A man pushed beyond the limits of physical and emotional endurance often reaches a point where survival is no longer a victory, but a punishment. In the depths of unimaginable agony, a desperate wish emerges for the ultimate release of death. The hope is simply that God will finish the blow He started, stopping the suffering and bringing life to an absolute end.
The plea is for God to willingly and completely crush him [אבן עזרא], bringing about his death [רש״י]. There are two main ways to understand how this final, fatal strike is envisioned. One perspective is that God is being asked to simply increase the force of His blow, expanding the destruction until it is lethal [רש״י, אבן עזרא]. A contrasting view paints a more complex picture of divine intervention. According to this approach, God is striking the sufferer with one hand, while using the other hand to firmly hold him in the realm of the living. The desperate request is for God to open His hand and release this life-preserving grip, allowing the natural release of death [מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].
To understand this agonizing state, one might imagine a person standing before a raging fire, constantly being pulled back just enough to endure the searing heat without being mercifully consumed. Miraculously, despite the overwhelming pain, the soul is forced to remain inside the shattered body. The plea is for God to let go of the hand that traps the soul, finally allowing it to depart [אלשיך].
The primary approach among commentators is that this is a request for a complete and total ending, a final destruction that will conclude his existence once and for all [רש״י, אבן עזרא, מצודת ציון, רלב״ג, מלבי״ם]. Another perspective understands the request as a desire to be cut to pieces or deeply wounded [רמב״ן, רלב״ג]. This idea of cutting carries a deeper, more merciful meaning of separation. It is a plea to sever the agonizing bond between the physical body and the spiritual soul, splitting them apart so that their tortured union can finally reach its end [אלשיך].