John Calvin Commentary Psalms 6

The calamity that David now experienced had perhaps been inflicted by men, but he wisely considers that he has to deal with God. Those people are very unsuitably disciplined by their afflictions who do not immediately take a close and steady view of their sins, in order to produce the conviction that they have deserved the wrath of God.

And yet we see how thoughtless and insensitive almost all people are on this subject; for while they cry out that they are afflicted and miserable, scarcely one in a hundred looks to the hand that strikes. Therefore, from whatever source our afflictions come, let us learn to turn our thoughts instantly to God, and to acknowledge him as the Judge who summons us as guilty before his tribunal, since we, of our own accord, do not anticipate his judgment.

But as people, when they are compelled to feel that God is angry with them, often indulge in complaints full of impiety, rather than find fault with themselves and their own sins, it is to be particularly noticed that David does not simply ascribe to God the afflictions under which he is now suffering, but acknowledges them to be the just recompense of his sins.

He does not take God to task as if God were an enemy, treating him with cruelty without any just cause; but yielding to God the right of rebuking and chastening, he desires and prays only that limits may be set to the punishment inflicted on him. By this he declares God to be a just Judge in taking vengeance on the sins of people.

But as soon as he has confessed that he is justly chastised, he earnestly implores God not to deal with him in strict justice, or according to the utmost rigor of the law. He does not altogether refuse punishment, for that would be unreasonable; and he judged that being without it would be more harmful than beneficial to him: but what he is afraid of is the wrath of God, which threatens sinners with ruin and perdition.

To anger and indignation David tacitly opposes fatherly and gentle chastisement, and this latter he was willing to bear. We have a similar contrast in the words of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:24), where he says, O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in your anger. God is, indeed, said to be angry with sinners whenever he inflicts punishment upon them. However, this is not in the proper and strict sense. This is because he not only mingles with it some of the sweetness of his grace to mitigate their sorrow, but also shows himself favorable to them by moderating their punishment and by mercifully drawing back his hand.

But, as we must necessarily be struck with terror whenever God shows himself the avenger of wickedness, it is not without cause that David, according to his human feelings, is afraid of God's anger and indignation. Therefore, the meaning is this: "I indeed confess, O Lord, that I deserve to be destroyed and brought to nothing; but as I would be unable to endure the severity of your wrath, do not deal with me according to what I deserve, but rather pardon my sins, by which I have provoked your anger against me."

Therefore, as often as we are pressed down by adversity, let us learn from David's example to resort to this remedy, so that we may be brought into a state of peace with God. For we cannot expect things to be well or prosperous for us if we do not have his favor. It follows, then, that we will never be without a burden of evils until he forgives us our sins.

Have mercy upon me. As he earnestly calls upon God to be merciful to him, it is clearer from this that by the terms anger and indignation he did not mean cruelty or undue severity, but only such judgment as God executes upon the reprobate, whom He does not spare in mercy as He does His own children.

If he had complained of being unjustly and too severely punished, he would now have only added something to this effect: Restrain Yourself, that in punishing me You may not exceed the measure of my offense. In resorting, therefore, to the mercy of God alone, he shows that he desires nothing else than not to be dealt with according to strict justice, or as he deserved.

In order to induce God to exercise His forgiving mercy towards him, he declares that he is ready to fail: Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am weak. As I have said before, he calls himself weak, not because he was sick, but because he was cast down and broken by what had now befallen him.

And as we know that the design of God in inflicting punishment upon us is to humble us; so, whenever we are subdued under His rod, the gate is opened for His mercy to come to us. Besides, since it is His special office to heal the diseased, to raise up the fallen, to support the weak, and, finally, to give life to the dead, this itself is a sufficient reason for us to seek His favor when we are sinking under our afflictions.

After David has declared that he placed his hope of salvation in the mercy of God alone, and has sorrowfully set forth how much he is abased, he adds the effect which this had in impairing his bodily health, and prays for the restoration of this blessing: Heal me, O Jehovah. And this is the order which we must observe, so that we may know that all the blessings which we ask from God flow from the fountain of His free goodness, and that we are then, and then only, delivered from calamities and chastisements when He has had mercy upon us.

For my bones are afraid. This confirms what I have just now observed, namely, that from the very severity of his afflictions, he entertained the hope of some relief; for God, the more He sees the wretched oppressed and almost overwhelmed, is just so much the more ready to help them.

He attributes fear to his bones, not because they are endowed with feeling, but because the vehemence of his grief was such that it affected his whole body. He does not speak of his flesh, which is the more tender and susceptible part of the corporeal system, but he mentions his bones, thereby intimating that the strongest parts of his frame were made to tremble for fear.

He next assigns the cause of this by saying, And my soul is greatly afraid. The connective particle and, in my judgment, has here the meaning of the causal particle for, as if he had said, so severe and violent is the inward anguish of my heart that it affects and impairs the strength of every part of my body. I do not approve of the opinion which here takes soul for life, nor does it suit the scope of the passage.

And you, O Jehovah, how long? This elliptical form of expression serves to express more strongly the vehemence of grief, which not only holds people's minds bound up, but also their tongues, breaking and cutting short their speech in the middle of the sentence. The meaning, however, in this abrupt expression is doubtful.

Some, to complete the sentence, supply the words, Will you afflict me, or continue to chasten me? Others read, How long will you delay your mercy? But what is stated in the next verse shows that this second sense is the more probable, for there he prays to the Lord to look upon him with an eye of favor and compassion.

He, therefore, complains that God has now forsaken him, or has no regard for him, just as God seems to be far off from us whenever His assistance or grace does not actually manifest itself on our behalf. God, in His compassion towards us, permits us to pray to Him to make haste to help us. But when we have freely complained of His long delay, we must submit our case entirely to His will, so that our prayers or sorrow on this account do not become excessive; and we must not wish Him to make greater haste than seems good to Him.

Return, O Lord. In the preceding verses, the Psalmist lamented God's absence, and now he earnestly requests signs of His presence; for our happiness consists in this, that we are the objects of the Divine regard, but we think he is alienated from us if he does not give us substantial evidence of his care for us.

We gather from these words that David was at this time in the greatest danger, in which he prays both for the deliverance of his soul, so to speak, from the jaws of death, and for his return to safety. Yet no mention is made of any physical illness, and therefore, I make no judgment concerning the kind of his affliction.

David, again, confirms what he had mentioned in the second verse concerning the mercy of God, specifically, that this is the only source from which he hopes for deliverance: Save me for your mercy’s sake. People will never find a remedy for their miseries until, forgetting their own merits (by trusting in which they only deceive themselves), they have learned to turn to the free mercy of God.

For in death there is no remembrance of thee. After God has bestowed all things freely upon us, He requires nothing in return but a grateful remembrance of His benefits. Reference is made to this gratitude when David says that there will be no remembrance of God in death, nor any celebration of His praise in the grave. His meaning is that if, by the grace of God, he is delivered from death, he will be grateful for it and keep it in remembrance.

And he laments that if he were removed from the world, he would be deprived of the power and opportunity of manifesting his gratitude, since in that case he would no longer mingle in human society, there to commend or celebrate the name of God. From this passage, some conclude that the dead have no feeling and that it is wholly extinct in them; but this is a rash and unwarranted inference, for nothing is discussed here but the mutual celebration of the grace of God, in which people engage while they continue in the land of the living.

We know that we are placed on the earth to praise God with one mind and one mouth, and that this is the purpose of our life. Death, it is true, puts an end to such praises; but it does not follow from this that the souls of the faithful, when divested of their bodies, are deprived of understanding or have no affection towards God. It is also to be considered that, on the present occasion, David dreaded the judgment of God if death were to befall him, and this made him unable to sing the praises of God. It is only the goodness of God, perceptibly experienced by us, that opens our mouth to celebrate His praise; and whenever, therefore, joy and gladness are taken away, praises also must cease. It is not surprising then if the wrath of God, which overwhelms us with the fear of eternal destruction, is said to extinguish in us the praises of God.

From this passage, we are given the solution to another question: why David so greatly dreaded death, as if there were nothing to hope for beyond this world. Learned men list three reasons why the fathers under the Law were so greatly bound by the fear of death:

1. First, because the grace of God had not yet been made manifest by the coming of Christ, the promises, which were obscure, gave them only a slight acquaintance with the life to come.
2. Second, because the present life, in which God deals with us as a Father, is desirable in itself.
3. Third, because they were afraid that, after their death, a change for the worse might take place in religion.

But to me, these reasons do not appear sufficiently solid. David’s mind was not always occupied by the fear he now felt; and when he came to die, being full of days and weary of this life, he calmly yielded up his soul into the bosom of God. The second reason is equally applicable to us at the present day as it was to the ancient fathers, since God’s fatherly love shines forth towards us also even in this life, and with much more illustrious proofs than under the former dispensation. But, as I have just observed, I consider this complaint of David as including something different: namely, that feeling the hand of God to be against him, and knowing His hatred of sin, he is overwhelmed with fear and involved in the deepest distress. The same may also be said of Hezekiah, since he did not simply pray for deliverance from death, but from the wrath of God, which he felt to be very awful (Isaiah 38:3).