Psalm 6 is the sixth psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure". In Latin, it is known as "Domine ne in furore tuo arguas me". This penitential psalm is traditionally attributed to David. The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. It was paraphrased to a metred hymn in German, "Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn" by Johann Georg Albinus, which Catherine Winkworth translated into "Not in anger, Mighty God". The psalm has been set to music by composers such as Heinrich Schütz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Max Reger, Jules Van Nuffel and Norma Wendelburg.

Text

Hebrew

The following table shows the Hebrew text of the Psalm with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).

King James Version

Translations

Several significant translations can be identified from the early modern period. In 1532, Marguerite de Navarre, a woman of French nobility, included the sixth psalm of David in the new editions of the popular Miroir de l’âme pécheresse ("The Mirror of a Sinful Soul"). The psalm would also be later translated by the future Elizabeth I of England in 1544, when Elizabeth was eleven years old. Many feel that the penitential Psalm had a reformation orientation to the readers of the day.

Themes

Psalm 6 is supposed to have been written to serve as a prayer for anyone suffering from sickness or distress or for the state of the Kingdom of Israel while suffering through oppression. The Geneva Bible (1599) gives the following summary:"When David by his sins had provoked God’s wrath, and now felt not only his hand against him, but also conceived the horrors of death everlasting, he desireth forgiveness. 6 Bewailing that if God took him away in his indignation, he should lack occasion to praise him as he was wont to do while he was among men. 9 Then suddenly feeling God’s mercy, he sharply rebuketh his enemies which rejoiced in his affliction." The psalm is the first of the seven Penitential Psalms, as identified by Cassiodorus in a commentary of the 6th century AD. Many translations have been made of these psalms, and musical settings have been made by many composers. From Augustine's Enarrationes until Eduard König and the advent of the form-critical method in the early 20th century, this was considered one of the penitential psalms. Since then, Hermann Gunkel has classed it as one of the Individual Lamentations, as one of the"Sick Psalms". German scholar Antonius Kuckhoff considers this psalm to be the "paradigmatic example" of the supplication form in the psalms. For Martin Luther, the 6th Psalm was very important. It illustrated various central points of his theology. Psalm 6 is in three parts, distinguished by the person: The psalmist expresses his distress in parts 1 and 2 and uses a rich palette of words to describe this distress: "powerless", "bone shaking" (verse 2), "extreme distress". He even expresses his distress by the excessiveness of "a bed wet with tears", and an "eye consumed because of grief". In stating the enemies of the Psalmist, we understand that this distress is caused by relational problem. But it is unclear if he is innocent. However, he says he will be reinstated and that his opponents will be confounded. Trouble seems primarily psychological, but is also expressed through the body. It is as much the body as the soul of the psalmist cries out to God. In fact, it is also touched in his spiritual being, faced with the abandonment of God. In the absence of God emerges the final hope of the Psalmist, expressed confidence cry in the last three verses.

Heading

The Psalm header can be interpreted in different ways:

Uses

New Testament

Some verses of Psalm 6 are referenced in the New Testament: In the Psalms almost all lament Psalms end with an upturn and here the upturn is a statement of confidence in being heard. . The sorrowful prayer models lamenting with an attitude of being heard, as seen in.

Catholicism

According to the Rule of St. Benedict (530 AD), Psalm 1 to Psalm 20 were mainly reserved for the office of Prime. According to the Rule of St. Benedict, (530) it was used on Monday, in the Prime after Psalm 1 and Psalm 25. In the Liturgy of the Hours as well, Psalm 6 is recited or sung to the Office of Readings for Monday of the first week.

Book of Common Prayer

In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the first day of the month, as well as at Mattins on Ash Wednesday.

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Music

Heinrich Schütz set two different metred hymns paraphrasing Psalm 6, "Ach, Herr, straf mich nicht", SWV 24, included in his Psalmen Davids, Op. 2 (1619), and "Ach Herr mein Gott, straf mich doch nicht", SWV 102, as part of his Becker Psalter settings, Op. 5 (1628). "Herr, straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn / Das bitt ich dich von Herzen" (not to be confused with "Herr, straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn / Lass mich dein Grimm verzehren nicht", a paraphrase of Psalm 38) is a German paraphrase of Psalm 6, set by, among others, Johann Crüger (1640, Zahn No. 4606a). Settings based on Crüger's hymn tune were included in the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch, and composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 338). Psalm 6 also formed the basis of the metred hymn "Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn" (Do not punish me in your anger) by Johann Georg Albinus (1686, excerpt; EKG 176), which Catherine Winkworth translated into "Not in anger, Mighty God". The French composer Henry Desmarets used the psalm "Domine ne in furore" (1713) in the work Grands Motets Lorrains. Max Reger composed a chorale fantasia for organ, on of his two Zwei Choralphantasien, Op. 40, in 1899, as his Op. 40. Jules Van Nuffel set the psalm in Latin in 1935 as his Op. 44. Alan Hovhaness set verses 1-4 in his opus 28 O Lord, Rebuke Me Not. In 1973, Norma Wendelburg wrote a setting in English, "My Lord, Chastise Me Not in Anger", for mixed chorus and optional organ.

Psalm 6 in medieval illumination

The psalm was frequently chosen for illumination in medieval Books of Hours, to open the section containing the penitential psalms.