly with us, as denoting the mind. The idea is, that his sorrows were not merely those of the bodily frame. They had a deeper seat than even the bones. His mind, his soul, was full of anguish also, in view of the circumstances which surrounded him, and which had brought on these bodily afflictions. But thou, O Lord - This is a broken sentence, as if he had commenced an address to God, but did not complete it.”

Psalms 6:4

“Return, O Lord - Once I had the light of thy countenance, by sin I have forfeited this; I have provoked thee to depart: O Lord, return! It is an awful thing to be obliged to say, Return, O Lord, for this supposes backsliding; and yet what a mercy it is that a backslider may Return to God, with the expectation that God will return to him!”

Psalms 6:4

"Return, O Lord; deliver my soul." As God's absence was the main cause of his misery, so his return would be enough to deliver him from his trouble. "Oh save me for thy mercies' sake." He knows where to look, and what arm to lay hold upon. He does not lay hold on God's left hand of justice, but on his right hand of mercy. He knew his iniquity too well to think of merit, or appeal to anything but the grace of God. "For thy mercies' sake." What a plea that is! How prevalent it is with God!

Psalms 6:4

“The pleas with which he enforces his petitions, not to move God (he knows our cause and the true merits of it better than we can state them), but to move himself. He pleads God's mercy; and thence we take some of our best encouragements in prayer: Save me, for thy mercies' sake.”

Psalms 6:5

“In hell there is no amendment. No means of satisfaction can be given where no act of the will remains any longer, as David says in prophecy: "Since in death there is no one who remembers you, who will give you thanks in hell?" Let us flee harmful pleasures, dangerous joys and desires that perish right away. What fruit is there, what use is there, in wanting these things incessantly, things that we must abandon even if they do not abandon us? Let the love of ephemeral things be transferred to incorruptible ones.”

Psalms 6:5

“And now David was in great fear of death—death temporal, and perhaps death eternal. Read the passage as you will, the following verse is full of power. "For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" Churchyards are silent places; the vaults of the sepulchre echo not with songs. Damp earth covers dumb mouths. "O Lord!" saith he, "if thou wilt spare me I will praise thee.”

Psalms 6:5

There is no incredulity as to a future state. The contrast is between this scene of life, and the grave or Sheol, the unseen world of the dead. give . . . thanks--or, "praise for mercies."

Psalms 6:5

“To depart and be with Christ is most happy for the saints themselves; but for them to abide in the flesh is more profitable for the church. This David had an eye to when he pleaded this, In the grave who shall give thee thanks? And this Christ had an eye to when he said, I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world.”

Psalms 6:6

“The Psalmist gives a fearful description of his long agony: "I am weary with my groaning." He has groaned till his throat was hoarse; he had cried for mercy till prayer became a labour. God's people may groan, but they may not grumble. Yea, they must groan, being burdened, or they will never shout in the day of deliverance. The next sentence, we think, is not accurately translated. It should be, "I shall make my bed to swim every night" (when nature needs rest, and when I am most alone with my God).”

Psalms 6:7

“For in quarrels the very light of the soul, the light of good intent, is blocked. Whence the Psalmist says, "Mine eye is troubled because of anger." And what remains in us of well-doing, if we lose peace from the heart, without which we cannot see the Lord?”

Psalms 6:7

“Mine eye is consumed - The word here rendered “consumed” - עשׁשׁ ‛âshêsh - means properly to fall in, to fall away, and is applied here to the “eye” as pining or wasting away from care, anxiety, and sorrow. Tears were poured forth from the eye, and it seemed to be exhausting itself in this manner. The meaning is, that it had grown “dim,” or that its sight began to fail, like that of an old man, on account of his troubles.”

Psalms 6:7

"I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all my enemies." As an old man's eye grows dim with years, so, says David, my eye is grown red and feeble through weeping. Conviction sometimes has such an effect upon the body, that even the outward organs are made to suffer. May not this explain some of the convulsions and hysterical attacks which have been experienced under convictions in the revivals in Ireland?

Psalms 6:7

“In this great sorrow David was a type of Christ, who often wept, and who cried out, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, Heb. v. 7 . The petitions which he offers up to God in this sorrowful and distressed state. That which he dreads as the greatest evil is the anger of God.”

Psalms 6:8

“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity - It seems that while he was suffering grievously through the disease, his enemies had insulted and mocked him; - upbraided him with his transgressions, not to increase his penitence, but to cast him into despair. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping - The Lord pitifully beheld the sorrows of his heart, and mercifully forgave his sins.”

Psalms 6:8

“Hitherto, all has been mournful and disconsolate, but now— Your harps, ye trembling saints, Down from the willows take." Ye must have your times of weeping, but let them be short. Get ye up, get ye up, from your dunghills! Cast aside your sackcloth and ashes! Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. David has found peace, and rising from his knees he begins to sweep his house of the wicked. "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." The best remedy for us against an evil man is a long space between us both.”

Psalms 6:8

“Hath heard - By the workings of God's grace upon his heart, he knew his prayer was accepted. His tears had a voice, in the ears of the God of mercy. Silent tears are no speechless ones.”

Psalms 6:8

“To the chief musician on Neginoth, upon Sheminith, A psalm of David Title of the psalm. Upon Sheminith - Or, upon the eighth. It is thought to be the loftiest note, as Alamoth is the lowest; but this is only conjecture; the Jews themselves have no certain knowledge of their own ancient musick.”

Psalms 6:9

“The Lord hath heard my supplication - Repeating the sentiment in the previous verse, to express his assurance and his joy. Nothing is more natural in such circumstances than to dwell on the joyous thought, and to repeat it to ourselves, that it may make its full impression. The Lord will receive my prayer - As he has done it, so he will still do it. This allays all fears of the future, and makes the mind calm.”

Psalms 6:9

"The Lord hath heard my supplication." The Holy Spirit had wrought into the Psalmist's mind the confidence that his prayer was heard. This is frequently the privilege of the saints. Praying the prayer of faith, they are often infallibly assured that they have prevailed with God. We read of Luther that, having on one occasion wrestled hard with God in prayer, he came leaping out of his closet crying, "Vicimus, vicimus;" that is, We have conquered, we have prevailed with God."

Psalms 6:10

“He prays not against his enemies but in their behalf so that they may be changed and may blush with shame at their sins; and they may blush not briefly but forcibly; not with delay but immediately.”

Psalms 6:10

“Ashamed and sore vexed - May they as deeply deplore their transgressions as I have done mine! May they return; may they be suddenly converted! The original will bear this meaning, and it is the most congenial to Christian principles.”

Psalms 6:10

"Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed." This is rather a prophecy than an imprecation, it may be read in the future, "All my enemies shall be ashamed and sore vexed." They shall return and be ashamed instantaneously, —in a moment;—their doom shall come upon them suddenly. Death's day is doom's day, and both are sure and may be sudden. The Romans were wont to say, "The feet of the avenging Deity are shod with wool." With noiseless footsteps vengeance nears its victim, and sudden and overwhelming shall be its destroying stroke.