Structure
This psalm has a four-part pattern. The psalm’s first part consists of 24 words in the Hebrew, which make up the first three verses. The second part contains 15 words, made up of two verses. Part three is, again, 24 words, consisting of three verses. The final part comprises 15 words, the last two verses.
Looking at the structure and content, we see a metaphorical picture, and recurrent pattern, of our life with God.
The psalm starts with two parallel, negative petitions for God not to discipline the psalmist any longer in anger. Following that are two positive petitions for God to show him favor and heal him (vs. 1-2). He needs restoration because he is being stricken hard (vs. 3).
This psalm also uses repetition to drive home its points. We find a repeat of being “stricken” in verses 3-4 and “heard” in verses 8-9. The psalm then moves for the psalmist’s enemies to be “stricken” (vs. 10) as his bones and his entire being were “stricken” (vs. 2-3) “hard” in both settings. His foes will “turn back” in verse 10 because God has “turned back” toward him in verse 4. The repeated claim that his enemies will be “humbled” in verse 10 strengthens the effect of that verse.
Scribal Notes
This is not part of the official psalm but worship notes for the musical director, denoting the instrumental accompaniment, the psalm tone for chanting, and the author of the psalm.
For the musical director. With stringed instruments, on the eighth [tone]. A Psalm of David.
Verse 1
O Yahweh, stop correcting me in Your outward fury;
stop disciplining me in Your inward anger.
“O”: The vocative “O”: O indicates that someone or something is being directly addressed. In contrast with “O,” “oh” has a wider range of meaning: pain, surprise, disappointment, or any emotional state. Also, when the first mention of Yahweh in a two-part verse has the “vocative O,” I add a vocative O to the second Yahweh for parallelism and meter.
“Yahweh”: The personal name for God, derived from a form of “He Is.” When Jesus referred to Himself as “I Am,” He was calling Himself God. See John 6:35, 48, 51; 8:12; 10:7, 9; 10:11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; and 15:1, 5.
“stop”: Hebrew: al. This could mean “do not” or “stop.” Since the rest of the psalm shows the writer is already under God’s discipline, “stop” is a better translation.
“correct”: Hebrew, yakah. This carries a legal or parental connotation, which comes with the rightful authority to judge and correct. Here, God’s correcting is to establish what is right.
“disciplining”: Hebrew, yasar. This carries more of a sense of instruction than it does punishment. Proverbs 3:11-12 and Job 5:17 show that God’s instructing discipline is a source of blessing—although a difficult one to accept.
“outward fury… inward anger”: “Visible fury” is literally “nose,” which points to a visible state of anger someone can see. This pictures God flaring His nostrils in an outward, visible anger. The Hebrew root for “inward anger” is hemah, meaning “to be hot.” This then is not external, but internal.
Verse 2
Show favor to me, O Yahweh, for I am feeble.
Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are stricken hard.
An a-b-c, a-b-c pattern, which is an expansion over verse 1. Here “for” (the “b”) is added to the pattern.
“show favor”: Hebrew, chanan. This is more than the pain going away (mercy) but that good also come to him (grace). This favor entails:
- The requester sees himself in a covenant with God,
- God can and will take note of his need (Ruth 2:10; 1 Samuel 20: 3),
- God is favorably disposed toward him (Genesis 19:19; 32:5-33:10), and
- God has the ability to fulfill the request.
This verse moves God’s favor from the abstract to the concrete: “Show favor” transitions to “heal me.”
Verse 3
My being is stricken hard—and You, O Yahweh, how long?
“being”: Hebrew, nephesh, “soul.” Nephesh does not refer to a part of someone’s body but to his whole being, including the passionate drives and appetites of a person. (See Genesis 2:7.)
Verse 4
Turn back, O Yahweh, rescue me.
Restore me as befits Your faithful love.
Here, we find a progression of movement. The psalmist asks God to turn back (Hebrew, shuv) toward him. After that, the request moves to being removed from the bad situation (Hebrew, chalatz). From there, it is not only being removed but being restored to God (Hebrew, yasha), which is based on the idea of making room for someone next to you.
“faithful love”: Hebrew, chesed. This is a loving goodness and kindness rooted in the faithful and loyal character of God. Why God should intervene? The psalmist has faith in God’s faithful love.
Verse 5
For death holds no remembrance of You.
Who can pray to You in the grave?
To understand this verse, we need to remember that Israel’s worship of God was all about remembering His deliverance of them as His people. How can the dead remember who God is in the Church’s liturgy? He cannot participate in the liturgy.
“pray”: Hebrew, yada. This words denotes throwing or casting, which included the idea of sending one’s prayers to God. This then refers to the ritual gestures involved in liturgical worship of God. The dead cannot worship in this way, for they physically cannot participate in the movements of worship.
“the grave”: Hebrew, sheol. Sheol is a broad term and can mean the afterlife, death, the grave, even hell. Here, it is another synonym for death; thus, the translation “the grave.”
Note the lack of God’s personal name in this verse. The lack of God’s name mirrors having no remembrance of Him.
Verse 6
I weary in my groaning.
Every night I flood my bed,
with tears, I drench my couch.
An a-b-c pattern, which builds in intensity.
Verse 7
My eye grows dim from sorrow,
it is torn out by all my foes.
From the previous verse, the verse doubles the pattern: From one a-b-c pattern to two a-b-c patterns.
“eye”: The eye is a metaphor for overall health and well-being (see also Psalm 13:3, 19:8, 25:15, and 131:1). Here, the idiom indicates that the psalmist has reached the end of his resources and strength.
The second part of the verse builds in intensity from the first. “Grows dim” transitions to the to the violent and hyperbolic “torn out.” The frankness of the psalmist admitting his weakness prevents him from making false claims of innocence.
The psalmist’s spends his last energies pleading for God’s help. Although the battle takes place in the body, it yet transcends it. The battle within the body is a metaphor for the spiritual battle for life and death. Life and death are locked in combat, yet both are under God’s dominion.
Verse 8
Turn from me, all you doers of evil,
for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
As suddenly and miraculously as a resurrection from the dead, David rises out of the depths to heavenly heights, from anguish to courage, from sorrow to joy, from groaning to laughter (Isaiah 35:10, 51:11).
“evil”: Hebrew, aven. The Hebrew covers a wide range of sinful deeds, including false worship and idolatry (see 1 Samuel 15:23; Isaiah 66:3; Amos 1:5; Hosea 4:15, 17-18, and 10:5, 8). The Septuagint translates “evil” as “lawlessness,” as those who live without God’s Law, His Torah.
In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus quotes the first half of this psalm (from the Septuagint) after warning about “false prophets” (context: Pharisees). They look to be as those who have God’s revelation and instruction (Torah/Law), but do not. They are the opposite of what they appear to be, even though they could “cast out demons.” (See also Luke 13:27.)
Verse 9
Yahweh has heard my plea,
Yahweh will receive my prayer.
“will receive”: Hebrew only has two tenses: the perfect tense, which is past, and the imperfect, which is not the past. Here, the first part of the verse is in the perfect tense, so it makes best sense to see the second half of the verse in the future tense.
Verse 10
All my foes will be humbled and stricken hard;
they will turn back and be humbled in an instant.
“turn… humbled”: The Hebrew mirrors the meaning: shuv (or shub for turn) and bush (for humbled). The Hebrew words are mirror images, showing how God’s turning them back will be a humbling of them.
“humbled”: Hebrew, bush. This is not internalized guilt but one’s public standing. The shout of triumph here is that God has restored the public dignity and name of the psalmist, which is also metaphor for what waits God’s people in eternity. In eternity, the fortunes of “the doers of evil” will be one of being humbled.
The ending of the psalm expresses the reversal that the psalmist had sought—and received. The reality of that reversal changes everything.
Christ in the Psalm
Both David and our Lord Jesus Christ suffered under God’s wrath.
They both:
- humbly accepted God’s discipline,
- were in anguish at the prospect of death and separation from God,
- prayed to be delivered,
- committed themselves to God care,
- tasted death,
- were considered by enemies to be under God’s curse,
- were heard by God when they prayed,
- rose victorious from the sphere of death, and in doing so, routed their enemies, and
- praised God for their salvation.
Jesus, however, is greater than the foreshadow, David.
- David suffered justly for his sin.
- Jesus suffered justly for our sins, not His own. Because He was both God and man and without sin, His suffering for our sin removed sin from us and its eternal consequences.
- David was slipping toward the grave.
- Jesus was buried in the grave and descended into Hell, proclaiming His victory.
- David was delivered from a premature death and died a normal death in old age.
- Jesus rose from the dead and lives forever.
This psalm assures us that the God of life, and not death, will have the last word.
Praying the Psalm
P: O Yahweh, stop correcting me in Your outward fury;
C: stop disciplining me in Your inward anger.
P: Show favor to me, O Yahweh, for I am feeble.
C: Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are stricken hard.
P: My being is stricken hard—
C: and You, O Yahweh, how long?
P: Turn back, O Yahweh, rescue me.
C: Restore me as befits Your faithful love.
P: For death holds no remembrance of You.
C: Who can pray to You in the grave?
P: I weary in my groaning.
C: Every night I flood my bed, with tears, I drench my couch.
P: My eye grows dim from sorrow,
C: it is torn out by all my foes.
P: Yahweh has heard my plea,
C: Yahweh will receive my prayer.
P: All my foes will be humbled and stricken hard;
C: they will turn back and be humbled in an instant.
C: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
