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Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
Psalms 6:2 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am faint. Yahweh, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
  • BSB Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
  • NKJV Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
  • NASB Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am frail; Heal me, Lord, for my bones are horrified.
  • NLT Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

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 cries for mercy and healing, for he is weak and his very bones are troubled. He brings his physical and spiritual distress to God.

Overview

David's suffering reaches body and soul; he is faint and his bones, the frame of his being, are in turmoil. His only recourse is to plead for the Lord's mercy and healing. This honest cry models bringing our weakness to God, who is the true healer of body and soul, ultimately through the saving work of Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Hos 6:1Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
  • Ps 30:2O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
  • Ps 31:10For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
  • Jer 17:14Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.
  • Ps 41:3–4The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
  • Deut 32:39See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
  • Ps 51:8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
  • Job 33:19–21He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:
  • Ps 38:7For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
  • Ps 38:3There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
  • Gen 20:17So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
  • Num 12:13And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee.
  • Ps 32:3When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.
  • Matt 4:24And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
  • Job 5:18For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.
  • Exod 15:26And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
  • Ps 22:14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
  • Ps 103:13–17Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
  • Job 19:21Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 6:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 6:2 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.