Psalm 69 To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.

 ¹Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.

²I sink in deep mire,

Where there is no standing;

I have come into deep waters,

Where the floods overflow me.

³I am weary with my crying;

My throat is dry;

My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

⁴Those who hate me without a cause

Are more than the hairs of my head;

They are mighty who would destroy me,

Being my enemies wrongfully;

Though I have stolen nothing,

I still must restore it.

⁵O God, You know my foolishness;

And my sins are not hidden from You.

⁶Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;

Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.

⁷Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;

Shame has covered my face.

⁸I have become a stranger to my brothers,

And an alien to my mother’s children;

⁹Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,

And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

¹⁰When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,

That became my reproach.

¹¹I also made sackcloth my garment;

I became a byword to them.

¹²Those who sit in the gate speak against me,

And I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time;

O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,

Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.

¹⁴Deliver me out of the mire,

And let me not sink;

Let me be delivered from those who hate me,

And out of the deep waters.

¹⁵Let not the floodwater overflow me,

Nor let the deep swallow me up;

And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.

¹⁶Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;

Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.

¹⁷And do not hide Your face from Your servant,

For I am in trouble;

Hear me speedily.

¹⁸Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;

Deliver me because of my enemies.

¹⁹You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;

My adversaries are all before You.

²⁰Reproach has broken my heart,

And I am full of heaviness;

I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;

And for comforters, but I found none.

²¹They also gave me gall for my food,

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

²²Let their table become a snare before them,

And their well-being a trap.

²³Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;

And make their loins shake continually.

²⁴Pour out Your indignation upon them,

And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.

²⁵Let their dwelling place be desolate;

Let no one live in their tents.

²⁶For they persecute the ones You have struck,

And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.

²⁷Add iniquity to their iniquity,

And let them not come into Your righteousness.

²⁸Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,

And not be written with the righteous.

²⁹But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation,

O God, set me up on high.

³⁰I will praise the name of God with a song,

And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

³¹This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,

Which has horns and hooves.

³²The humble shall see this and be glad;

And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.

³³For the Lord hears the poor,

And does not despise His prisoners.

³⁴Let heaven and earth praise Him,

The seas and everything that moves in them.

³⁵For God will save Zion

And build the cities of Judah,

That they may dwell there and possess it.

³⁶Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it,

And those who love His name shall dwell in it.

Commentary

¹Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.

²I sink in deep mire,

Where there is no standing;

I have come into deep waters,

Where the floods overflow me.

³I am weary with my crying;

My throat is dry;

My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

⁴Those who hate me without a cause

Are more than the hairs of my head;

They are mighty who would destroy me,

Being my enemies wrongfully;

Though I have stolen nothing,

I still must restore it.

Preamble: Though this Psalm was written by David at times it epitomizes Christ’s own sufferings; thus when reading it as with some of David’s other Psalms, there is clearly an underlining Messianic theme.

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 ¹Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.

²I sink in deep mire,

Where there is no standing;

I have come into deep waters,

Where the floods overflow me.

Is this a reflection of Christ’s sufferings on the Cross? You be the judge. David’s words here though truly represent something far more overwhelming than he could then bear. That feeling then of utter helplessness, that one is about to drown in their own despair was not then a foreign feeling to David, nor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Vs. 3 “I am weary with my crying;

My throat is dry;

My eyes fail while I wait for my God.”

When tears no longer console (Ecc. 7:3), when one’s seeking prayers seemingly go unanswered, when ones sorrow and weariness makes lifting ones hands and head to God seem near impossible, this was the devastating state that David was then in.

Vs. 4 “Those who hate me without a cause

Are more than the hairs of my head;

They are mighty who would destroy me,

Being my enemies wrongfully;

Though I have stolen nothing,

I still must restore it.”

Not only was David being consumed by his own despair but this was happening when many had now begun to hate him. Indeed he describes their numbers as being more than the hairs of his head. And these were not just small folk, people of no means, no these were mighty individuals, people who exercised and wielded great power had now become his enemies, but not by his choice or will or sin or error. For they became his enemies because of who he was and what he stood for, and that became unbearable to them. Therefore though he had stolen nothing still he must restore. In other words their hatred of him would not, and could not be appeased. Thus this verse also parallels the Lord Jesus Christ's own life as He would become the object of all wrath and indignation of those who then ruled and reigned, of everyone who rejected God's salvation for them. Thus He bore as the Sinless Lamb of God all the wrath of man through no fault of His own (John 7:7). And yet this was then David’s own plight, and it just might be yours as well, if you have also been wrongly labelled, or tag, or targeted. For as our Lord and Savior suffered the unjust wrath and rejection of unbelieving mankind, so will you for your faith in Him (John 15:18-19; 1 John 3:13-15).

Vs. 5-7 ⁵O God, You know my foolishness;

And my sins are not hidden from You.

⁶Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;

Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.

⁷Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;

Shame has covered my face.

David now acknowledges that he is not sinless, that he is not above reproach, for he now confesses that God knows all his ( and our) foolishness, that none of his ( nor our) sins are hidden from Him. Therefore David is not trying to conceal his sin from God. Instead through his own introspection he sees himself as he truly is, and he acknowledges this all to God. For he is painfully aware that his (our) own actions has had negative effects on others that do not bear well on God’s Name (vs. 5). Therefore, he deeply feels for them, for he does not want to cause them to be ashamed of their faith because of him, or be confounded or confused in their faith because of him. And that is the shepherd’s heart when he has sinned, to care and think about the flocks well being above his own. Verse seven then seemingly moves to the place of the Cross, where it is Christ alone who has born in the most nobliest of ways reproach for God’s sake. For when shame covered His face, it was not for His wrongdoing, but for ours.

Vs. 8-9 ⁸I have become a stranger to my brothers,

And an alien to my mother’s children;

⁹Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,

And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

David now describes his own abandonment; and that horrible sinking feeling that sets in when one realizes they have now been abandoned by those one loves. Left alone then to now face whatever it is one must now face then is the source of David’s words here (vs. 8). Only in the Book of Job do we also see such an abandonment of an individual (Job 19:13-20), before the Lord Jesus Christ’s own abandonment which exceedingly surpasses them all so that God would not have to abandon us all (Psalm 22:1; Isaiah 53). Verse nine then picks up the theme of the Cross once again when it say’s, “…zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.” This verse then is cited in John 2:17 after Jesus cleansed the Temple and all its leaders took great offense at Him for doing so, for trying to cleanse God's house of the thieves and profiteering that had overtaken and defiled it. In another sense the Apostle Paul also cites it in Romans 15:13 to remind us to seek out each others edification above our own. David’s declaration here then is both prophetic, as well as applicable to himself and ourselves. For as a loyal follower of God he also bore reproach for his own zeal for God all which foreshadowed Christ's, for as people hate God so they hate the Son of God and those who believe and obey Him.

Vs. 10-11 “When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,

That became my reproach.

¹¹I also made sackcloth my garment;

I became a byword to them.”

Even when David humbled himself and chastened his soul with fasting, bearing sackcloth as a mark of contriteness before God, his enemies when they saw this (or more likely) heard about his doing so then made that his reproach, that is they used even this against him, saying all of kinds of defamatory things about his motives for doing so, thus people didn’t see this as contrition and repentance before God on his part, instead David's humbling himself became to be seen by them as just an act. David then became a byword to them, someone to not take notice of anymore. 

Vs. 12 “Those who sit in the gate speak against me,

And I am the song of the drunkards.”

Having his name and reputation then completely ruined and shattered by those who hated him, David now finds himself being openly spoken against by those who sit in the gate, that is the people’s elders and leaders. Indeed, such was his shame and reproach that he even became the taunting song of the drunkards. No one then befriended him, or helped him, or had compassion on him in his time of need.

Vs. 13 “But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time;

O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,

Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.”

David though does not lose his faith or hope in one of darkest moments of his life. Instead, he turns to God with vehement cries and passionate pleas for help and justice. For it is God alone who knows our heart and who judges us justly. Verse 13 till about verse twenty 28 then is his prayer towards God. Therefore, David’s asks God to move on his behalf in His timing, to hear him in the multitude of His mercies, and by the truth of his salvation come and rescue him. David then as a humble servant of God will wait on Him for His time when He will do this, though while waiting on Him his pleas will be no less intense to Him.

Vs. 14-15 ¹⁴Deliver me out of the mire,

And let me not sink;

Let me be delivered from those who hate me,

And out of the deep waters.

¹⁵Let not the floodwater overflow me,

Nor let the deep swallow me up;

And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.

David’s cries for deliverance now intensify, even though he knows that it is God who upholds him, his own circumstances make him feel like he is sinking into the mire, that his enemies might soon overtake him, that he might drown in the deep waters of despair, that the flood waters are going to overflow him, that the pit, death, is now even opening its mouth to swallow him up.

Vs. 16-18 ¹⁶Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;

Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.

¹⁷And do not hide Your face from Your servant,

For I am in trouble;

Hear me speedily.

¹⁸Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;

Deliver me because of my enemies.

David's continues by appealing to the Lord according to His lovingkindness which are from of old, and are always good towards those who seek his face. For He always dispenses a multitude of tender mercies to the repentant sinner and those who seek His face. Therefore, on that basis of God’s Character, David asks Him not hide to His face from him, but rather see him in his despair and have mercy upon him. For by his own acknowledgement, he is in trouble, trouble which he cannot save himself from. Therefore, he asks God to speedily hear him, to draw near to his soul and redeem it, to deliver him because of his enemies, who are seeking his destruction and forwarding his harm by whatever means they can.

Vs. 19 “You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;

My adversaries are all before You.”

In seeking God’s mercies David asks Him to remember his reproach, shame, and dishonor which his enemies have brought to bear down on him. Nonetheless his adversaries (our adversaries) are before Him, even though the live and feel like what they do to us is with utter impunity from any accountability or judgment. Nonetheless our God judges in heaven and in earth and He will deal with them all. All their lies and schemes and plots to reproach and harm us, to set others against us, by their backbiting slander and evil words spoken about us, will be fully exposed and dealt with by Him!

Vs. 20-21 “Reproach has broken my heart,

And I am full of heaviness;

I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;

And for comforters, but I found none.”

²¹They also gave me gall for my food,

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

One of the saddest statements in this Psalm foretells what they would do to Christ when He was suffering and dying on the Cross. For as David in his most desperate time of need found none to comfort him (vs. 20), neither did our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. David's mistreatment and abandonment then will serve as a prophetic backdrop to what would be literally done to the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary.

Vs. 22-28 ²²Let their table become a snare before them,

And their well-being a trap.

²²Let their table become a snare before them,

And their well-being a trap.

²³Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;

And make their loins shake continually.

²⁴Pour out Your indignation upon them,

And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.

²⁵Let their dwelling place be desolate;

Let no one live in their tents.

²⁶For they persecute the ones You have struck,

And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.

²⁷Add iniquity to their iniquity,

And let them not come into Your righteousness.

²⁸Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,

And not be written with the righteous.

At this point the Psalm takes a radical turn, a turn which some imply may be the Lord’s own wishes for the unbelieving people and nation which betrayed Him to death. In this there is support as verses 22 and 23 are cited by the Apostle Paul in Romans 11:9-10 as David himself is asking for the unbelieving nations punishment. And yet God’s judgment on His nation for what they did to His Son must never be seen as His abonnement of them, for though He judges them (as He has done throughout history) He still has a plan to redeem them. Therefore, never use such passages against Israel, for all who do so, only do so to their own peril (Rom. 11:11-36). Again, verse twenty-five is prophetic as it is cited by the Apostles as the Scriptural grounds for replacing Judas Iscariot with Matthias (see Acts 1:15-26). These verses then as a whole have applications beyond what David then desired on his enemies.

Vs. 29 “But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation,

O God, set me up on high.”

David’s desires for justice and judgment upon those who so terribly wronged him now give way to his own desires to be restored to God as God would have him be. 

 Vs. 30-32 ³⁰I will praise the name of God with a song,

And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

³¹This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,

Which has horns and hooves.

³²The humble shall see this and be glad;

And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.

Because of the Lord’s Great Goodness, His proven Character, David feels compelled to praise and worship Him with a song and magnify Him with thanksgiving. For in this world where His Person and Name is being continually assailed and blasphemed what better way to magnify God then with thanksgiving and a song! Therefore the Lord loves it when we praise Him from our hearts, which is far more real and genuine than just religious ritual and sacrifice devoid of love for Him. The humble then will see this and be glad because God is being given His just due, and those who seek God their hearts shall live, because it is He whom they seek and though Him, they (we) have new and everlasting life!

Vs. 33 “For the Lord hears the poor,

And does not despise His prisoners.”

Truly it is Lord who always hears the poor, (Matt. 5:3), nor does He despise His prisoners, all those who have born shame and reproach for His glorious Name. God then does not forget anyone who is loyal to Him, who humbles themself before Him.

Vs. 34-36 ³⁴Let heaven and earth praise Him,

The seas and everything that moves in them.

³⁵For God will save Zion

And build the cities of Judah,

That they may dwell there and possess it.

³⁶Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it,

And those who love His name shall dwell in it.

The Psalm now closes with a strong declaration to let all of creation praise Him, which will happen in the new heavens and new earth! For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, the tribe He has chosen to place His Throne there. Thus, those who love Him will dwell there. and all the descendants of His servants shall inherit it. These things then are pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign, when Israel is fully restored to Him, and David will be a prince with Him!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.