Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 6:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 6:2. Have mercy — I have no merit. I deserve all I feel and all I fear.

O Lord, heal me — No earthly physician can cure my malady. Body and soul are both diseased, and only God can help me.

I am weak — אמלל umlal. I am exceedingly weak; I cannot take nourishment, and my strength is exhausted.

My bones are vexed. — The disease hath entered into my bones.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 6:0 Anxiety in a time of trouble

Through either illness or some other depressing situation, David is distressed, in both body and mind. This has caused him to search his life to see if God is using this affliction to punish him for some sin. Humbly he asks God for mercy (1-3). He fears death, and his pain and sorrow become more distressing through the personal attacks that his opponents make on him (4-7). The thought of these ungodly enemies, however, gives David confidence that God will heal him. He knows that God opposes the wicked but helps those who humbly seek him (8-10).

State of the dead

The Old Testament shows us that people do not cease to exist when they die, but it tells us little about the condition of life after death. The Hebrew word used for the unseen place and unknown state of the dead is sheol. Sheol was to the Israelites a place of darkness, silence and shadowy existence (Job 10:21-22; Psalms 39:13; Psalms 88:3,Psalms 88:10-12; Psalms 94:17; Psalms 115:17). Death was something unpleasant and fearful, on account of the mysterious existence that followed in sheol (Psalms 6:5; Psalms 31:17; Ecclesiastes 8:8). English Bibles have translated the Hebrew sheol by such words as ‘the grave’, ‘the pit’ and even ‘hell’.

Certainly sheol would bring nothing but terror for the wicked (Deuteronomy 33:22; Psalms 16:10; Psalms 55:15; Isaiah 14:9-11; Ezekiel 32:18-32). The righteous, however, could expect that life after death would bring them joy in the presence of God (Psalms 16:11; Psalms 49:15; Psalms 73:24; cf. 2 Kings 2:11; 2 Kings 2:11). But the name ‘sheol’ itself signified neither a hell of torment nor a heaven of happiness. It was simply ‘the world of the dead’ (GNB).

Death was the great leveller. Rich and poor, good and bad, oppressor and oppressed, kings and slaves were all subject to death. All died and went to sheol, the world of the dead (Job 3:13-19; Isaiah 14:19-20; Ezekiel 32:18-32). Sheol therefore became a synonym for death, and this is usually the way the word is used in Psalms.

By the end of the Old Testament era, believers were more fully convinced that beyond death lay the resurrection (Daniel 12:1-2). This confidence grew into bold assurance through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. Christ conquered death and sheol (Matthew 16:18; Revelation 1:18; the Greek equivalent of sheol was hades), so that people no longer had any need to fear them (Hebrews 2:14-15). Through Jesus Christ, God clearly showed immortal life to be a certainty (2 Timothy 1:10).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thine anger, Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am withered away, O Jehovah, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is sore troubled: And thou, O Jehovah, how long?”

“Thine anger… thy hot displeasure.” Such a consciousness of God’s anger and displeasure is always the result of the believer’s indulgence in some sin; but, as noted above, we are not given any hint whatever of what David’s actual sin in this instance might have been.

David’s terrible illness was threatening his very life, and he had earnestly prayed for God’s healing hand to be laid upon him; but that healing had not come. This is evident in the words of Psalms 6:3, “O Jehovah, how long?”

“Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah.” In Dr. George DeHoff’s commentary on this verse, he has this priceless little paragraph:

“David did not cry for justice; he cried for mercy. I once participated in a funeral with a splendid young minister who kept saying, “The deceased is in the hands of a just God.” I suggested to him that if he ever had a part in preaching my funeral, I would appreciate it if he would say that, “I am in the hands of a merciful God.” It is mercy and not justice that all of us need.”Dr. George DeHoff, DeHoff’s Commentary Vol. 3 (Murfreesboro, Tennessee: DeHoff Publications, 1977), p. 93.

Leupold also commented on this, writing that, “There is no thought of personal worth that deserves recognition.”H. C. Leupold, Ibid., p. 86. David did not plead any innocence or merit upon his own part, but the loving mercy of God as the basis of his plaintive cry for God to help him.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

PRAYER FOR MERCY IN SICKNESS
(FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN, ON STRINGED INSTRUMENTS,
SET TO THE SHEMINITH. A PSALM OF DAVID)

For ages, Christian scholars have considered this Psalm to be one of the seven Penitential Psalms, namely, Psalms 6; Psalms 32; Psalms 38; Psalms 51; Psalms 102; Psalms 130; and Psalms 143. However, no sin whatever is mentioned in the Psalm; and it is not exactly clear why David felt that he was under the wrath of God.

Based upon the fact that David’s enemies are mentioned, Leupold supposed that, “It was the opposition of David’s enemies that made him feel that God was angry with him to such an extent that his health was badly impaired.”H. C. Leupold, The Psalms (Baker Book House), p. 83. However, Rhodes believed that David’s illness, from whatever cause, might have caused David’s feelings of sinful guilt. He cited the common belief in those ages that, “Men suffered in proportion to their sins.”Arnold B. Rhodes, The Psalms (Atlanta: The John Knox Press, 1978), p. 33. Certainly Job’s “comforters” attributed his sickness to sin; and even the apostles of Jesus Christ indicated their acceptance of that generally-accepted opinion (John 9:1-3).

Our own view of the passage is that David was indeed guilty of some specific sin, or sins, which had, for a season alienated him from the love of God. The fact that we have no idea whatever regarding the exact nature of such sin has nothing whatever to do with it. Certainly, David himself was conscious of his own guilt and the ensuing wrath of God.

Regarding the ancient superscription (in parenthesis, above), “Set to the Sheminith,” according to the margin in our version, means “set to the eighth,” a reference to some specific tune, much as one of our song leaders would instruct the Church to turn to a certain hymn number.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Have mercy upon me, O Lord - That is, be gracious to me; or, show me compassion. This language may be used either in view of sin, of suffering, or of danger. It is a cry to God to interpose, and remove some present source of trouble, and may be employed by one who feels that he is a sinner, or by one on a bed of pain, or by one surrounded by enemies, or by one at the point of death, or by one who is looking out with apprehension upon the eternal world. It is commonly, indeed (compare Psalms 51:1), a cry to God in view of sin, pleading for pardon and salvation; but here it is a cry in view of trouble and danger, outward sorrow and mental anguish, that had overcome the strength of the sufferer and laid him on a bed of languishing. See introduction to the psalm, Section 3.

For I am weak - The original word here, אמלל 'ûmlal, means properly to languish or droop, as plants do that are blighted, Isaiah 24:7, or as fields do in a drought, Isaiah 16:8, and is here applied to a sick person whose strength is withered and gone. The condition of such an one is beautifully compared with a plant that withers for lack of moisture; and the word is used in this sense here, as referring to the psalmist himself when sick, as the result of his outward and mental sorrows. Such an effect has not been uncommon in the world. There have been numberless cases where sorrow has prostrated the strength - as a plant withers - and has brought on languishing sickness.

O Lord, heal me - This is language which would be properly applied to a case of sickness, and therefore, it is most natural to interpret it in this sense in this place. Compare Isaiah 19:22; Isaiah 30:26; Job 5:18; Genesis 20:17; Psalms 60:2; 2 Chronicles 16:12; Deuteronomy 28:27.

For my bones are vexed - The word “vexed” we now commonly apply to mental trouble, and especially the lighter sort of mental trouble - to irritate, to make angry by little provocations, to harass. It is used here, however, as is common in the Scriptures, in reference to torment or to anguish. The bones are the strength and framework of the body, and the psalmist means here to say that the very source of his strength was gone; that that which supported him was prostrated; that his disease and sorrow had penetrated the most firm parts of his body. Language is often used in the Scriptures, also, as if the “bones” actually suffered pain, though it is now known that the bones, as such, are incapable of pain. And in the same manner, also, language is often used, though that use of the word is not found in the Scriptures, as if the “marrow” of the bones were especially sensitive, like a nerve, in accordance with what is the common and popular belief, though it is now known that the marrow of the bones is entirely insensible to suffering. The design of the psalmist here is to say that he was crushed and afflicted in every part of his frame.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

2.Have mercy upon me. As he earnestly calls upon God to be merciful to him, it is from this the more clearly manifest, that by the terms anger and indignation he did not mean cruelty or undue severity, but only such judgment as God executes upon the reprobate, whom he does not spare in mercy as he does his own children. If he had complained of being unjustly and too severely punished, he would now have only added something to this effect: Restrain thyself, that in punishing me thou mayest not exceed the measure of my offense. In betaking himself, therefore, to the mercy of God alone, he shows that he desires nothing else than not to be dealt with according to strict justice, or as he deserved. In order to induce God to exercise his forgiving mercy towards him, he declares that he is ready to fail: Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am weak As I have said before, he calls himself weak, not because he was sick, but because he was cast down and broken by what had now befallen him. And as we know that the design of God in inflicting punishment upon us, is to humble us; so, whenever we are subdued under his rod, the gate is opened for his mercy to come to us. Besides, since it is his peculiar office to heal the diseased to raise up the fallen, to support the weak, and, finally, to give life to the dead; this, of itself, is a sufficient reason why we should seek his favor, that we are sinking under our afflictions.

After David has protested that he placed his hope of salvation in the mercy of God alone, and has sorrowfully set forth how much he is abased, he subjoins the effect which this had in impairing his bodily health, and prays for the restoration of this blessing: Heal me, O Jehovah Andthis is the order which we must observe, that we may know that all the blessings which we ask from God flow from the fountain of his free goodness, and that we are then, and then only, delivered from calamities and chastisements, ⁽⁸⁵⁾ when he has had mercy upon us. — For my bones are afraid This confirms what I have just now observed, namely, that, from the very grievousness of his afflictions, he entertained the hope of some relief; for God, the more he sees the wretched oppressed and almost overwhelmed, is just so much the more ready to succor them. He attributes fear to his bones, not because they are endued with feeling, but because the vehemence of his grief was such that it affected his whole body. He does not speak of his flesh, which is the more tender and susceptible part of the corporeal system, but he mentions his bones, thereby intimating that the strongest parts of his frame were made to tremble for fear. He next assigns the cause of this by saying, And my soul is greatly afraid. The connective particle and, in my judgment, has here the meaning of the causal particle for, as if he had said, so severe and violent is the inward anguish of my heart, that it affects and impairs the strength of every part of my body. I do not approve of the opinion which here takes soul for life, nor does it suit the scope of the passage.

(85) “Des maux et chastiemens.” — Fr.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 6:1-10

The sixth psalm is to the chief musician on this stringed instrument and upon the Sheminith. Now the Sheminith is a word that means the eighth, and so it was to be played in octaves. So on a stringed instrument played in octaves. So David, no doubt, made these notations on the psalms as he wrote them, and wrote it as a hymnal for the people.

O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure ( Psalms 6:1 ).

Now here is where David is, I am certain, carrying over a human characteristic to God. For we as parents are often guilty of rebuking our children in anger and chastening them in hot displeasure. That is a human characteristic, and it is a failing many times on the part of us as parents. We are angry, and we sometimes over discipline because of our anger.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. My soul also is sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake. For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? ( Psalms 6:2-5 )

Now this is David crying out of a soul that is vexed. According to the words of Jesus, these words of David are not correct. He is expressing, as did Job, his own ideas, his own thoughts of death.

For Jesus tells us that when the rich man in hell lifted up his eyes, being in torment and seeing Abraham afar off and Lazarus being comforted in Abraham's bosom, said unto him, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to me that he may take his finger and dip in water and touch my tongue, for I am tormented in this heat." And Abraham said unto him, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime had good things and Lazarus evil. Now he is comforted while you are tormented. Besides this, there is a gulf that is between us, and it is impossible for you to come over here or those that are here to go over there." "Then I pray thee, if he cannot come to me, send him back that he might warn my brothers lest they also come to this horrible place."

There is a consciousness, there is awareness, there is a memory. It isn't an oblivion as some people would like to think. That is from the word of Jesus, and I would say that He probably knows more about it than anybody else. And I'll take His opinion and His word for it above anybody else. I think that is prime when you can get the word of Christ on an issue. Especially issue of death and after death and what lies beyond the grave. Man may speculate, but Jesus speaks.

I am weary with my groaning; all night ( Psalms 6:6 )

Of course, I would have to say that David is exaggerating. He said,

I make my bed to swim [with my tears] ( Psalms 6:6 );

That is a lot of crying, David.

I water my couch with my tears ( Psalms 6:6 ).

So this is what is known as speaking in a hyperbole. It's writer's license. David is just talking about... and David must have been a melancholy, I guess. He speaks a lot about crying. "I am weary with my groaning."

My eye is consumed because of grief; it waxes old because of all of my enemies. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly ( Psalms 6:7-10 ).

So David's prayer unto the Lord, out of a spirit that is vexed, that is downcast. But it is interesting how the psalms always seem to end on a high note. "The Lord hath heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer." "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Plea for relief 6:1-3

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 6

Many interpreters consider this one of the penitential psalms in which David repented for some sin he had committed and for which he was suffering discipline (cf. Psalms 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143). [Note: See the excursus on the penitential psalms in Chisholm, pp. 301-2.] This is the first of the seven.

"It was the practice of the early Christians to sing and read the [penitential] psalms on Ash Wednesday as part of their penance for sin. In a strict sense, however, it is not a penitence psalm, for there is no confession of sin or prayer for forgiveness. The psalm is now categorized as an individual lament psalm." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 96.]

Other individual lament psalms are 3-5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 22-23, 27, 31-32, 35, 38-39, 41, 51, 57, 63, 69, 71, 88, 102-103, and 130. We do not know what David did to bring on this illness that almost resulted in his death or how this incident fits into the Scriptural record of his life. Having been chastened by the Lord, David asked for forgiveness. Then, with the assurance that God had heard him, he warned his adversaries to leave him alone because God was about to shame them.

". . . the psalm gives words to those who scarcely have the heart to pray, and brings them within sight of victory." [Note: Kidner, p. 61. Cf. John 12:27.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The king then expressed his request positively. He begged for relief from his extreme discomfort. David spoke of his bones as representing his whole body (cf. Psalms 31:10; Psalms 32:3; Psalms 38:3; Psalms 42:10; Psalms 102:3; Psalms 102:5). This is a figure of speech called synecdoche in which the writer uses a prominent part in place of the whole.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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 Psalms 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, Psalms 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, Psalms 51:8.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

To the chief musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith. A psalm of David.

      1 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.

      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 (Psalms 6:2; Psalms 6:2): 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 (Psalms 6:3; Psalms 6:3), 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 (Psalms 6:6; Psalms 6:6), wept till he had almost wept his eyes out (Psalms 6:7; Psalms 6:7): 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,Hebrews 5:7.

      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 (Psalms 6:1; Psalms 6:1), 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 (Psalms 6:2; Psalms 6:2), save me (Psalms 6:4; Psalms 6:4), 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 (Psalms 6:5; Psalms 6:5): "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?Psalms 30:9; Psalms 88:10; Psalms 115:17; Isaiah 38:18. 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 Psalms 6:1-7 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.