Psalms 69

1 To victory, on the roses of David. God, make thou me safe; for waters have entered unto my soul. (To victory, for the lilies, by David/the psalm, or the song, of David. God, save thou me; for the waters have entered unto my soul!)

2 I am set in the slime of the depth; and there is no substance. I came into the depth of the sea; and the tempest drenched me [down]. (I am sinking in the slime of the depth; and there is no firm ground beneath me. I came into the depth of the sea; for the tempest hath drowned me.)

3 I travailed crying, my cheeks were made hoarse; mine eyes failed, the while I hope/d into my God. (I am made weary from crying, my voice is made hoarse; my eyes have failed, yet all the while I have hope/d in my God.)

4 They that hated me without cause; were multiplied above the hairs of mine head. Mine enemies that pursued me unjustly were comforted; I paid then (for) those things, which I ravished not. (They who hated me for no reason, were greater in number than the hairs of my head. My enemies who unjustly persecuted me were strong; and I was forced to pay for what I did not steal.)

5 God, thou knowest mine unknowing (God, thou knowest my foolishness, or my ignorance); and my trespasses be not hid from thee.

6 Lord, Lord of virtues; they, that abide thee, be not ashamed in me. God of Israel; they, that seek thee, be not shamed on me. (Lord, Lord of hosts; let they, who wait for thee, be not shamed by me. God of Israel; let they, who seek thee, be not shamed by me.)

7 For I suffered shame for thee; shame covered my face.

8 I am made a stranger to my brethren; and a pilgrim to the sons of my mother.

9 For the fervent love of thine house ate me (For my fervent love for thy House ate me up, or devoured me); and the shames of men saying shames to thee fell on me.

10 And I covered my soul with fasting; and it was made into shame to me. (I humbled myself by fasting; and I was reproached for even that.)

11 And I putted (for) my cloth an hair-shirt; and I am made to them into a parable. (I had a hair-shirt for my cloak; and for that, I am made into their parable.)

12 They, that sat in the gate, spake against me; and they, that drank wine, sang of me. (They, who sat by the gate, spoke against me; and they, who drank wine, sang about me.)

13 But Lord, I (ad)dress my prayer to thee; God, I abide the time of good pleasance. Hear thou me in the multitude of thy mercy; in the truth of thine health. (But Lord, I direct my prayer to thee; O God, I wait for the time of thy good pleasure. Hear thou me because of thy great love; because of the truth of thy salvation/because of the surety of thy deliverance.)

14 Deliver thou me from the clay, that I be not fast set-in; deliver thou me from them that hate me, and from [the] depths of waters/and from [the] deepness of waters. (Rescue thou me from the clay, so that I do not get stuck in it; save thou me from those who hate me, and from the depths of the waters/and from the deep waters.)

15 The tempest of water drench not me [down], neither the depth swallow me; neither the pit make strait his mouth on me. (Let not the tempest of the water drown me, nor let the depths swallow me; let not the pit close its mouth upon me.)

16 Lord, hear thou me, for thy mercy is benign; after the multitude of thy merciful doings behold thou into me. (Lord, hear thou me, out of the goodness of thy love; and according to the multitude of thy merciful doings, look thou upon me.)

17 And turn not away thy face from thy servant; for I am in tribulation, hear thou me swiftly (for I am in trouble, so answer thou me swiftly).

18 Give thou attention to my soul, and deliver thou it; for mine enemies, deliver thou me. (Give thou attention to me, and save me; save thou me from my enemies/save thou me, for I have many enemies.)

19 Thou knowest my reproof, and my despising; and my shame. All that trouble me be in thy sight; (Thou knowest the reproaches, and the despisings, and the shames that I bear. All who trouble me be before thee;)

20 mine heart abode (in) shame, and wretchedness. And I abode him, that was sorry together (with me), and none was; and that should comfort me, and I found not. (shame and wretchedness live in my heart. And I waited for someone, who would be sad together with me, but there was no one; and someone who would comfort me, but I found no one.)

21 And they gave gall into my meat; and in my thirst they gave to me drink with vinegar. (And they gave me gall for my food; and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.)

22 The board of them be made before them into a snare; and into yieldings, and into cause of stumbling. (May their own table be made into a snare before them; and may their sacred feasts be made into a trap, yea, the reason for their downfall, or ruin.)

23 Their eyes be made dark, that they see not; and ever[more] bow down the back of them. (May their eyes be made dark, or dim, so that they cannot see; and bow down their backs forevermore/and make their backs crooked forevermore.)

24 Shed out thine ire on them; and the strong vengeance of thine ire take them. (Pour out thy anger upon them; and let the fury of thy anger take hold of them.)

25 The habitation of them be made forsaken; and be there none that dwell in the tabernacles of them. (May their homes be made empty; and may there be none of them left to live in their tents.)

26 For they pursued him, whom thou hast smitten; and they added on(to) the sorrow of my wounds. (For they pursued after those whom thou hast struck down; yea, they added to the sorrow of those whom thou hast wounded.)

27 Add thou wickedness on(to) the wickedness of them; and enter they not into thy rightwiseness.

28 Be they done away from the book of living men; and be they not written with just men. (Let them be done away from The Book of the Living; and let their names be not written in The List of the Righteous.)

29 I am poor and sorrowful; God, thine health took me up. (I am in pain and full of sorrow; God, lift me up, and save me.)

30 I shall praise the name of God with song; and I shall magnify him with praising.

31 And it shall please God more than a new calf bringing forth horns and claws. (And this shall please God more than the offering of a new calf that hath horns and claws.)

32 Poor men see, and be glad; seek ye God, and your soul shall live. (Let the poor see this, and be glad; seek ye God, and ye shall live.)

33 For the Lord heard poor men; and despised not his bound men. (For the Lord heareth the poor; and despiseth not his people who be imprisoned/and despiseth not those who be bound to his service.)

34 Heavens and earth, praise him; the sea, and all creeping beasts in those, praise him. (Let the heavens and the earth praise him; and the seas, and all the things that move in them.)

35 For God shall make safe Zion; and the cities of Judah shall be builded. And they shall dwell there; and they shall get it by heritage. (For God shall save Zion; and he shall rebuild the cities of Judah. And his people shall live there; and they shall have it as their possession.)

36 And the seed of his servants shall have it in possession; and they that love his name, shall dwell therein. (And the children, or the descendants, of his servants shall get it by inheritance; and they who love his name shall live there.)

Psalms 69 Commentary

Chapter 69

David complains of great distress. (1-12) And begs for succour. (13-21) He declares the judgments of God. (22-29) He concludes with joy and praise. (30-36)

Verses 1-12 We should frequently consider the person of the Sufferer here spoken of, and ask why, as well as what he suffered, that, meditating thereon, we may be more humbled for sin, and more convinced of our danger, so that we may feel more gratitude and love, constraining us to live to His glory who died for our salvation. Hence we learn, when in affliction, to commit the keeping of our souls to God, that we may not be soured with discontent, or sink into despair. David was hated wrongfully, but the words far more fully apply to Christ. In a world where unrighteousness reigns so much, we must not wonder if we meet with those that are our enemies wrongfully. Let us take care that we never do wrong; then if we receive wrong, we may the better bear it. By the satisfaction Christ made to God for our sin by his blood, he restored that which he took not away, he paid our debt, suffered for our offences. Even when we can plead Not guilty, as to men's unjust accusations, yet before God we must acknowledge ourselves to deserve all that is brought upon us. All our sins take rise from our foolishness. They are all done in God's sight. David complains of the unkindness of friends and relations. This was fulfilled in Christ, whose brethren did not believe on him, and who was forsaken by his disciples. Christ made satisfaction for us, not only by putting off the honours due to God, but by submitting to the greatest dishonours that could be done to any man. We need not be discouraged if our zeal for the truths, precepts, and worship of God, should provoke some, and cause others to mock our godly sorrow and deadness to the world.

Verses 13-21 Whatever deep waters of affliction or temptation we sink into, whatever floods of trouble or ungodly men seem ready to overwhelm us, let us persevere in prayer to our Lord to save us. The tokens of God's favour to us are enough to keep our spirits from sinking in the deepest outward troubles. If we think well of God, and continue to do so under the greatest hardships, we need not fear but he will do well for us. And if at any time we are called on to suffer reproach and shame, for Christ's sake, this may be our comfort, that he knows it. It bears hard on one that knows the worth of a good name, to be oppressed with a bad one; but when we consider what a favour it is to be accounted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, we shall see that there is no reason why it should be heart-breaking to us. The sufferings of Christ were here particularly foretold, which proves the Scripture to be the word of God; and how exactly these predictions were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, which proves him to be the true Messiah. The vinegar and the gall given to him, were a faint emblem of that bitter cup which he drank up, that we might drink the cup of salvation. We cannot expect too little from men, miserable comforters are they all; nor can we expect too much from the God of all comfort and consolation.

Verses 22-29 These are prophecies of the destruction of Christ's ( psalms 69:22-23 ) upon the unbelieving Jews, in ( romans 11:9 romans 11:10 ) . When the supports of life and delights of sense, through the corruption of our nature, are made the food and fuel of sin, then our table is a snare. Their sin was, that they would not see, but shut their eyes against the light, loving darkness rather; their punishment was, that they should not see, but should be given up to their own hearts' lusts which hardened them. Those who reject God's great salvation proffered to them, may justly fear that his indignation will be poured out upon them. If men will sin, the Lord will reckon for it. But those that have multiplied to sin, may yet find mercy, through the righteousness of the Mediator. God shuts not out any from that righteousness; the gospel excludes none who do not, by unbelief, shut themselves out. But those who are proud and self-willed, so that they will not come in to God's righteousness, shall have their doom accordingly; they themselves decide it. Let those not expect any benefit thereby, who are not glad to be beholden to it. It is better to be poor and sorrowful, with the blessing of the Lord, than rich and jovial, and under his curse. This may be applied to Christ. He was, when on earth, a man of sorrows that had not where to lay his head; but God exalted him. Let us call upon the Lord, and though poor and sorrowful, guilty and defiled, his salvation will set us up on high.

Verses 30-36 The psalmist concludes the psalm with holy joy and praise, which he began with complaints of his grief. It is a great comfort to us, that humble and thankful praises are more pleasing to God than the most costly, pompous sacrifices. The humble shall look to him, and be glad; those that seek him through Christ shall live and be comforted. God will do great things for the gospel church, in which let all who wish well to it rejoice. A seed shall serve him on earth, and his servants shall inherit his heavenly kingdom. Those that love his name shall dwell before him for ever. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Arise, thou great Restorer of the ancient places to dwell in, and turn away ungodliness from thy people.

Chapter Summary

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.