Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath.
KJV
O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Commentary
Commentary
David was a weeping prophet as well as Jeremiah, and this psalm is one
of his lamentations: either it was penned in a time, or at least
calculated for a time, of great trouble, both outward and inward. Is
any afflicted? Is any sick? Let him sing this psalm. The method of this
psalm is very observable, and what we shall often meet with. He begins
with doleful complaints, but ends with joyful praises; like Hannah, who
went to prayer with a sorrowful spirit, but, when she had prayed, went
her way, and her countenance was no more sad. Three things the psalmist
is here complaining of:--
1. Sickness of body.
2. Trouble of mind, arising from the sense of sin, the meritorious
cause of pain and sickness.
3. The insults of his enemies upon occasion of both. Now here,
I. He pours out his complaints before God, deprecates his wrath, and
begs earnestly for the return of his favour, ver. 1-7 .
II. He assures himself of an answer of peace, shortly, to his full
satisfaction, ver. 8-10 .
This psalm is like the book of Job.
To the chief musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.
1 O L ORD , rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten
me in thy hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O L ORD ; for I am weak: O L ORD , heal me;
for my bones are vexed.
3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O L ORD , how long?
4 Return, O L ORD , 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.
These verses speak the language of a heart truly humbled under humbling
providences, of a broken and contrite spirit under great afflictions,
sent on purpose to awaken conscience and mortify corruption. Those heap
up wrath who cry not when God binds them; but those are getting ready
for mercy who, under God's rebukes, sow in tears, as David does here.
Let us observe here,
I. The representation he makes to God of his grievances. He pours out
his complaint before him. Whither else should a child go with his
complaints, but to his father?
1. He complains of bodily pain and sickness
( v. 2 ): My bones are vexed. His bones and his flesh, like Job's, were
touched. Though David was a king, yet he was sick and pained; his
imperial crown could not keep his head from aching. Great men are men,
and subject to the common calamities of human life. Though David was a
stout man, a man of war from his youth, yet this could not secure him
from distempers, which will soon make even the strong men to bow
themselves. Though David was a good man, yet neither could his goodness
keep him in health. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. Let this help to reconcile us to pain and sickness, that it has been
the lot of some of the best saints, and that we are directed and
encouraged by their example to show before God our trouble in that
case, who is for the body, and takes cognizance of its ailments.
2. He complains of inward trouble: My soul is also sorely vexed; and that is much more grievous than the vexation of the bones. The
spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity, if that be in good
plight; but, if that be wounded, the grievance is intolerable. David's
sickness brought his sin to his remembrance, and he looked upon it as a
token of God's displeasure against him; that was the vexation of his
soul; that made him cry, I am weak, heal me. It is a sad thing
for a man to have his bones and his soul vexed at the same time; but
this has been sometimes the lot of God's own people: nay, and this
completed his complicated trouble, that it was continued upon him a
great while, which is here intimated in that expostulation
( v. 3 ), Thou, O Lord! how long? To the living God we must, at such a
time, address ourselves, who is the only physician both of body and
mind, and not to the Assyrians, not to the god of Ekron.
II. The impression which his troubles made upon him. They lay very
heavily; he groaned till he was weary, wept till he made his
bed to swim, and watered his couch ( v. 6 ),
wept till he had almost wept his eyes out
( v. 7 ): My eye is consumed because of grief. David had more courage and
consideration than to mourn thus for any outward affliction; but, when
sin sat heavily upon his conscience and he was made to possess his
iniquities, when his soul was wounded with the sense of God's wrath and
his withdrawings from him, then he thus grieves and mourns in secret,
and even his soul refuses to be comforted. This not only kept his eyes
waking, but kept his eyes weeping. Note,
1. It has often been the lot of the best of men to be men of sorrows;
our Lord Jesus himself was so. Our way lies through a vale of tears,
and we must accommodate ourselves to the temper of the climate.
2. It well becomes the greatest spirits to be tender, and to relent,
under the tokens of God's displeasure. David, who could face Goliath
himself and many another threatening enemy with an undaunted bravery,
yet melts into tears at the remembrance of sin and under the
apprehensions of divine wrath; and it was no diminution at all to his
character to do so.
3. True penitents weep in their retirements. The Pharisees disguised
their faces, that they might appear unto men to mourn; but David
mourned in the night upon the bed where he lay communing with his own
heart, and no eye was a witness to his grief, but the eye of him who is
all eye. Peter went out, covered his face, and wept.
4. Sorrow for sin ought to be great sorrow; so David's was; he wept so
bitterly, so abundantly, that he watered his couch.
5. The triumphs of wicked men in the sorrows of the saints add very
much to their grief. David's eye waxed old because of his enemies, who
rejoiced in his afflictions and put bad constructions upon his tears.
In this great sorrow David was a type of Christ, who often wept, and
who cried out, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, Heb. v. 7 .
III. The petitions which he offers up to God in this sorrowful and
distressed state.
1. That which he dreads as the greatest evil is the anger of God. This
was the wormwood and the gall in the affliction and the misery; it was
the infusion of this that made it indeed a bitter cup; and therefore he
prays
( v. 1 ), O Lord! rebuke me not in thy anger, though I have deserved it, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. He does not pray,
"Lord, rebuke me not; Lord, chasten me not;" for, as many as God
loves he rebukes and chastens, as a father the son in whom he
delights. He can bear the rebuke and chastening well enough if God,
at the same time, lift up the light of his countenance upon him and by
his Spirit make him to hear the joy and gladness of his
loving-kindness; the affliction of his body will be tolerable if he
have but comfort in his soul. No matter though sickness make his bones
ache, if God's wrath do not make his heart ache; therefore his prayer
is, " Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath; let me not lie under the
impressions of that, for that will sink me." Herein David was a type of
Christ, whose sorest complaint, in his sufferings, was of the trouble
of his soul and of the suspension of his Father's smiles. He never so
much as whispered a complaint of the rage of his enemies--"Why do they
crucify me?" or the unkindness of his friends--"Why do they desert me?"
But he cried with a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Let us thus deprecate the wrath of God more than any
outward trouble whatsoever and always beware of treasuring up wrath
against a day of affliction.
2. That which he desires as the greatest good, and which would be to
him the restoration of all good, is the favour and friendship of God.
He prays,
(1.) That God would pity him and look upon him with compassion. He
thinks himself very miserable, and misery is the proper object of
mercy. Hence he prays, " Have mercy upon me, O Lord! in wrath
remember mercy, and deal not with me in strict justice."
(2.) That God would pardon his sins; for that is the proper act of
mercy, and is often chiefly intended in that petition, Have mercy
upon me. (3.) That God would put forth his power for his relief: " Lord, heal
me ( v. 2 ), save me ( v. 4 ),
speak the word, and I shall be whole, and all will be well."
(4.) That he would be at peace with him: " Return, O Lord! receive me into thy favour again, and be reconciled to me. Thou hast
seemed to depart from me and neglect me, nay, to set thyself at a
distance, as one angry; but now, Lord, return and show thyself nigh to
me."
(5.) That he would especially preserve the inward man and the interests
of that, whatever might become of the body: " O Lord! deliver my
soul from sinning, from sinking, from perishing for ever." It is an
unspeakable privilege that we have a God to go to in our afflictions,
and it is our duty to go to him, and thus to wrestle with him, and we
shall not seek in vain.
IV. The pleas with which he enforces his petitions, not to move God (he
knows our cause and the true merits of it better than we can state
them), but to move himself.
1. He pleads God's mercy; and thence we take some of our best
encouragements in prayer: Save me, for thy mercies' sake. 3. He pleads God's glory
( v. 5 ):
" For in death there is no remembrance of thee. Lord, if thou
deliver me and comfort me, I will not only give thee thanks for my
deliverance, and stir up others to join with me in these thanksgivings,
but I will spend the new life thou shalt entrust me with in thy service
and to thy glory, and all the remainder of my days I will preserve a
grateful remembrance of thy favours to me, and be quickened thereby in
all instances of service to thee; but, if I die, I shall be cut short
of that opportunity of honouring thee and doing good to others, for in the grave who will give the thanks? " Not but that separate
souls live and act, and the souls of the faithful joyfully remember God
and give thanks to him. But,
(1.) In the second death (which perhaps David, being now troubled in
soul under the wrath of God, had some dreadful apprehensions of) there
is no pleasing remembrance of God; devils and damned spirits blaspheme
him and do not praise him. "Lord, let me not lie always under this
wrath, for that is sheol, it is hell itself, and lays me
under an everlasting disability to praise thee." Those that sincerely
seek God's glory, and desire and delight to praise him, may pray in
faith, "Lord, send me not to that dreadful place, where there is no
devout remembrance of thee, nor are any thanks given to thee."
(2.) Even the death of the body puts an end to our opportunity and
capacity of glorifying God in this world, and serving the interests of
his kingdom among men by opposing the powers of darkness and bringing
many on this earth to know God and devote themselves to him. Some have
maintained that the joys of the saints in heaven are more desirable,
infinitely more so, than the comforts of saints on earth; yet the
services of saints on earth, especially such eminent ones as David was,
are more laudable, and redound more to the glory of the divine grace,
than the services of the saints in heaven, who are not employed in
maintaining the war against sin and Satan, nor in edifying the body of
Christ. Courtiers in the royal presence are most happy, but soldiers in
the field are more useful; and therefore we may, with good reason, pray
that if it be the will of God, and he has any further work for us or
our friends to do in this world, he will yet spare us, or them, to
serve him. To depart and be with Christ is most happy for the saints
themselves; but for them to abide in the flesh is more profitable for
the church. This David had an eye to when he pleaded this, In the
grave who shall give thee thanks? Ps. xxx. 9;
lxxxviii. 10; cxv. 17; Isa. xxxviii. 18 .
And this Christ had an eye to when he said, I pray not that thou
shouldst take them out of the world.
We should sing these verses with a deep sense of the terrors of God's wrath, which we should
therefore dread and deprecate above any thing; and with thankfulness if
this be not our condition, and compassion to those who are thus
afflicted: if we be thus troubled, let it comfort us that our case is
not without precedent, nor, if we humble ourselves and pray, as David
did, shall it be long without redress.
8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the L ORD hath
heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The L ORD hath heard my supplication; the L ORD will receive my
prayer.
10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them
return and be ashamed suddenly.
What a sudden change is here for the better! He that was groaning, and
weeping, and giving up all for gone
( v. 6, 7 ),
here looks and speaks very pleasantly. Having made his requests known
to God, and lodged his case with him, he is very confident the issue
will be good and his sorrow is turned into joy.
I. He distinguishes himself from the wicked and ungodly, and fortifies
himself against their insults
( v. 8 ): Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. When he was in the
depth of his distress,
1. He was afraid that God's wrath against him would give him his
portion with the workers of iniquity; but now that this cloud of
melancholy had blown over he was assured that his soul would not be
gathered with sinners, for they are not his people. He began to suspect
himself to be one of them because of the heavy pressures of God's wrath
upon him; but now that all his fears were silenced he bade them depart,
knowing that his lot was among the chosen.
2. The workers of iniquity had teased him, and taunted him, and asked
him, "Where is thy God?" triumphing in his despondency and despair; but
now he had wherewith to answer those that reproached him, for God, who
was about to return in mercy to him, had now comforted his spirit and
would shortly complete his deliverance.
3. Perhaps they had tempted him to do as they did, to quit his religion
and betake himself for ease to the pleasures of sin. But now,
" depart from me; I will never lend an ear to your counsel; you
would have had me to curse God and die, but I will bless him and live."
This good use we should make of God's mercies to us, we should thereby
have our resolution strengthened never to have any thing more to do
with sin and sinners. David was a king, and he takes this occasion to
renew his purpose of using his power for the suppression of sin and the
reformation of manners, Ps. lxxv. 4; ci. 3 .
When God has done great things for us, this should put us upon studying
what we shall do for him. Our Lord Jesus seems to borrow these words
from the mouth of his father David, when, having all judgment committed
to him, he shall say, Depart from me, all you workers of
iniquity ( Luke xiii. 27 ),
and so teaches us to say so now, Ps. cxix. 115 .
II. He assures himself that God was, and would be, propitious to him,
notwithstanding the present intimations of wrath which he was under.
1. He is confident of a gracious answer to this prayer which he is now
making. While he is yet speaking, he is aware that God hears (as Isa. lxv. 24, Dan. ix. 20 ),
and therefore speaks of it as a thing done, and repeats it with an air
of triumph, " The Lord hath heard "
( v. 8 ),
and again
( v. 9 ),
" The Lord hath heard. " By the workings of God's grace upon his
heart he knew his prayer was graciously accepted, and therefore did not
doubt but it would in due time be effectually answered. His tears had a
voice, a loud voice, in the ears of the God of mercy: The Lord has
heard the voice of my weeping. Silent tears are not speechless
ones. His prayers were cries to God: " The Lord has heard the voice
of my supplication, has put his Fiat--Let it be done, to my
petitions, and so it will appear shortly."
2. Thence he infers the like favourable audience of all his other
prayers: "He has heard the voice of my supplication, and
therefore he will receive my prayer; for he gives, and does not
upbraid with former grants."
III. He either prays for the conversion or predicts the destruction of
his enemies and persecutors, v. 10 .
1. It may very well be taken as a prayer for their conversion: "Let
them all be ashamed of the opposition they have given me and the
censures they have passed upon me. Let them be (as all true penitents
are) vexed at themselves for their own folly; let them return to a
better temper and disposition of mind, and let them be ashamed of what
they have done against me and take shame to themselves."
2. If they be not converted, it is a prediction of their confusion and
ruin. They shall be ashamed and sorely vexed (so it maybe read),
and that justly. They rejoiced that David was vexed
( v. 2, 3 ),
and therefore, as usually happens, the evil returns upon themselves;
they also shall be sorely vexed. Those that will not give glory to God
shall have their faces filled with everlasting shame.
In singing this, and praying over it, we must give glory to God, as a
God ready to hear prayer, must own his goodness to us in hearing our
prayers, and must encourage ourselves to wait upon him and to trust in
him in the greatest straits and difficulties.
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 "Ps 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 Ps 12:1: which most of the Hebrew writers {y} 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 1Ch 15:21. The eighth string was added to the harp by Simonides, according to Pliny {z}: but if such an harp is here meant, this refutes it, for David lived long before Simonides. Though some {a} 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
Ps 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 persons {b}: but rather the occasion of it was bodily sickness, inward guilt of conscience for sin, and distress by enemies; as appears from, Ps 6:3.
{y} Targum, Jarchi, Kimchi, & Ben Melech in loc. {z} Nat. Hist. l. 7. c. 56. {a} In Aben Ezra in loc. {b} Vid. Kimchi & Aben Ezra in loc.
Ver. 1. 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 Ps 88:7 La 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.
Psalms 6:2
Ver. 2. 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 Ps 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, Ps 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, Ps 51:8.
Psalms 6:3
Ver. 3. My soul is also sore vexed,.... Or "exceedingly troubled" {c}, 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 Ps 13:1.
{c} dam hlhbn "turbata est valde", V. L. "conturbata", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "territa valde": Pagninus, Montanus; "consternata valde", Cocceius.
Psalms 6:4
Ver. 4. 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 writers {d} interpret it,
"return from the fierceness of thine anger,''
as in Ps 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.
{d} Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, & Ben Melech in loc.
Psalms 6:5
Ver. 5. 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 Ps 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.
Psalms 6:6
Ver. 6. 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 Ps 102:5;
all the night make I my bed to swim: I water my couch with my tears; these are hyperbolical phrases {e}, 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 Ps 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, Mr 7:34.
{e} See the latter in Homer. Odyss 17. v. 110. Odyss. 19. prope finem.
Psalms 6:7
Ver. 7. 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 word {f} 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 word {g} 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, Ps 38:10.
{f} oekm "prae ira", Pagninus; "prae indignatione", Montanus, Musculus; "ex indignatione", Piscator. {g} wydrwu "angustiatores", Montanus; "angustiis afficientes me", Vatablus; "oppressores meos", Junius & Tremellius, Gejerus.
Psalms 6:8
Ver. 8. 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 Ps 30:7; so on the contrary, there is as quick a passage from uncomfortable to comfortable ones; see La 3:18; who may be called "workers of iniquity"
See Gill on "Ps 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, Mt 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 Ps 6:6; he had not only lifted up his voice in prayer, but he had wept and made supplication, as Jacob did, Ho 12:4; sometimes God brings his people to the throne of grace weeping, and with supplications leads them, Jer 31:9; and then hears their cry and answers them.
Psalms 6:9
Ver. 9. The Lord hath heard my supplication,.... Which he had presented to him, Ps 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 word {h} 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 word {i} 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, 2Co 12:8; and as Christ his antitype did,
Mt 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.
{h} ytnxt "supplices pro gratia preces meas", Michaelis: so Ainsworth. {i} hlpt "est propria oratio habita ad juris et aequi arbitrum"; Cocceius in Psal. iv. 2.
Psalms 6:10
Ver. 10. Let all mine enemies be ashamed,.... Or "they shall be ashamed" {k}; 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" {l}; 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 suddenly {m}; 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.
{k} wvby "pudore afficientur", Pagninus, Montanus; "pudefient", Coeceius, Schmidt; so Ainsworth. {l} wlhby "conturbantur", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {m} wvwby wbvy "iterum confundantur", Gejerus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
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