Tyndale Open Study NotesPsalms 6

This group of psalms moves from an orderly world to a troubled one. Psalms 1–2 describe stability. The righteous person is blessed, and the Lord’s anointed king rules with authority.

In the psalms that follow, the tone changes. The Lord’s anointed cries out for help. He faces enemies, strong opposition, and evil plans.

It even seems at times that the Lord is far away. The psalmist feels confusion and distress instead of confidence and calm.

The occasion for this lament might have been sickness or a mental or spiritual depression from which the psalmist sought healing.

The psalmist asks for God’s favor and restoration at a difficult time.

do not rebuke me … or discipline me: The psalmist does not clearly connect God's discipline with sin here (compare Psalm 39:8–11), but it might be implied.

The psalmist became physically weak while waiting for God's answer to his prayer (Psalm 6:6; see 77:3; 119:81; 142:1–3; see also Psalm 101). Fasting (abstaining from eating food) might have contributed to his suffering, but it is not mentioned.

The experience was so painful that the psalmist might as well have been dead, or perhaps he feared for his life.

from Sheol?: In the Old Testament, Sheol is the place of the dead. It is not necessarily associated with punishment.

• The psalmist feels deeply exhausted due to his spiritual distance from the Lord (Psalms 22:1; 31:9–10; 102:5).

• When eyes grow dim, it means the body is failing (see Psalms 13:3; 31:9; 38:10; Matthew 6:22).

In a closing note of triumph, the psalmist reasserts his confidence in the Lord.