Psalms
Chapter 69
Save Me, God, for the Waters Are Closing in On Me!
Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
I am sunk in the miry depths, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, swept and engulfed by the flood.
I am weary from calling for help; my throat is hoarse and parched. My eyes have grown dim looking for my God.
More than the hairs of my head are those who hate me for no reason; mighty are those who attack me, many are my enemies without cause. What I did not steal I am forced to restore.
Had I done wrong, O God, you would know it; my faults would not be hidden from you.
Let me not bring disgrace to those who hope in you, O Lord God of hosts; may I cause no dishonor to those who seek you, O God of Israel
—since I am held in contempt for your sake, and shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s sons.
Zeal for your house consumes me, as fire, and those who insult you, insult me as well.
When I humbled myself with fasting, I was scorned for it.
When I put on sackcloth, I was made a laughingstock.
I have become the talk of those who sit at the gates, the topic of the drunkards’ songs.
But I pray to you, O Lord. At a time most favorable to you, in your great love, O God, answer me, with your unfailing help.
Rescue me, lest I sink in the mire; deliver me from the storm and the deep waters.
Let not the flood engulf me, nor the deep suck me in, let not the pit close its mouth upon me.
In your mercy, O Lord, give me a good answer; in your great compassion, turn to me.
Hide not your face from your servant; answer me at once, for I am in distress.
Come and rescue me; set me free from my enemies.
You know the disgrace I suffer, and you know my oppressors and my humiliations.
Dishonor has driven me to despair; I looked for sympathy, and there was none, for comforters, and there was no one.
They gave me poison for food, and vinegar to drink.
May snares be set for them in their banquets, and traps, in their sacred feasts.
May their eyes grow dim so that they will not see; may their loins be stricken with palsy.
Pour out your fury upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them.
Make their camp desolate; may no one dwell in their tents,
for they persecute the one you have wounded, and increased the pain of the one you have struck.
Charge them, with crime upon crime; and do not acquit them.
Blot them out of the book of life, and do not enroll them among the upright.
But I myself, am humbled and wounded; your salvation, O God, will lift me up.
I will praise the name of God in song; I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the Lord more than an ox, or a bull with horns and divided hoofs.
Let the lowly witness this, and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived.
For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise those in captivity.
Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and whatever moves in them.
For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. His people shall dwell in the land and possess it;
the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell in it.
Commentaries
69
There is a sudden shift from the joy of the previous psalm to deep misery. Whoever arranged these two psalms together understood the power of contrast. Perhaps he thought that ecstatic joy can last too long and needs some correction. For the Hebrew, this must be quite surprising; for the Christian, it is especially meaningful. In Psalm 68, the psalmist sees Christ’s triumph; in Psalm 69, he recognizes the struggle that had to come before it: Christ needed to suffer in order to enter his glory. We can’t attribute all these words directly to Jesus, as there was no ‘sinful folly’ (v. 6) in him, and he would never have uttered the curses of verses 23 to 29—instead, he cried, ‘Father, forgive them.’ However, the evangelist John encourages us to think of Jesus as we recite this psalm (Jn 2:17; cf. also Mt 27:34), and it would be wise to heed his suggestion.
With the suffering of our brothers and sisters, we can envision the broken face of Christ. United with them, we can pray: ‘Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck’ (v. 2).
In distress, the psalmist calls out to God for salvation. This genuine plea, combined with his faith and trust in God, will bring salvation. Yet, his request for God to punish those who have wronged him contrasts with Jesus’ teachings, as recorded in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Therefore, if we follow Christ’s teachings, we won’t fall into such depths of despair; instead, we will rise with him into eternal salvation.