Psalms 6:4
in Psalms 6Turn, O LORD, and deliver my soul; save me because of Your loving devotion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Return, O Jehovah, deliver my soul: Save me for thy lovingkindness’ sake.
KJV
Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.
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This verse in Psalms 6
Commentary
14 notes on this verseReturn, 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!
This site's exposition
Turn, O LORD, and deliver my soul
on Psalms 6:4-5
David asks the LORD to turn and deliver him for the sake of His loving devotion. Verse 5 presses for haste, since death holds no mention of God and Sheol, the place of the dead, no praise. He asks for life so he can praise.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul" [Psalm 6:4]. Turning herself she prays that God too would turn to her: as it is said, "Turn ye unto Me, and I will turn unto you, says the Lord." [Zechariah 1:3] Or is it to be understood according to that way of speaking, "Turn, O Lord," that is make me turn, since the soul in this her turning feels difficulty and toil? For our perfected turning finds God ready, as says the Prophet, "We shall find Him ready as the dawn." Since it was not His absence who is everywhere present, but our turning away that made us lose Him; "He was in this world," it is said, "and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." [John 1:10] If, then, He was in this world, and the world knew Him not, our impurity does not endure the sight of Him. But while we are turning ourselves, that is, by changing our old life are fashioning our spirit; we feel it hard and toilsome to be wrested back from the darkness of earthly lusts, to the serene and quiet and tranquillity of the divine light. And in such difficulty we say, "Turn, O Lord," that is, help us, that that turning may be perfected in us, which finds You ready, and offering Yourself for the fruition of them that love You. And hence after he said, "Turn, O Lord," he added, "and deliver my soul:" cleaving as it were to the entanglements of this world, and suffering, in the very act of turning, from the thorns, as it were, of rending and tearing desires. "Make me whole," he says, "for Your pity's sake." He knows that it is not of his own merits that he is healed: for to him sinning, and transgressing a given command, was just condemnation due. Heal me therefore, he says, not for my merit's sake, but for Your pity's sake.
Now, it was appropriate for him to add "for your mercy's sake": I am not trusting in myself, he is saying, nor do I attribute your help to my own righteousness; instead, I beg to be granted it on account of your mercy.
We may understand the word turn in two ways. Sometimes the sense is this: Since you have turned your face away from me, I ask that now you return that mercy and show it to me. Sometimes the significance is this: Since my spirit has …
Treat me lovingly, not because I am worthy but because it becomes you to grant me this, such as I am.… Let this happen completely and quickly, since it becomes you to grant such a thing, merciful as you are, and to be ever mindful …
Unless he converts my soul, he can not deliver it from danger.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
And therefore he asks for help, saying, "Turn back," etc. And he touches upon three things: namely, conversion, rescue, and salvation. The eye of a person is not illuminated by the sun unless it has a direct orientation toward it; so too the soul, if …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
Return, O Lord,.... By this it seems that the Lord had withdrawn himself, and was departed from the psalmist, wherefore he entreats him to return unto him, and grant him his gracious presence.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
"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!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Return--that is, to my relief; or, "turn," as now having His face averted. for thy mercies' sake--to illustrate Thy mercy.
"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! If we turn to justice, what plea can we urge? but if we turn to mercy we may still cry, notwithstanding the greatness of our guilt, "Save me for thy mercies' sake." Observe how frequently David here pleads the name of Jehovah, which is always intended where the word Lord is given in capitals. Five times in four verses we here meet with it. Is not this a proof that the glorious name is full of consolation to the tempted saint? Eternity, Infinity, Immutability, Self-existence, are all in the name Jehovah, and all are full of comfort.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Return, O Lord, deliver my soul - As if he had departed from him, and had left him to die. The word “soul” in this place is used, as it often is, in the sense of “life,” for in the next verse he speaks of the grave to which he evidently felt he was rapidly descending. O save me - Save my life; save me from going down to the grave. Deliver me from these troubles and dangers. For thy mercies’ sake - (a) As an act of mere mercy, for he felt that he had no claim, and could not urge it as a matter of right and justice; and (b) in order that God’s mercy might be manifest, or because he was a merciful Being, and might, therefore, be appealed to on that ground. These are proper grounds, now, on which to make an appeal to God for his interposition in our behalf; and, indeed, these are the only grounds on which we can plead with him to save us.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and You, O Lord, how long will You look on and not heal [me]?
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שׁוּבָ֣ה | shuvah | return ! | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| יְ֭הוָה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| חַלְּצָ֣ה | chaletzah | rescue ! | H2502 → | 44 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֑י | nafshi | life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| ה֝וֹשִׁיעֵ֗נִי | hoshieni | save me | H3467 → | 206 times |
| לְמַ֣עַן | lemaan | on account of | H4616 → | 272 times |
| חַסְדֶּֽךָ׃ | chasdekha | covenant loyalty your | H2617 → | 247 times |
שׁוּבָ֣הreturn !
shuvahH7725 →1056 times
יְ֭הוָהO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
חַלְּצָ֣הrescue !
chaletzahH2502 →44 times
נַפְשִׁ֑יlife my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
ה֝וֹשִׁיעֵ֗נִיsave me
hoshieniH3467 →206 times
לְמַ֣עַןon account of
lemaanH4616 →272 times
חַסְדֶּֽךָ׃covenant loyalty your
chasdekhaH2617 →247 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
Malachi 3:7Yet from the days of your fathers, you have turned away from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD of Hosts. “But…
it leads to
- Zechariah 1:3
So tell the people that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Return to Me, declares the LORD of Hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of Hosts.’
- Romans 10:21
But as for Israel he says: “All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”
- James 4:8
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Deuteronomy 31:20
When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to…
- Romans 10:3
Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Zechariah 1:3
Through
Psalms 116:4Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, deliver my soul!”
it leads to
- Psalms 118:5
In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.
- Psalms 118:5
Through
Daniel 9:18Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our…
it leads to
- Isaiah 37:17
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
- Jeremiah 36:7
Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each one will turn from his wicked way; for great are the anger and fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”
- Isaiah 37:17
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 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, Exposition on Psalm 6; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Didymus the Blind, FRAGMENTS ON THE PSALMS 6:4, 5; Diodorus of Tarsus, COMMENTARY ON PSALM 6; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, BRIEF COMMENTARY ON PSALM 6; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 6:4 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.