Chapter Text
Save Me, O God
To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
7Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards .
A Prayer for Rescue
13But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
18Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
20Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
A Call for Judgment
22Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
29But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
33For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
34Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
35For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
36The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
Summary
Psalm 69 is a messianic lament of extraordinary intensity. David cries out as waters come in unto his soul. He sinks in deep mire with no foothold, weary with crying, his throat dried, his eyes failing. He is hated without a cause and bears reproach for God's sake. Zeal for God's house has consumed him.
He is given gall for meat and vinegar for drink. David calls for God's indignation upon his enemies and asks that they be blotted from the book of the living. Yet the psalm closes with praise, declaring that God will save Zion and that those who love His name shall dwell therein.
Meaning
This psalm is among the most frequently quoted in the New Testament, applied to Christ's suffering, crucifixion, and the judgment upon His betrayers. The zeal for God's house, the vinegar offered in thirst, and the hatred without cause all find precise fulfillment in Jesus.
The psalm teaches that the righteous servant of God may endure suffering that seems to overwhelm completely, yet God's ultimate purpose is redemption and restoration. The movement from drowning to praise prophetically mirrors the cross and resurrection.
Background
Attributed to David and directed to the chief musician upon Shoshannim ('Lilies'). While rooted in David's personal distress, the psalm's language transcends his experience.
John 2:17 applies the zeal for God's house to Jesus cleansing the temple. John 15:25 cites the hatred without cause. John 19:28-29 connects the vinegar to the cross. Acts 1:20 applies the imprecation to Judas. No psalm except Psalm 22 is quoted more frequently in passion narratives.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-4Cry from the deep waters
- vv. 5-12Reproach borne for God's sake
- vv. 13-18Plea for lovingkindness and rescue
- vv. 19-21The broken heart and the vinegar cup
- vv. 22-28Imprecation against persecutors
- vv. 29-33Vow of praise above sacrifice
- vv. 34-36Cosmic praise and Zion restored
Key Verses
“For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”— 69:9
Quoted in John 2:17 of Christ cleansing the temple, and in Romans 15:3 of Christ bearing reproach for God's sake. One of the most explicitly messianic verses in the Psalter.
“They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”— 69:21
Directly fulfilled at the crucifixion when Christ was offered vinegar (Matthew 27:34, 48; John 19:28-29). A striking prophetic detail of the Passion.
“Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.”— 69:20
A poignant cry of utter abandonment, anticipating Christ's loneliness in Gethsemane and on the cross when even his closest friends forsook him.
“I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.”— 69:30
The pivot from lament to praise — a hallmark of Hebrew lament psalms — declaring that thanksgiving pleases God more than ritual sacrifice.
People & Places
People
- David — The psalmist, traditionally identified in the superscription as the author of this lament.
Places
- Zion — The hill of Jerusalem representing God's dwelling and the covenant city he promises to save.
- Judah — The southern kingdom whose cities God pledges to rebuild and repopulate with his servants.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Psalm 69 is among the most frequently cited messianic psalms in the New Testament, second only to Psalm 22. Verse 9 is applied to Christ twice: John 2:17 quotes it of his temple cleansing, and Romans 15:3 of his bearing reproach. Verse 21's gall and vinegar are fulfilled literally at Calvary (Matthew 27:34, 48). Verse 4's hatred 'without a cause' is cited by Jesus in John 15:25, and verse 25 is applied to Judas in Acts 1:20. The psalm's pattern of innocent suffering, mockery, and ultimate vindication foreshadows the Passion in remarkable detail.
Devotional
There are seasons when sorrow rises like floodwater and no comforter answers the door. Psalm 69 gives words to that sinking — exhaustion, misunderstood motives, even the silence of friends. David does not pretend to be stronger than he feels; he names the depth, then keeps speaking to God anyway.
Notice the turn at verse 30: praise comes before deliverance arrives. Thanksgiving is offered in the dark, trusting that God hears the poor and does not despise his prisoners. When you feel forgotten, let this psalm teach you to grieve honestly and worship stubbornly.
Literary Style
Individual lament psalm in Hebrew poetry, marked by synonymous parallelism and vivid water imagery (mire, floods, deep). It moves through the classic lament structure — invocation, complaint, petition, imprecation, and concluding vow of praise — and contains some of the Psalter's sharpest imprecatory verses.