Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
What does Psalms 6:8 mean?
What a sudden change is here! Having made his request known to God, the psalmist is confident that his sorrow will be turned into joy.
Key themes
Read with
Keep this verse inside its immediate passage and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Psalms 6:8
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity - Referring, by the "workers of iniquity," to his enemies, as if they now surrounded him, and calling on them "now" to leave him, since God had heard his prayer, and they could not be successful in their purposes. This is an indirect but most emphatic way of saying that God had heard his prayer; and the sentiment in this verse is strongly in contrast with the desponding state of feeling - the deep and dreadful sorrow - indicated in the previous verses. Light broke in suddenly upon him; his prayer had come up before God, and, in some way, he was assured that it would be answered.
Key words
- Depart
-
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity,.
- workers
-
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity,.
- iniquity
-
Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity,.
Context in Psalms 6
Show chapter context
Psalms 6 belongs to the early movement of the book, especially the section often described as Book I. Psalms is the Bible’s great book of sung prayer, teaching the full range of faithful speech from anguish and repentance to jubilation and doxology. Read this chapter with the wider themes of prayer, praise, and lament in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
Related topics
Explore by topic
Passages on trusting God, receiving Christ, persevering without sight, and the relation between faith and lived obedience.
Passages on asking, persistence, confession, dependence, and the way prayer shapes Christian life and attention.
Bible verses about thankfulness and gratitude
Passages on thanksgiving to God, grateful worship, and the discipline of remembering God’s goodness in ordinary life.
Bible verses about grief and loss
Passages for sorrow, bereavement, lament, and the difficult work of hoping in God without denying what has been lost.