Psalms 6:2
in Psalms 6Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah; for I am withered away: O Jehovah, heal me; for my bones are troubled.
KJV
Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseEvery 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.
This site's exposition
do not rebuke me in Your anger
on Psalms 6:1-3
David asks the LORD to hold anger and wrath out of his correction. He gives his ground at once, that he is frail, his bones are in agony, and his soul is deeply distressed. It closes in a question, how long.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
"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."
"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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger: – If Thou dost rebuke me for mine iniquity, let it not be in Thine anger. He means “gently,” so that I may be able to bear it; as Jeremiah the Prophet says (Jer.:24): “O Lord, correct me, but with judgement,” etc.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
on the sheminith A harp of eight strings, known as sheminith, and so we find (in I Chron.: 21): “So-and-so and his sons on the sheminith to conduct.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָנֵּ֥נִי | choneni | show favor to me | H2603 → | 78 times |
| יְהוָה֮ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֻמְלַ֫ל | ʾumlal | [am] frail | H536 → | |
| אָ֥נִי | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| רְפָאֵ֥נִי | refaeni | heal me | H7495 → | 67 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נִבְהֲל֣וּ | nivhalu | they are disturbed | H926 → | 39 times |
| עֲצָמָֽי׃ | ʾatzamai | bones my | H6106 → | 126 times |
חָנֵּ֥נִיshow favor to me
choneniH2603 →78 times
יְהוָה֮O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֻמְלַ֫ל[am] frail
ʾumlalH536 →
אָ֥נִיI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
רְפָאֵ֥נִיheal me
refaeniH7495 →67 times
יְהוָ֑הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֖יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נִבְהֲל֣וּthey are disturbed
nivhaluH926 →39 times
עֲצָמָֽי׃bones my
ʾatzamaiH6106 →126 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 32:39See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 2:6
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 5:18
For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Hosea 6:1
Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Isaiah 45:5
I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
- Isaiah 45:22
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- 1 Samuel 2:6
Through
Hosea 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 32:39
Through
Psalms 30:2O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
it leads to
- Psalms 103:3–4
He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
- 2 Kings 20:5
“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I…
- Psalms 103:3–4
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 6:2-4; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.