Praying Psalm 6

Psalm 6 was composed by David when he was sick and in pain. He intended his prayer for every person in sickness or distress, and particularly for Israel when it suffered oppression and deprivation. David pleaded with God that even if he must be punished for his deeds, that God do so gradually, but not in anger. Verse 2 says: "Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed." (KJV) David cried out in verse 4, " My soul also is sorely troubled. But thou, O LORD--how long?" (RSV) David understood both how to deal with pain as well as the source of healing. Ultimately, the decision was God's as to when he would receive deliverance.

David offers a key as to how to plead with God. Do you plead from strength or from weakness? The Treasury of David explains: Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak. Though I deserve destruction, yet let thy mercy pity my frailty. This is the right way to plead with God if we would prevail. Urge not your goodness or your greatness, but plead your sin and your littleness. Cry, "I am weak," therefore, O Lord, give me strength and crush me not. Send not forth the fury of thy tempest against so weak a vessel. Temper the wind to the shorn lamb. Be tender and pitiful to a poor withering flower, and break it not from its stem. Surely this is the plea that a sick man would urge to move the pity of his fellow if he were striving with him, "Deal gently with me, 'for I am weak.'"

Pray the following:
O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage. Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me? Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. It is in You, and in You alone, that I trust.