Psalms 69:1

An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble

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

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

2 ^aI sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.

3 ^aI am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
^bMy eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4 Those who ^ahate 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.

5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.

6 Let not those who¹ wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be¹ confounded because of me, O God of Israel.

7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.

8 ^aI have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;

9 ^aBecause zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
^bAnd the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.

11 I also¹ made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.

12 Those who¹ sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the ^adrunkards.

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.

14 Deliver 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.

15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.

16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.

17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.

18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.

19 You know ^amy reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.

20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of¹ heaviness;
^aI looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for ^bcomforters, but I found none.

21 They also gave me gall for my food,
^aAnd for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 ^aLet their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.

23 ^aLet their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.

24 ^aPour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.

25 ^aLet their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.

26 For they persecute the ones ^aYou have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.

27 ^aAdd iniquity to their iniquity,
^bAnd let them not come into Your righteousness.

28 Let them ^abe blotted out of the book of the living,
^bAnd not be written with the righteous.

29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.

30 ^aI will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

31 ^aThis also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.

32 ^aThe humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, ^byour hearts shall live.

33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise ^aHis prisoners.

34 ^aLet heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas ^band everything that moves in them.

35 ^aFor God will save Zion
And build the cities of Judah,
That they may dwell there and possess it.

36 Also, ^athe descendants of His servants shall inherit it,
And those who love His name shall dwell in it.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Psalms 69:1 Mean?

Psalm 69:1-3

David was inspired to prophesy of more details of Jesus' agony at this separation from His Father. Note the words, "while I wait for my God." Even though their separation was only to last for a little more than three days (the actual period depending on the instant that the Father found it necessary to turn away from His beloved Son), and even though Jesus was only alive and conscious for less than a day of this time, any separation at all was almost unbearable for them both. This was certainly the prime case when, with the Lord, one day—His last human day—felt like a thousand years (II Peter 3:8), and to His Father, the three and a half days of separation felt like three and a half thousand years. It is likely that Jesus' human patience was never tried more than during these hours when He had to wait for His reunification with His Father. How wonderful it would be if we—Jesus' brothers and sisters—would have even a fraction of His desire to be with the Father constantly and to have the Father constantly with us! How profitable it would be if we would cease shutting Him out of most of our thoughts, our words, our deeds . . . our lives!

David's prophetic verses picture the human Jesus as losing His footing and sinking in the filthy, putrid mud of the world's sins. We do not like to think of our perfect Lord in this low condition: weary with crying, throat dried out, eyesight failing Him. It must have taken every ounce of Jesus' strength to continue His human sojourn through to the very end. But He bore this agony, knowing that He must wait for the final acts of His human saga to play out before He could be reunited with His loving Father.

Staff
Jesus' Final Human Thoughts (Part Two)

Psalm 69:1-2

The psalmist provides a vivid picture of a person dealing with so many pressing issues at once that he feels as if he were drowning. Undoubtedly, He bore His sacrifices, rejections, and reproaches without complaint to those He was serving (I Peter 2:23). But this does not mean they did not affect His feelings and did not take them to God for comfort and consolation.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Three): The Meal Offering

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An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble

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

What Does Psalms 69:1 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning