Psalms 6 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 6

O Lord, Deliver My Life

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith.¹ A Psalm of David.

6:1   O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
    nor discipline me in your wrath.
2   Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
    heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
3   My soul also is greatly troubled.
    But you, O LORD—how long?
4   Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5   For in death there is no remembrance of you;
    in Sheol who will give you praise?
6   I am weary with my moaning;
    every night I flood my bed with tears;
    I drench my couch with my weeping.
7   My eye wastes away because of grief;
    it grows weak because of all my foes.
8   Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
    for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9   The LORD has heard my plea;
    the LORD accepts my prayer.
10   All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Footnotes

[1] 6:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term

Commentary

In a time of trial, David was plagued by his enemies, and looked to God for deliverance. The first penitential psalm (see also: Ps 32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143). He cries "O, Lord" several times, indicating a real, heart-felt prayer.

v1: The psalmist had experienced God's discipline and rebuke; but this was instructive, not destructive; even so, it can be hard to bear (Heb 12.11).

v2: The godly man depends on God's mercy (Ps 5.7); this remains true for all God's people.

v3: "How long?" since the trial was continuing. Sometimes we ask Him to shorten such times, as in Matt 24.22.

v4-5: The psalmist looks for deliverance in this life. This would, of course, provide a testimony to others.

v6-7: Weariness through continued trials. Let it never be said that godly people do not suffer. This suffering remains real, even with God's mercies. We do not live in some painless dream.

v8: Workers of iniquity, enemies of the godly; it is often through such people that trials or temptation comes; so the psalmist prayed, "away from me."

v9: The Lord has heard; here is confidence and true faith.

v10: A further statement of confidence, that the Lord would provide deliverance. The psalmist's enemies were also God's enemies, and therefore would be defeated.