When He makes you lie down, even in green pastures (see Ps 23:2), it helps you to look up.
With Psalm 6, we come to the first of the Penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143). The title indicates the use of stringed instruments for this moving psalm, but adds another word we meet first here: Sheminith, meaning an eighth, or an octave. This could refer to an 8-stringed lyre, one of which I have in my possession. But the idea of the octave has great appeal as well. You see there are seven penitential psalms, one for each day of the week, but the eighth day—the day of the confirming of the covenant by circumcision (Gen 17:10-12), of the firstborn offering (Lev 22:26-27), of priestly consecration (9:1), of the offering of purification (14:8-10), and the consummation of the yearly festivals pointing forward to the time when earth shall keep her jubilee (23:33-36)—the eighth day is the new beginning. Like the musical octave, it is the same note again but at a higher plane, double the frequency. You can almost hear the notes rise from the depths to the heights as you read it. The first seven verses are all in the lower key. Both David’s body and soul are “troubled” (Ps 6:2-3), trembling in weakness. He fears he isn’t long for this world (vv 4-5), and believes this is chastening from God (v 1). That may or may not be, but it’s good for the suffering believer to check that possibility. Using hyperbole (purposeful exaggeration to drive home the point), David writes, “I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears” (v 6). It doesn’t help that his enemies are always after him. And then, right there in the octave verse, everything changes, “For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping…The Lord will receive my prayer” (vv 8-9). A new beginning on a higher plane!