1 To the chief musician, on Shoshannirn (lilies); of David.
2 Save me, O God, for the waters have come unto [my] soul.
3 I sink in deep mire where [is] no standing. I am come into depths of waters, and the flood overfloweth me.
4 I am wearied in my crying, parched is my throat, mine eyes fail, while waiting for my God (Eloah).
5 More than the hairs of my head [are] those hating me without cause, strong my destroyers, mine enemies falsely: what I took not away, then I restored.
6 O God, thou knowest, my foolishness, and my trespasses from thee are not hid.
7 Let not those be ashamed in me that wait on thee, Adonai Jehovah of hosts; let not those be disgraced in me that seek thee, God of Israel.
8 Because on account of thee I have borne reproach; disgrace hath covered my face.
9 A stranger I am become to my brethren, and an alien to my mother’s sons;
10 For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of those reproaching thee fell on me.
11 And I wept [away] my soul in fasting; and it was for reproaches to me.
12 When I made my clothing sackcloth, I too was to them for a proverb.
13 Those that sit at the gate talk of me, and [I am] songs to drinkers of strong drink.
14 But as for me, my prayer [is] to thee, O Jehovah (in) an acceptable time; O God, in the abundance of thy mercy answer me, in the truth of thy salvation.
15 Deliver me from the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those hating me, and from the depths of waters.
16 Let not the waterflood overflow me, and let not the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth upon me.
17 Answer me, O Jehovah, for good [is] thy mercy; according to the multitude of thy tender mercies turn unto me;
18 And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am troubled; speedily answer me.
19 Draw nigh to my soul, redeem it; because of mine enemies ransom me.
20 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my disgrace; before thee [are] all mine adversaries.
21 Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am overwhelmed; and I looked for mourning, and [there was] none, and for comforters, and found none.
22 They gave me also gall for my food, and in my thirst they made me drink vinegar.
23 Let their table before them become a snare, and for securities a trap;
24 Let their eyes be dark from seeing, and their loins continually cause to swerve.
25 Pour upon them thine indignation, and let the heat of thine anger overtake them.
26 Let their habitation be desolate, in their tents be no dweller.
27 For whom thou hast smitten they persecute, and to the grief of thy wounded ones they talk.
28 Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness;
29 Let them be blotted from the book of life, and with righteous ones let them not be written.
30 But I [am] poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me on, high.
31 I will praise the name of God with a song, and I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
32 And it shall please Jehovah more than an ox, a bullock horned [and] hoofed.
33 The meek have seen [and] are glad; ye that seek God, your heart shall live.
34 For Jehovah heareth the needy, and despiseth not his prisoners.
35 Let heavens and earth praise him, seas and everything moving in them.
36 For God will save Zion and build cities of Judah; and they shall dwell there and possess it.
37 And the seed of his servants shall inherit it, and the lovers of his name shall dwell therein.
Notes on Psalm 69
Here it is “To the chief musician, on Shoshannhn (lilies), of David.”
Whatever be the intrinsic glory of Christ, all scripture shows that His sufferings are the ground of His exaltation. So it is here. This psalm tells of His sufferings, though in a way evidently distinct from Psalm 22: where divine abandonment crowns all, as here human evil is prominent and calls for judgment? instead of the grace which is the answer in that psalm. But He was afflicted in all their affliction, as says the prophet. David was the occasion; yet the Spirit of Christ enters into all their wrong-doing, not only to vindicate God but to give expression to the confession of the godly remnant, who will thus pour out their heart in the latter day, when His wrath shall fall on their oppressors and betrayers.
The psalm which presents the exaltation of Christ is followed by that which expresses His humiliation and sufferings, leading to judgment on His adversaries and the deliverance of His people and land.