A Baptismal Flood of Persecution (vv.1-4) |
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1 Save me, O God, |
For the waters[1] have threatened my life. |
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2 I have sunk in deep mire, |
and there is no foothold; |
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I have come into deep waters, |
and a flood overflows me. |
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3 I am weary with my crying; |
my throat is parched; [2] |
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My eyes fail |
while I wait for my God. [3] |
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4 Those who hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of my head; |
Those who would destroy me are powerful, being
wrongfully my enemies; |
What I did not steal, I then
have to restore. |
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Rejection by Family, Friends and Society (vv.5-12) |
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5 O God, it is You who knows my folly, |
And my wrongs are not hidden from You. |
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6 May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord Yahweh [4] of hosts; |
May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, |
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7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; (cf. Psalm 22:6) |
Dishonor has covered my face. |
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8 I have become estranged from my brothers |
And an alien to my mother’s sons. |
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9 For zeal for Your house has consumed me, (John 2:17) |
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. (Romans 15:3; cf. Acts 5:41) |
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10 When I wept in my soul with fasting, |
It became my reproach. |
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11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, |
I became a byword to them. |
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12 Those who sit in the gate talk about me, |
And I am the song of the drunkards. [5] |
Prayer not to be Overcome by the Flood (vv.13-18) |
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13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, |
O Yahweh, at an acceptable time; |
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O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness, |
Answer me with Your saving truth. |
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14 Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink; |
May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. |
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15 May the flood of water not
overflow me |
Nor the deep swallow me up, |
Nor the pit shut its mouth on
me. |
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16 Answer me, O Yahweh, for Your lovingkindness is good; |
According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, |
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17 And do not hide Your face
from Your servant, |
For I am in distress; |
answer me quickly |
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18 Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it; |
Ransom me because of my enemies! |
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The Mocking Comfort of Gall and Vinegar (vv.19-28) |
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19 You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; |
All my adversaries are before You. |
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20 Reproach has broken my heart |
and I am so sick. |
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And I looked for sympathy, |
but there was none, |
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And for comforters, |
but I found none. |
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21 They also gave me gall for my food |
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. |
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22 May their table before them become a snare; |
And when they are in peace, may it become a trap. |
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23 May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, |
And make their loins shake continually. (Romans 11:9-10) |
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24 Pour out Your indignation on them, |
And may Your burning anger overtake them. |
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25 May their camp be desolate; |
May none dwell in their tents. (Acts 1:20) |
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26 For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, |
And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded. |
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27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, |
And may they not come into Your righteousness. |
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28 May they be blotted out of the book of life |
And may they not be recorded with the righteous. |
Praise that God Heals and Answers (vv.29-36) |
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29 But I am afflicted and in
pain; |
May Your salvation, O God, |
set me securely on high. |
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30 I will praise the name of God with song |
And magnify Him with thanksgiving. |
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31 And it will please Yahweh better than an ox |
Or a young bull with horns and hoofs. |
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32 The humble have seen it and are glad; |
You who seek God, let your heart revive. (Psalm 22:27) |
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33 For Yahweh hears the needy |
And does not despise His who are prisoners. |
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34 Let heaven and earth praise Him, |
The seas and everything that moves in them. |
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35 For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, |
That they may dwell there and possess it. |
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36 The descendants of His servants will inherit it, |
And those who love His name will dwell in it. |
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[1]There is an interesting progression of water in
Psalm 69. The waters begin by
threatening the Psalmists life so that he cannot breathe, sing and live
(vv.1,2,14,15). The Psalm concludes
with the seas praising God (v.34).
What almost took the Psalmist’s breath away is now praising God! |
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[2] An interesting description seeing that the Psalmist
was drowning in v.2. |
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[3] Verse 3 is powerful in its simplicity: weary/crying; parched/throat; fail/eyes; waiting/God. |
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[4] The NASB95 translates “Lord God” (˒ădōnāy yhwh) because “Lord LORD” would be awkward. ˒ădōnāy yhwh occurs about 300x in the in the OT but only 4x in the Psalms and all four occurrences are found close together: Psalm 69:6; 71:5,16; 73:28. |
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[5] “Verse 12 is a merism: “those who sit in the gate”
are the town elders who make its decisions and “the drunkards” are the lowest
level of society” (Clifford 323). |