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Psalm Six
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 6
To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, a Psalm of David. What is
designed by "the chief musician", and what is meant by
"neginoth", have been observed preciously, See Gill on Psalm 4:1. As for "sheminith", it
seems to be one particular sort of the "neginoth", or stringed
instrument, which this man had the care of; see the title of Psalm 12:1, which most of the Hebrew
writersF25Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, & Ben Melech in loc.
understand of the harp of eight strings, to which this psalm was set; and
which, from the number of its strings, was called "sheminith", which
signifies "the eighth": and this receives confirmation from 1 Chronicles 15:21. The eighth string was
added to the harp by Simonides, according to PlinyF26Nat. Hist. l.
7. c. 56. : but if such an harp is here meant, this refutes it, for David lived
long before Simonides. Though someF1In Aben Ezra in loc. have
thought it refers to a poem or song of eight notes, to the tune of which this
psalm was sung; or to the eighth note, which was grave, and which we call the
bass. As for the eighth day of circumcision, of which some Jewish writers
mystically interpret it; or the eighth, that is, the first day, or Lord's day,
to which some of the ancient Christian writers refer it, or the eighth age, or
millennium, as Theodoret; these can by no means be admitted of. The occasion of
it was either some bodily disease the psalmist laboured under, or some distress
of soul, on account of sin; and the rather this seems to be the case, seeing
the psalm begins with the same words as Psalm 38:1, in which the psalmist so much
bewails his iniquity. Some have thought it was drawn up for the use of any and
every sick person; and others say it was written on the account of Israel in
captivity, who were then as sick personsF2Vid. Kimchi & Aben
Ezra in loc. : but rather the occasion of it was bodily sickness, inward guilt
of conscience for sin, and distress by enemies; as appears from, Psalm 6:3.
Psalm 6:1 O
Lord, do not rebuke
me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
YLT
1To the Overseer with
stringed instruments, on the octave. -- A Psalm of David. O Jehovah, in Thine
anger reprove me not, Nor in Thy fury chastise me.
O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, The Lord
sometimes rebukes or reproves men by his spirit, and sometimes by his word and
ministers, and sometimes by his providences, and that on account of sin; to
bring to a sense and acknowledgment of it; and particularly for remissness in
duty, or neglect of it; and for trusting in the creature, or in any outward
enjoyment, boasting of it, and loving it too much; and these rebukes of his own
people are always in love, and never in wrath, though they sometimes fear they
are; see Psalm 88:7, Lamentations 3:1; and therefore deprecate
them, as the psalmist here does; not the thing itself, but the manner in which
it is apprehended it is done, or doing;
neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure; when God
chastens his own people it is not in a way of vindictive wrath, or as a proper
punishment for sin; for this would be contrary to Christ's suretyship
engagements and performances, and to the doctrine of his satisfaction for sin;
it would draw a veil over it, and render it of none effect; it would be
contrary to the justice of God to punish both surety and principal; and to the
everlasting love of God to them, in which he always rests, and from which there
can be no separation; nor would they be dealt with as children; and besides
would be condemned with the world, and killed with the second death; whereas
they will not, though chastened of God, it is the chastening of a father, is
very instructive to them, and is always for their good, spiritual and eternal;
is in measure, in judgment, and in love; and never in fury and hot displeasure;
but this being feared, is deprecated.
Psalm 6:2 2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am
weak; O Lord,
heal me, for my bones are troubled.
YLT
2Favour me, O Jehovah, for I
[am] weak, Heal me, O Jehovah, For troubled have been my bones,
Have mercy upon me, O Lord,.... He knew he was a
sinner, both by original sin and actual transgression, which he was always
ready to own; he knew that what he had done deserved the wrath of God, even his
hot displeasure; and that for such things it came upon the children of
disobedience: he knew that there was mercy with God through Christ, and
therefore he flees unto it, pleads for it, and entreats the manifestation of
forgiving love: he pleads no merits of his own, nor makes any mention of former
works of righteousness done by him, but throws himself upon the mercy of God in
Christ; giving this as a reason,
for I am weak; either in body, through
some disease upon him; or in soul, being enfeebled by sin, and so without
spiritual strength to do that which was good of himself; to exercise grace, and
perform duty, and much less to keep the law of God, or make atonement for sin,
or to bear the punishment of it;
O Lord, heal me; meaning either his body, for God is the
physician of the body, he wounds and he heals; so he healed Hezekiah and
others; and he should be sought to in the first place by persons under bodily
disorders: or else his soul, as in Psalm 41:4; sin is the disease of the soul,
and a very loathsome one it is, and is incurable but by the balm of Gilead, and
the physician there; by the blood of Christ, and forgiveness through it; and
the forgiveness of sin is the healing of the diseases of the soul, Psalm 103:3;
for my bones are vexed; with strong pain;
meaning his body, as Kimchi and Aben Ezra observe; because these are the
foundation of the body, and the more principal parts of it: and this may be
understood of his grief and trouble of heart for his sins and transgressions,
which is sometimes expressed by the bones being broke, and by there being no
rest in them, Psalm 51:8.
Psalm 6:3 3 My soul also is greatly
troubled; But You, O Lord—how
long?
YLT
3And my soul hath been
troubled greatly, And Thou, O Jehovah, till when?
My soul is also sore vexed,.... Or "exceedingly
troubled"F3נבהלה מאד
"turbata est valde", V. L. "conturbata", Junius &
Tremellius, Piscator; "territa valde": Pagninus, Montanus;
"consternata valde", Cocceius. , and even frightened and thrown into
a consternation with indwelling sin, and on account of actual transgressions,
and by reason of the hidings of God's face, and through the temptations of
Satan, and because of the fear of death; to which Old Testament saints were
very incident.
But thou, O Lord, how long? it is an abrupt
expression, the whole he designed is not spoken, being hindered through the
grief and sorrow with which his heart was overwhelmed; and is to be supplied
after this manner,
"shall
I have refreshment?'
as
the Chaldee paraphrase; or,
"wilt
thou look and not heal me?'
as
Jarchi; or
"my
soul be troubled?'
as
Aben Ezra; or
"shall
I be afflicted, and thou wilt not heal me?'
as
Kimchi; or
"wilt
thou afflict me, and not arise to my help?'
see
Psalm 13:1.
Psalm 6:4 4 Return, O Lord, deliver me! Oh,
save me for Your mercies’ sake!
YLT
4Turn back, O Jehovah, draw
out my soul, Save me for Thy kindness' sake.
Return, O Lord,.... By this it seems that the Lord had
withdrawn himself, and was departed from the psalmist, wherefore he entreats
him to return unto him, and grant him his gracious presence. God is immense and
omnipresent, he is everywhere: going away and returning cannot be properly
ascribed to him; but he, nay be said to depart from his people, as to sensible
communion with him, and enjoyment of him, when he hides his face, withdraws his
gracious presence, and the comfortable discoveries and influences of his love;
and he may be said to return when he visits them again, and manifests his love
and favour to them: the Jewish writersF4Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi,
& Ben Melech in loc. interpret it,
"return
from the fierceness of thine anger,'
as
in Psalm 85:3; and though there is no such
change in God, as from love to wrath, and from wrath to love; but inasmuch as
there is a change in his dispensations towards his people, it is as if it was
so; and thus it is apprehended by them;
deliver my soul; from the anxiety, distress, and sore
vexation it was now in, for of all troubles soul troubles are the worst: and
from all enemies and workers of iniquity which were now about him, and gave him
much grief and uneasiness; and from death itself, he was in fear of;
O, save me for thy mercy's sake; out of all troubles of
soul and body, and out of the hands of all enemies, inward and outward; and
with temporal, spiritual, and eternal salvation; not for his righteousness's
sake, as Kimchi well observes; for salvation is according to the abundant mercy
of God, and not through works of righteousness done by men, otherwise it would
not be of grace.
Psalm 6:5 5 For in death there is
no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?
YLT
5For there is not in death
Thy memorial, In Sheol, who doth give thanks to Thee?
For in death there is no remembrance of thee,.... Of the
goodness, truth, power, and faithfulness of God; no notice can be taken nor
mention, made either of the perfections or works of God, whether of nature or
of grace, by a dead man to others; he is wholly useless to men on earth with
respect to these things;
in the grave who shall give thee thanks? for mercies
temporal or spiritual; the dead cannot praise the Lord among men, only the
living; see Psalm 30:9; wherefore the psalmist desires
that he might live and praise the Lord: this argument is taken from the glory
of God, which end cannot be answered among men by death, as by life. It does
not follow from hence that the soul either dies or sleeps with the body, and is
inactive until the resurrection morn, neither of which are true; or that the
souls of departed saints are unemployed in heaven; they are always before the
throne, and serve the Lord day and night; they remember, with the utmost
gratitude and thankfulness, all the goodness and grace of God unto them, and
praise him for all his wondrous works: but the sense is, that when a saint is
dead, he can no more serve and glorify God on earth among men.
Psalm 6:6 6 I am weary with my
groaning; All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears.
YLT
6I have been weary with my
sighing, I meditate through all the night [on] my bed, With my tear my couch I
waste.
I am weary with my groanings,.... By reason of bodily
illness, or indwelling sin, or the guilt of actual transgressions, or the
hidings of God's face, or a sense of divine wrath, or the temptations of Satan,
or afflictions and crosses of various kinds, or fears of death, or even earnest
desires after heaven and eternal happiness, or the low estate of Zion; each of
which at times occasion groaning in the saints, as in the psalmist, and is the
common experience of all good men. The psalmist being weary of his disease, or
of sin, groaned till he was weary with his groaning; inward groaning affects
the body, wastes the animal spirits, consumes the flesh, and induces weariness
and faintness; see Psalm 102:5;
all the night make I my bed to swim: I water my couch with my
tears; these are hyperbolical phrasesF5See the latter in
Homer. Odyss 17. v. 110. Odyss. 19. prope finem. , expressing more than is intended,
and are not to be literally understood; for such a quantity of tears a man
could never shed, as to water his couch and make his bed to swim with them, but
they are used to denote the multitude of them, and the excessiveness of his
sorrow; see Psalm 119:136; and these tears were shed,
not to atone and satisfy for sin, for nothing but the blood and sacrifice of
Christ can do that; but to express the truth and reality, as well as the
abundance of his grief; and this was done "all the night long"; see Job 7:3; when he had leisure to think and
reflect upon his sins and transgressions, and when he was clear of all company,
and no one could hear or see him, nor interrupt him in the vent of his sorrow,
and when his disease might be heavier upon him, as some diseases increase in
the night season: this may also be mystically understood, of a night of
spiritual darkness and desertion, when a soul is without the discoveries of the
love of God, and the influences of his grace; and has lost sight of God and
Christ, and interest in them, and does not enjoy communion with them; and throughout
this night season weeping endures, though joy comes in the morning. And it may
be applicable to David's antitype, to the doleful night in which he was
betrayed, when it was the hour and power of darkness, and when he had no other
couch or bed but the ground itself; which was watered, not only with his tears,
but with his sweat and blood, his sweat being as it were great drops of blood
falling to the ground; so he is often said to sigh and groan in spirit, Mark 7:34.
Psalm 6:7 7 My eye wastes away because
of grief; It grows old because of all my enemies.
YLT
7Old from provocation is
mine eye, It is old because of all mine adversaries,
Mine eye is consumed because of grief,.... Either by
reason of the affliction he laboured under, which could not he joyous, but
grievous; or because, of the sin that was in him, and those that he had
committed, which were grieving to him; or through the sins of other professors
of religion, or profane sinners, whom he beheld with grief of heart and weeping
eyes: the wordF6מכעס "prae ira",
Pagninus; "prae indignatione", Montanus, Musculus; "ex
indignatione", Piscator. used signifies anger and indignation, and sorrow
arising from thence, and may denote either indignation in himself at his
enemies, who were rejoicing at his calamities; or the sense he had of the anger
of God, and his hot displeasure, which he feared he was rebuking and chastening
him with; and now his heart being filled with grief on one or other of these
accounts, or all of them, vented itself in floods of tears, which hurt the
visive faculty; for through much weeping the eye is weakened and becomes dim;
and through a multitude of tears, and a long continuance of them, it fails; see
Job 17:7;
it waxeth old because of all mine enemies; saints have
many enemies, sin, Satan, and the world; and these are very oppressive ones, as
the wordF7צורדיו
"angustiatores", Montanus; "angustiis afficientes me",
Vatablus; "oppressores meos", Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus. here
signifies; such as beset them about, straiten them on all hands, and press them
sore; and they must be pressed down by them, were it not that he that is in
them is greater than he that is in the world; and David's enemies gave him so
much trouble, and caused him to shed such plenty of tears, that his eye waxed
old, was shrunk up, and beset with wrinkles, the signs of old age; or it was
removed out of its place, as the word is rendered in Job 18:4; or the sight was removed from
that, it was gone from him, Psalm 38:10.
Psalm 6:8 8 Depart from me, all you
workers of iniquity; For the Lord has heard the voice of my
weeping.
YLT
8Turn from me all ye workers
of iniquity, For Jehovah heard the voice of my weeping,
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity,.... The
psalmist being fully assured that God had heard his prayer, that he should
recover from his disorder, or be delivered out of his calamities, whether
corporeal or spiritual, has on a sudden a spring of joy, faith, and comfort; as
sometimes there is a quick transition from comfortable to uncomfortable frames;
see Psalm 30:7; so on the contrary, there is as
quick a passage from uncomfortable to comfortable ones; see Lamentations 3:18; who may be called
"workers of iniquity" See Gill on Psalm 5:5; and these were either his open
enemies, as Saul and his men, or Absalom and the conspirators with him, whom he
bids to cease from following and pursuing after him; or his secret ones,
hypocritical courtiers, that were about him, who were wishing and hoping for
his death. It is the lot of God's people to be among the workers of iniquity;
Lot was among the Sodomites, David was in Meshech and in the tents of Kedar,
Isaiah was among men of unclean lips; Christ's lily is among thorns, and his
sheep among goats; and though in some respects a civil conversation with wicked
men cannot be avoided, for then good men must needs go out of the world; yet as
little company should be kept with them as can be, and no fellowship should be
had with them in sinful practices, nor in superstitious worship; and though
there will not be a full and final separation from them in the present state of
things, there will be hereafter, when these very words will be used by David's
antitype, the Lord Jesus Christ; not only to profane sinners, but to carnal
professors of religion, who have herded themselves with the people of God, Matthew 25:41. The reason why the psalmist
took heart and courage, and ordered his wicked persecutors, or sycophants, to
be gone from him, was his assurance of being heard by the Lord;
for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping; referring to
what is said Psalm 6:6; he had not only lifted up his
voice in prayer, but he had wept and made supplication, as Jacob did, Hosea 12:4; sometimes God brings his people
to the throne of grace weeping, and with supplications leads them, Jeremiah 31:9; and then hears their cry and
answers them.
Psalm 6:9 9 The Lord has heard my
supplication; The Lord
will receive my prayer.
YLT
9Jehovah hath heard my
supplication, Jehovah my prayer receiveth.
The Lord hath heard my supplication,.... Which he had
presented to him, Psalm 6:1; in which he deprecates his anger
and hot displeasure; entreats his free favour, grace, and mercy; desires
healing for soul or body, or both; prays a return of his gracious presence; and
deliverance and salvation out of all his troubles, from all his enemies, and
from death itself. The wordF8תחנתי
"supplices pro gratia preces meas", Michaelis: so Ainsworth. used
properly signifies petitions for grace and mercy, which the psalmist put up
under the influence of the spirit of grace and supplication, and which were
heard;
the Lord will receive my prayer; instead of a burnt
offering, as Aben Ezra glosses it; as sweet incense, as what is grateful and
delightful, coming up out of the hands of Christ the Mediator, perfumed with
the sweet incense of his mediation: the wordF9תפלה
"est propria oratio habita ad juris et aequi arbitrum"; Cocceius in
Psal. iv. 2. signifies prayer made to God as the righteous Judge, as the God of
his righteousness, who would vindicate his cause and right his wrongs; and a
believer, through the blood and righteousness of Christ, can go to God as a
righteous God, and plead with him even for pardon and cleansing, who is just
and faithful to grant both unto him. The psalmist three times expresses his
confidence of his prayers being heard and received, which may be either in
reference to his having prayed so many times for help, as the Apostle Paul did,
2 Corinthians 12:8; and as Christ his
antitype did, Matthew 26:39; or to express the certainty
of it, the strength of his faith in it, and the exuberance of his joy on
account of it.
Psalm 6:10 10 Let all my enemies be
ashamed and greatly troubled; Let them turn back and be ashamed
suddenly.
YLT
10Ashamed and troubled
greatly are all mine enemies, They turn back -- ashamed [in] a moment!
Let all mine enemies be ashamed,.... Or "they shall
be ashamed"F11יבשו "pudore
afficientur", Pagninus, Montanus; "pudefient", Coeceius,
Schmidt; so Ainsworth. ; and so the following clauses may be rendered, and be
considered as prophecies of what would be; though if this be considered as an
imprecation, it is wishing no ill; wicked men are not ashamed of their
abominations committed by them, neither can they blush; it would be well if
they were ashamed of them, and brought to true repentance for them; and if they
are not ashamed now, they will be hereafter, when the Judge of quick and dead
appears;
and sore vexed; or "troubled"F12יבהלו "conturbantur", Junius & Tremellius,
Piscator. ; as his bones had been vexed, and his soul had been sore vexed by
them; as he knew they would be through disappointment at his recovery, and at
his deliverance from the distresses and calamities he was now in, when he
should sing for joy of heart, and they should howl for vexation of spirit;
let them return; meaning either from him, from pursuing
after him; or to him, to seek his favour, and be reconciled to him, and be at
peace with him, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi explain it; unless this word should
only signify "again", as it sometimes does, and be read in connection
with what follows;
and let them be again ashamed
suddenlyF13ישבו יבושו "iterum confundantur", Gejerus. ;
intimating that his deliverance would be sudden, in a moment, in a very little
time, and so would be their disappointment, shame, and confusion. Jarchi, from
R. Jonathan and R. Samuel bar Nachmani, refers this to the shame of the wicked
in the world to come.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)