Thomas Aquinas, on Ps 6:6

“For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell?”

“Then when he says "I have labored," he sets forth the groaning of the penitent, where he seems to touch upon three things. First, sorrow of heart. Second, failure of reason, at "My eye is troubled." Third, weakness of strength, at "I have grown old." Sorrow of heart is indicated in three ways. First, by groaning and sighs. Second, by bodily restlessness. Third, by tears. As to the first, he says, "I have labored in my groaning," namely by sighing: Lam. 1: "Many are my groanings, and my heart is sorrowful," etc. Ps. 37: "I roared from the groaning of my heart." And he says "I have labored," because it is labor to fight against oneself, and yet this labor bears good fruit: Wis. 3: "Glorious is the fruit of good labors." As to the second, he says, "I will wash": here he mentions two things, namely the bed and the bedding; and although these two are taken for the same thing, we follow the proper meaning. Bedding refers to the coverings spread upon the bed. The bed is that which is placed underneath, and is called "lectus" from "choosing," namely the straw and similar materials from which the bed is made. By saying, therefore, "I will wash my bed every night," he gives us to understand that every night he would rise and, leaning beside his bed, weep. Jerome's text reads, "I will make my bed swim"; and it is a figurative expression. Or, "I will make it swim," that is, I will cause it to move as if swimming, from my restlessness upon it. He says moreover, "With my tears I will drench my bedding," because even while lying in bed, he would drench the bed coverings by weeping, as if with a flood of tears. Morally, the bed in which a person rests is the conscience; this a person washes through tears in penance: Jer. 4: "Wash your heart from wickedness." By the bedding are signified sins, which are spread over the conscience; and these must be washed away with tears, because tears wash away the offense that one is ashamed to confess. The Gloss says: Lam. 2: "My eyes have failed from weeping," etc. He says "every night," that is, for each sin. For a person ought to weep in penance for each sin. Here it is given to be understood that the penitent has alternating turns, because among the good things he did, he sometimes sinned, and he wept for each. Hence he does not say "for one night," but "for each night." Moreover, he says "I will drench" on account of the abundance of tears: Jer. 9: "Who will give water to my head and tears to my eyes," etc. Lam. 2: "Pour out tears like a torrent by day and night; let not the pupils of your eyes be silent."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.