PSALMS
CHAPTER 69

For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." Of David.

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

⁶ May those who hope in you
not be disgraced because of me,
O Lord, the LORD Almighty;
may those who seek you
not be put to shame because of me,
O God of Israel.
⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake,
and shame covers my face.
⁸ I am a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother's sons;
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, O 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, O 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;
redeem 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 ^[1] 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 I am in pain and distress;
may your salvation, O 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 hoofs.
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.

Footnotes

1. 69:22 Or snare / and their fellowship become

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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