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69. Psalm 69

¹ Save me, O God,
   for the waters have come up to my neck.
² I sink in the miry depths,
   where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
   the floods engulf me.
³ I am worn out calling for help;
   my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
   looking for my God.
⁴ Those who hate me without reason
   outnumber the hairs of my head;
many are my enemies without cause,
   those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
   what I did not steal.

⁵ You, God, know my folly;
my guilt is not hidden from you.

    ⁶ Lord, the LORD Almighty,
   may those who hope in you
   not be disgraced because of me;
God of Israel,
   may those who seek you
   not be put to shame because of me.
⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake,
   and shame covers my face.
⁸ I am a foreigner to my own family,
   a stranger to my own mother’s children;
⁹ for zeal for your house consumes me,
   and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
¹⁰ When I weep and fast,
   I must endure scorn;
¹¹ when I put on sackcloth,
   people make sport of me.
¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me,
   and I am the song of the drunkards.

    ¹³ But I pray to you, LORD,
   in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
   answer me with your sure salvation.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire,
   do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
   from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
   or the depths swallow me up
   or the pit close its mouth over me.

    ¹⁶ Answer me, LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
   in your great mercy turn to me.
¹⁷ Do not hide your face from your servant;
   answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
¹⁸ Come near and rescue me;
   deliver me because of my foes.

    ¹⁹ You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
   all my enemies are before you.
²⁰ Scorn has broken my heart
   and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
   for comforters, but I found none.
²¹ They put gall in my food
   and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

    ²² May the table set before them become a snare;
   may it become retribution and Or snare / and their fellowship become a trap.
²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
   and their backs be bent forever.
²⁴ Pour out your wrath on them;
   let your fierce anger overtake them.
²⁵ May their place be deserted;
   let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
²⁶ For they persecute those you wound
   and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
²⁷ Charge them with crime upon crime;
   do not let them share in your salvation.
²⁸ May they be blotted out of the book of life
   and not be listed with the righteous.

²⁹ But as for me, afflicted and in pain—
may your salvation, God, protect me.

    ³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song
   and glorify him with thanksgiving.
³¹ This will please the LORD more than an ox,
   more than a bull with its horns and hooves.
³² The poor will see and be glad—
   you who seek God, may your hearts live!
³³ The LORD hears the needy
   and does not despise his captive people.

    ³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him,
   the seas and all that move in them,
³⁵ for God will save Zion
   and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will settle there and possess it;
    ³⁶ the children of his servants will inherit it,
   and those who love his name will dwell there.

24. Pour out thy fury upon them. It is not surprising that David utters a lengthened series of imprecations; for we know well that the frantic enemies of the Church, into whom it was his object to inspire terror, are not easily moved. He therefore lifts up his voice against them in tones of greater vehemence, that they might be led to desist from their wrongful and insolent conduct. He, however, had principally an eye to true believers, who, being oppressed with calamities, have no other stay to lean upon, but such as arises from the voice which they hear proceeding from the mouth of God, declaring the terrible vengeance which is prepared for their enemies, if, indeed, they are among the reprobate. As to those of whose repentance and amendment there was some hope, David would have had them to be corrected by chastisements; but as to those whose repentance and reformation were hopeless, he prays that destruction may fall upon their heads, that thus they might not escape the punishment which was appointed for them, and which they had deserved.