Psalm 6:6 NIV

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Psalms 6:6

I am weary with my groaning - I am exhausted or worn out with it. That is, his sorrows were so deep, and his groaning was so constant, that his strength failed. He became “faint” under the weight of his sorrows. All persons in trouble have experienced this effect - the sense of weariness or exhaustion from sorrow.All the night make I my bed to swim - That is, he wept so much that his bed seemed to be immersed in tears. This is, of course, hyperbolical language, expressing in a strong and... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Psalms 6:6-7

Psalms 6:6-7. All the night Or, every night, as the margin renders כל לילה , cal lailah; make I my bed to swim With tears, an hyperbole used also elsewhere. 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, melts into tears at the remembrance of sin, and under the apprehension of divine wrath, and it is no diminution to his character. Mine eye is consumed Or grown dim, or dull, as עשׁשׁה ,... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Psalms 6:1-10

Psalms 6:0 Anxiety in a time of troubleThrough 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... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Psalms 6:6

"I am weary with my groaning:Every night make I my bed to swim;I water my couch with my tears.Mine eye wasteth away because of grief;It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries."Here we have a classical example of Biblical hyperbole. exaggeration for the purpose of emphasis, as for example, when someone says, "We had a party and everyone came! Did everyone come? Certainly not; but the statement is a legitimate hyperbole, as is the passage before us.Such tears and grief were ample evidence of... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Psalms 6:6

6. By a strong figure the abundance as well as intensity of grief is depicted. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 6:1-10

Psalms 6Many 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... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 6:6-7

3. Lament over illness 6:6-7David described his condition in extreme (hyperbolic) language to indicate how terrible he felt. Evidently his adversaries had been responsible for his condition to some extent, perhaps by inflicting a wound."From my own experience and pastoral ministry, I’ve learned that sickness and pain either make us better or bitter, and the difference is faith." [Note: Wiersbe, The . . . Wisdom . . ., p. 100.] read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 6:1-10

This is the first of the Penitential Psalms, the others being Psalms 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143. It is the prayer of a sufferer whose experience is like that of Job. He is prostrated by severe illness, and is even in danger of death, while the mockery of his enemies makes his trouble the harder to bear. He entreats earnestly that God may deliver him (Psalms 6:1-7), and rises to a sudden confidence that his prayer has been heard and that his enemies will be put to shame (Psalms 6:8-10).Title.—On... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Psalms 6:6

(6) I water my couch with tears.—Comp. Odyssey, xvii. 102:“Say, to my mournful couch shall I ascend?The couch deserted now a length of years,The couch for ever watered with my tears.”—Pope’s trans.Orientals indulge in weeping and other outward signs of emotion, which Western nations, or, at all events, the Teutonic races, try to suppress or hide. read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Psalms 6:1-10

Psalms 6:0 This Psalm might have a history to itself. It has a wail of pain and sorrow, deepening into anguish, running through it; but comfort dawns at the close, like an angel turning the key of the prison. It is the first of the seven Penitential Psalms, the others being the 32nd, 38th, 51st, 102nd, 130th, 143rd. One of the strangest things, though not the happiest, in its records is, that, along with Psalm CXLII., it was the choice of Catherine de Medici, the Jezebel and Athaliah of the... read more