NOTES for Psa 6
In David's penitential prayer, which makes up the sixth psalm, the psalmist's attitude toward sin as death is very important. Sin is the cause of all human infirmities; it brings spiritual lifelessness and physical destruction. David confesses all this before God, asking Him for mercy. He weeps over what has happened and over his spiritual weakness, and asks not to be destroyed completely. Aware of his guilt and of the justice of the punishment, he nevertheless takes refuge in the mercy of the Almighty. In death there is no remembrance of God, and therefore in death there is no possibility for the sinner to change. The Lord does not seek the death of the sinner, but precisely his conversion and life. This is His great mercy, in which David places his hope. The king's faith that God will hear and accept his repentance, and that his tears will not be rejected, is founded on this same will of God for the sinner's conversion.