Psalm 6

Psalm 6 belongs to Book I of the Psalms (Psalms 1–41), and its superscription reads "A Psalm of David." Like Psalms 3–5, it is the prayer of someone harassed by enemies. Whereas Psalm 5 is a prayer offered "in the morning," Psalm 6 follows with a prayer of weeping upon one's bed at night.

Structure

• Superscription: It reads "To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David." The "chief Musician" is understood to be the director of sacred music. "Sheminith" appears to be a musical term meaning "the eighth," though its precise meaning is unknown.
• Verses 1–3: The psalmist asks the Lord not to rebuke him in anger. He laments that he is weak and that his bones and his soul are vexed, and he asks, "How long?"
• Verses 4–5: Appealing to the Lord's mercy (Hebrew hesed), he asks for deliverance. As his reason, he gives that in death and in Sheol no one gives thanks to the Lord.
• Verses 6–7: He laments that night after night he soaks his bed with tears and that his eye is consumed because of grief and because of his enemies.
• Verses 8–10: The mood shifts. He tells the evildoers to depart and expresses confidence that, because the LORD has heard his weeping and his supplication, his enemies will be ashamed and turn back.

Key Verses

• Psalm 6:3 "But thou, O LORD, how long?": the characteristic question of the laments, asked of God when suffering is prolonged.
• Psalm 6:6 "All the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears": a verse often cited in discussions of tearful prayer.
• Psalm 6:8 "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity": the turning point at which lament gives way to confidence that the prayer has been answered.

People and Places

• David: the king of Israel whom the superscription identifies as the author of the psalm.
• Enemies and workers of iniquity: the psalmist's unnamed foes.

Points for Reflection

• Church tradition has long grouped Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143 as the "Seven Penitential Psalms," counting Psalm 6 as the first. The text itself, however, contains no explicit confession of sin, and some interpreters therefore read it as a lament offered in the midst of illness or suffering.
• Explanations that link this psalm to a specific event in David's life are conjectures without basis in the text.
• Interpretations differ on how verse 5 conceives of the realm beyond death. Some see it as reflecting the understanding of the Old Testament era, while others read it from the perspective of progressive revelation (the view that revelation unfolds more fully over time), finding it clarified by the New Testament hope of resurrection.
• The wording of verse 8 resembles the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:23 and Luke 13:27. It has also been noted that the Septuagint wording of verse 3 resembles John 12:27.
• Because the Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as verse 1, the psalm has eleven verses there, and its verse numbers are offset by one from those of English Bibles.