Psalm 6

Psalm 6:2-4a, 4b-6, 9-10

#793 Ritual Mass (V. For the Pastoral Care of the Sick and the Dying, 1. Anointing of the Sick, 2.)

R. (3a) Have mercy on me, Lord; my strength is gone.

O LORD, reprove me not in your anger,
  nor chastise me in your wrath.
Have mercy on me, O LORD, for my strength is gone;
  heal me, O LORD, for my body is in terror;
My soul, too, is utterly terrified.
R. Have mercy on me, Lord; my strength is gone.

But you, O LORD, how long?
Return, O LORD, save my life;
  rescue me because of your kindness,
For among the dead no one remembers you;
  in the nether world who gives you thanks?
R. Have mercy on me, Lord; my strength is gone.

Depart from me, all evildoers,
  for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping;
The LORD has heard my plea;
  the LORD has accepted my prayer.
R. Have mercy on me, Lord; my strength is gone.
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Commentary on Ps 6:2-4a, 4b-6, 9-10

Psalm 6 is an individual lament.  The singer cries for help from the Lord in the morning.   The first of the seven Penitential Psalms (Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143), a designation dating from the seventh century A.D. for Psalms suitable to express repentance. The psalmist does not, as in many laments, claim to be innocent but appeals to God’s mercy (Ps 6:5). Sin here, as often in the Bible, is both the sinful act and its injurious consequences; here it is physical sickness (Ps 6:3–4, 7–8) and the attacks of enemies (Ps 6:8, 9, 11). The psalmist prays that the effects of personal and social sin be taken away. [1]

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[1] See NAB footnote on Psalm 6