psalm 6 chiastic structure

Read Psalm 6 at Bible Gateway.

Psalm 6 Hebrew paragraph divisions:

Psa 6:1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
Psa 6:2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
Psa 6:3 My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O Lord—how long?
Psa 6:4 Return, O Lord, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
Psa 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?
Psa 6:6 I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears.
Psa 6:7 My eye wastes away because of grief; It grows old because of all my enemies.
Psa 6:8 Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
Psa 6:9 The Lord has heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer.
Psa 6:10 Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.

Psalm 6 chiastic structure:

1a) Psa 6:1, David fears the rebuke of the LORD for himself;

1b) Psa 6:2-3a, David’s prayer before the LORD for mercy;

1c) Psa 6:3b-5, Return to me, O LORD, and deliver me;

central axis) Psa 6:6-7, The outpouring of David’s grief;

2c) Psa 6:8a, Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity;

2b) Psa 6:8b-9, David’s assurance that the Lord has heard his prayer;

2a) Psa 6:10, The rebuke of the LORD against David’s enemies.

Something happened between vs. 7 and vs. 8 to change David’s outlook. For the first seven verses of the psalm, David is in such deep distress that he begins to despair of life itself (vs. 5). Then suddenly in vs. 8, David rises up with assurance that everything is going to turn around. The turning point for him, was knowing that the Lord had heard and received his prayer for mercy and request for deliverance.

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. 1 Joh 5:14-15

David knew this. This means that prayers for mercy, healing, and deliverance must be in accordance with God’s will. Let me have the confidence of David!