Psalms 6:6

6 I am worn out from my groaning. My eyes flood my bed every night. I soak my couch with tears.

Psalms 6:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 6:6

I am weary with my groanings
By reason of bodily illness, or indwelling sin, or the guilt of actual transgressions, or the hidings of God's face, or a sense of divine wrath, or the temptations of Satan, or afflictions and crosses of various kinds, or fears of death, or even earnest desires after heaven and eternal happiness, or the low estate of Zion; each of which at times occasion groaning in the saints, as in the psalmist, and is the common experience of all good men. The psalmist being weary of his disease, or of sin, groaned till he was weary with his groaning; inward groaning affects the body, wastes the animal spirits, consumes the flesh, and induces weariness and faintness; see ( Psalms 102:5 ) ( Jeremiah 45:3 ) ;

all the night make I my bed to swim: I water my couch with my tears;
these are hyperbolical phrases F5, expressing more than is intended, and are not to be literally understood; for such a quantity of tears a man could never shed, as to water his couch and make his bed to swim with them, but they are used to denote the multitude of them, and the excessiveness of his sorrow; see ( Psalms 119:136 ) ( Lamentations 3:48 Lamentations 3:49 ) ; and these tears were shed, not to atone and satisfy for sin, for nothing but the blood and sacrifice of Christ can do that; but to express the truth and reality, as well as the abundance of his grief; and this was done "all the night long"; see ( Job 7:3 Job 7:4 ) ; when he had leisure to think and reflect upon his sins and transgressions, and when he was clear of all company, and no one could hear or see him, nor interrupt him in the vent of his sorrow, and when his disease might be heavier upon him, as some diseases increase in the night season: this may also be mystically understood, of a night of spiritual darkness and desertion, when a soul is without the discoveries of the love of God, and the influences of his grace; and has lost sight of God and Christ, and interest in them, and does not enjoy communion with them; and throughout this night season weeping endures, though joy comes in the morning. And it may be applicable to David's antitype, to the doleful night in which he was betrayed, when it was the hour and power of darkness, and when he had no other couch or bed but the ground itself; which was watered, not only with his tears, but with his sweat and blood, his sweat being as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground; so he is often said to sigh and groan in spirit, ( Mark 7:34 ) ( 8:12 ) ( John 11:33 John 11:38 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F5 See the latter in Homer. Odyss 17. v. 110. Odyss. 19. prope finem.

Psalms 6:6 In-Context

4 Come back, O LORD. Rescue me. Save me because of your mercy!
5 In death, no one remembers you. In the grave, who praises you?
6 I am worn out from my groaning. My eyes flood my bed every night. I soak my couch with tears.
7 My eyes blur from grief. They fail because of my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all you troublemakers, because the LORD has heard the sound of my crying.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.