Psalm 69
Save me, God.
SAVE ME, GOD
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David.
VERSE 1. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!
the waters have come up to my neck! Have you ever felt that way?
VERSE 2. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
VERSE 3. I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
My eyes fail, looking for my God. Few of us are at this point, in our search for God. Most of us are far less zealous to know God than David.
VERSE 4. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.
VERSE 5. God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from you.
VERSE 6. Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord GOD of Hosts. Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.
be brought to dishonor through me. David does not want to be an embarrassment to those who seek the LORD God.
VERSE 7. Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face.
VERSE 8. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children.
VERSE 9. For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
zeal of your house consumes me. This was said of Jesus Christ:
John 2:17. His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will eat me up.”
VERSE 10. When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach.
To fast is to abstain from eating. And possibly drinking. Or to follow a restricted diet. It is a wonderful companion during special times in our lives. Read more »
VERSE 11. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.
VERSE 12. Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards.
VERSE 13. But as for me, my prayer is to you, LORD, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.
in an acceptable time. That is, “the time of your favor” (NAB translation).
The Lord’s favor seems to arrive in seasons. It’s not necessarily a steady-state condition. Rather, it seems to arrive in clumps and handfuls.
VERSE 14. Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
VERSE 15. Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
VERSE 16. Answer me, LORD, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.
your loving kindness is good. Even during this distressing time, David keeps in mind the goodness of the LORD.
VERSE 17. Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!
VERSE 18. Draw near to my soul, and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies.
VERSE 19. You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you.
ICEL translation: You know how they taunt and deride me; my oppressors are all before you.
VERSE 20. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none.
ICEL translation: Taunts have broken my heart; I have reached the end of my strength. I looked in vain for compassion, for consolers; not one could I find.
VERSE 21. They also gave me gall for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
they gave me vinegar to drink. When Jesus Christ was on the cross, the Roman soldiers gave him vinegar to drink.
VERSE 22. Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.
VERSE 23. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent.
VERSE 24. Pour out your indignation on them. Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
VERSE 25. Let their habitation be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents.
VERSE 26. For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
VERSE 27. Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness.
VERSE 28. Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.
VERSE 29. But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.
VERSE 30. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
song … thanksgiving. These become the keynote of David’s relationship with the Most High God.
VERSE 31. It will please the LORD better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs.
It will please the LORD better than. David sees that praise and thanksgiving are more pleasing to the LORD than killing animals and sacrificing them on an altar.
VERSE 32. The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live.
VERSE 33. For the LORD hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.
the LORD hears the needy. This is a constant theme throughout the Scriptures. God favors people who are poor and needy.
Yet in the U.S., many Christians despise the poor and needy. They vilify them as lazy, as drains on society, and as unworthy of assistance.
VERSE 34. Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!
VERSE 35. For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah. They shall settle there, and own it.
VERSE 36. The children also of his servants shall inherit it. Those who love his name shall dwell therein.
PSALMS
CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150
Deuterocanonical chapter: 151
RESOURCES: Summary, Outline, Memorize, David’s Fasting
Unless otherwise noted, all Bible quotations on this page are from the World English Bible and the World Messianic Edition. These translations have no copyright restrictions. They are in the Public Domain.