Psalm 6:10 NKJV
Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled;
Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.
Finding Peace
MY NOTES
There’s a quiet strength that settles in at the end of Psalm 6. David has poured out his tears, his groans, and his desperate cries. He’s been through the long night. And now, with the confidence that God has heard him, he looks toward his enemies and says:
“Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; Let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.” —Psalm 6:10 (NKJV)
This isn’t spite. It’s the honest cry of a man who’s been under attack and finally sees the light breaking through. David isn’t wishing random harm on people. He’s asking that those who set themselves against him—and against God’s purposes—would be stopped in their tracks. He wants their plans to fall apart. He wants them to feel the same kind of trouble they tried to heap on him. And he wants it to happen suddenly, so there’s no time for them to regroup or gloat.
I’ve lived long enough to know that feeling. When you’ve been worn down by opposition, there’s a deep relief in realizing God sees it all and will deal with it in His time. David’s temporary pain is about to become their lasting confusion. The very word he used earlier for his own vexed soul and bones is now turned toward them. What they meant for his harm is coming back on their own heads.
Some of the old writers saw a softer possibility here too—that this could be a prayer for their conversion. “Let them be ashamed of what they’ve done. Let them turn back and change.” That’s a generous way to read it, and it fits the heart of a man after God’s own heart. Real repentance always begins with a kind of holy shame—a deep regret for the wrong we’ve done. If his enemies never turn, though, the words stand as a clear prediction: their shame and trouble are coming, and it will come quickly.
Either way, David ends the psalm looking forward. The long night of weeping is giving way to morning. His enemies will be the ones left troubled and turning back. And he can rest in that.
That’s the gift of answered prayer. It doesn’t just lift our burden—it settles the score in ways we could never arrange ourselves. God hears. God acts. And when He does, the ones who opposed Him find themselves suddenly out of options.
Prayer
Abba, thank You that You hear the cries of Your people. Thank You that no opposition goes unnoticed by You. When we have been worn down by those who set themselves against us, remind us that You are still in control. Bring their plans to nothing. If it is possible, turn their hearts toward repentance and true shame for the wrong they’ve done. And if not, let their confusion come quickly so that Your name is honored and Your people can walk in peace. We trust You to settle every account in Your perfect time and way. I thank You for this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Key Takeaways
- Answered prayer often brings both relief for the sufferer and confusion for those who opposed them.
- It is right to desire that the plans of the wicked fail—quickly and completely.
- Shame can be the beginning of repentance, or it can be the mark of final defeat.
- The same God who allows temporary trouble for His people will bring lasting trouble to those who set themselves against His purposes.
Cross References (NKJV)
Psalm 35:4
Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor Who seek after my life; Let those be turned back and brought to confusion Who plot my hurt.
Psalm 40:14-15
Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion Who seek to destroy my life; Let them be driven backward and brought to dishonor Who wish me evil. Let them be desolate because of their shame, Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
Psalm 71:13
Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt.
Psalm 83:16-17
Fill their faces with shame, That they may seek Your name, O Lord. Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish.
Isaiah 41:11
Behold, all those who were incensed against you Shall be ashamed and disgraced; They shall be as nothing, And those who strive with you shall perish.
Proverb for Today
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him. Proverbs 24:17-18 NKJV
Daily Scripture
“The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 28:7-8 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Summary of Commentaries:
The commentaries below show how David ends Psalm 6 with quiet confidence. Once God answers, his temporary pain becomes lasting trouble for his enemies. Their plans collapse. Shame and sudden confusion overtake them. Some see here a hope for their repentance—true sorrow that turns them around. Others read it as a clear prediction of their defeat. Either way, the night of weeping gives way to morning. God settles the score, and His people can rest.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed.” This is rather a prophecy than an imprecation; it may be read in the future, “All my enemies shall be ashamed and sore vexed.” They shall return and be ashamed instantaneously, —in a moment;—their doom shall come upon them suddenly. Death’s day is doom’s day, and both are sure and may be sudden. The Romans were wont to say, “The feet of the avenging Deity are shod with wool.” With noiseless footsteps vengeance nears its victim, and sudden and overwhelming shall be its destroying stroke. If this were an imprecation, we must remember that the language of the old dispensation is not that of the new. We pray for our enemies, not against them. God have mercy on them, and bring them into the right way.
Thus the Psalm, like those which precede it, shews the different estates of the godly and the wicked. O Lord, let us be numbered with thy people, both now and forever!
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Enduring Word
Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled: David knew that when God heard and answered his prayer, it would be trouble for his enemy. David now saw that his temporary agony and trouble gave way to a permanent agony and trouble for his enemies. (Guzik)
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Albert Barnes
Let all mine enemies be ashamed — Be so brought to see their folly that they shall be ashamed of their conduct. The wish is that they might be brought to see their own guilt – a wish certainly which it is right to cherish in regard to all evil-doers.
And sore vexed — Compare the notes at Psalms 5:10. The same Hebrew word is used here which occurs in Psalms 6:2-3, and rendered “vexed.” It is a word which denotes trouble, trembling, consternation; and the meaning here is, that the psalmist prayed that they might be confounded or disconcerted in their plans – a prayer which is certainly proper in regard to all the purposes of the wicked. No one should desire that the purposes of the wicked should prosper; and not to desire this is to desire that they may be foiled and overcome in their schemes. This must be the wish of every good man.
Let them return — Turn back, or be turned back; that is, let them be repulsed, and compelled to turn back from their present object.
And be ashamed suddenly — Hebrew, “In a moment;” instantaneously. He desired that there might be no delay, but that their defeat might be accomplished at once. As it was right to pray that this might occur, so it was right to pray that it might occur without delay, or as speedily as possible. The sooner the plans of sinners are confounded, the better.
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John Gill
Let all mine enemies be ashamed,…. Or “they shall be ashamed”; and so the following clauses may be rendered, and be considered as prophecies of what would be; though if this be considered as an imprecation, it is wishing no ill; wicked men are not ashamed of their abominations committed by them, neither can they blush; it would be well if they were ashamed of them, and brought to true repentance for them; and if they are not ashamed now, they will be hereafter, when the Judge of quick and dead appears;
and sore vexed; or “troubled”; as his bones had been vexed, and his soul had been sore vexed by them; as he knew they would be through disappointment at his recovery, and at his deliverance from the distresses and calamities he was now in, when he should sing for joy of heart, and they should howl for vexation of spirit;
let them return; meaning either from him, from pursuing after him; or to him, to seek his favor, and be reconciled to him, and be at peace with him, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi explain it; unless this word should only signify “again,” as it sometimes does, and be read in connection with what follows;
[and] let them be again ashamed suddenly; intimating that his deliverance would be sudden, in a moment, in a very little time, and so would be their disappointment, shame, and confusion. Jarchi, from R. Jonathan and R. Samuel bar Nachmani, refers this to the shame of the wicked in the world to come.
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Matthew Henry
He either prays for the conversion or predicts the destruction of his enemies and persecutors, v. 10.
1. It may very well be taken as a prayer for their conversion: “Let them all be ashamed of the opposition they have given me and the censures they have passed upon me. Let them be (as all true penitents are) vexed at themselves for their own folly; let them return to a better temper and disposition of mind, and let them be ashamed of what they have done against me and take shame to themselves.”
2. If they be not converted, it is a prediction of their confusion and ruin. They shall be ashamed and sorely vexed (so it may be read), and that justly. They rejoiced that David was vexed (v. 2, 3), and therefore, as usually happens, the evil returns upon themselves; they also shall be sorely vexed. Those that will not give glory to God shall have their faces filled with everlasting shame.
In singing this, and praying over it, we must give glory to God, as a God ready to hear prayer, must own his goodness to us in hearing our prayers, and must encourage ourselves to wait upon him and to trust in him in the greatest straits and difficulties.
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The Pulpit Commentaries
Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed — ; rather, all mine enemies shall be ashamed and sore vexed (Rosenmuller, Kay, and others). Shame will fall upon David’s enemies when their plots have failed, and deep vexation when they find him restored to health (Psalms 6:4) and in the full enjoyment of the Divine favor. Let them return; rather, they shall return; i.e., “retire … turn their backs,” “take to flight.” As Hengstenberg says, “David sees his enemies, who are gathered around him for the attack, all at once in alarm give way.” And be ashamed suddenly. It is doubly shameful to have to fly when one has been the assailant.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“Let all mine enemies [or, all mine enemies shall] be ashamed, and sore vexed,” etc. Many of the mournful Psalms end in this manner, to instruct the believer that he is continually to look forward, and solace himself with beholding that day, when his warfare shall be accomplished; when sin and sorrow shall be no more; when sudden and everlasting confusion shall cover the enemies of righteousness; when the sackcloth of the penitent shall be exchanged for a robe of glory, and every tear becomes a sparkling gem in his crown; when to sighs and groans shall succeed the songs of heaven, set to angels harps, and faith shall be resolved into the vision of the Almighty.
—George Horne.
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