Psalm 6 is “A Psalm of David.” He was in great distress for two reasons: 1) He was very sick and knew God was chastening him for some sin in his life. 2) He was being persecuted by his enemies who were gloating over his adverse circumstances. The Psalm could be broken down like this:

Verses 1-5: A Cry of Repentance and a Plea for Pity (God’s mercy).

Verses 6-7: Groaning and Tears in His Bed Throughout the Night.

Verses 8-10: His Prayers are Heard & Answered.

We will now go over verses 1-5, starting with verses 1-3. “O 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; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled; but You, O LORD—how long?” (NKJV) As mentioned above, David was quite sure the Lord’s “hand of chastening” was upon him for an unconfessed sin in his life. Perhaps this occurred after his sin with Bathsheba (adultery) and having her husband Uriah killed in battle. But now he is truly REPENTING, and he asks the Lord to “have mercy on me.”

He is not yet sure if the Lord will answer this prayer for mercy, so he goes on to say in verses 4-5, “Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake! For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?” David is acknowledging that if the Lord chooses not to show him mercy and deliver him, HE WILL DIE, and if he dies and his body goes into a grave, he won’t be able to “remember the Lord or give Him thanks or praise.” We must remember that in the Old Testament believers did not have the knowledge that we have now about what happens to the believer after death. We know that when a believer dies, his/her spirit is “absent from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). In other words, they are conscious and in His Presence they can “thank and praise the Lord.” The body is dead, but the spirit is very much alive! Old Testament believers “feared death” because they had no idea what happens “between death and the resurrection of the body.” For this reason, death is called “the king of terrors” in Job 18:14. Solomon said this about death in Ecclesiastes 9:5, “For the living know that they will die; but THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING.” Like David, Solomon thought that when the body dies, the “soul sleeps until resurrection day.”

The false teaching today known as “soul sleep” is based primarily on that verse, yet that teaching is refuted by the coming of the Lord Jesus who brought us the full knowledge of the believer’s state between death and resurrection. In 2 Timothy 1:9 the Apostle Paul wrote about the gospel which was “according to His (God’s) own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus BEFORE TIME BEGAN,” yet he went on to say in verse 10, “BUT HAS NOW BEEN REVEALED by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, WHO ABOLISHED DEATH AND BROUGHT LIFE AND IMMORTALITY TO LIGHT THROUGH THE GOSPEL.” This revelation teaches us that DEATH, which brought men into bondage and fear in Old Testament times, is no longer feared. We see this wonderful truth clearly in Hebrews 2:14-15, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and RELEASE THOSE WHO THROUGH FEAR OF DEATH WERE ALL THEIR LIFETIME SUBJECT TO BONDAGE.” Praise the Lord for “conquering death through His death.” We no longer fear death, for it is now our servant which ushers us into the presence of the Lord!  (DO)  (704.3)