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PSALMS • CHAPTER 69
Psalms 69
Prayer, praise, lament, kingship, justice, suffering, worship, wisdom, anger, hope, and Israel's poetic life with God.
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Psalms 69
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1
Save me, God,
for the waters have come up to my neck!
for the waters have come up to my neck!
2
I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold.
I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3
I am weary with my crying.
My throat is dry.
My eyes fail looking for my God.
My throat is dry.
My eyes fail looking for my God.
4
Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head.
Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty.
I have to restore what I didn’t take away.
Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty.
I have to restore what I didn’t take away.
5
God, you know my foolishness.
My sins aren’t hidden from you.
My sins aren’t hidden from you.
6
Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord Yahweh of Armies.
Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.
Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.
7
Because for your sake, I have borne reproach.
Shame has covered my face.
Shame has covered my face.
8
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s children.
an alien to my mother’s children.
9
For the zeal of your house consumes me.
The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10
When I wept and I fasted,
that was to my reproach.
that was to my reproach.
11
When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
I became a byword to them.
12
Those who sit in the gate talk about me.
I am the song of the drunkards.
I am the song of the drunkards.
13
But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in an acceptable time.
God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.
God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.
14
Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink.
Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15
Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me,
neither let the deep swallow me up.
Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
neither let the deep swallow me up.
Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
16
Answer me, Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.
17
Don’t hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress.
Answer me speedily!
for I am in distress.
Answer me speedily!
18
Draw near to my soul and redeem it.
Ransom me because of my enemies.
Ransom me because of my enemies.
19
You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor.
My adversaries are all before you.
My adversaries are all before you.
20
Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness.
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
for comforters, but I found none.
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
for comforters, but I found none.
21
They also gave me poison for my food.
In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.
22
Let their table before them become a snare.
May it become a retribution and a trap.
May it become a retribution and a trap.
23
Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see.
Let their backs be continually bent.
Let their backs be continually bent.
24
Pour out your indignation on them.
Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
25
Let their habitation be desolate.
Let no one dwell in their tents.
Let no one dwell in their tents.
26
For they persecute him whom you have wounded.
They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
27
Charge them with crime upon crime.
Don’t let them come into your righteousness.
Don’t let them come into your righteousness.
28
Let them be blotted out of the book of life,
and not be written with the righteous.
and not be written with the righteous.
29
But I am in pain and distress.
Let your salvation, God, protect me.
Let your salvation, God, protect me.
30
I will praise the name of God with a song,
and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31
It will please Yahweh better than an ox,
or a bull that has horns and hoofs.
or a bull that has horns and hoofs.
32
The humble have seen it, and are glad.
You who seek after God, let your heart live.
You who seek after God, let your heart live.
33
For Yahweh hears the needy,
and doesn’t despise his captive people.
and doesn’t despise his captive people.
34
Let heaven and earth praise him;
the seas, and everything that moves therein!
the seas, and everything that moves therein!
35
For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah.
They shall settle there, and own it.
They shall settle there, and own it.
36
The children also of his servants shall inherit it.
Those who love his name shall dwell therein.
Those who love his name shall dwell therein.
POETRY
Where this chapter fits
Psalms belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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