Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. Psalm 69:4
But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves. 32 The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. 33 For the Lord hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners. Psalm 69:29-33
A Cry of Distress
Psalm 69 is a highly messianic psalm. It presents a remarkable description of the suffering of Jesus Christ. Whereas Ps. 22 describes Jesus’ physical sufferings, Ps. 69 focuses more on His emotional and spiritual suffering. Yet like Ps. 22, this psalm was written by David approximately a thousand years before the events it describes. Both psalms begin with the sufferings of David but have their full meaning in the sufferings of Jesus. This messianic psalm is quoted in Acts 1:16-2-. It is a quiet sharing of David’s personal distress and disappointments, mixed with frequent expressions of trust in God.
Prophecy. This psalm grows out of David’s personal experience, but also foreshadows the experience of Christ. Passages that the NT applies to Jesus are “the antagonism of his fellows (v. 4 with John 15:23). * his zeal to serve God (v. 9 with John 2:17). *the vinegar offered the sufferer (v. 21 with Matt. 27:48).
69:2, 3 I sink in deep mire: The opening words of this psalm of anguish use the strong image of a person about to drown – not just in deep waters, but in muck (40:2). This powerfully descriptive language expresses extreme mental anguish.
2 I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; 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 while I wait for my God.
69:4 hate me without a cause: These words describe David’s experience in a difficult period of his life. It seems that his foes are innumerable; but more devastating to him than their number is the fact that he has not caused their attack. Any attack is difficult; an unprovoked attack is intolerable. Yet these words are also prophetic of the sufferings of Jesus (35:19; 109:3-5; John 15:23-25).
4 Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.
69:9-12 zeal for Your house: Like Phinehas in Num. 25, David describes himself as a zealot for the house of the Lord. Jesus’ cleansing of the temple was a fulfillment of these words (see John 2:17). When I wept: Even the piety of David has become a reason for his enemies to chide him. Those who sit in the gate: The elders of the cities looked with contempt on David; similarly, many of the elders of Jerusalem held Jesus in disdain.
9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. 10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach. 11 I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them. 12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards.
69:20, 21 for my thirst: At one point during Jesus’ suffering on the cross, He was offered vinegar to soothe His thirst (Matt. 27:34; Mark 15:23; Luke 23:36; John 19:28-30).
20 Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none. 21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
69:24-28 Pour out Your indignation upon them may refer to the Lord’s judgment on His foes in this lament over Jerusalem. The words of v. 25 were fulfilled in Judas Iscariot. See Acts 1:20, in which the words of this verse are joined to the words of 109:8.
24 Pour out Your indignation upon them, And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them. 25 Let their dwelling place be desolate; Let no one live in their tents. 26 For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded. 27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness. 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous.
69:29-33 The phrase I am poor refers to a brokenness of spirit and sense of worthlessness caused by the assaults of the wicked. The poor in the psalms become a portrait of the Savior, illustrating the magnitude of Jesus’ humility (described by Paul in Phil. 2:5-7). I will praise: David praised God in exuberant joy when the Lord saved him from the depts of despair. All humble people, especially those who suffer the indignities brought about by the wicked, will join in praise and joy before God their Savior.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high. 30 I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. 31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves. 32 The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. 33 For the Lord hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners.
** David’s prayer is always highly personal. He personally addresses to God. This shows that he had a personal relationship with God. Many of his psalms start with crying out in distress and end up with quiet assurance and prophecy. We can see that God Himself had guided his words while David was praying. In this psalm, he uttered the things about messiah he did not know anything about that was going to happen 1,000 years later.
69 1 To the Chief Musician. Set the ‘The Lilies.’ A Psalm of David. Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, Where there is no standing; 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 while I wait for my God. 4 Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. 5 O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from You. 6 Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. 7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face. 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, And an alien to my mother’s children; 9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. 10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, That became my reproach. 11 I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them. 12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, Hear me in the truth of Your salvation. 14 Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink; Let me be delivered from those who hate me, And out of the deep waters. 15 Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me. 16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. 17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in trouble; Hear me speedily. 18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; Deliver me because of my enemies. 19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; My adversaries are all before You. 20 Reproach has broken my heart, And I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; And for comforters, but I found none. 21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them, And their well-being a trap. 23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually. 24 Pour out Your indignation upon them, And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them. 25 Let their dwelling place be desolate; Let no one live in their tents. 26 For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded. 27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them not come into Your righteousness. 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, And not be written with the righteous. 29 But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song, And will magnify Him with thanksgiving. 31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull, Which has horns and hooves. 32 The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. 33 For the Lord hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners. 34 Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them. 35 For God will save Zion And build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell there and possess it. 36 Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it, And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
