Psalms 6:2-4

6:2 Have mercy on me, ¹  Lord, for I am frail!

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking! ² 

6:3 I am absolutely terrified, ³ 

and you, Lord – how long will this continue? ⁴ 

6:4 Relent, Lord, rescue me! ⁵ 

Deliver me because of your faithfulness! ⁶ 

Psalms 103:3

103:3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,

who heals all your diseases, ⁷ 

Psalms 147:3

147:3 He heals ⁸  the brokenhearted,

and bandages their wounds.

Psalms 147:2

147:2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem, ⁹ 

and gathers the exiles of Israel.

Psalms 30:1

Psalm 30 ¹⁰ 

A psalm – a song used at the dedication of the temple; ¹¹  by David.

30:1 I will praise you, O Lord, for you lifted me up, ¹² 

and did not allow my enemies to gloat ¹³  over me.

Hosea 6:1

Superficial Repentance Breeds False Assurance of God’s Forgiveness

6:1 “Come on! Let’s return to the Lord!

He himself has torn us to pieces,

but he will heal us!

He has injured ¹⁴  us,

but he will bandage our wounds!

James 5:15-16

5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁵  5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Or “show me favor.”

² tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.

³ tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

⁴ tn Heb “and you, Lord, how long?” The suffering psalmist speaks in broken syntax. He addresses God, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, question: How long will this (= his suffering) continue?

⁵ tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

⁶ sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.

⁷ tn This relatively rare noun refers to deadly diseases (see Deut 29:22; Jer 14:18; 16:4; 2 Chr 21:19).

⁸ tn Heb “the one who heals.”

⁹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁰ sn Psalm 30. The author thanks the Lord for delivering him from death and urges others to join him in praise. The psalmist experienced divine discipline for a brief time, but when he cried out for help the Lord intervened and restored his favor.

¹¹ tn Heb “a song of the dedication of the house.” The referent of “house” is unclear. It is possible that David wrote this psalm for the dedication ceremony of Solomon’s temple. Another possibility is that the psalm was used on the occasion of the dedication of the second temple following the return from exile, or on the occasion of the rededication of the temple in Maccabean times.

¹² tn Elsewhere the verb דָּלָה (dalah) is used of drawing water from a well (Exod 2:16, 19; Prov 20:5). The psalmist was trapped in the pit leading to Sheol (see v. 3), but the Lord hoisted him up. The Piel stem is used here, perhaps suggesting special exertion on the Lord’s part.

¹³ tn Or “rejoice.”

¹⁴ tn “has struck”; NRSV “struck down.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”

¹⁶ tn Or “the fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful”; Grk “is very powerful in its working.”