PSALM 6

INTRODUCTION

This is the prayer of a man in considerable anguish of both mind and body.  The words are reminiscent of Psalm 32:1-4, where David describes the pressure of unconfessed sin, and in Psalm 38 where he is experiencing continuing discipline for past sin. 

This psalm may describe the psychosomatic ailments that accompany intense heartache and anger, which David would have experienced during the rebellion of his son and others whom he had trusted.  However the first three verses seem to be an acknowledgment of deserved discipline, quickly followed by a plea for mercy and the claim to a full forgiveness that is not deserving of the treatment he is receiving from his enemies.  If God forgives, who are we to condemn?

Psalm 6:1

“O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.”

David is not asking the LORD to spare him rebuke, but that the rebuke might not be too severe.  Rebuke is from the Hebrew yakach, which means to be correct.  In its reciprocal sense it means to argue (both parties think they are correct) but in its causative sense, that which is correct causes one to be justified or convicted, hence ‘rebuke’.  The LORD is always correct and we are either justified or convicted depending on the alignment of our thinking and actions to his standards. 

David knows he has sinned:  In the past he had not always aligned his thinking and his actions to God’s standards and is receiving ‘rebuke’ or conviction for those sins.  This goes right back to his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and his ‘murder’ of her husband Uriah, for if one traces the results of these actions, it will be seen that his present day troubles are their consequences.  David was a sinner and made mistakes throughout his life yet apart from “the matter of Uriah the Hittite” it is said of him that he “did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD” 1 Kings 15:5.  The intense rebuke David describes in this psalm and others (Psalm 32; 38) was the result of this great sin.

The word for anger is aph and is translated elsewhere as wrath, anger, angry, countenance, face, forehead, nose, nostril.  Its proper meaning is nose or nostril with the ‘wrath’ and ‘anger’ developing from the flared nostril occurring from such passion.

When the Bible attributes ‘wrath’ or ‘anger’ to God it is in the form of anthropomorphism, which is ‘a figure of speech attributing to God human emotions’.  Because God is infinite, eternal and unchanging, and because anger is an emotion representing a change in one’s reaction, God does not really become angry but only appears to do so in the eyes of men.  Vines

To explain this we only have to look at the law of ‘cause and effect’.  God’s law is designed to give the best results for his creation, therefore any infringement or defiance of his law results in less than the best.  If a man steps off a high cliff, God’s law of gravity dictates that he will be killed or maimed.  If a man disobeys God’s law of truth he will obey error, and error compounds to his detriment both in relationship with others and also within himself.  The unbeliever attempts to compensate but can never break from these effects so long as he/she ignores the cause, i.e. the rejection of God.  

With the believer the most important relationship is with God, and when sin intervenes, that relationship is the first to be injured.  We are not discussing salvation here but fellowship; a believer’s fellowship with God is dependant on obedience to God’s will; faith in God’s word.  Any disobedience will break that fellowship and continuance in error will result in misery and its associated psychosomatic ailments.  Disobedience to truth is the cause, with its effects of misery and heartache making it seem as if God were angry.   Such effects are designed to force our attention back onto God’s will and back to confession and cleansing (1 John 1:9).

The word ‘chasten’ is yasar and means to chastise either literally with blows or figuratively with words, yet in both cases with the intention of instruction.  It can be translated bind, chasten, chastise, correct, instruct, punish, reform, reprove, and teach.  David recounts his literal chastisement, his mental and physical anguish but petitions the LORD to ‘stay his hand’, to instruct him yes, but not in “thy hot displeasure”.

‘Hot displeasure’ is the Hebrew chemah chema, pronounced khay-maw’ khay-maw’ and means heat.  Putting this directly into English would make it ‘hot heat’ but it generally translates; anger, hot displeasure, furious, heat, indignation, poison, rage or wrath.

Again the form of anthropomorphism is seen, for the beauty of God’s character does not tally with the picture here of a furiously angry being.

Psalm 6:2

“Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.”

There are three Hebrew words the KJV translates as mercy.  One word is chesed meaning loving kindness, a steadfast love, and another is racham, which is compassion (by extension the womb (as cherishing the foetus)). Rechem is from the same root word and means the womb.  Here however, mercy is from the Hebrew chanan; properly to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to bestow a favor upon them, a favor neither expected nor deserved.  Refer Vine’s. 

We see David petitioning the LORD to bend, to reach down in a personal and real way to take his burden from him, “…for I am weak O LORD”.  It is a request for God to bend, to stoop, to reach down to him, to personally intervene on his behalf as the crisis was beyond David’s ability to overcome.  In this there is implication to God (in Christ) intervening on behalf of mankind.  He bent; he stooped in a very real way, by becoming a man and bearing our infirmities.

Isaiah 53:4.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.   Cf. Matthew 8:17, Hebrews 4:15 with Isaiah 53:10-12, Hebrews 12:2.

‘Weak’ is a correct translation of the Hebrew umlal, from amal meaning to droop; or by implication to be sick or to mourn and translated, according to context, as languish, be weak, wax feeble.  In this verse David’s weakness is linked to ‘mercy’, while ‘healing’ rapha (to mend) is related to etsem a ‘bone’, which by extension means the body; or figuratively the substance, that is, body, bone, life.  David, in his helplessness, petitions the LORD to be merciful by healing his body.

The sickness David experienced is described as a ‘vexation’ of the bones; ‘my bones are vexed’. ‘Vexed’ is from bahal meaning to tremble inwardly, i.e. to be alarmed or agitated.  It was a deep-seated physical agitation and when we read vs. 7 where he states,  “My soul is also sore vexed” or ‘even more vexed than my body’, it suggests the physical problems were psychosomatic or emotionally induced.  Such illnesses require spiritual healing and this is God’s province (not withstanding the claims of modern psychoanalysis).  David understood this and consequently went to the LORD in prayer and supplication.

David recognized he was a sinner and undeserving of God’s consideration, he understood his own inadequacies due to inherent sin and his desperate need for God to overcome the barrier of sin (LORD condescend to consider me).

The clearest doctrine in scripture and in life (to those who are honest with themselves) is the doctrine of the ‘depravity’ or sinfulness of men, and if left to their own devices such depravity would result in eternal damnation.  This is because of the unchanging perfection of God’s character; he cannot lower his perfect standards and must separate himself from that which is imperfect. 

Such a separation is damnation, for to be separate from God is to be separate from the love of God and its resultant joy and peace.   Paul sums up the doctrine of depravity in Romans 3:10-23 but he also sums up the doctrine of ‘mercy’ in Romans chapters 4 & 5.

Those who deny the doctrine of depravity are blind to reality and if they have an expectation of heaven it is because they have made a god in their image and the standards of heaven the standards of imperfect men.  But God is infinite and his standards are absolute and anything less is and must be condemned.  We are all in desperate need of God’s mercy.

Psalm 6:3

“My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long?”

Though the word for soul, nephesh means breathing creature and is used for the whole integrated being of man (Genesis 2:7; 1Corinthians 15:45), here David differentiates between the body (the bones of vs. 2) and the inner man.  It is the immaterial part of his being, the mentality of his soul that is sore vexed. 

‘Sore’ is the Hebrew meod, which adverbially means vehemence.  Vine’s tells us that as an adverb it has the meaning, very; exceedingly; greatly or highly. 

In Genesis 7:18 it is used in the sense of quantity, “And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly (meod) upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters”. 

David uses it in Psalm 47:9 as an emphasis on the glory of God, “The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly (meod) exalted”. 

In Deuteronomy 6:5 it is seen as the noun might.  “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (meod)”.

David’s emotions were agitated to an unbearable degree.

It is at this point we have a break in the parallelism of David’s poetry, yet such is David’s genius that the whole has still been set to music (vs. 1).    The parallelism was seen in:

       Vs. 1:  ‘…rebuke me not in thine anger ---- neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure’,

And vs. 2:  ‘Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: ---- O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.’

But here ‘My soul is also sore vexed’ has no parallel and David finishes with: ‘but thou, O LORD, how long?’

The pressures of his position and the LORD’S seeming indifference are as if he has been overwhelmed, and he momentarily bows himself to hopelessness before taking up his supplication once again in verse 4.

Psalm 6:4

"Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake."

The Hebrew shub means to turn; to return, turn back; to bring back, and though it is also used in the sense of turn away; go backward, follow after or go away (or disappear), Vine's has as its basic meaning, "a movement back to a point of departure".

David was no spiritual ‘babe’ yet the pressure he was under was of such magnitude as to suggest to him that death might very well be imminent (vs. 5) and felt as though the LORD had departed from him.  God is immense and omnipresent, he is everywhere, and therefore going away and returning cannot be properly ascribed to him (Gill), yet to the believer whose emotional state intrudes upon reason, it may seem as though God has departed.  David, a man well on the way to spiritual maturity, was being tested to the limit of his endurance, but according to1Corinthians 10:13, not beyond his ability to endure. 

With the grave in mind, David is asking for deliverance from death, and ‘soul’ is used here in the sense of ‘life’; nephesh; breathing creature.

Save me, yasha, make me free, to be safe: not because he deserved such deliverance but for the sake of the LORD’S mercy.  Sake can be, (a) ‘in the interest of’ or (b) ‘in view of’ or ‘on account of’ the LORD’S mercy.  David may be (a) expressing a desire for the LORD’S mercy to be manifest in his life to show the glory of God, or (b) appealing to him because he is a merciful being and as Barnes writes, “might therefore be appealed to on that ground”.  Verse 5 suggests the former.  To paraphrase both verses: vs. 4, ‘Save me so that thy mercy might be manifest’, vs. 5, ‘for’ (because) in the grave there is no remembrance or thanksgiving’.  

Because we are all undeserving of God’s grace these are the only grounds on which we can plead with him to save us.

‘Mercies’ is from chesed - kindness; favour, merciful (kindness), mercy; a word we looked at briefly in verse 2.  Brown-Driver-Briggs has it as goodness, kindness, and faithfulness.

Psalm 6:5

“For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?”

Vine’s Exp. Dict. has death as the “natural end of human life on this earth, it is an aspect of God’s judgment on man: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” Genesis 2:17”. 

“Surely die” has the meaning ‘dying thou shall die’ which proved to be the case, for Adam and his wife were driven from the presence of God that very day (they died to God), and died (physically) some centuries later.

Although the Old Testament saints saw death and the grave as a place of silence and shadows, and though they knew that “The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead” Proverbs 21:16, they also saw deliverance for the saints: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave (sheol); I will redeem them from death…” Hosea 13:14; “God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave (sheol): for he shall receive me” Psalm 49:15, and in Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it”.  (Sheol, pronounced sheh-ole' is hades or the world of the dead.)

In 1Corinthians 15, Paul reveals this victory to be in Christ and his resurrection, and ends his exhortation with thanks to God for “…the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1Corinthians 15:57. 

John, in the book of Revelation, shows the eternal victory, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”  Revelation 21:4 

According to 2 Samuel 12:23, David had this belief in life beyond the grave, and in Psalms 16 and 17 he writes, “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (sheol); neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.  Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.”  Psalm 16:10-11,

And, “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” Psalm 17:15.

With this clear understanding of the eternal state, David’s use of the words ‘death’ and ‘no remembrance’ must mean something other than obliteration. 

‘Death’ maveth is the state of the dead and David is saying that when a man enters that state he can no longer commemorate or ‘testify’ of the LORD.  This is supported by the parallelism ‘who shall give thee thanks’.  Also, in Psalm 30:9, he asks the question, “What profit is there in (my death); shall (my) dust praise thee, shall it declare thy truth?” And the writer of Psalm 88:11 says the same thing “Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in destruction?”

Psalm 6:6

“I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.”

David was not just weary; he was yaga; exhausted by the emotional turmoil within.  It is almost certain that the occasion that brought about this anguish was the rebellion of Absalom, and David would, during the night hours, have had ample time for reflection on the part he had played in bringing these trials upon himself.  Sin reaps its own reward and is particularly severe on God-fearing men and women, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”  Hebrews 12:6-8

If David had not been a godly man, knowledge of his sin, especially in the matter of Uriah the Hittite, wouldn’t have been such an affliction to his soul, but he was a godly man and his sin “was ever before him” Psa 51:3.   All believers who desire a closer walk with their Lord will feel the Lord’s discipline, for the Lord’s discipline is designed to lead us to recognition and confession of our sin and subsequent cleansing (1 John 1:9): it is a necessity for spiritual growth, but  “ if ye be without chastisement, then are ye nothos (Gk.), meaning spurious or illegitimate, and not sons.” 

David’s use of the words sachah to swim, to inundate, and masah to dissolve or water, is hyperbolical language, expressing in a strong and emphatic manner the depth of his sorrows.   Barnes

Psalm 6:7

“Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.”

The first use of the Hebrew ayin is as the organ of sight, the eye.  In its secondary or figurative sense it can be descriptive of ‘mental and spiritual faculties’.  Brown-Driver-Briggs. 

In Matthew 6:22 Jesus says that the eye is the light of the body and if the eyes were in focus the body shall be full of light, i.e. balanced and steady.  Jesus is of course using a literal fact in a figurative way so as to teach a spiritual truth.   If we are able to discern or ‘see’ truth, then our life will not be subject to the world, or the flesh, or the Devil and we will be stabilized, mature people.

In the O.T., this word is used figuratively in the expressions, a "bountiful eye" (Proverbs 22:9), "proud look or ‘haughty eyes’ " (Proverbs 6:17), "wanton eyes" (Isaiah  3:16).  The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) explains this figurative use.   “The eye of the heart or mind, the organ of spiritual perception, which may be enlightened or opened (Psalm 119:18). This is done by the law of God (Psalm 19:8) or by the spirit of God (Ephesians 1:18), or it may be "darkened" and "holden" held fast (Luke. 24:16; compare Matthew 13:13; 2Cor. 4:4).”

David was experiencing difficulty with his physical senses and his eyes were being affected, but this is symptomatic of his inner turmoil (the cause of his tears).  Though the initial reference is to his eyes, the figurative use is in keeping with the mental and physical exhaustion he was experiencing.  His perception and mental stability was being ‘consumed’ or ‘failing’.

‘Grief’ is the Hebrew kaas, which Strong’s has as vexation, or, depending on the context, anger, grief, indignation, provocation, sorrow, spite, wrath.  Vine’s says, “A review of the use of this verb shows that around 80 percent of them involve the LORD “being provoked to anger” by Israel’s sin”.  We are told to “be angry and sin not” (Ephesians 4:26), showing that there is a time for righteous anger, yet how often have we become angry through frustration and helplessness and lost sight of God’s provisions.  We should be able to identify with David, and sympathize with him in his ‘grief’. 

Vexation of spirit can be a cause of failing health, but if like David we are able to acknowledge it to God we are already on the way to spiritual recovery and health, for if we confess our sins “he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” 1John 1:9.  David’s psalms are an open and honest admission of his guilt, his weaknesses but also of his adoration and praise of God.  He is the perfect example of a believer claiming the promises of God and rejoicing in the grace of God.

‘Waxeth old’ is the Hebrew athaq, the primary meaning of which is removed, but here it is used in the sense of deterioration.   ‘Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it wastes away because of all my enemies.’

‘Enemies’ is tsarar and means to cramp, also afflict, besiege and oppress, all of which describe the activities of those who are at enmity with you.  The enemies of the people of God are found in the world, the flesh and the Devil, and these cramp, afflict, besiege and oppress us all.  If it were not for the fact that “he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4), believers must be crushed by them.’ 

‘My senses are failing because of my inner turmoil, they are wasting away because of those who oppress me’.

Psalm 6:8-9

“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.  The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer.”

‘Depart’ or turn aside from me all you ‘workers’ paal – those who systematically and habitually practice ‘iniquity’.

David is not being ‘holier than thou’, his psalms attest to this, but he knows the Law, is not indifferent to its requirements and is grieved by his constant failure, which is in clear contrast to his enemies who have little understanding of the Law and no desire for the things of God.

David would immediately understand and agree with the apostle Paul’s appraisal of the believer’s dilemma.

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not…For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”   Romans 7:18-24

David’s answer was to call upon the LORD for mercy (vs.2), forgiveness and cleansing (vs. 4), with the LORD’S assurance received in (vs. 8,9).  When we consider and understand the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus (see doctrine of salvation), David’s answer is not all that different to Paul’s, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Romans 7:25), for we too have mercy, forgiveness, cleansing and assurance in Christ.

Iniquity is the Hebrew aven, which is translated, iniquity (here); vanity (Isaiah 41:29); sorrow (Psalm 90:10); mischief (Psalm 36:4); affliction (Job 5:6); wickedness (Job 11:11).  It is suggested that the origin of this word meant to pant; to exert oneself (usually in vain; therefore to come to naught), or nothingness when used in regard to idols, but also meaning; trouble, vanity, wickedness”.   Vine’s has it as, iniquity; vanity; sorrow; and says that the relationship to nothingness would imply “the absence of all that has true worth” i.e. “moral worthlessness”.

The suffering has proved effective, David has put his trust in the LORD and the LORD has responded in mercy.  It is even as Isaiah 65:24 states, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”  This has been such an overwhelming deliverance from all the despondency of the previous verses, that David, in complete confidence, can say  ‘be off with you’ to all those whose lives were in rebellion to him and to the LORD. 

All suffering is designed by God to lead his people to a deeper relationship with himself.  It leads to repentance, to appreciation of God’s grace and thereby glorifies God.  If the believer wishes to have true victory in the Christian life, the doctrine of suffering must be understood.  The doctrine is included below.

David did not enjoy the emotional and physical anguish he suffered, but never charges the LORD with being unfair.  He accepts it as every child of God should do, as coming from the Lord and therefore either deserved or necessary.   He appeals to the LORD’S mercy, and in even in the anticipation of the LORD’S grace, experiences relief.  From this relief he knows the LORD will hear and accept his prayer.   

Psalm 6:10

“Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.”

David is the LORD’S anointed and therefore all those who are against David are against the LORD.  Those who oppose the LORD will be ashamed.  (In 1John 2:28 we see this same truth applied to those who do not ‘abide’ in the Son of God.)

John Gill also believes this to be a prophecy rather than an imprecation; i.e. “They shall be ashamed", which would indicate the following clauses to be prophecies also.  If this is so then David is making a statement rather than calling for condemnation and judgment on his enemies. 

(If it be admitted that David is calling down shame on his enemies it would not be for the sake of vengeance but that they might repent, or as Barnes writes, “that they might be brought to see their own guilt - a wish certainly which it is right to cherish in regard to all evil-doers.”)

Being ‘sore vexed’ is something David had experienced, and he knows the cause of such vexation is sin.  God’s enemies, those who are in opposition to God’s appointments and live lives contrary to God’s will, are candidates for trouble, trembling and consternation, if not in this life, then certainly in the eternity to come.

The word ‘return’ is often used adverbially again, which when we remove the word and (it is in italics in the KJV) makes sense, i.e. “let them again be ashamed suddenly”.   However, in keeping with the first half of the verse the word ‘return’ is probably used in the sense of ‘retreat’ as in being turned back from a goal; ‘let them retreat’, meaning either from him, from pursuing after him, and may it be done in a moment, a wink of an eye.