Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath.
- KJV O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
- BSB For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments, according to Sheminith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath.
- NKJV O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
- NLT O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David pleads that God not rebuke or discipline him in anger. He seeks correction tempered by mercy rather than wrath.
Overview
As the first of the church's seven penitential psalms, this begins with David acknowledging he deserves God's discipline yet pleading for mercy, not fury. He does not deny his fault but appeals to God's compassion. Believers can pray this way with full confidence, for in Christ the wrath their sin deserves has been borne, and discipline now comes as a Father's loving correction (Hebrews 12:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 38:1A Psalm by David, for a memorial. Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
- Ps 118:18Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
- Jer 10:24Yahweh, correct me, but in measure: not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
- Jer 46:28Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh; “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
- 1 Cor 11:31–32For if we discerned ourselves, we wouldn’t be judged.
- Isa 57:16For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
- 1 Chr 15:21and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps tuned to the eight-stringed lyre, to lead.
- Isa 54:9“For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.
- Ps 4:1For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm by David. Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
- Ps 12:1For the Chief Musician; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David. Help, Yahweh; for the godly man ceases. For the faithful fail from among the children of men.
- Ps 2:5Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath:
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 6:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.