Psalms 69

Psalm 69

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution

1Save me, O God,[#vv 14, 15]

for the waters have come up to my neck.

2I sink in deep mire,[#Ps 40.2; Jon 2.3]

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood sweeps over me.

3I am weary with my crying;[#Ps 6.6; 119.82; Isa 38.14]

my throat is parched.

My eyes grow dim

with waiting for my God.

4More in number than the hairs of my head[#Ps 35.11, 19; 38.19; Jn 15.25]

are those who hate me without cause;

many are those who would destroy me,

my enemies who accuse me falsely.

What I did not steal,

must I now restore?

5O God, you know my folly;[#Ps 38.5; 44.21]

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,

O Lord God of hosts;

do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,

O God of Israel.

7It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,[#Jer 15.15]

that shame has covered my face.

8I have become a stranger to my kindred,[#Ps 31.11; Isa 53.3]

an alien to my mother’s children.

9It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;[#Ps 89.50; Jn 2.17]

the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

10When I humbled my soul with fasting,[#Ps 35.13; #69.10 Gk Syr: Heb I wept, with fasting my soul , or I made my soul mourn with fasting]

they insulted me for doing so.

11When I made sackcloth my clothing,[#Ps 35.13; Jer 24.9]

I became a byword to them.

12I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,[#Job 30.9]

and the drunkards make songs about me.

13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord .[#Ps 51.1; Isa 49.8; 2 Cor 6.2]

At an acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.

With your faithful help

14rescue me[#v 2; Ps 144.7]

from sinking in the mire;

let me be delivered from my enemies

and from the deep waters.

15Do not let the flood sweep over me[#Num 16.33; Ps 124.4, 5]

or the deep swallow me up

or the Pit close its mouth over me.

16Answer me, O Lord , for your steadfast love is good;[#Ps 25.16; 51.1; 63.3]

according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

17Do not hide your face from your servant,[#Ps 27.9; 66.14]

for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.

18Draw near to me; redeem me;

set me free because of my enemies.

19You know the insults I receive[#Ps 22.6, 7; Isa 53.3]

and my shame and dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

20Insults have broken my heart,[#Job 16.2; Isa 63.5; Jer 23.9]

so that I am in despair.

I looked for pity, but there was none;

and for comforters, but I found none.

21They gave me poison for food,[#Mt 27.34; Jn 19.29]

and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22Let their table be a trap for them,[#Rom 11.9, 10]

a snare for their allies.

23Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,[#Isa 6.9, 10; Dan 5.6]

and make their loins tremble continually.

24Pour out your indignation upon them,[#Ps 79.6]

and let your burning anger overtake them.

25May their camp be a desolation;[#Mt 23.38; Acts 1.20]

let no one live in their tents.

26For they persecute those whom you have struck down,[#Isa 53.4]

and those whom you have wounded they attack still more.

27Add guilt to their guilt;

may they have no acquittal from you.

28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;[#Ex 32.32; Phil 4.3]

let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29But I am lowly and in pain;[#Ps 59.1; 70.5]

let your salvation, O God, protect me.

30I will praise the name of God with a song;[#Ps 28.7; 34.3; 50.14]

I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31This will please the Lord more than an ox[#Ps 50.13, 14]

or a bull with horns and hoofs.

32Let the oppressed see it and be glad;[#Ps 22.26; 34.2]

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

33For the Lord hears the needy[#Ps 68.6]

and does not despise his own who are in bonds.

34Let heaven and earth praise him,[#Ps 96.11; 148.1; Isa 44.23; 49.13]

the seas and everything that moves in them.

35For God will save Zion[#Ps 51.18; Isa 44.26]

and rebuild the cities of Judah,

and his servants shall live there and possess it;

36the children of his servants shall inherit it,[#Ps 37.29; 102.28]

and those who love his name shall live in it.

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition, copyright © 2021 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by: National Council of the Churches of Christ