Psalms 6:1-7

Context

Psalm 6¹

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;² a psalm of David.

6:1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!

Do not discipline me in your raging fury!³

6:2 Have mercy on me,⁴ Lord, for I am frail!

Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking!⁵

6:3 I am absolutely terrified,⁶

and you, Lord – how long will this continue?⁷

6:4 Relent, Lord, rescue me!⁸

Deliver me because of your faithfulness!⁹

6:5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death,¹⁰

In Sheol who gives you thanks?¹¹

6:6 I am exhausted as I groan;

all night long I drench my bed in tears;¹²

my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.¹³

6:7 My eyes¹⁴ grow dim¹⁵ from suffering;

they grow weak¹⁶ because of all my enemies.¹⁷

[6:1] ¹sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.

[6:1] ²tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21.

[6:1] ³sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).

[6:2] ⁴tn Or “show me favor.”

[6:2] ⁵tn 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.

[6:3] ⁶tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[6:3] ⁷tn 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?

[6:4] ⁸tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.

[6:4] ⁹sn 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.

[6:5] ¹⁰tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.

[6:5] ¹¹tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[6:6] ¹²tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”

[6:6] ¹³tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”

[6:7] ¹⁴tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here.

[6:7] ¹⁵tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.”

[6:7] ¹⁶tn Or perhaps, “grow old.”

[6:7] ¹⁷sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.