◄ Psalm 6:8 ►
Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard my weeping.
Study Bible
Depart from me
This phrase is a command for separation and is often used in the context of divine judgment or moral distancing. The Hebrew word "סוּר" (sur) implies a turning away or removal. In the context of the psalm, David is calling for a separation from those who practice evil. This reflects a desire for holiness and purity, aligning with the biblical principle of being set apart from sin. Historically, this echoes the call for the Israelites to be distinct from the surrounding nations, emphasizing a life dedicated to God.

all you workers of iniquity
The term "workers of iniquity" refers to those who actively engage in sin and wrongdoing. The Hebrew word "אָוֶן" (aven) denotes trouble, wickedness, or sorrow. This phrase highlights the active participation in sin, not merely passive or occasional wrongdoing. In the biblical narrative, such individuals are often contrasted with the righteous, who seek to follow God's commandments. The psalmist's denunciation of these workers underscores the biblical theme of divine justice and the ultimate separation of good from evil.

for the LORD has heard
This phrase is a declaration of faith and assurance. The Hebrew word "שָׁמַע" (shama) means to hear, listen, or obey. It signifies not just the act of hearing but also understanding and responding. In the context of the psalm, it reflects David's confidence that God is attentive to his cries. This assurance is a recurring theme in the Psalms, where the faithful are encouraged to trust in God's responsiveness to their prayers. It serves as a reminder of God's omnipresence and His willingness to engage with His people.

my weeping
The word "weeping" is translated from the Hebrew "בְּכִי" (beki), which conveys deep sorrow and lamentation. In the ancient Near Eastern context, weeping was a common expression of grief and supplication. David's weeping signifies a profound emotional and spiritual state, reflecting his earnest plea for divine intervention. This expression of vulnerability and dependence on God is a powerful testament to the personal relationship between the psalmist and the Divine. It underscores the biblical truth that God is compassionate and attentive to the cries of His people, offering comfort and deliverance in times of distress.

Persons / Places / Events
1. David
Traditionally attributed as the author of Psalm 6, David is expressing his deep distress and seeking God's mercy.

2. Workers of Iniquity
This term refers to those who commit evil acts and oppose the righteous, often causing distress to the faithful.

3. The LORD
The covenant name of God, Yahweh, who is attentive to the cries and prayers of His people.

4. Weeping
Represents the deep sorrow and repentance of the psalmist, indicating a heartfelt plea for divine intervention.
Teaching Points
God Hears the Righteous
The psalmist's confidence that God has heard his weeping assures believers that God is attentive to their cries and prayers.

Separation from Evil
The call to "depart" from workers of iniquity underscores the importance of distancing oneself from sinful influences and aligning with God's righteousness.

Repentance and Sorrow
Genuine repentance is often accompanied by deep sorrow, as seen in the psalmist's weeping, which God acknowledges and responds to.

Confidence in God's Justice
Believers can trust that God will ultimately deal with those who practice iniquity, providing justice and vindication for the righteous.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the assurance that "the LORD has heard my weeping" impact your personal prayer life and relationship with God?

2. In what ways can you actively separate yourself from "workers of iniquity" in your daily life?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced deep sorrow or repentance. How did you see God respond to your situation?

4. How does the concept of God hearing the cries of the righteous encourage you in times of distress or persecution?

5. How can the teachings of Psalm 6:8 be applied to foster a community that supports righteousness and resists evil influences?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 7:23
Jesus uses similar language when He speaks of the final judgment, telling those who practice lawlessness to depart from Him. This connection emphasizes the separation between righteousness and iniquity.

Psalm 34:15
This verse highlights that the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry, reinforcing the assurance that God hears the prayers of the faithful.

James 4:7-8
Encourages believers to resist the devil and draw near to God, promising that God will draw near to them, similar to the assurance of God's response in Psalm 6:8.
Sermons
A Cry to God, and its ResponseW. Forsyth Psalm 6:1-10
A Revengeful God the Creation of a Guilty ConscienceHomilistPsalm 6:1-10
A Song of SorrowA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 6:1-10
Angerless Reproof Often Quite EffectiveLife of Bishop John Selwyn.Psalm 6:1-10
Angry Chastening DeprecatedSir Richard Baker.Psalm 6:1-10
Deliverance from Sore TroubleC. Short Psalm 6:1-10
God's Anger Against SinA. Symson.Psalm 6:1-10
God's Anger TerriblePsalm 6:1-10
Great Afflictions, Greater ConsolationW. Forsyth Psalm 6:1-10
Night and Morning in the SoulW. Forsyth Psalm 6:1-10
Rebuke Combined with AngerSir Richard Baker.Psalm 6:1-10
Rebuke NeededSir Richard Baker.Psalm 6:1-10
The Anger of God as Pure as His MercyA. Symson.Psalm 6:1-10
The Cry of the PenitentWilliam Nicholson, D. D.Psalm 6:1-10
The Difference Between a Cross and a CurseA. Symson.Psalm 6:1-10
The Moan of a Saint, and the Mercy of His GodC. Clemance Psalm 6:1-10
The Penitent SuppliantJohn Donne.Psalm 6:1-10
The Prayer of the a Afflicted SoulA. Symson.Psalm 6:1-10
A Change from Sorrow to HopeJ. D. Lane, M. A.Psalm 6:8-9
Sin Pleasant to Begin With, But Painful to End WithA. Symson, B. D.Psalm 6:8-9
Sorrow and DeliveranceF. B. Meyer, B. A.Psalm 6:8-9
The Voice of WeepingA. Symson, B. D.Psalm 6:8-9
Workers of IniquityA. Symson, B. D.Psalm 6:8-9
People
David, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Depart, Ear, Evil, Iniquity, Turn, Voice, Weeping, Workers
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 6:7-8

     5970   unhappiness

Psalm 6:8-9

     8330   receptiveness
     8614   prayer, answers

Library
The Life of Mr. James Renwick.
Mr. James Renwick was born in the parish of Glencairn in Nithsdale, Feb. 15, 1662. His parents though not rich, yet were exemplary for piety. His father Andrew Renwick (a weaver to trade) and his mother Elizabeth Corsan, had several children before Mr. James, who died young; for which when his mother was pouring forth her motherly grief, her husband used to comfort her with declaring, that he was well satisfied to have children, whether they lived or died, young or old, providing they might be heirs …
John Howie—Biographia Scoticana (Scots Worthies)

Weep Not.
"Weine nicht!" "The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping."--Psalm 6:8. [3]B. Schmolk transl., Sarah Findlater, 1854 Weep not--Jesus lives on high, O sad and wearied one! If thou with the burden sigh, Of grief thou canst not shun, Trust Him still, Soon there will Roses in the thicket stand, Goshen smile in Egypt's land. Weep not--Jesus thinks of thee When all beside forget, And on thee so lovingly His faithfulness has set, That though all Ruin'd fall, Every thing on earth be shaken, Thou wilt …
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

Pleading for Mercy. Ps 6
 …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

"O Save Me for Thy Mercies' Sake. " --Ps. vi. 4
"O save me for thy mercies' sake."--Ps. vi. 4. Mercy alone can meet my case; For mercy, Lord, I cry;-- Jesus! Redeemer! show thy face In mercy, or I die. Save me, for none beside can save; At thy command I tread, With failing step, life's stormy wave; The wave goes o'er my head. I perish, and my doom were just; But wilt thou leave me? No: I hold Thee fast, my hope, my trust, I will not let Thee go. Still sure to me Thy promise stands, And ever must abide; Behold it written on Thy hands, And graven …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Letters of St. Bernard
I To Malachy. 1141.[924] (Epistle 341.) To the venerable lord and most blessed father, Malachy, by the grace of God archbishop of the Irish, legate of the Apostolic See, Brother Bernard called to be abbot of Clairvaux, [desiring] to find grace with the Lord. 1. Amid the manifold anxieties and cares of my heart,[925] by the multitude of which my soul is sore vexed,[926] the brothers coming from a far country[927] that they may serve the Lord,[928] thy letter, and thy staff, they comfort …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

The Tears of the Penitent.
Adversity had taught David self-restraint, had braced his soul, had driven him to grasp firmly the hand of God. And prosperity had seemed for nearly twenty years but to perfect the lessons. Gratitude had followed deliverance, and the sunshine after the rain had brought out the fragrance of devotion and the blossoms of glad songs. A good man, and still more a man of David's age at the date of his great crime, seldom falls so low, unless there has been previous, perhaps unconscious, relaxation of the …
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

If Then to Sin, that Others May not Commit a Worse Sin...
21. If then to sin, that others may not commit a worse sin, either against us or against any, without doubt we ought not; it is to be considered in that which Lot did, whether it be an example which we ought to imitate, or rather one which we ought to avoid. For it seems meet to be more looked into and noted, that, when so horrible an evil from the most flagitious impiety of the Sodomites was impending over his guests, which he wished to ward off and was not able, to such a degree may even that just …
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Out of the Deep of Suffering and Sorrow.
Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul: I am come into deep waters; so that the floods run over me.--Ps. lxix. 1, 2. I am brought into so great trouble and misery: that I go mourning all the day long.--Ps. xxxviii. 6. The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: Oh! bring Thou me out of my distress.--Ps. xxv. 17. The Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping: the Lord will receive my prayer.--Ps. vi. 8. In the multitude of the sorrows which I had in my heart, Thy comforts have refreshed …
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Epistle xxxix. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Prov. xxv. 25). But what can be good news to me, so far as concerns the behoof of holy Church, but to hear of the health and safety of your to me most sweet Holiness, who, from your perception of the light of truth, both illuminate the same Church with the word of preaching, and mould it to a better way by the example of your manners? As often, too, as I recall in …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Epistle xv. To George, Presbyter.
To George, Presbyter. Gregory to George, Presbyter, and to Theodore, deacon, of the Church of Constantinople. Mindful of your goodness and charity, I greatly blame myself, that I gave you leave to return so soon: but, since I saw you pressing me importunately once and again for leave to go, I considered that it might be a serious matter for your Love to tarry with us longer. But, after I had learnt that you had lingered so long on your journey owing to the winter season, I confess that I was sorry …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Epistle Xlvi. To Isacius, Bishop of Jerusalem .
To Isacius, Bishop of Jerusalem [159] . Gregory to Isacius, &c. In keeping with the truth of history, what means the fact that at the time of the flood the human race outside the ark dies, but within the ark is preserved unto life, but what we see plainly now, namely that all the unfaithful perish under the wave of their sin, while the unity of holy Church, like the compactness of the ark, keeps her faithful ones in faith and in charity? And this ark in truth is compacted of incorruptible timber, …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Rules to be Observed in Singing of Psalms.
1. Beware of singing divine psalms for an ordinary recreation, as do men of impure spirits, who sing holy psalms intermingled with profane ballads: They are God's word: take them not in thy mouth in vain. 2. Remember to sing David's psalms with David's spirit (Matt. xxii. 43.) 3. Practise St. Paul's rule--"I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the understanding also." (1 Cor. xiv. 15.) 4. As you sing uncover your heads (1 Cor. xi. 4), and behave yourselves in comely reverence as in the …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Motives to Holy Mourning
Let me exhort Christians to holy mourning. I now persuade to such a mourning as will prepare the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were spiritual limbecs, distilling the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. They that escape shall be like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity' (Ezekiel 7:16). There are several divine motives to holy mourning: 1 Tears cannot be put to a better use. If you weep for outward losses, you lose your tears. It is like a shower …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Epistle Lxiv. To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli .
To Augustine, Bishop of the Angli [174] . Here begins the epistle of the blessed Gregory pope of the city of Rome, in exposition of various matters, which he sent into transmarine Saxony to Augustine, whom he had himself sent in his own stead to preach. Preface.--Through my most beloved son Laurentius, the presbyter, and Peter the monk, I received thy Fraternity's letter, in which thou hast been at pains to question me on many points. But, inasmuch as my aforesaid sons found me afflicted with the …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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