Psalms, chapter 6, comments

 

Psalm 6:1 ¶  «To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.» O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2  Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3  My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4  Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. 5  For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? 6  I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.7  Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

 

We know from David’s life that he has committed the very grievous sins of adultery and murder in the affair of Bathsheba and Uriah the Hittite. We also know he has suffered a rebellion by his beloved son, Absalom. In verse 1 here David pleads with God for mercy from God’s fury.

 

David’s condition is such that he is already in a weakened state referring to his flesh (bones) and his soul. He pleads with the Lord to deliver his soul, to save him for the sake of God’s mercy, clearly not for any value that David has even though in other Psalms he has declared his own righteousness. David here is acknowledging that the things that have come upon him are from God.

 

In verse 5 he makes a curious statement considering other statements about the time after physical death in the Bible. Many commentators insist that this means that man’s ability to obey God, to be saved by God, to enter into fellowship with God all end upon a person’s death. We have until then to receive God’s eternal mercy through Jesus Christ. David pleads that the service he renders to God, as he knows it now, will end at death. This is an incomplete statement about death and dying and must be considered in the context of David’s lamentation just as Job’s must be considered contextually.

 

Job 7:21  And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

 

Compare this with what Solomon says;

 

Ecclesiastes 9:4 ¶  For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. 6  Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.

 

 

David then concludes with a statement of his grief and sorrow over the enemies that plague him.

 

Prophetically, just in general terms and falling apart on close examination, we have the typology with Christ as He suffers in His trials and on the Cross at Calvary. We see how Christ’s enemies assail Him and we see His heartfelt sorrow in the garden.

 

Luke 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

 

In His humanity, as He was fully human and fully God, He suffered our fear at the act of dying to which He would submit Himself.

 

Hebrews 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

 

For us, though, this is the lamentation of all who suffer persecution for their faith. This is an appeal to God that all persecuted Christians can make. We might even make it in the day to day troubles we face as a human being that seem insurmountable; problems with our family, at work, and in social settings.

 

Psalm 6:8 ¶  Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9  The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. 10  Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

 

David continues his lamentation by demanding that all of those who work evil iniquity leave him. That would mean false counselors and those with an agenda. He claims that God has heard his cry and will answer his prayer. He has confidence in that. He then curses his enemies praying that they will given lots of problems. They took delight in his misfortunes. He wants it all turned back on them to their disgrace and failure.

 

I think from a prophetic standpoint we can see the events of the end of human history in Revelation. The victory of Christ over all of the oppressors and the Beast is important to consider and discuss. In a shorter time you can see how Jeremiah’s detractors are destroyed but it is my opinion that this can more easily be referred to as an end times prophecy. So, in the last passage you have a prophecy of Christ at the Cross and then His ultimate victory here.

 

For us this lamentation follows with the previous passage as we stand helpless asking for God’s assistance and mercy.