The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies.

It was paraphrased to a metred hymn in German, "Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn" by Johann Georg Albinus, which Catherine Winkworth translated into "Not in anger, Mighty God".

The psalm has been set to music by composers such as Heinrich Schütz, Johann Sebastian Bach, Max Reger, Jules Van Nuffel and Norma Wendelburg.

The Geneva Bible (1599) gives the following summary:When David by his sins had provoked God’s wrath, and now felt not only his hand against him, but also conceived the horrors of death everlasting, he desireth forgiveness.

From Augustine's Enarrationes [8] until Eduard König and the advent of the form-critical method in the early 20th century, this was considered one of the penitential psalms.

[17] In the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, this psalm is appointed to be read on the evening of the first day of the month,[18] as well as at Mattins on Ash Wednesday.

[19] Heinrich Schütz set two different metred hymns paraphrasing Psalm 6, "Ach, Herr, straf mich nicht", SWV 24, included in his Psalmen Davids, Op.

2 (1619),[21] and "Ach Herr mein Gott, straf mich doch nicht", SWV 102, as part of his Becker Psalter settings, Op.

[25] Settings based on Crüger's hymn tune were included in the Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch, and composed by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 338).

[31] The French composer Henry Desmarets used the psalm "Domine ne in furore" (1713) in the work Grands Motets Lorrains.

[33] In 1973, Norma Wendelburg wrote a setting in English, "My Lord, Chastise Me Not in Anger", for mixed chorus and optional organ.