Psalm 6 teaches us how to pray when sin, sorrow, and weakness weigh heavily upon body and soul. As the first of the penitential psalms, it gives voice to honest repentance that clings to mercy rather than collapsing into despair.
David opens with a plea shaped by covenant grace: “O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.” He does not deny God’s right to discipline, nor does he excuse his sin. Instead, he appeals to the Lord’s mercy, knowing that if God were to deal with him strictly in justice, he could not stand. This is not a rejection of correction, but a cry to be spared consuming judgment.
The psalm portrays the depth of human frailty. David’s anguish reaches his very bones; his soul is “greatly troubled.” Yet David’s prayer never loses sight of hope. Again he turns to the Lord: “Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.” His confidence rests not in the strength of his repentance, but in the Lord’s covenant mercy. Even his tears—so many they soak his bed—become an expression of dependence upon a God who draws near to the brokenhearted.
A quiet turning point comes near the end of the psalm. Though circumstances have not yet changed, David can say with confidence, “The LORD has heard the sound of my weeping; the LORD accepts my prayer.” The God who disciplines His people is also the God who listens, heals, and restores.
As with the earlier psalms, Psalm 6 ultimately finds its fulfillment in Christ. Here we glimpse the grief of Jesus as He bore the weight of our sin. In His suffering, body and soul were afflicted as He endured judgment not for His own guilt, but for ours. The cry of Psalm 6 reaches its deepest expression in the sinless Son who entered our anguish for our salvation.
Because Christ bore our wrath, we now pray this psalm with assurance. Though we are dust and ashes, those found in Him are heard. The Lord heals our souls and tends even to our trembling bones. In Christ, sorrow does not have the final word. The God who hears weeping will, in His time, bring healing and restore joy to His people.
Lyrics
O Lord, rebuke me not in anger;
Chastened sore I waste away;
Pity my distress and hear me;
Lord, how long will You delay?
Come, O Lord, my soul deliver,
In Your lovingkindness save.
Shall the dead Your Name remember?
Who will praise You in the grave?
He hears when dust and ashes speak,
He pities all our groans;
He saves us for his mercy's sake,
He can heal our troubled souls,
And He can heal our troubled bones.
Pity, Lord, my sad condition;
I am weary and distressed;
Many adversaries vex me,
Weeping, I can find no rest.
He hears when dust and ashes speak,
He pities all our groans;
He saves us for his mercy's sake,
He can heal our troubled souls,
And He can heal our troubled bones.
Now the foes that seek to harm me,
Quickly put to shame, shall flee,
For the Lord has heard my weeping,
And He will listen to my plea.
He hears when dust and ashes speak,
He pities all our groans;
He saves us for his mercy's sake,
He can heal our troubled souls,
And He can heal our troubled bones.
And He can heal our broken hearts
And He can heal our broken homes
Would You heal my broken heart Lord?
Would You heal my troubled soul?
Psalm 6
O LORD, Deliver My Life
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
[1] O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath.
[2] Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing;
heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.
[3] My soul also is greatly troubled.
But you, O LORD—how long?
[4] Turn, O LORD, deliver my life;
save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
[5] For in death there is no remembrance of you;
in Sheol who will give you praise?
[6] I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.
[7] My eye wastes away because of grief;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
[8] Depart from me, all you workers of evil,
for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
[9] The LORD has heard my plea;
the LORD accepts my prayer.
[10] All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. (ESV)