Psalms 69:26-36

26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and him whom thou hast wounded, they afflict still more.

27 Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from thee.

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29 But I am afflicted and in pain; let thy salvation, O God, set me on high!

30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.

32 Let the oppressed see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

33 For the LORD hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves therein.

35 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall dwell there and possess it;

36 the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

Psalms 69:26-36 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.