Psalms 6:3
in Psalms 6My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
My soul also is sore troubled: And thou, O Jehovah, how long?
KJV
My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?
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This verse in Psalms 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
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.
This site's exposition
How long, O LORD, how long?
The verb behind deeply distressed is the one used of his bones in verse 2, and verse 10 turns it on his enemies. The Hebrew leaves the question unfinished. Charles Spurgeon recorded that How long, O Lord, was a cry John Calvin often used.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And my soul is troubled exceedingly" [Psalm 6:3]. "And Thou, O Lord, how long?" Who does not see represented here a soul struggling with her diseases; but long kept back by the physician, that she may be convinced what evils she has plunged herself into through sin? For what is easily healed, is not much avoided: but from the difficulty of the healing, there will be the more careful keeping of recovered health. God then, to whom it is said, "And Thou, O Lord, how long?" must not be deemed as if cruel: but as a kind convincer of the soul, what evil she hath procured for herself. For this soul does not yet pray so perfectly, as that it can be said to her, "Whilst thou art yet speaking I will say, Behold, here I am." [Isaiah 65:24] That she may at the same time also come to know, if they who do turn meet with so great difficulty, how great punishment is prepared for the ungodly, who will not turn to God: as it is written in another place, "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and ungodly appear?" [1 Peter 4:18]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Likewise, discernment is disturbed, inasmuch as it seems to the sinner that he acts rightly when he sins; and therefore he says: "And my soul is greatly troubled," because he has a perverted judgment about what should be done, so that he judges what is …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
To the living God we must, at such a time, address ourselves, who is the only physician both of body and mind, and not to the Assyrians, not to the god of Ekron. The impression which his troubles made upon him. They lay very heavily; he groaned till he was weary, wept till he made his bed to swim, and watered his couch (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
My soul is also sore vexed,.... Or "exceedingly troubled" (c), and even frightened and thrown into a consternation with indwelling sin, and on account of actual transgressions, and by reason of the hidings of God's face, and through the temptations of Satan, and because of the fear of death; to which Old Testament saints were very incident.
Those that will not give glory to God shall have their faces filled with everlasting shame. In singing this, and praying over it, we must give glory to God, as a God ready to hear prayer, must own his goodness to us in hearing our prayers, and must encourage ourselves to wait upon him and to trust in him in the greatest straits and difficulties.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
"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." Ah, when the soul has a sense of sin, it is enough to make the bones shake; it is enough to make a man's hair stand up on end to see the flames of hell beneath him, an angry God above him, and danger and doubt surrounding him. Well might he say, "My bones are shaken." Lest, however, we should imagine that it was merely bodily sickness— although bodily sickness might be the outward sign—the Psalmist goes on to say, "My soul is also sore vexed." Soul-trouble is the very soul of trouble. It matters not that the bones shake if the soul be firm, but when the soul itself is also sore vexed this is agony indeed. "But thou, O Lord, how long?" This sentence ends abruptly, for words failed, and grief drowned the little comfort which dawned upon him. The Psalmist had still, however, some hope; but that hope was only in his God. He therefore cries, "O Lord, how long?" The coming of Christ into the soul in his priestly robes of grace is the grand hope of the penitent soul; and, indeed, in some form or other, Christ's appearance is, and ever has been, the hope of the saints. Calvin's favourite exclamation was, "Domine usquequo"— "O Lord, how long?" Nor could his sharpest pains, during a life of anguish, force from him any other word. Surely this is the cry of the saints under the altar, "O Lord, how long?" And this should be the cry of the saints waiting for the millennial glories, "Why are his chariots so long in coming; Lord, how long?"
How long? - How long shall I continue under this malady? How long will it be before thou speak peace to my troubled heart?
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
and You, O Lord, how long will You look on and not heal [me]?
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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.
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְ֭נַפְשִׁי | venafshi | and self my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| נִבְהֲלָ֣ה | nivhalah | it is disturbed | H926 → | 39 times |
| מְאֹ֑ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| וְאַתָּ֥ה | veat | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מָתָֽי׃ | matai | when? | H4970 → | 43 times |
וְ֭נַפְשִׁיand self my
venafshiH5315 →754 times
נִבְהֲלָ֣הit is disturbed
nivhalahH926 →39 times
מְאֹ֑דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
וְאַתָּ֥הand you
veatH859 →1094 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מָתָֽי׃when?
mataiH4970 →43 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
Psalms 42:5Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:7
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes.
- Hebrews 10:36–37
You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
- Psalms 61:2
From the ends of the earth I call out to You whenever my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
- Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- Psalms 27:13–14
Still I am certain to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
- Psalms 37:7
Through
Luke 18:7Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help?
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:35–37
So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
- 2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
- 1 Timothy 5:5
The widow who is truly in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day in her petitions and prayers.
- Hebrews 10:35–37
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, On the Psalms, Psalm 6; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.