CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Psalms 69
Chapter 69 of 150
Chapter Overview
What happens in Psalms 69
A psalm of David — one of the most frequently quoted psalms in the New Testament. David is drowning in trouble, hated without cause, and mocked for his devotion to God. Several verses are applied to Jesus.
Scripture
Psalms 69
Drowning in Trouble
Study note
David feels like he is sinking in deep mud with floodwaters rising over his head. He is exhausted from crying out to God. His enemies outnumber the hairs on his head.
1 God, save me — the water has climbed all the way up to my neck. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2 I am sinking deeper and deeper into thick mud with nothing solid under my feet. I have been swept into deep water, and a flood is pulling me under. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am exhausted from crying for help. My throat is raw. My eyes are giving out from watching and waiting for my God. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: they that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5 God, you already know every foolish thing I have done. My guilty actions are not hidden from your eyes. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6 Lord God of heaven's armies, don't let people who wait for you be shamed because of me. God of Israel, don't let people who look for you be humiliated because of anything I have done. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
Suffering for God's Sake
Study note
David suffers shame because of his devotion to God. Zeal for God's house has consumed him. He has become a stranger to his own family. Even drunkards make fun of him.
7 I have put up with insults for your sake. Shame has covered my whole face. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8 My own brothers treat me like a stranger. My own mother's sons act like I am a foreigner. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9 My burning passion for your house has eaten me alive, and the insults people hurl at you have landed right on me. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10 When I cried and went without food, all it got me was more insults. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11 When I put on rough sackcloth to mourn, people turned me into a joke. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12 People sitting at the city gate gossip about me, and drunks make up mocking songs about me. They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
A Desperate Prayer
Study note
David cries out for God to answer him. He asks to be pulled from the mud and not swallowed by the deep. Shame has broken his heart and he looked for comfort but found none. They gave him vinegar to drink.
13 But as for me, Lord, I bring my prayer to you at just the right time. God, out of the overflow of your loyal love, answer me with the sure rescue only you can give. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14 Pull me out of the mud — don't let me keep sinking. Rescue me from the people who hate me and from these deep, churning waters. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15 Don't let the floodwaters sweep over me. Don't let the deep swallow me whole. Don't let the pit close its mouth shut over my head. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Answer me, Lord, because your loyal love is so good. Turn toward me with the fullness of your compassion. Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17 Don't hide your face from the one who serves you. I am desperate — answer me quickly. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
18 Come close to me and set me free. Buy me back because of my enemies. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19 You know every insult I have swallowed — all my shame and disgrace. You see every one of my adversaries. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
20 These insults have shattered my heart, and I have sunk into despair. I searched for someone to feel sorry for me, but found no one. I looked for anyone to comfort me, but came up empty. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21 Instead, they put poison in my food. When I was thirsty, they handed me vinegar to drink. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Judgment on the Enemies
Study note
David calls for God to judge those who persecuted him. He asks that their table become a trap and that they be blotted out of the book of life.
22 Let their banquet table turn into a trap before them. Let the good things they enjoy become a snare. Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23 Make their eyes too dim to see anything, and make their bodies tremble constantly. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24 Unleash your fury on them. Let the heat of your anger catch up to them. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their homes be abandoned. Let no one live in their tents. Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26 They piled on the pain to someone you had already wounded. They sat around talking about how much the people you struck were suffering. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27 Stack one charge of guilt on top of another against them. Don't let them have any share in your justice. Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28 Wipe their names right out of the book of life. Don't let them be counted among those who live right. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
Praise Instead of Sacrifice
Study note
Though David is poor and in pain, he will praise God with a song. This pleases God more than an animal sacrifice. God hears the poor and will save Zion. Those who love his name will live there.
29 But here I am — hurting and in pain. God, let your saving power lift me up above it all. But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise God's name through song. I will honor him by giving thanks. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 That will make the Lord happier than offering an ox — happier than a bull with full horns and hooves. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32 People who are humble will see this and be glad. If you are looking for God — let your heart come alive! The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
33 The Lord pays attention to people in need. He does not look down on his own people who are in chains. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him — the seas and everything that moves in them. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
35 God will rescue Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. People will settle there and call it their own. For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
36 The children of those who serve him will inherit it, and everyone who loves his name will make their home there. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
Key Themes
Themes in Psalms 69
Drowning in trouble and shameSuffering for God's sakeZeal for God's house consuming the psalmistA cry for justice and vindication
Prophetic Connections
How this chapter points to Christ
Psalms Psalm 69:9a John 2:17
When Jesus cleansed the temple, his disciples remembered this verse: 'Zeal for your house will consume me.'
Psalms Psalm 69:21 Matthew 27:34,48; John 19:28-29
The offering of vinegar to drink was fulfilled when the soldiers gave Jesus sour wine on a sponge at the crucifixion.
Psalms Psalm 69:25 Acts 1:20
Peter applied this verse to Judas Iscariot, saying his place of leadership should be given to another, fulfilling this psalm's words about the desolation of the wicked.
Apply This Today
Living Psalms 69
David suffered not because He was far from God but because He was close to God. Sometimes faithfulness makes life harder, not easier. If your commitment to God has cost you relationships, reputation, or comfort, take heart — you are in good company. God sees your sacrifice, and praise is coming.
Go Deeper
Study Psalms in Covenant Path
Read every chapter with study aids, bookmarks, and daily reading plans — free in the app.