Psalm 6

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.

Psalm 6 is the first of seven Penitential Psalms or Psalms of Confession. We do not know the specific occasion of this particular Psalm, but, we gather, by it’s content, David had done something wrong and is dealing with the consequences. Because of his intimate relationship with God, he goes right to the heart of the matter and begins to plead with God to lessen His anger. He specifically asks that this Psalm be accompanied by an eight stringed instrument. Without making too much of it, I find it interesting that the number 8 in the Bible represents new beginnings or rebirth. Perhaps David is using this instrument to represent his own desire to begin again in his current broken relationship with God.

Vs 1-3 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?

David is feeling the anger of God, recognizes that he has done something wrong, and knows he needs to come clean. So, he does what any repentant child does. He goes straight to the father to own up and beg for forgiveness. Right off the bat, he addresses the anger and wrath of the Lord. The Hebrew words for anger and wrath are aph and chemah. Aph is a word for nostril. It is what you see in a person’s face when they are really angry and their nostrils flare up. An anger that sits you down or makes you take a step (or two) back. It’s like a mother’s anger when you have ignored her reprimand one too many times. With nostrils flaring, she finally gets your attention and lets you know, under no circumstances, you better stop what you are doing NOW. (I’ve been there a time or two in my younger days!) Chemah is a word meaning rage or heated displeasure. David is begging the Lord to not yasar or discipline him in a rage. I want to point out, David doesn’t ask the Lord not to discipline him – he asks that the discipline doesn’t come in anger. As a shepherd, David was well aware of the benefits of discipline. He speaks of the rod and staff in Psalm 23 as a comfort. Both were instruments the shepherd used for guidance, protection and discipline. He knew discipline meant God cared for him and wanted him to stay on the right path. David’s desire was to be disciplined out of God’s mercy and love.

The Hebrew word for “have mercy” is chanan, which means yearning. David isn’t just asking for mercy, he yearns for it. This is evident by the next few phrases. He is faint, he needs healing, and his bones are in agony. Let’s break these down. First, David is faint. The Hebrew word for faint is umlal which means feeble. The anger of God has made him feeble. He is sat down by it and can’t move. Second, he recognizes his need for healing, so he turns to Adonai Rapha – The Lord the Healer. Rapha is the word for complete healing. David doesn’t just want to feel better, he wants a complete healing from his feeble state. Finally, not only is he feeble, but his bones are in agony. The Hebrew word used here for bones is etsem, which also means substance and the inmost self. He is feeble from his encounter with God’s anger and needs complete healing from within – down to his bones. His soul is in deep anguish as this is a spiritual estrangement so David knows his need to humble himself before God and confess. He also knows God is righteous and his anger toward David is justified, but he pleads for mercy anyway.

Have you been there? You know what you’ve done is wrong, and you know you deserve the consequences that are coming to you, yet you plead for mercy anyway. Everything in you hopes and prays for that mercy to come.

Vs 4-7 Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.

The Hebrew word for what has been translated as unfailing love is checed. It is a word for loving kindness and means to have absolute favor. David knows he doesn’t deserve this favor from God, but pleads for it anyway as he knows God, being gracious to those who are truly repent, will grant him the favor. In fact, he literally says – save me for Your mercies sake. He says something very similar in Psalm 23 – He leads me along the right paths for His Name’s sake. Moses also appealed to God in this way in Exodus 32. The people of Israel had become impatient that Moses tarried on the mountaintop and made a golden calf. God’s anger burned against them and Moses pleads with God for the sake of God’s Name to spare them. David also appeals to God’s goodness and mercy. He goes further by saying there is no way he can praise God from the grave. This is not a commentary on a lack of afterlife, but a deep desire is to continue that close relationship with God. He wants a new beginning and another opportunity to give God the praise He deserves. He is repentant and knows he relies only on God’s ultimate graciousness to be spared.

Vs 8-10 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

David has turned from his sin – Away from me all you who do evil. Perhaps he got in with the wrong crowd and allowed himself to be led down the wrong path. This can happen so easily and the influence of others in our lives is quite powerful. What might seem innocent fun at first, can turn into something catastrophic. This is the reason we must surround ourselves with people who walk with us in faith. In my ministry with students, I have often encountered this dilemma. They wanted to be accepted by others and sometimes compromised what they knew was right to be liked by a certain crowd. On one occasion I ended up with the parents at a police station with their youth in a shambles. It was a heartbreaking situation of him running with the wrong crowd and things getting out of control. Thankfully, this was not a situation that ruined his whole life. He had to pay the consequences for his actions, but was given the chance to walk a different road from that day forward. The writer of Hebrews says it this way in 12:1-2 – Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne. We need to lay aside those things, those people, those influences that entangle us to sin and walk toward Jesus our Great Redeemer.

There will always be times in our lives when we are tempted to fail or when we do fail to go in the right direction. We will sin and put up a wall between us and our relationship with God. We’ve all been there and, if we are honest, will probably be there again. One thing we can rely on is the mercy of God. He will forgive us and put us back on the right path. The rod and staff of guidance and discipline are a great comfort. Proverbs 3:11-12 reminds us “Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in.” As long as there is breath in our bodies, there is hope for redemption. David knew this and wanted that breath to be about praising God for his unfailing miraculous love and mercy in his life. His appeal and humble repentance was acceptable to God. David knew God’s forgiveness, even for the worst of sins. We can be confident that nothing can prevent the mercy of God for a repentant soul.