Bible Strands
Psalms 6:2
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David addresses the LORD, continuing his plea from the preceding verse to avoid divine rebuke and discipline. He speaks at a moment of acute physical vulnerability, immediately before declaring his soul’s deep distress in the following verse.
The words — חָנֵּנִי (chānēnî) means "show favor to me," and רְפָאֵנִי (rəpāʾēnî) means "heal me," each linked by כִּי (kî, "for") to his stated frailty and bone agony.
The thread — The pairing of divine wounding and healing appears in Hosea 6:1, while a similar cry for help resulting in healing is recorded in Psalms 30:2. The connection between iniquity, drained strength, and wasted bones runs through Psalms 31:10.
Why it lands — The text explicitly commands a direct appeal to Yahweh for mercy and physical restoration grounded in human weakness. It requires the reader to request divine intervention rather than rely on self-sufficiency when facing acute distress.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
Cross-references
- Hosea 6:1 Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
- Psalms 30:2 O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me.
- Psalms 31:10 For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away.
- Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
- Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
- Psalms 41:3 The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.
- Psalms 51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice.
- Genesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—
- Numbers 12:13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!”
- Job 33:19 A man is also chastened on his bed with pain and constant distress in his bones,