Psalm 6 · a question people ask
What was wrong? Was the psalmist sick?
The psalm doesn't say. It names his bones (6:2) and his soul (6:3), his groaning, his bed flooded every night and his tears (6:6), and an eye that "wastes away because of grief" (6:7). It asks, "LORD, heal me" (6:2) (tap heal). And it speaks of "all my adversaries" (6:7), "all you workers of iniquity" (6:8) and "all my enemies" (6:10). The title names David, but, unlike some titles ("when he fled from Absalom his son", Psalm 3:1), it names no occasion. So these notes don't guess at the occasion, or say whether he was sick.
The verses
“For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David. LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath. Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.”
“My soul is also in great anguish. But you, LORD—how long?”
“I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping.”
“May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.”