I wish I knew more about the situation that prompted Psalm 6. Unlike similar psalms where David is in deep distress, it doesn’t appear that this psalm is the product of illness, but something emotional. Is David despairing because of the abundance of his enemies (and he does seem to have a lot of enemies)? Or is he despairing because he’s not doing well and his foes are adding to his stress?
Does David feel that God is the cause of his troubles? Does he feel that something in his life is amiss and it has brought him so low that he could not bear God to pile anything else on – even if he deserved it?
Are David’s “foes” friends who are more like Job’s wife, the sort who, when seeing you covered up with trouble and sorrow offer no encouragement but call on you to “give up” or “curse God and die”?
Whatever his situation, David’s pretty bitter about it. He rather bluntly tells God: “If I die, I won’t be able to praise you so you need to deliver me.”
Perhaps you’ve been in one, more, or all these situations. Psalm 6 is an affirmation of David that no matter how “unheard” you might feel, God does hear, God will deliver, and those who have been wholly unhelpful in a time of misery will be disgraced.