Psalm 6

Psalm 6

A Confident Answer to an Agonized Plea

Psalm 6 stands as the first of the seven penitential psalms, those sacred songs in which a broken man confesses sin, bows in humility, and casts himself upon the mercy of God. The historical church often read or sang these psalms in seasons of solemn reflection, especially in preparation for Resurrection Sunday, recognizing their depth of repentance and longing for restoration. The superscription reads, To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. On an eight stringed harp. A Psalm of David. This indicates that the psalm was written for public worship, entrusted to the Chief Musician, possibly a Levitical leader such as Heman or Asaph, both appointed in the worship structure of Israel under David.

1 Chronicles 6:33 says, “And these are the ones who ministered with their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel.”

1 Chronicles 16:5–7 declares, “Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom; Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God. On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the LORD.”

1 Chronicles 25:6 states, “All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the authority of the king.”

The reference to the eight stringed harp suggests a lower, heavier tone, fitting for a psalm saturated with sorrow and repentance. This is not triumphant worship. It is broken worship. It is the cry of a disciplined son who knows he deserves correction, yet pleads for mercy.

A. The Agonized Plea

1. Psalm 6:1 — A Plea to Lighten the Chastening Hand

Psalm 6:1
“O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.”

David opens not with a defense, but with a plea. He does not deny rebuke. He does not reject chastening. He pleads that it not come in wrath.

The language reveals that David senses divine discipline. Whether the specific sin is known or not, he feels the heavy hand of God. This aligns with the covenantal understanding that God disciplines His own people. Discipline is not abandonment, it is ownership.

Scripture confirms that chastening is evidence of sonship, not rejection.

Hebrews 12:7
“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”

The believer must understand this distinction. The wrath of God against sin was fully satisfied at Calvary. Christ bore that wrath in totality.

Isaiah 53:5
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.”

Therefore, divine correction toward the believer is not punitive wrath, but corrective love. However, David lived prior to the full revelation of the Cross. He did not yet possess the same covenant clarity concerning propitiation. Thus, his language reflects fear that God’s anger might consume him.

Yet even here, we see faith. David does not run from God, he runs to Him. The proper response to discipline is not retreat, but repentance.

There are times when suffering is self inflicted consequence. There are other times when it is direct divine correction. In either case, the proper prayer is humility before God.

2. Psalm 6:2–3 — Two Kinds of Trouble

Psalm 6:2–3
“Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak, O LORD, heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed, but thou, O LORD, how long?”

David now describes the depth of his affliction. It is both physical and spiritual.

He says, “I am weak.” The Hebrew conveys frailty, withering, wasting away. The word suggests not mere fatigue, but collapse. His bones are vexed, meaning shaken, disturbed, terrified. The bones represent structural strength. David feels broken at the core.

Physical suffering often accompanies spiritual turmoil. Whether this was illness, stress, guilt induced deterioration, or divine discipline manifesting physically, the result is comprehensive weakness.

Yet the deeper agony is spiritual.

“My soul is also sore vexed.”

The inner man is trembling. The conscience is unsettled. Fellowship feels distant. When the soul is troubled, the body cannot rest.

Scripture affirms the connection between spiritual anguish and physical distress.

Psalm 32:3–4
“When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.”

Unconfessed sin produces inward decay. Guilt is corrosive. It drains vitality.

David then cries, “But thou, O LORD, how long?”

This is not rebellion. It is lament. It is the cry of a disciplined child longing for restoration. Scripture shows that even faithful men asked this question.

Psalm 13:1
“How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?”

The question “how long” reflects faith that the season will end. If David believed destruction was final, he would not ask how long. He expects mercy. He expects covenant faithfulness.

There is a proper place for resignation under chastening. Yet God does not call His people to passive despair. He calls them to seek restoration.

Lamentations 3:22–23
“It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness.”

David may indeed be feeling the consequences of his sin more intensely than grieving the sin itself. Ideally, the believer is broken first over offending a holy God.

2 Corinthians 7:10
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

Yet even sorrow over consequences can be a doorway to true repentance. God uses discomfort to draw His children back to Himself.

This section presents a disciplined son, physically weakened, spiritually shaken, yet still confident enough to plead for mercy. The anguish is real, but so is the faith.

3. Psalm 6:4–5 — The Urgency of David’s Plea

Psalm 6:4–5
“Return, O LORD, deliver my soul, oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee, in the grave who shall give thee thanks?”

David’s cry intensifies. The tone shifts from general lament to urgent petition. The verbs are sharp and direct, Return, deliver, save. The repetition shows desperation. This is not casual prayer, this is spiritual emergency.

“Return, O LORD.”

David is not suggesting that God has literally moved. He is expressing covenant distance. In seasons of discipline or affliction, the believer may feel as though the Lord has withdrawn His comforting presence.

Scripture describes this dynamic elsewhere.

Psalm 13:1
“How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?”

The hiding of God’s face does not mean loss of salvation. It means loss of felt fellowship. For a man after God’s own heart, that is agony. David’s greatest pain is not physical suffering, it is relational distance.

When the Lord’s presence is consciously near, trials are bearable.

Psalm 16:11
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life, in thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”

But when that presence feels withdrawn, even small afflictions become overwhelming. David therefore pleads for restoration of fellowship.

He then cries, “deliver my soul.” The issue has moved beyond physical distress to the very life principle. The Hebrew word carries the sense of rescuing from danger, snatching from ruin. David knows he cannot rescue himself.

Yet notice the ground of his appeal.

“Oh save me for thy mercies’ sake.”

David does not appeal to personal righteousness. He does not rehearse past victories, covenant faithfulness, or kingly office. He pleads mercy. That alone.

This reveals genuine penitence. Even if the psalm does not contain extended confession, the appeal to mercy presupposes guilt.

Scripture consistently anchors salvation in God’s mercy.

Ephesians 2:4–5
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved.”

David understood that if deliverance came, it would be because of covenant compassion, not earned merit. The chastisement may have been deserved, but mercy was still available.

“For in death there is no remembrance of thee.”

David now argues from urgency. He reasons that if he dies, his public praise will cease.

The statement must be understood in its Old Testament context. David is not constructing a full doctrine of the afterlife. He is speaking from the limited revelation available at that time, and from the vantage point of earthly worship.

The grave, Sheol, was viewed as the realm of silence, inactivity, shadow.

Psalm 115:17
“The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.”

From the perspective of earthly worship, this is true. The dead do not assemble in the tabernacle. They do not lead choirs. They do not publicly testify in Israel.

David’s concern is covenantal and corporate. As king, his life was tied to the praise of God among the people. If he perishes under discipline, the visible testimony of God’s mercy through him ceases.

However, the Old Testament does not leave the afterlife entirely obscure. There are flashes of resurrection hope.

Job 19:25–26
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

Psalm 16:10
“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”

Psalm 49:15
“But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me. Selah.”

These passages show that the Spirit gave glimpses of resurrection and deliverance beyond Sheol. Yet the revelation was not as fully illuminated as it would be in Christ.

The New Testament declares that clarity came through the gospel.

2 Timothy 1:10
“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

Jesus spoke with authority about the world beyond because He came from it.

David’s argument, therefore, is practical, not theological. He is saying, Lord, I can praise You now. I can testify now. I can give thanks now. Spare me so that Your mercy may be displayed in the land of the living.

This same reasoning appears elsewhere.

Isaiah 38:18–19
“For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee, they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day.”

The urgency of Psalm 6:4–5 rests on three pillars.

First, felt distance from God.
Second, total dependence upon mercy.
Third, desire to continue praising God among the living.

David’s plea reveals a man who understands discipline, feels its weight, but refuses to let go of covenant hope. He believes mercy still triumphs.

B. The Determined Resolution

1. Psalm 6:6–7 — A Vivid Description of David’s Agony

Psalm 6:6–7
“I am weary with my groaning, all the night make I my bed to swim, I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief, it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.”

David now gives a deeply personal and graphic account of his suffering. The chastisement he sensed from God was not theoretical, it was experiential. He says, “I am weary with my groaning.” This is exhaustion of soul. The word conveys fatigue from continual sighing. His suffering is not momentary, it is prolonged.

Three strands of agony are woven together in these verses.

First, David felt the weight of divine displeasure. Earlier he cried, “O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger.” The sense of discipline pressed heavily upon his conscience.

Second, David felt the absence of God’s comforting presence. When fellowship is clouded, even strong men become fragile.

Third, David could not sleep. “All the night make I my bed to swim.” The night hours magnify sorrow. There are no distractions, no duties to occupy the mind, only silence and self examination.

This language is poetic hyperbole. David is not asserting that his bed literally floated in tears. He is expressing the intensity of his grief. Scripture is to be understood literally according to its literary context. Poetic imagery communicates real emotion through figurative language. The literal meaning of the poetry is that David’s weeping was constant and overwhelming.

The physical effects of sorrow are evident.

“Mine eye is consumed because of grief.”

His eyes are dimmed, swollen, weakened from continual tears and sleeplessness. Scripture elsewhere speaks of sorrow’s physical toll.

Psalm 31:9
“Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble, mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.”

Grief is not merely emotional, it invades the body. David’s vitality is fading.

Then he adds, “It waxeth old because of all mine enemies.”

The pressure is not only internal. External opposition compounds the trial. Enemies surround him while he is already weakened by spiritual distress. Ordinarily, David was a warrior who rose against his adversaries.

1 Samuel 17:45
“Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”

But here, the bold champion appears broken. Depression and discouragement have drained his former energy. This is what prolonged guilt, discipline, and opposition can do to even the strongest servant of God.

Yet this vivid description prepares for a dramatic shift. The psalm does not end in despair.

2. Psalm 6:8–10 — David’s Confident Declaration

Psalm 6:8–10
“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. Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed, let them return and be ashamed suddenly.”

The tone changes abruptly. The man who was drowning in tears now speaks with authority.

“Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.”

This is no longer the voice of despair, it is the voice of restored confidence. Something has shifted internally. David is persuaded that God has heard him.

It is possible that association with the ungodly contributed to his fall and chastisement. Now, as part of repentance, separation occurs. Genuine repentance is not merely emotional sorrow, it involves decisive action.

Scripture consistently calls for separation from persistent evil influence.

Psalm 1:1
“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”

2 Corinthians 6:17
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

David’s command reflects renewed spiritual clarity. He will no longer entertain the counsel of the ungodly.

The foundation of his boldness is stated three times.

“For the LORD hath heard.”
“The LORD hath heard.”
“The LORD will receive.”

The repetition underscores certainty. Earlier, David asked, “How long?” Now he declares, God has heard. Nothing in the text records an audible answer. The assurance came through faith. In prayer, conviction sometimes replaces despair before circumstances change.

Scripture affirms that God hears the cry of the righteous.

Psalm 34:17
“The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”

David specifically says, “The LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.”

Tears have a voice before God. He is not moved by theatrics, but by sincerity. When words fail, groans and tears still ascend.

Romans 8:26
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

The believer’s weakness does not silence prayer, it intensifies it.

David then looks forward to the reversal of fortunes.

“Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed.”

Earlier he was sore vexed.

Psalm 6:3
“My soul is also sore vexed.”

Now that same disturbance will fall upon his enemies. The temporary agony of the righteous gives way to the sudden shame of the wicked.

Scripture repeatedly declares that God vindicates His servants.

Psalm 37:12–13
“The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming.”

David is no longer pleading for survival. He is anticipating divine intervention. The enemies who appeared strong will suddenly retreat.

“Let them return and be ashamed suddenly.”

The word suddenly emphasizes swift reversal. What seemed prolonged and unbearable ends decisively when God acts.

This closing section demonstrates the full arc of penitence.

He began under discipline.
He wept in agony.
He pleaded for mercy.
He received inward assurance.
He separated from evil.
He declared victory.

The psalm that opened with fear closes with confidence.