Psalms · Chapter 6

Verse 1. O Lord, rebuke me not] This Psalm, Which is one of the seven Penitential Psalms, is supposed to have been written during some grievous disease with which David was afflicted after his transgression with Bath-sheba. It argues a deep consciousness of sin, and apprehension of the just displeasure of God. It is the very language of a true penitent who is looking around for help, and who sees, as Bishop Horne well expresses it, “above, an angry God, ready to take vengeance; beneath, the fiery gulf, ready to receive him; without, a world in flames; within, the gnawing worm.” Of all these, none so dreadful as an angry God; his wrath he particularly deprecates. God rebukes and chastens him, and he submits; but he prays not to be rebuked in anger, nor chastened in hot displeasure, because he knows that these must bring him down to total and final destruction.

Verse 1. O Lord, rebuke me not — That is, do not chasten or correct me, as the next clause explains it; in thine anger — With rigour or severity, as my sins deserve, but with gentleness and moderation, Jeremiah 10:24; or, in such a manner that the chastisement may not be the effect of thy strict justice, or anger, but of thy mercy and faithfulness.

1. Rebuke me not—The strong depreciations of this verse indicate that the heavy affliction was a divine judgment for sin. The words “rebuke,” “chasten,” “anger,” “hot displeasure,” fully corroborate this view. 2 Weak—Withered, languid, with sorrow. My bones are vexed—My bones have been troubled. The Niphal preterite of the verb indicates a disease of some continuance. So also the significant “how long?” verse 3. The direct allusion to bodily suffering, in the absence of any confession of sin, and the prayer heal me (apw)—the usual word for restoring the health—all point to some physical suffering.

3, 4. My soul is… sore vexed—Causes of mental, not less than of physical, trouble existed. Body and soul lay under the consuming force of the wrathful judgment. The word used to describe the effect upon his bones (“vexed, troubled”) is the same as defines the state of his soul. Delitzsch gives the sense of outward overthrow and inward consternation, the effect of fright, which disconcerts one, and of excitement, that deprives one of self-control. How long—Literally, till when? The interrogation is emphatic, and supposes the answer delayed, and the evil complained of such as cannot long be endured. See Exodus 10:3; Psalm 90:13; Isaiah 6:11. With this the perfect tense of the preceding verb (my soul has been vexed) agrees, as also the earnest return, (verse 4,) as if God had gone away from him. Compare 2 Corinthians 4:8: “Perplexed, but not in despair.”

V. 2. Bones-My inmost parts.

Verse 2. Have mercy] I have no merit. I deserve all I feel and all I fear. O Lord, heal me] No earthly physician can cure my malady. Body and soul are both diseased, and only God can help me. I am weak] llma umlal. I am exceedingly weak; I cannot take nourishment, and my strength is exhausted.

My bones are vexed.] The disease hath entered into my bones.

Verse 2. Have mercy upon me — I plead not my merit, but thy free mercy; for I am weak — Or, I languish; my body pines away, and my spirit fails through my excessive pains and troubles. O Lord, heal me — That is, the distempers of my soul and body, of both which the word apr, rapha, is used; for my bones are vexed — That is, my inward parts. Bones, reins, inward parts, often in Scripture signify the same as heart, soul, thought: see Psalm 35:10.

Verse 3. How long?] How long shall I continue under this malady? How long will it be before thou speak peace to my troubled heart?

Verse 3. My soul is sore vexed — Partly by sympathy with my body, and partly with the burden of my sins, and the sense of thine anger, and my own danger and misery. O Lord, how long? — Wilt thou suffer me to lie and languish in this condition? or, as the Chaldee paraphrast supplies the ellipses, How long wilt thou defer to give me some refreshment?

Verse 4. Return, O Lord] Once I had the light of thy countenance, by sin I have forfeited this; I have provoked thee to depart: O Lord, return! It is an awful thing to be obliged to say, Return, O Lord, for this supposes backsliding; and yet what a mercy it is that a backslider may RETURN to God, with the expectation that God will return to him!

Verses 4, 5. Return — Unto me, from whom thou hast withdrawn thy smiling countenance and helping hand. Deliver my soul — From guilt and fear; or preserve my life, for the word soul often signifies life. David, and other pious men in those times, were much averse to, and afraid of death, partly because the manifestations of God’s love to his people, and the discoveries of an immortal state of glory awaiting them after death, were then more dark and doubtful; and partly because thereby they were deprived of all opportunities of advancing God’s glory and kingdom in the world. For in death — Or among the dead, or in the grave, as it follows; there is no remembrance of thee — This is meant only of the bodies of persons deceased; not of their souls, which still survive, and do not sleep till the resurrection, as some have vainly imagined: and yet even their souls are incapable, when departed from the body, of remembering, praising, and glorifying God, in his church on earth; of celebrating his mercy and grace in the land of the living; of propagating his worship, or of exciting others to piety by their example: which is the remembrance of God of which he speaks. Hence, also, good men have often desired to have their lives prolonged, even under the Christian, as well as under the Patriarchal and Jewish dispensation, that they might be capable of glorifying God, and of fully executing his will in this world, in order, as the Hebrews speak, to increase the reward of their souls in the world to come.

Ver. 4, 5. Oh Lord deliver my soul; save me from the sword, for in death there is no remembrance of thee. These were David’s oft-repeated prayers in time of danger; and the ear of heaven always heard his cry. Psalm 30.

116. &c. If he fell by the hand of violence, there would be no memorial of the sure mercies which had been announced by Samuel at his consecration.

V. 5. In death-Among the dead. Remembrance-He speaks of the remembrance or celebration of God’s grace in the land of the living, to the edification of God’s church, and the propagation of true religion among men; which is not done in the other life.

Verse 5. In death there is no remembrance of thee] Man is to glorify thee on earth. The end for which he was born cannot be accomplished in the grave; heal my body, and heal my soul, that I may be rendered capable of loving and serving thee here below. A dead body in the grave can do no good to men, nor bring any glory to thy name!

Verses 4, 5. Return — Unto me, from whom thou hast withdrawn thy smiling countenance and helping hand. Deliver my soul — From guilt and fear; or preserve my life, for the word soul often signifies life. David, and other pious men in those times, were much averse to, and afraid of death, partly because the manifestations of God’s love to his people, and the discoveries of an immortal state of glory awaiting them after death, were then more dark and doubtful; and partly because thereby they were deprived of all opportunities of advancing God’s glory and kingdom in the world. For in death — Or among the dead, or in the grave, as it follows; there is no remembrance of thee — This is meant only of the bodies of persons deceased; not of their souls, which still survive, and do not sleep till the resurrection, as some have vainly imagined: and yet even their souls are incapable, when departed from the body, of remembering, praising, and glorifying God, in his church on earth; of celebrating his mercy and grace in the land of the living; of propagating his worship, or of exciting others to piety by their example: which is the remembrance of God of which he speaks. Hence, also, good men have often desired to have their lives prolonged, even under the Christian, as well as under the Patriarchal and Jewish dispensation, that they might be capable of glorifying God, and of fully executing his will in this world, in order, as the Hebrews speak, to increase the reward of their souls in the world to come.

Ver. 4, 5. Oh Lord deliver my soul; save me from the sword, for in death there is no remembrance of thee. These were David’s oft-repeated prayers in time of danger; and the ear of heaven always heard his cry. Psalm 30.

116. &c. If he fell by the hand of violence, there would be no memorial of the sure mercies which had been announced by Samuel at his consecration.

5. In death—David had grounded his prayer (verse 4) on the mercy of God, that it might be honoured by his deliverance; now, he rests it on the state of the dead, as unable to praise Him. The language shows, that to human appearance death is now so near, that from it God alone can deliver him. No remembrance of thee— “Remembrance,” here, and the giving of thanks in the next line, are synonymous. It is the memorial of praise and ascriptions due to delivering mercy. The Hebrews believed in a future state and life after death, but had not New Testament conceptions of the place and state of pious souls immediately after death. This shrinking from death, especially premature death, (Psalm 102:23, 24,) was not from a fear of punishment hereafter, much less of annihilation, but the dread of being cut off from the worship of God among the living, and seeming to be dishonoured by a short life and an unfinished work, which were considered in the light of judgment and calamity. David desires to live only as he desires to honour God before living men in acts of praise and thanksgiving. See notes on Psalm 115:17, 18; 138:10. In the grave—In lwav, (sheol;) Greek, adhv, (hades;) the under world, the place or region of the dead, the grave. Its literal meaning is, deep pit, then, grave, region of the dead, etc.; but it is sometimes used to denote the state of the wicked, or place of punishment after death, as in Psalm 9:17; Proverbs 5:5; 7:27; 9:18; 15:24; 23:14. (See note on Psalm 16:10.) In the New Testament, hades (which in the Septuagint always stands for sheol) sometimes takes the same restricted sense: as Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15; 16:23. The imagination of the Hebrew often united the place of the dead with the fancied region of ghosts, manes, or departed spirits, so that sheol was not a well defined region, but took different limitations of meaning in different places, the connexion, according to a common law in all languages, determining its application.

V. 6. With my tears-It well becomes the greatest spirits to be tender, and to relent under the tokens of God’s displeasure. David who could face Goliath himself, melts into tears at the remembrance of sin, and under the apprehension of Divine wrath, and it is no diminution to his character.

Verses 6, 7. All the night — Or, every night, as the margin renders hlyl lk, cal lailah; make I my bed to swim — With tears, an hyperbole used also elsewhere. It well becomes the greatest spirits to be tender, and to relent under the tokens of God’s displeasure. David, who could face Goliath himself, melts into tears at the remembrance of sin, and under the apprehension of divine wrath, and it is no diminution to his character. Mine eye is consumed — Or grown dim, or dull, as hvv[, gnosheshah, may be rendered; namely, through the many tears which I shed, or through the decay of my spirits. Because of grief — For my sins and miseries, or grief arising from mine enemies; as the next clause interprets it, and from the consideration of their multitude, rage, and falseness.

Ver. 6. All the night make I my bed to swim. His princess given to another: his princely hopes fled: Saul and his court in full pursuit of his soul: the Benjamites cursing his name! Here are the causes of grief; here the fountain of his tears; here the anguish which inspired the sublime of prayer.

6. My bed to swim—A hyperbole for copious weeping. Water my couch—Dissolve, saturate, my couch. Another hyperbole, but a lessening of the figure from “swim” in the preceding line. This profuse weeping was in or during all the night, that is, every night. The psalmist thus shows that not without cause had he urged his plea for help, and viewed death as nigh.

Verse 7. Mine eye is consumed] hvv[ asheshah, is blasted, withered, sunk in my head.

Verses 6, 7. All the night — Or, every night, as the margin renders hlyl lk, cal lailah; make I my bed to swim — With tears, an hyperbole used also elsewhere. It well becomes the greatest spirits to be tender, and to relent under the tokens of God’s displeasure. David, who could face Goliath himself, melts into tears at the remembrance of sin, and under the apprehension of divine wrath, and it is no diminution to his character. Mine eye is consumed — Or grown dim, or dull, as hvv[, gnosheshah, may be rendered; namely, through the many tears which I shed, or through the decay of my spirits. Because of grief — For my sins and miseries, or grief arising from mine enemies; as the next clause interprets it, and from the consideration of their multitude, rage, and falseness.

7. Mine eye is consumed… waxeth old—By reason of long continued suffering and weeping his eyes had grown languid, and dull, and sunken in the head, as in extreme age. He here finishes the picture of his sorrow, and as Calvin says, “They who know only in some small degree what it is to wrestle with the fear of eternal death, will find in these words no exaggeration.”

V. 8. Hath heard-By the workings of God’s grace upon his heart, he knew his prayer was accepted. His tears had a voice, in the ears of the God of mercy. Silent tears are no speechless ones. Our tears are cries to God.

Verse 8. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity] It seems that while he was suffering grievously through the disease, his enemies had insulted and mocked him;—upbraided him with his transgressions, not to increase his penitence, but to cast him into despair.

The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.] The Lord pitifully beheld the sorrows of his heart, and mercifully forgave his sins.

Verses 8, 9. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity — With whom I am resolved not to associate or have any fellowship; and cease from opposing or molesting, or insulting, over me, or approaching me with designs of deceiving and betraying me, all ye my wicked enemies; desist from all your wicked contrivances against me, and be not so vain as to hope to triumph over me; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping — And will grant me that which I have sought with so many tears. By the workings of God’s grace upon his heart, he knew his prayer was accepted. His tears had a voice in the ears of the God of mercy. Silent tears are not speechless ones. Our tears are cries to God. The Lord hath heard my supplication — He hath not rejected me, I say, as you imagine; but is graciously pleased both with my deprecation of his displeasure and with my petitions to him for his favour.

8. Depart from me—The psalmist suddenly assumes a new character. From the darkness and storm of his sufferings he announces the answer of his prayer, and warns his oppressors to withdraw and desist. The Lord hath heard—God has now taken the matter in hand. Voice of my weeping— “Silent grief is not much known in the East; therefore, when the people speak of sorrow, they say its voice: ‘Have I not heard the voice of his lamentation?’”—Roberts. He is so filled with joy and confidence upon receiving assurance of answer to prayer, that three times, verses 8, 9, he reiterates the joyful fact: the Lord hath heard my weeping; the Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

Verses 8, 9. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity — With whom I am resolved not to associate or have any fellowship; and cease from opposing or molesting, or insulting, over me, or approaching me with designs of deceiving and betraying me, all ye my wicked enemies; desist from all your wicked contrivances against me, and be not so vain as to hope to triumph over me; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping — And will grant me that which I have sought with so many tears. By the workings of God’s grace upon his heart, he knew his prayer was accepted. His tears had a voice in the ears of the God of mercy. Silent tears are not speechless ones. Our tears are cries to God. The Lord hath heard my supplication — He hath not rejected me, I say, as you imagine; but is graciously pleased both with my deprecation of his displeasure and with my petitions to him for his favour.

Ver. 9. The Lord hath heard my supplication. After a night of weeping, he felt his soul so relieved and refreshed as to be assured of ultimate deliverance. Rallying all his powers, and putting his trust in the Lord, he bids his enemies return with shame and vexation, to better sentiments.

V. 10. Ashamed-Of their vain confidence. Return-Repent of their sins and return to their obedience.

Verse 10. Ashamed and sore vexed] May they as deeply deplore their transgressions as I have done mine! May they return; may they be suddenly converted! The original will bear this meaning, and it is the most congenial to Christian principles.

Verse 10. Let all mine enemies be ashamed — Or, they shall be ashamed, of their vain confidence; and sore vexed — Because of their great and unexpected disappointment. Let them return — Namely, from their wicked ways, and from their hostile and malicious practices against me. Hebrew, wbvy, jeshubu, they shall return, turn back, or be converted; that is, repent of their sins and return to their obedience. And be ashamed suddenly — Sooner than I could hope, or they did expect, or believe. “Many mournful Psalms,” says Mr. Scott, “end thus triumphantly, for the encouragement of other mourners to hope and pray.”

10. The evil that he dreaded, which his enemies had prepared, shall now fall upon them. This was in strictest accordance with retributive justice. They shall be ashamed—Pale with disappointment. They shall be sore vexed—Terrified. See on verse 3. They shall return—Retreat from their purpose and be marked as defeated men. They shall be ashamed suddenly—Literally, in a moment. Their judgment shall come in the twinkling of an eye. God will return to David, (verse 4,) and this shall be the cause and signal of the return—the turning back, in shame and terror, and in a moment, of his enemies.