Psalms 6
6
# 6 Psalm 6 is a part of the daily prayer ritual of religious Jews. A Cry for Healing
For the Pure and Shining One
A song for stringed instruments, for the new day # 6 This is the Hebrew word sheminith. Although we cannot be certain, many scholars believe it to mean “eighth.” It could represent a harp with eight strings, an octave, the eighth division of singers, the eighth day, or the eighth month. Eight is the biblical number of a new beginning, a new day. Jewish rabbis have taught that the number eight is the number of the future messianic age when Messiah comes and makes all things new. by King David
How Long?
1Yahweh, don’t condemn me.
Don’t punish me in your fiery anger. # 6:1 David implied that he had sinned and needed forgiveness. This is the first of seven penitential psalms (32; 38; 51; 102; 130; 143).
2Please deal gently with me, Yahweh;
show me mercy, for I’m sick and frail and weak.
Heal me, Yahweh, for I’m falling apart. # 6:2 Or “my bones are shaking.” Bones are often used metaphorically for our inner being.
3My soul is so troubled; but you,
Yahweh—how long? # 6:3 The Hebrew ends abruptly, with sudden silence and broken syntax. Words failed David, too broken to finish his sentence. This sudden silence is a figure of speech called aposiopesis.
Return to Me
4Yahweh, turn to me and rescue my life
because I know your faithful love will never fail me.
5In the darkness of death who remembers your name in worship?
How could I bring you praise if I’m buried in a tomb? # 6:5 Or “Sheol,” the realm of the dead. This is the first psalm to mention the grave (or Sheol). It is depicted in the poetic literature of the Hebrews as a vast wasteland, a stronghold of darkness, and a beast of prey.
Extreme Anguish
6I’m worn out with my weeping and groaning.
Night after night I soak my pillow with tears, # 6:6 Or “I cause my bed to swim with tears.” Our beds are frequently the washing place where the sheep are sheared (Song. 4:2). The bed was the place of David’s sin; it became the place of his weeping. Even as Adam sinned in a garden, Jesus wept in a garden over Adam’s sin.
and flood my bed with weeping.
7My eyes of faith # 6:7 The Hebrew is singular, “My eye;” a likely metaphor for the eye of his heart. David’s faith was growing weak. won’t focus anymore, for sorrow fills my heart.
There are so many enemies who come against me!
He Heard My Cry
8Turn from me, all you troublemakers! # 6:8 See Ps. 5:5; Matt. 7:23.
For Yahweh has turned to hear the sound of my weeping.
9Yes! Yahweh my healer has heard all my pleading
and has taken hold of my prayers # 6:9 Or “accepted my prayers.” The Hebrew word can mean “to grasp,” “to lay hold of,” “to marry,” or, figuratively, “to accept.” and answered them all.
10Now it’s my enemies who have been shamed.
Terror-stricken, they will turn back again, # 6:10 See Pss. 9:18; 31:8.
knowing the bitterness of sudden disgrace!
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Psalms 6: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 6
6
Psalm 6#sn Psalm 6. The psalmist begs the Lord to withdraw his anger and spare his life. Having received a positive response to his prayer, the psalmist then confronts his enemies and describes how they retreat.
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;#tn The meaning of the Hebrew term שְׁמִינִית (shÿminit, “sheminith”) is uncertain; perhaps it refers to a particular style of music. See 1 Chr 15:21. a psalm of David.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger!
Do not discipline me in your raging fury!#sn The implication is that the psalmist has sinned, causing God to discipline him by bringing a life-threatening illness upon him (see vv. 2-7).
2 Have mercy on me,#tn Or “show me favor.” Lord, for I am frail!
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking!#tn Normally the verb בָּהַל (bahal) refers to an emotional response and means “tremble with fear, be terrified” (see vv. 3, 10). Perhaps here the “bones” are viewed as the seat of the psalmist’s emotions. However, the verb may describe one of the effects of his physical ailment, perhaps a fever. In Ezek 7:27 the verb describes how the hands of the people will shake with fear when they experience the horrors of divine judgment.
3 I am absolutely terrified,#tn Heb “my being is very terrified.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
and you, Lord – how long will this continue?#tn Heb “and you, Lord, how long?” The suffering psalmist speaks in broken syntax. He addresses God, but then simply cries out with a brief, but poignant, question: How long will this (= his suffering) continue?
4 Relent, Lord, rescue me!#tn Heb “my being,” or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
Deliver me because of your faithfulness!#sn Deliver me because of your faithfulness. Though the psalmist is experiencing divine discipline, he realizes that God has made a commitment to him in the past, so he appeals to God’s faithfulness in his request for help.
5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death,#tn Heb “for there is not in death your remembrance.” The Hebrew noun זֵכֶר (zekher, “remembrance”) here refers to the name of the Lord as invoked in liturgy and praise. Cf. Pss 30:4; 97:12. “Death” here refers to the realm of death where the dead reside. See the reference to Sheol in the next line.
In Sheol who gives you thanks?#tn The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”sn In Sheol who gives you thanks? According to the OT, those who descend into the realm of death/Sheol are cut off from God’s mighty deeds and from the worshiping covenant community that experiences divine intervention (Pss 30:9; 88:10-12; Isa 38:18). In his effort to elicit a positive divine response, the psalmist reminds God that he will receive no praise or glory if he allows the psalmist to die. Dead men do not praise God!
6 I am exhausted as I groan;
all night long I drench my bed in tears;#tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”
my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.#tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”
7 My eyes#tn The Hebrew text has the singular “eye” here. grow dim#tn Or perhaps, “are swollen.” from suffering;
they grow weak#tn Or perhaps, “grow old.” because of all my enemies.#sn In his weakened condition the psalmist is vulnerable to the taunts and threats of his enemies.
8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly,#tn Heb “all [you] workers of wickedness.” See Ps 5:5.
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping!#sn The Lord has heard. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes because the Lord responded positively to the lament and petition of vv. 1-7 and promised him deliverance.
9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;
the Lord has accepted#tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a preterite here; it is parallel to a perfect and refers to the fact that the Lord has responded favorably to the psalmist’s request. my prayer.
10 May all my enemies be humiliated#tn The four prefixed verbal forms in this verse are understood as jussives. The psalmist concludes his prayer with an imprecation, calling judgment down on his enemies. and absolutely terrified!#tn Heb “and may they be very terrified.” The psalmist uses the same expression in v. 3 to describe the terror he was experiencing. Now he asks the Lord to turn the tables and cause his enemies to know what absolute terror feels like.
May they turn back and be suddenly humiliated!
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