시편 Chapter 6

Translation: ESV

1

O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.

Key Message

In suffering, the believer seeks gracious discipline rather than God's anger — this prayer itself presupposes relationship with God.

▸Psalm 6 is the first of the seven Penitential Psalms, a lament prayer offered in illness or extreme suffering.

Psalm 6 is the first of the seven Penitential Psalms, a lament prayer offered in illness or extreme suffering. Distinguishing between 'anger' (aph) and 'wrath' (hemah) expresses fear of God's just reaction. David is not trying to completely avoid punishment but is seeking discipline within grace rather than God's anger.

Related Verses

Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
2

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

Key Message

Even physical pain brought before God without concealment is the believer's prayer — God cares about bodily suffering too.

▸'Languishing' (amlalti) means becoming weak and withering — describing a state of severe physical and spiritual deterioration.

3

My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD — how long?

Key Message

'How long?' is not an expression of despair but of faith directed toward God — it is prayer that does not give up.

▸'How long?' (ad matai) is the most frequently appearing desperate question in the lament psalms.

4

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

Key Message

The basis for salvation is not our merit but God's covenantal love (hesed), and appealing to this love is proper prayer.

▸'Turn' (shuvah) is a plea in a situation where God seems to have left, asking him to take interest again.

5

For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

Key Message

Right now, while alive, is the only time to worship and thank God — the prayer to be saved to give praise is a worshiper's prayer.

▸This verse reflects ancient Israel's view of the afterlife.

6

I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.

Key Message

Weeping through the night in extreme pain brought before God without concealment is true prayer — God does not ignore our tears.

▸This verse, a poetic expression of extreme pain and sorrow, uses hyperbole — 'flooding the bed with tears' — to intensely convey weeping through the night.

7

My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes.

Key Message

Spiritual and physical exhaustion is a reality believers experience too, and bringing all of it before God is prayer.

▸This describes the eyes becoming weak from continuous weeping and anxiety.

8

Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.

Key Message

The turn from prayer to praise is spiritual maturity — the assurance that God has heard even before the answer comes transforms the believer.

▸This verse, where a dramatic turn from lament to assurance occurs, is the key to the lament psalm structure.

9

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.

Key Message

The assurance that God receives our prayer is the basis for continuing to pray, and this assurance itself is faith.

▸The assurance begun in verse 8 continues to intensify.

10

All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

Key Message

A prayer of lament should end with assurance of the enemy's defeat — God's intervention comes suddenly in an unexpected way.

▸The psalm that began with lament ends with assurance of the enemy's defeat.