Psalm 69
Cry of Anguish in Distress
1 For the director. According to “Lilies.” Of David.
2 Save me, my God,
for the waters have risen to my neck.
3 I am sinking in muddy depths
and can find no foothold.
I have fallen into deep waters,
and the floods overwhelm me.
4 I am exhausted from crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes have been worn out
searching for my God.
5 More numerous than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me for no reason.
Many are those who seek to destroy me,
and they are treacherous.
How can I restore
what I have not stolen?
6 O God, you know how foolish I am;
my guilty deeds are not hidden from you.
7 Do not allow those who hope in you
to be put to shame because of me,
O Lord of hosts.
Do not let those who seek you
suffer disgrace because of me,
O God of Israel.
8 It is for your sake that I endure reproach
and that shame covers my face.
9 I have become alienated from my brothers,
a stranger to my mother’s sons.
10 Zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults directed at you fall on me.
11 When I mortified myself with fasting,
I exposed myself to scorn.
12 When I clothed myself in sackcloth,
I became a laughingstock.
13 Those who sit at the gate taunt me,
and drunkards make me the target of their ditties.
14 But I lift up my prayer to you, O Lord,
in the time of your favor.
In your great kindness, O God,
respond to me with your certain help.
15 Draw me out of the mire,
and do not let me plunge any deeper.
Deliver me from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
16 Do not let the flood waters sweep over me,
or the depths swallow me up,
or the pit close its jaws around me.
17 Answer me, O Lord, for your kindness is wonderful;
in your great compassion turn toward me.
18 Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in distress.
19 Draw near to me and redeem me;
deliver me from my enemies.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
all my oppressors are in your sight.
21 Insults have so broken my heart
that I am near the end of my strength.
I looked for compassion, but in vain,
for some consolers, but I found none.
22 They put gall in my food,
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
23 Let their table become a trap for them;
let their well-being become a snare.
24 Let their eyes dim so that they cannot see,
and let their limbs tremble constantly.
25 Vent your wrath on them,
and let your burning anger take hold of them.
26 Let their camp be left desolate;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
27 For they pursue the one you struck down
and tell of the pain of the one you hurt.
28 Charge them with crime after crime;
let them not share in your salvation.
29 Blot them out from the book of the living;
do not number them among the upright.
30 But I am filled with pain and suffering;
may your saving power, O God, raise me up.
31 I will praise the name of God with a song
and glorify him with a hymn of thanksgiving.
32 This will gratify the Lord more than an ox
or a young bull with horns and hoofs:
33 “Let the poor see this and rejoice;
let those who seek God take heart.
34 For the Lord hears the needy
and does not turn his back on captives.
35 Let the heavens and the earth offer praise,
the seas and everything that moves therein.”
36 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
His people will live there and possess it;
37 his servants’ children will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell there.
Footnotes
- Psalm 69:1
- Psalm 69:1
- Psalm 69:2
- Psalm 69:3
- Psalm 69:5
- Psalm 69:6
- Psalm 69:9
- Psalm 69:10
- Psalm 69:14
- Psalm 69:17
- Psalm 69:18
- Psalm 69:21
- Psalm 69:22
- Psalm 69:23
- Psalm 69:23
- Psalm 69:26
- Psalm 69:29
- Psalm 69:31
- Psalm 69:32
- Psalm 69:33
