English · ASV

Psalms 69

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Overwhelmed by Deep Waters 1–6

1
Save me, O God; For the waters are come in unto my soul. ​
2
I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3
I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4
They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: They that would cut me off, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: That which I took not away I have to restore. ​
5
O God, thou knowest my foolishness; And my sins are not hid from thee. ​
6
Let not them that wait for thee be put to shame through me, O Lord Jehovah of hosts: Let not those that seek thee be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. ​

Suffering Reproach for God's Sake 7–12

7
Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; Shame hath covered my face.
8
I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children.
9
For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up; And the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. ​
10
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, That was to my reproach.
11
When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword unto them.
12
They that sit in the gate talk of me; And I amthe song of the drunkards. ​

Plea for Mercy and Swift Deliverance 13–21

13
But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Jehovah, in an acceptable time: O God, in the abundance of thy lovingkindness, Answer me in the truth of thy salvation. ​
14
Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15
Let not the waterflood overwhelm me, Neither let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth upon me.
16
Answer me, O Jehovah; for thy lovingkindness is good: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn thou unto me.
17
And hide not thy face from thy servant; For I am in distress; answer me speedily.
18
Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: Ransom me because of mine enemies.
19
Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: Mine adversaries are all before thee.
20
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none.
21
They gave me also gall for my food; And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. ​

A Prayer for Divine Judgment (Imprecation) 22–29

22
Let their table before them become a snare; And when they are in peace, let it become a trap. ​
23
Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; And make their loins continually to shake.
24
Pour out thine indignation upon them, And let the fierceness of thine anger overtake them.
25
Let their habitation be desolate; Let none dwell in their tents.
26
For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; And they tell of the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded. ​
27
Add iniquity unto their iniquity; And let them not come into thy righteousness.
28
Let them be blotted out of the book of life, And not be written with the righteous. ​
29
But I am poor and sorrowful: Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

Vow of Praise and Hope for Zion 30–36

30
I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31
And it will please Jehovah better than an ox, Ora bullock that hath horns and hoofs. ​
32
The meek have seen it, and are glad: Ye that seek after God, let your heart live.
33
For Jehovah heareth the needy, And despiseth not his prisoners.
34
Let heaven and earth praise him, The seas, and everything that moveth therein.
35
For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah; And they shall abide there, and have it in possession. ​
36
The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; And they that love his name shall dwell therein.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 69

Verse 1

the waters are come in unto my soul — 'Shoshannim' means 'lilies', the plural of the word in Song 2:1, and also heads Ps 45. 'Save' is yasha, the verb that closes the psalm in 'God will save Zion' (v.35). The waters come 'in unto my soul' as in Jonah 2:5, 'The waters compassed me about, even to the soul'; vv.14–15 take up the picture of the mire and the deep.

Verse 4

hate me without a cause — Chinnam, for nothing. Christ applies it to himself: 'They hated me without a cause' (John 15:25), 'written in their law'. The same words are in Ps 35:19, and 'more than the hairs of mine head' returns in Ps 40:12. 'I restored that which I took not away' means repaying what he never robbed (gazal).

Verse 5

thou knowest my foolishness — 'Foolishness' is ivveleth, folly, the word of 'my wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness' (Ps 38:5), and 'sins' is ashmah, guilt. V.4 speaks of what his enemies charge him with. Here he speaks to the one from whom nothing is hid, as in Ps 38:9, 'my groaning is not hid from thee'.

Verse 6

Lord GOD of hosts — 'GOD' in capitals after 'Lord' marks the divine name set beside Adonai. 'Wait' is qavah, to wait with expectation, and 'seek' is baqash. Isa 49:23 says of such people, 'they shall not be ashamed that wait for me', and David asks as in Ps 25:3 that his trouble not put them to shame.

Verse 9

The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up — 'Zeal' is qinah, jealous ardour, and 'eaten up' is akal, to devour. The disciples 'remembered that it was written' when Christ drove the traders from the temple (John 2:14–17). Paul applies the next line to him: 'The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me' (Rom 15:3).

Verse 12

They that sit in the gate — The gate was the place of judgment: 'Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates' (Deut 16:18), and Boaz went up to the gate to settle a claim (Ruth 4:1). The speech against him comes from the seat of authority. The 'song' of the drunkards is neginah, the word for a mocking song in Lam 3:14.

Verse 13

in an acceptable time — 'Acceptable' is ratson, favour, so the phrase is 'a time of favour', the words of Isa 49:8, 'In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee'. Paul cites that verse in 2 Cor 6:2, 'behold, now is the accepted time'. 'Mercy' is chesed and 'truth' emet, as in Ps 61:7.

Verse 21

gall for my meat… vinegar to drink — 'Gall' is rosh, a bitter plant named with wormwood in Deut 29:18. Matthew records, 'They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall' (Matt 27:34), and the sponge of vinegar on a reed (Matt 27:48). John adds the thirst: 'I thirst', and the sponge of vinegar put 'upon hyssop' (John 19:28–29).

Verse 22

Let their table become a snare — 'Table' is shulchan, the place of eating, and 'welfare' is shalom, peace; what was meant for blessing is to become 'a trap' (moqesh). Paul quotes the verse of Israel's hardening: 'Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them' (Rom 11:9).

Verse 26

they persecute him whom thou hast smitten — 'Smitten' is nakah, the word of Isa 53:4, where onlookers esteemed the sufferer 'smitten of God', and 'grief' is makob, the word in 'a man of sorrows' (Isa 53:3). The enemies add to the pain of one already struck, as God says of the nations in Zech 1:15, 'they helped forward the affliction'.

Verse 28

the book of the living — Moses asked to be blotted 'out of thy book which thou hast written', and the LORD answered, 'Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book' (Ex 32:32–33), with the same verb, machah. The book is later 'the book of life' (Rev 3:5), and Christ tells the seventy that their names 'are written in heaven' (Luke 10:20).

Verse 31

better than an ox or bullock — 'This' is the praise of v.30: 'I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.' The same preference stands in Ps 50:13–14 and Hos 14:2, 'so will we render the calves of our lips'. Hebrews takes it up: 'the sacrifice of praise… the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name' (Heb 13:15).

Verse 35

God will save Zion — The first prayer, 'Save me' (v.1), closes on the same verb, yasha, now said of Zion. 'Build the cities of Judah' is the word of Isa 44:26, 'to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built', and of Ps 51:18, 'build thou the walls of Jerusalem'. 'Have it in possession' is yarash, to inherit.