Psalms 6:1-10
1 O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?
4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.
10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
Deliverance in Trouble
This is the first of the Penitential Psalms, the other six being Psalms 32:1; Psalms 38:1; Psalms 51:1; Psalms 102:1; Psalms 130:1; Psalms 143:1. The earliest verses are a wail, but the psalm ends in a song. It is like a day of rain which clears at evening. Sheminith is a musical term signifying “octave.”
The elements of the psalmist's sorrow are given in Psalms 6:1. The pressure of God's displeasure, soul-anguish, sickness, soul-depression, an enemy's opposition-all these were ingredients in his cup of bitterness. How touching the plea- I am weak! How expressive the broken sentence, so often on Calvin's lips- How long! And that prayer, O Lord, heal me, includes the mental as well as the physical.
The certainty of deliverance looms in sight in Psalms 6:8. The consciousness of having been heard steals over the soul as a glint of light in the hospital ward. The answer may not be at hand, but it is sure, 1 John 5:15. Weeping has a voice: God interprets sighs. The r.v. turns the imprecation of Psalms 6:10 into prediction. When God returns to us, because we return to Him, our enemies turn back.