Psalms 69 Footnotes

69:2-9 Deep waters (“floodwaters,” v. 15) and the other images here are metaphors for trouble. Because the psalms were generalized for the use of the community’s worship, the psalmist’s particular trouble is difficult to gauge. It appears that he was persecuted by faithless people, including family members (v. 8) because of his zeal for the worship of the Lord (v. 9). The psalmist had a burning passion for the Lord’s cause. In the NT, zeal for the house of the Lord consumed Christ, for like the psalmist, he desired to please God above all else (Jn 2:17; Rm 15:3).

69:21 Gall is a poisonous herb; the psalmist used it, with bitter vinegar, as a picture of the treatment he was receiving from his enemies. They made fun of his grief (vv. 10-11) over both his own sinfulness (v. 5) and the godlessness of others. The application of these words to Christ’s suffering (Mt 27:34) is more intense in view of the death he died.