Psalm 6

Psalm 6

¹O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
² Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
³ My soul also is greatly troubled;
But You, O Lord—how long?

⁴ Return, O Lord, deliver me!
Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of You;
In the grave who will give You thanks?

⁶ I am weary with my groaning;
All night I make my bed swim;
I drench my couch with my tears.
⁷ My eye wastes away because of grief;
It grows old because of all my enemies.

⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;
For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
⁹ The Lord has heard my supplication;
The Lord will receive my prayer.
¹⁰ Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;
Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.

My Bible makes a note that this psalm is dealing particularly with the nature of sin and forgiveness. Specifically, we see the consequences of sin on the sinner.

for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled

Sinning makes us weak. It tears us apart from the inside.

Return, O Lord, deliver me!

Sinning takes us away from the presence of God. We need to call Him back after we’ve done wrong, and he will cleanse us from the troubles that are plaguing us.

Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity

I’m reminded of the phrase, “Get thee behind me satan!” (Matt. 16:23) Notice how I haven’t capitalized the word “satan.” It’s not a typo. The Greek word σατάν, which usually just gets translated as Satan=Devil, actually just means an adversary. After all, it would be a little harsh if Jesus called one of his disciples the Satan to his face. The psalmist is expressing the same sentiment. “Get away from me, people who are going to hinder me from doing what God wants.”

Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled

When our enemies see the power of God in our lives, we are not weak any longer. We are strong, and through our example, our enemies, the enemies of God, will know his might and be ashamed of their own sins. Remember that we are His light and salt!