Unto the end, in verses, a psalm for David, for the octave.

“In fear of which condemnation the Church prays in this Psalm, and says, "Reprove me not, O Lord, in Your anger" [Psalm 6:1]. The Apostle too mentions the anger of the judgment; "You treasure up unto yourself," he says, "anger against the day of the anger of the just judgment of God." [Romans 2:5] In which he would not be reproved, whosoever longs to be healed in this life. "Nor in Your rage chasten me." "Chasten," seems rather too mild a word; for it avails toward amendment. For for him who is reproved, that is, accused, it is to be feared lest his end be condemnation. But since "rage" seems to be more than "anger," it may be a difficulty, why that which is milder, namely, chastening, is joined to that which is more severe, namely, rage. But I suppose that one and the same thing is signified by the two words. For in the Greek θυμὸς, which is in the first verse, means the same as ὀ ργὴ, which is in the second verse. But when the Latins themselves too wished to use two distinct words, they looked out for what was akin to "anger," and "rage" was used. Hence copies vary. For in some "anger" is found first, and then "rage:" in others, for "rage," "indignation" or "choler" is used. But whatever the reading, it is an emotion of the soul urging to the infliction of punishment. Yet this emotion must not be attributed to God, as if to a soul, of whom it is said, "but Thou, O Lord of power, judgest with tranquillity." [Wisdom 12:18] Now that which is tranquil, is not disturbed. Disturbance then does not attach to God as judge: but what is done by His ministers, in that it is done by His laws, is called His anger. In which anger, the soul, which now prays, would not only not be reproved, but not even chastened, that is, amended or instructed. For in the Greek it is, παιδεύσῃς, that is, instruct. Now in the day of judgment all are "reproved" that hold not the foundation, which is Christ. But they are amended, that is, purged, who "upon this foundation build wood, hay, stubble. For they shall suffer loss, but shall be saved, as by fire." What then does he pray, who would not be either reproved or amended in the anger of the Lord? What else but that he may be healed? For where sound health is, neither death is to be dreaded, nor the physician's hand with caustics or the knife.”

“We have heard some people trying to excuse this most pernicious disease of the soul [anger] in such a way as to endeavor to extenuate it by a rather shocking way of interpreting Scripture: as they say that it is not injurious if we are angry with the brethren who do wrong, since, say they, God is said to rage and to be angry with those who either will not know him or, knowing him, spurn him, as here: "And the anger of the Lord was kindled against his people"; or where the prophet prays and says, "O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, neither chasten me in your displeasure"; not understanding that while they want to open to people an excuse for a most pestilent sin, they are ascribing to the divine Infinity and Fountain of all purity a taint of human passion.”

“For the Chief Musician, with Neginoth, on the Sheminith. A Psalm of David. – Already we have explained the sense of Neginoth and Sheminith and the other kinds of musical instruments in the Psalm Answer me when I call (Ps. iv.). There are some (Targum ad loc.) who interpret Sheminith as a lyre which had eight strings, and the Psalm as being recited to the accompaniment of this music. The Haggadic interpretation (Babli, Menahoth 43b) (applies it) to circumcision, which was performed on the eighth day, but this is far-fetched. This Psalm possibly was uttered by David with reference to his sickness; it is also possible likewise that it was uttered in the language of anyone crushed by sickness, for David composed many of the Psalms which combine prayer and supplication that they might be suitable for any suppliant; and such, I think, is the case in this Psalm. And some say (Ibn Ezra ad loc.) that it was uttered with reference to the Exile, for Israel in exile was like those who are sick and crushed.”

“In the preceding Psalm David asked to be led in the way of justice on account of his enemies; but here he asks that his fall be repaired. And this Psalm seems to express the feelings of a man who, chastised for his sins and delivered into the hands of his enemies, obtained liberation after penance was accomplished; and therefore this is the first of the seven penitential Psalms. These are seven on account of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, through whom one repents; and all of them begin in mourning and end in gladness, because through the lamentation of penance one arrives at the kingdom of glory: Matthew 5, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." The title is as follows: "Unto the end, a Psalm of David, for the octave." Jerome translated it, "To the victor, among the Psalms, a song of David upon the octave." Of this title it remains to see what is meant by that which is said, "for the octave," for the rest has been explained. It must be known, then, that the titles were made by Ezra, partly according to the things that were then being done, and partly according to the things that had happened. For it is found in the history, Leviticus 23, that in the seventh month the Jews kept the feast of tabernacles for seven days, and the eighth day was the most solemn of all, for it was a day of assembly and of collection, which were made for the necessities of divine worship and for the poor. And perhaps David made this Psalm at that solemnity, and it was said on the eighth day. Now this feast pertains to a mystery, because by eight is signified the resurrection, when all shall be gathered from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven, Matthew 13. Or it is called the octave on account of a certain false opinion of some who said that after seven thousand years the resurrection would come, the Lord coming to judgment. But this time is known to no one: Acts 1, "It is not for you to know the times or the moments," etc. Matthew 24, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father alone." Hence there is another reason why the resurrection is designated by the octave: because in the present age there is a twofold life. One in which man occupies himself with corporeal things, the other with spiritual things. The first life is signified by the number four, because four is the number of bodies, as even Plato says, since by it dimensions are signified. For among solids the first corporeal number is the pyramid, as Boethius teaches in his Arithmetic. Since, then, that pyramid which rises from a triangular base into height is the first solid figure, it follows that four is the first solid number; as, for example, if upon a triangle set on three angles lines are raised, and their tops are joined at one middle point, a pyramid is made, whose base is one triangle, and whose sides are triangles. But the second life, which is spiritual, is signified by the number three, for among plane figures three is the first surface number. And the same Boethius says in the same book: "For the first surface, triangular, altogether lacks thickness." Upon the seven, which is constituted from this four and three, the eighth succeeds, namely the resurrection of bodies and of souls. In the Gloss, however, another reason is assigned, namely, that four pertains to the body, because it consists of four elements, and is affected by four qualities, namely dry and moist, hot and cold, and is governed by four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. But three pertains to the soul, on account of the three powers of the soul, namely the rational, the irascible, and the concupiscible. When both lives, the corporeal and the spiritual, have been completed—the number seven, as it were, having run its course—the day of judgment will come, and to each will be rendered his right according to merit. Or the resurrection is signified by the octave for this reason, that it will occur in the eighth age. For the first age runs from Adam to Noah. The second from Noah to Abraham. The third from Abraham to David. The fourth from David to the transmigration of Babylon. The fifth from the transmigration of Babylon to Christ. The sixth from Christ to the end of the world. The sixth and seventh ages run together, namely that of those who rest and of those who labor, and after these will be the eighth age, of those who rise again. Now this Psalm is divided into three parts. For in the first place penitence is set down; in the second place the weeping of penitence, where it says, "I have labored," etc.; in the third place the fruit of both, where it says, "Depart." But a man existing in sin suffers three misfortunes, from which he asks to be freed. The first is the perversity of the act; the second is the wounding and weakening of nature; the third is the imminent guilt of punishment. First, then, he asks to be freed from the first, and therefore he says, "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation," etc. Second, against the second, and therefore, praying, he adds, "Have mercy on me," etc. Third, against the third, and therefore he subjoins, "But thou, O Lord," etc. He says therefore: "O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation." One person frees another from evil deeds by reproving him with words, and by chastising him with punishments; and God does both. But reproof is sometimes made for correction, and this is "in mercy," Psalm 140, "The just man shall correct me, etc. Sometimes it is made for condemnation, and this is "in wrath"; and therefore he says, "O Lord, rebuke me," but "not in thy indignation," because this is of vengeance, and this will happen at the judgment, when he will say, Matthew 25, "Depart from me, ye cursed," etc., "for I was hungry," etc. Isaiah 30, "His indignation is burning, and heavy to bear," etc. But now he rebukes, yet not in indignation, because he rebukes in order to correct, and not in order to condemn; and this is what the psalmist asks when he says, "nor chastise me in thy wrath": as if he were to say, chastise me, but not in wrath or in indignation, but by temporal scourges. Augustine: "Here burn, here cut, here spare not, that thou mayest spare in eternity." Jeremiah 10, "Correct me, but yet with judgment." Then, when he says, "Have mercy," he asks to be freed from the second, namely from the wounding and weakness of nature. And first he sets forth his infirmity in general; second in particular, where it says "Heal," etc. He says therefore: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak." Sin is a spiritual infirmity; for bodily infirmity comes about from the dissolution of the due proportion of the humors; likewise, when the affections of the soul are not proportioned, there is spiritual sickness there; and therefore he says, "I am weak." The Gloss: "I am weak by nature and by vice, to such a degree that I cannot sustain thy justice." Psalm 115, "I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid." Wisdom 9, "Man is weak, and of short life, and too little skilled in the understanding of judgment and laws." Then, when he says "Heal," etc., he explains in particular how he is weak, and this in two ways. First, because he has lost his strength; second, because he has lost his discretion, where it says, "And my soul is troubled," etc. He says therefore: "Heal me, O Lord." Jeremiah 17, "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed," etc. For if a man is free from sin, he is fit to retain grace and the virtues, which are the strength of man; and therefore, "Heal me, O Lord," and this by reason of the fact that "my bones"—that is, my strength, namely the power and strength of my soul—"are troubled." Likewise discretion is troubled, insofar as it seems right to the sinner to act as he does when he sins; and therefore he says, "and my soul is troubled exceedingly," because he has a perverse judgment about what is to be done, so that he judges what is good to be evil, and conversely. Then, when he says, "But thou, O Lord," he prays against the guilt of damnation. Here he does three things. For first he shows the danger to be imminent; second he asks for the help of grace, where it says "Turn"; third he explains the imminent danger, where it says "For there is no one in death," etc. He says therefore: "I am weak," I am not able to rise by myself; "but thou, O Lord"—who art able—"how long wilt thou not hear me?" Psalm 12, "How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end?" In this it seemed dangerous to him, that he was not being converted. Ecclesiasticus 5, "Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day: for his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee." Habakkuk 1, "How long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I will cry out to thee, true father, and thou wilt not heal, etc."—as if he were to say: how long shall I be in sin, and thou wilt not give the help that I may rise again? And therefore he asks for help, saying, "Turn," etc. And he touches upon three things: namely, conversion, snatching away, and salvation. The eye of man is not illumined by the sun unless it has a direct opposition to it; so the soul, if it is to receive the divine light, must have a direct gaze toward God; and such a direct gaze is always prepared by God, but man turns himself away, and it is necessary that God turn him, insofar as he first is turned toward us by turning us toward himself; and therefore he says, "Turn." Lamentations 5, "Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted," etc. If someone bound in fetters were being dragged to the gallows, and were to see someone in whom he trusted, he would beg earnestly and say, "Snatch me away." In this way the psalmist prays, saying, "deliver my soul"—as if he were to say, snatch me away, dragged by sin, led toward death. Proverbs 24, "Deliver them that are led to death." Psalm 68, "Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast," etc. Colossians 1, "He hath delivered us from the power of darkness." Likewise, "save me": after thou hast freed me from evils, bring me through to salvation. Psalm 62, "In him is my salvation": and this not through my merits, but "for thy mercy's sake"; to Titus 3, "Not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." Then, when he says, "for," he shows the imminent danger. And first the danger of present death, that is, natural death. Second, the danger of eternal damnation, from which there is no return; hence, "For there is no one in death"—that is, after death—"that is mindful of thee"—namely, by thinking upon thy goodness, if he was not mindful of it in life. And this is so because the rational soul does not have flexibility of will after death. Ecclesiastes 11, "If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be." The second danger is that in Hell there is obstinacy, and there is no confession there, namely that confession of which the Apostle speaks, Romans 16, "For with the mouth confession is made unto salvation"; and therefore he says: "But in hell, who shall confess to thee?" Or otherwise: "in death"—namely of sin—"who shall be mindful of thee"—as if he were to say: I beseech thee, snatch away my soul lest I consent, because in my sin I shall not be mindful of thee: Daniel 13, "They turned away their eyes that they might not look unto heaven, nor remember just judgments." "But in hell"—that is, in the depth of sins—"who shall confess to thee?" Proverbs 18, "The wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth." Then, when he says, "I have labored," he sets down the groaning of the penitent, where he seems to touch upon three things. First, sorrow of heart. Second, defect of reason, where it says, "is troubled." Third, weakness of virtue, where it says, "I have grown old." Sorrow of heart is indicated in three ways. First by groaning and sighing. Second by restlessness of the body. Third by tears. As to the first he says, "I have labored in my groaning"—namely, by sighing: Lamentations 1, "Great are my groanings, and my heart is mourning," etc. Psalm 37, "I roared with the groaning of my heart." Now he says "I have labored," because it is labor to fight against oneself, and yet this labor has a good fruit: Wisdom 3, "Glorious is the fruit of good labors." As to the second he says, "I will wash"—where he sets down two things, namely the bed and the couch; and although these two may be taken as the same, yet we follow the proper distinction. The couch (stratum) is said of the cloths that are spread upon the bed. The bed (lectum) is that which is placed underneath, and it is called "lectus" from choosing (eligendo), namely straw and the like, from which the bed is made. By this, then, that he says, "every night I will wash my bed," he gives us to understand that every night he arose, and, leaning against the bed, wept. Jerome's text has, "I will make my bed swim," and this is a figurative expression; or "I will make it swim," that is, I will cause it, by my restlessness, to be as it were in the manner of one swimming. But he says, "I will water my couch with my tears," because even while lying in bed, weeping, he drenched the cloths of the bed, as though with an irrigation of tears. Morally, the bed in which a man rests is the conscience, which a man washes through tears in penitence: Jeremiah 4, "Wash thy heart from malice." But by the couch are designated the sins which are spread over the conscience, which indeed must be washed away with tears, for tears wash away the offense which it is shameful to confess. The Gloss; Lamentations 2, "My eyes have failed with weeping," etc. By "every night," he means, by each single sin. For over each individual sin a man ought to weep in doing penance. It is given us to understand here that the penitent had alternating periods, because amid the good deeds he was doing, he sometimes sinned, and wept over each; hence he does not say "for one night," but "every night." And he says "I will water" by reason of the abundance of tears; Jeremiah 9, "Who will give water to my head, and to mine eyes," etc. Lamentations 2, "Let tears run down like a torrent day and night; let not the apple of thy eye cease." Consequently, when he says, "is troubled," he sets down the defect of reason. For sorrow is the cause of anger, and therefore one who is sad grows angry easily. But anger always troubles the eye of reason. Those who are troubled foresee less; and therefore he says: "My eye is troubled"—that is, my reason—"because of indignation," namely, by the fury of others; for David grew angry and was troubled when he saw Absalom his son and his counselors rising up against him. Or, "by my own fury," because he was troubled on account of his own sins. For he recognized, in the state of that persecution, that he was justly afflicted on account of his sins; and this anger does not blind, but troubles. But another anger blinds. Or: "by thy fury, O Lord God," with which thou dost punish me, as it were provoked by me, because I have troubled thee: Isaiah 38, "Mine eyes are weakened looking upward"; Job 16, "My face is swollen with weeping," etc. Third, he shows the weakness of virtue, when he says, "I have grown old," etc. When someone was victorious and strong in his youth, if afterward he suffers not only from a stranger, but even from his own, he is reckoned to be growing old. So David, who in his youth had conquered all, now fled from his own son, and says "I have grown old"—namely, in the estimation of others—"amidst all mine enemies," namely the manifest and the hidden: Hebrews 8, "But that which decayeth and groweth old, is near its end." Or the sinner grows old, receding from the newness of Christ, of which the Apostle speaks, Romans 6, "That we also may walk in newness of life," "that we may serve in newness of spirit." Romans 7, the Gloss: "let us serve in the works of the new man," that is, of Christ, which we attain not by our own strength or by the law, but by the grace of the Holy Spirit; "knowing that our old man is crucified together with him," Romans 6, "that the body of sin may be destroyed, that we may no longer serve sin." Through this servitude one is brought back into the oldness of sin, made a member of the old man; on account of which the Apostle warns and urges, Romans 12, "Be ye reformed in the newness of your sense," or of your mind. "Be ye reformed," says the Gloss, because in Adam you were deformed; in newness, etc.—of the new man, namely Christ. Imitating, as it were, this oldness and the misery of deformity, the prophet, under questioning, laments, saying, Baruch 3, "What is it, O Israel, that thou art in thy enemies' land? Thou art grown old in a strange country," etc. And this agrees with what is said here, "I have grown old amidst all mine enemies"—either the demons, or all the sins to which I have consented; and thus, according to this sense, what he says, "I have grown old," is the matter of his groaning, as if he were to say: therefore I will wash, etc., because I have grown old, having imitated the old man, subjecting myself to every vice; and then what was said, "is troubled," etc., refers to the state of the penitent. Or it can be referred to the matter of justice, and this as regards the state of sin; as if he were to say: therefore "I have grown old," that is, I have sinned, because "my eye"—that is, my flesh—"is troubled because of indignation," that is, by the onrush of passion: Psalm 57, "Fire fell upon them," namely of concupiscence, according to the Gloss of Augustine: "and they saw not the sun," namely of justice: Daniel 13, "Concupiscence hath subverted thy heart." Likewise the same: "they burned in concupiscence toward her," etc., "so that they remembered not just judgments." From the onrush of passion, then, David says that the eye of his reason was, in that instance, so troubled that he did not see heaven, and this was his concupiscence for Bathsheba, 2 Kings 2, whom, having been summoned to him, he knew. And afterward, when he learned that she was pregnant, he added to the crime of adultery the crime of homicide. Hence he treacherously ordered Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, to be slain; for which most grievous sins, by the just judgment of God, he suffered persecution from his own son. "Depart." This is the third principal part, in which the fruit of penitence is set down; hence here he shows himself heard, and thereupon he rejoices; and concerning this he does three things. For first he repels his enemies from himself. Second he confesses that he has been heard, where it says, "for thou hast heard." Third he foretells the outcome of his enemies, where it says, "let them blush." He says therefore, "Depart," etc. Granted that someone has been afflicted on account of sin, after pardon has been granted he can taunt his enemies, whether those who lead him into sin, or those who persecute him bodily. According to the letter, Jerome says, "depart from me"—those who lead me into sin—"because I do not want your company": 2 Corinthians 6, "Wherefore be ye separated, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you." Or, "depart from me, all ye that work iniquity"—that is, you workers of iniquity, who persecute me unjustly. "Depart," I say, "from me, because the Lord is with me" as a mighty warrior: Jeremiah 29. Hence Psalm 26, "If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear." And by this is signified the future persecution, and the separation of the wicked from the good: Matthew 13, "They shall separate the wicked from among the just." Likewise, the same, chapter 23, "They shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth," etc. And below, in the same chapter, "Depart from me, ye cursed," etc. Consequently, when he says, "for the Lord hath heard," he foretells that he has been heard. Here it must be noted that above he set forth three things: namely, prayer, when he said, "have mercy"; second, entreaty, that he might be freed, "turn"; third, weeping, "I have labored," etc. And he says these three have been heard in reverse order. And first, the groaning, saying, "The Lord hath heard," etc. The groaning of the saints has a voice with God: Ecclesiasticus 35, "He will not despise the voice of the fatherless, nor the widow, when she poureth out her supplication. Do not the widow's tears run down the cheek, and her cry against him that causeth them to fall? For from the cheek they go up even to heaven, and the Lord that heareth will not be delighted with them." And Genesis 4, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth." Therefore that holy lady said, Judith 8, "Let us beg his pardon with tears." Second, entreaty: for entreaty (deprecatio), properly speaking, according to the Gloss of Cassiodorus, is for the removal of evils; Luke 1, "Thy entreaty is heard." The Gloss says there: by which thou didst pray for the deliverance of the people. In order, then, to show that he has been freed from the evils for which he had prayed when he said, "turn," etc., he adds here, "The Lord hath heard my entreaty." Third, prayer, namely that it might enter into his sight; and this is what he adds further, "The Lord hath received my prayer." And note that he places "Lord" here three times, to show that he has been heard by the whole Trinity: Psalm 66, "May God, our God, bless us; may God bless us." Consequently, when he says, "let them blush," he sets down the outcome of his enemies; as if it were said: thou sayest to thy enemies, "Depart." But what will happen to them as they depart from thee? Surely, "let them blush," etc. These words can be explained both in a good and in a bad sense. If in a good sense, then they are spoken by way of a prayer. Here he asks four things for them: namely, shame for their sins, because this is the beginning of the amendment of life: Ecclesiasticus 4, "There is a confusion that bringeth glory." Hence, "let them blush." Second, sorrow for their sins: "let them be troubled": Psalm 59, "Thou hast moved the earth, and hast troubled it," etc.; for the penitent ought to have a vehemence of sorrow greater than the delight he had in sin. Third, conversion to God: hence, "let them be converted": Isaiah 31, "Return ye, as you had deeply revolted, O children of Israel." And fourth, shame: "let them blush and be troubled exceedingly." Now shame is both the beginning and the end of amendment. But the reason for this could be rendered otherwise: namely, that at the beginning one is ashamed before the eyes of men, and grieves at this, and avoids evils; but at the end he is ashamed before the eye of his own reason and the eye of God: Romans 6, "What fruit therefore had you then in those things, of which you are now ashamed?" Of the second, Luke 18, "the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven." And this ought to happen very swiftly, so that it not be delayed: Ecclesiasticus 5, "Delay not to be converted to the Lord," etc. But if they are taken in a bad sense, then they are to be understood by way of a foretelling; as if he were to say, "let them blush," at the exposure of their sin before all: Isaiah 1, "You shall be confounded for the gardens which you have chosen, when you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off," etc. And "let them be troubled," with fear and a wondrous sorrow: Wisdom 5, "They shall be troubled with a terrible fear," etc. And therefore he says, "let all mine enemies be converted exceedingly," recognizing their own guilt and the glory of the saints: Wisdom 5, "These are they whom we had some time in derision, and for a parable of reproach. We fools," etc. And "let them blush," because this recognition will be to their confusion; and this, "very swiftly": Isaiah 30, "Suddenly, when it is not looked for, his destruction shall come," etc. Job 21, "In a moment they go down to hell." 1 Thessalonians 5, "The day of the Lord shall so come, as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and security," etc.”

“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 (Psa 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 (Psa 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 (Psa 6:6), wept till he had almost wept his eyes out (Psa 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, Heb 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 (Psa 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 (Psa 6:2), save me (Psa 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 (Psa 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? Psa 30:9; Psa 88:10; Psa 115:17; Isa 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 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.”

“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 Psa 88:7, Lam 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.”

“For the octave. That is, to be sung on an instrument of eight strings. St. Augustine understands it mystically, of the last resurrection, and the world to come; which is, as it were, the octave, or eighth day, after the seven days of this mortal life; and for this octave, sinners must dispose themselves, like David, by bewailing their sins, whilst they are here upon the earth. (Challoner) (Worthington) — It may also signify, that this psalm was to be sung by “the eighth” of the 24 bands, 1 Paralipomenon xv. 21. David might compose it after sickness, with which he had been punished for his adultery; (Calmet) or under any distress: he expresses the sentiments of a true penitent, (Berthier) with which he was ever after impressed. (Haydock) — It is applicable to penitents of the new law. (Worthington)”

“(Heb.: 6:2-4) There is a chastisement which proceeds from God's love to the man as being pardoned and which is designed to purify or to prove him, and a chastisement which proceeds from God's wrath against the man as striving obstinately against, or as fallen away from, favour, and which satisfies divine justice. Psa 94:12; Psa 118:17; Pro 3:11. speak of this loving chastisement. The man who should decline it, would act against his own salvation. Accordingly David, like Jeremiah (Jer 10:24), does not pray for the removal of the chastisement but of the chastisement in wrath, or what is the same thing, of the judgment proceeding from wrath [Zorngericht]. בּאפּך and בּחמתך stand in the middle, between אל and the verbs, for the sake of emphasis. Hengstenberg indeed finds a different antithesis here. He says: "The contrast is not that of chastisement in love with chastisement in wrath, but that of loving rescue in contrast with chastisement, which always proceeds from the principle of wrath." If what is here meant is, that always when God chastens a man his wrath is the true and proper motive, it is an error, for the refutation of which one whole book of the Bible, viz., the Book of Job, has been written. For there the friends think that God is angry with Job; but we know from the prologue that, so far from being angry with him, he on the contrary glories in him. Here, in this Psalm, assuming David to be its author, and his adultery the occasion of it, it is certainly quite otherwise. The chastisement under which David is brought low, has God's wrath as its motive: it is punitive chastisement and remains such, so long as David remains fallen from favour. But if in sincere penitence he again struggles through to favour, then the punitive becomes a loving chastisement: God's relationship to him becomes an essentially different relationship. The evil, which is the result of his sin and as such indeed originates in the principle of wrath, becomes the means of discipline and purifying which love employs, and this it is that he here implores for himself. And thus Dante Alighieri (Note: Provided he is the author of I stte Salmi Penitenziali trasportati alla volgar poesia, vid., Dante Alighieri's Lyric poems, translated and annotated by Kannegiesser and Witte (1842) i. 203f., ii. 208f.) correctly and beautifully paraphrases the verse: Signor, non mi riprender con furore, E non voler correggermi con ira, Ma con dolcezza e con perfetto amore. In חנּני David prays God to let him experience His loving-kindness and tender mercy in place of the punishment He has a right to inflict; for anguish of soul has already reduced him to the extreme even of bodily sickness: he is withered up and weary. אמלל has Pathach, and consequently seems to be the 3 pers. Pul. as in Joe 1:10; Nah 1:4; but this cannot be according to the rules of grammar. It is an adjective, like רענן, שׁאנן, with the passive pointing. The formation אמלל (from אמל Arab. aml, with the primary meaning to stretch out lengthwise) is analogous to the IX and XI forms of the Arabic verb which serve especially to express colours and defects (Caspari 59). The two words אני אמלל have the double accent Mercha-Mahpach together, and according to the exact mode of writing (vid., Baer in my Psalter ii. 492) the Mahpach, (the sign resembling Mahpach or rather Jethib), ought to stand between the two words, since it at the same time represents the Makkeph. The principal tone of the united pair, therefore, lies on aani; and accordingly the adj. אמלל is shortened to אמלל (cf. אדמדּם, הפכפּך, מרמס, and the like) - a contraction which proves that אמלל is not treated as part. Pul. (= מאמלל), for its characteristic a4 is unchangeable. The prayer for healing is based upon the plea that his bones (Job 4:14; Isa 38:13) are affrighted. We have no German word exactly corresponding to this נבהל which (from the radical notion "to let go," cogn. בּלהּ) expresses a condition of outward overthrow and inward consternation, and is therefore the effect of fright which disconcerts one and of excitement that deprives one of self-control. (Note: We have translated Dr. Delitzsch's word erschrecht literally - the vexed of the Authorized Version seems hardly equal to the meaning.) His soul is still more shaken than his body. The affliction is therefore not a merely bodily ailment in which only a timorous man loses heart. God's love is hidden from him. God's wrath seems as though it would wear him completely away. It is an affliction beyond all other afflictions. Hence he enquires: And Thou, O Jahve, how long?! Instead of אתה it is written את, which the Ker says is to be read אתּה, while in three passages (Num 11:15; Deu 5:24; Eze 28:14) אתּ is admitted as masc.”