{"id":9353,"date":"2026-05-29T09:28:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/answers\/psalom-6-tekst-z-poyasnennyam\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T09:34:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T07:34:52","slug":"psalom-6-tekst-z-poyasnennyam","status":"publish","type":"answers","link":"https:\/\/advent-ug.org\/en\/answers\/psalom-6-tekst-z-poyasnennyam\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Psalm 6 about, and when should it be read?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psalm 6 is the first of the seven penitential psalms. It is the prayer of a person exhausted by illness, sleeplessness, and sorrow, who through tears still stretches out his hands to God and in the end becomes assured that the Lord has heard his weeping.<\/b><\/p>\n

\u041f\u043e\u0432\u043d\u0438\u0439 \u0442\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0442 \u041f\u0441\u0430\u043b\u043c\u0430 6 (\u043f\u0435\u0440\u0435\u043a\u043b\u0430\u0434 \u041e\u0433\u0456\u0454\u043d\u043a\u0430)<\/h2>\n

\u201cO Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure! Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled, and my soul is greatly troubled; but You, O Lord\u2014how long? Return, O Lord, deliver my soul; oh, save me for Your mercy\u2019s sake! For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol who will give You thanks? I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears! My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping! The Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Regarding numbering: in the Ohienko (church, Greek) tradition this is Psalm 6; in the Hebrew numbering it is also Psalm 6. For this psalm, both traditions agree, so there is no need to look for it under another number.<\/p>\n

What this psalm is about<\/h2>\n

Psalm 6 opens the group of so-called penitential psalms\u2014texts in which a person does not justify himself before God, but simply lays his weakness before Him. The psalmist does not begin with promises to do better; he begins with a plea: \u201cDo not rebuke me, O Lord, in Your anger.\u201d This is the prayer of someone who feels he has reached the end of himself and fears not so much the pain as what that pain means\u2014God\u2019s wrath. The first thing he asks is that God would come to him not as Judge, but as Healer.<\/p>\n

The imagery of the psalm is very physical and very honest. \u201cMy bones are troubled,\u201d \u201cmy soul is greatly troubled,\u201d \u201cmy eye wastes away because of grief\u201d\u2014this is the language of an exhausted body and an exhausted soul at the same time. Especially striking is the picture of the night: \u201call night I make my bed swim with tears.\u201d The Bible is not ashamed of tears; it gives them words. There is neither false cheerfulness nor shame over despair here\u2014only a person who weeps before God and does not hide it. And right in the middle of this exhaustion comes the sharpest question of the whole psalm: \u201cBut You, O Lord\u2014how long?\u201d\u2014a cry not of unbelief, but of how hard it is to wait.<\/p>\n

But the psalm does not leave us in the dark. In its second half a turning point comes: \u201cfor the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping!\u201d Nothing outward has changed yet\u2014illness and enemies have not disappeared\u2014but the person already knows he has been heard. The tone shifts from pleading to confidence: \u201cThe Lord has heard my supplication, the Lord will receive my prayer.\u201d This is a characteristic feature of many psalms: prayer often ends not with the problem removed, but with the worshiper finding peace in the fact that God is holding his hand.<\/p>\n

When to Read Psalm 6<\/h2>\n