Psalm 69:10-20

10 When I wept ¹in my soul with fasting, It became my reproach.

11 When I made ²sackcloth my clothing, I became ³a byword to them.

12 Those who ⁴sit in the gate talk about me, And I am the ⁵song of the drunkards *.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, ⁶at an acceptable time; O God, in the ⁷greatness of Your lovingkindness, Answer me with Your saving truth.

14 Deliver me from the ⁸mire and do not let me sink; May I be ⁹delivered from my foes and from the ¹⁰deep waters.

15 May the ¹¹flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the ¹²pit shut its mouth on me.

16 Answer me, O LORD, for ¹³Your lovingkindness is good; ¹⁴According to the greatness of Your compassion, ¹⁵turn to me,

17 And ¹⁶do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am ¹⁷in distress; answer me quickly.

18 Oh draw near to my soul and ¹⁸redeem it; ¹⁹Ransom me because of my enemies!

19 You know my ²⁰reproach and my shame and my dishonor; All my adversaries are before You.

20 Reproach has ²¹broken my heart and I am so sick. And ²²I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for ²³comforters, but I found none.

Psalm 69:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, [A Psalm] of David. Of the word "shoshannim," See Gill on "Ps 45:1," title. The Targum renders it, "concerning the removal of the sanhedrim;" which was about the time of Christ's death. The Talmudists {t} say, that forty years before the destruction of the temple, the sanhedrim removed, they removed from the paved chamber, &c. But it can hardly be thought that David prophesied of this affair; nor of the captivity of the people of Israel, as the Targum, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Arama, and R. Obadiah interpret it: and so Jarchi takes the word "shoshannim" to signify lilies, and applies it to the Israelites, who are as a lily among thorns. But not a body of people, but a single person, is spoken of, and in sorrowful and suffering circumstances; and, if the Jews were not blind, they might see that they are the enemies of the person designed, and the evil men from whom he suffered so much. And indeed what is said of him cannot be said of them, nor of any other person whatever but the Messiah: and that the psalm belongs to Christ, and to the times of the Gospel, is abundantly evident from the citations out of it in the New Testament; as

Psalm 69:4 in John 15:25;
Psalm 69:9 in John 2:17;
Psalm 69:21 in Matthew 27:34;
Psalm 69:22 in Romans 11:9;
Psalm 69:25 in Acts 1:16.

The inscription of the psalm in the Syriac version is, "'a psalm' of David, according to the letter, when Shemuah (Sheba), the son of Bichri, blew a trumpet, and the people ceased from following after him (David); but the prophecy is said concerning those things which the Messiah suffered, and concerning the rejection of the Jews." And Aben Ezra interprets Psalm 69:36 of the days of David, or of the days of the Messiah.

{t} T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. & Roshhashanah, fol. 31. 1, 2.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 35:13
• 2. 1 Kings 20:31; Psalms 35:13
• 3. 1 Kings 9:7; Job 17:6; Psalms 44:14; Jeremiah 24:9
• 4. Genesis 19:1; Ruth 4:1
• 5. Job 30:9
• 6. Psalms 32:6; Isaiah 49:8; 2 Corinthians 6:2
• 7. Psalms 51:1
• 8. Psalms 69:2
• 9. Psalms 144:7
• 10. Psalms 69:2
• 11. Psalms 124:4, 5
• 12. Numbers 16:33; Psalms 28:1; Psalms 141:7
• 13. Psalms 63:3; Psalms 109:21
• 14. Psalms 51:1; Psalms 106:45
• 15. Psalms 25:16; Psalms 86:16
• 16. Psalms 27:9; Psalms 102:2; Psalms 143:7
• 17. Psalms 31:9; Psalms 66:14
• 18. 2 Samuel 4:9; Psalms 26:11; Psalms 49:15
• 19. Psalms 119:134
• 20. Psalms 22:6; Psalms 31:11
• 21. Jeremiah 23:9
• 22. Psalms 142:4; Isaiah 63:5
• 23. Job 16:2

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "songs"
• [b] Or "the faithfulness of Your salvation"
• [c] Lit "those who hate me"
• [d] Lit "deep places of water"
• [e] Lit "stream"
• [f] Or known "to You"