When it is said
At Great Compline the whole psalm is read, after Psalm 4 and before Psalm 13.
At home a person might pray these three verses at any hour.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
A psalm of David
The psalm’s heading reads “A Psalm of David” and gives it to the choirmaster, to be sung with stringed instruments. The prayer is made of its second, third and fourth verses.
Psalm 6 (Berean Standard Bible)
How the psalm ends
Later in the psalm, the psalmist is “weary from groaning,” and all night he floods his bed with weeping. Yet before the end he is sure that God has heard him: “The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.”
Psalm 6:6-9 (Berean Standard Bible)
The Scripture in it
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony. My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long? Turn, O LORD, and deliver my soul; save me because of Your loving devotion.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Ἐλέησόν με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἀσθενής εἰμι
ἴασαί με, Κύριε, ὅτι ἐταράχθη τὰ ὀστᾶ μου,
καὶ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐταράχθη σφόδρα,
καὶ Σύ, Κύριε, ἕως πότε;
Ἐπίστρεψον, Κύριε, ῥῦσαι τὴν ψυχήν μου,
σῶσόν με ἕνεκεν τοῦ ἐλέους Σου.