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Psalm 69 Pulpit Commentary
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for the waters are come in unto <i>my</i> soul.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 1-4</span> contain a pathetic complaint, expressed first in figurative language (vers. 1-3), but (in ver. 4) plainly connected with the wicked designs of human enemies. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 1.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.</span> This is a common, perhaps, we may say, a proverbial, expression for any great distress (comp. <a href="/psalms/18-4.htm">Psalm 18:4</a>; <a href="/psalms/42-7.htm">Psalm 42:7</a>; <a href="/psalms/88-7.htm">Psalm 88:7, 17</a>; and <a href="/job/22-11.htm">Job 22:11</a>; <a href="/job/27-20.htm">Job 27:20</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-2.htm">Psalm 69:2</a></div><div class="verse">I sink in deep mire, where <i>there is</i> no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 2.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing.</span> "Mire" and "clay" are metaphors for dangers and difficulties, which entangle a man and incapacitate him from exertion (comp. <a href="/psalms/40-2.htm">Psalm 40:2</a>). <span class="cmt_word">I am come into deep waters (</span>comp. ver. 15; and see also <a href="/psalms/124-4.htm">Psalm 124:4, 5</a>; <a href="/psalms/130-1.htm">Psalm 130:1</a>). <span class="cmt_word">Where the floods overflow</span> me; <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "I am utterly overwhelmed by my misfortunes." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-3.htm">Psalm 69:3</a></div><div class="verse">I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I am weary of my crying;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> "I have cried to God for aid, until I am weary of so doing." No reply comes, no aid is given. <span class="cmt_word">My throat is dried.</span> Parched - unable to cry out any more. <span class="cmt_word">Mine eyes</span> <span class="cmt_word">fail while I wait for my God</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/119-82.htm">Psalm 119:82</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/28-32.htm">Deuteronomy 28:32</a>). "I have waited and looked for God, till I can look no more." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-4.htm">Psalm 69:4</a></div><div class="verse">They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, <i>being</i> mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored <i>that</i> which I took not away.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 4.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/35-14.htm">Psalm 35:14</a>; and for the simile. comp. <a href="/psalms/40-12.htm">Psalm 40:12</a>; both of them Davidical compositions). <span class="cmt_word">They that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty.</span> Joab and Abiathar, who supported the rebellion of Adonijah (<a href="/1_kings/1-7.htm">1 Kings 1:7</a>), and were "mighty" men, certainly were David's enemies "wrongfully." And the same may be said of Absalom and Ahithophel. <span class="cmt_word">Then I restored that which I took not away.</span> Dr. Kay supposes David's quasi-abdication of a crown which he had not placed on his own head (<a href="/2_samuel/15-14.htm">2 Samuel 15:14-17</a>) to be alluded to. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-5.htm">Psalm 69:5</a></div><div class="verse">O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 5-12.</span> - David follows up his complaint by a confession of sin (ver. 5), which shows that his sufferings are, at any rate, in some measure, deserved; but, at the same time, he pleads that, as his enemies are really persecuting him for his righteous deeds and his adherence to God (vers. 74 11), God is bound to come to his aid, in order that his own honour may be vindicated, and that the godly may not be put to shame on his (David's) account. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 5.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">O God, thou knowest my foolishness</span> (see <a href="/psalms/38-5.htm">Psalm 38:5</a>). According to the teaching both of the Old Testament (Proverbs, <span class="accented">passim</span>) and of the New (<a href="/mark/7-22.htm">Mark 7:22</a>; <a href="/romans/1-21.htm">Romans 1:21, 22</a>; <a href="/galatians/3-1.htm">Galatians 3:1</a>, etc.), folly is a form of sin. <span class="cmt_word">And my sins are not hid from thee.</span> The rebuke of Nathan and the death of his child (<a href="/2_samuel/12-7.htm">2 Samuel 12:7-19</a>) had fully convinced David of this. Thenceforward his sins were ever before him (<a href="/psalms/51-3.htm">Psalm 51:3</a>), continually confessed by him, and felt to be as well known to God as to himself. Compare the opening of <a href="/psalms/139.htm">Psalm 139</a>:, "Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether" (vers. 1-4). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-6.htm">Psalm 69:6</a></div><div class="verse">Let 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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 6.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Let not them that wait on thee</span> (or, <span class="accented">hope in thee</span>)<span class="accented">, <span class="cmt_word"></span>O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake;</span> or, <span class="accented">through me</span> (Revised Version); <span class="accented">on my</span> <span class="accented">account</span> (Kay) - as they would be if I, although thy faithful worshipper, were delivered into my enemies' hands. <span class="cmt_word">Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.</span> One of the many places where the second clause is a simple echo of the first. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-7.htm">Psalm 69:7</a></div><div class="verse">Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 7.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Because for thy sake I have borne reproach.</span> The real secret of the enmity which David provoked, both on the part of Saul, of Absalom, of Joab, and of other ungodly men, was his own piety and devotion to God's service. Irreligious men hate those who are religions, whose conduct shames them by its contrast with their own evil courses. They revenge themselves, sometimes by scoffing at the religious observances of the pious (ver. 10), sometimes by insinuating that all profession of religion is hypocrisy. <span class="cmt_word">Shame hath covered my face.</span> I have been made to feel shame at the charges which have been brought against me (see <a href="/2_samuel/15-3.htm">2 Samuel 15:3</a>; <a href="/2_samuel/16-7.htm">2 Samuel 16:7, 8</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-8.htm">Psalm 69:8</a></div><div class="verse">I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 8.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.</span> The preference of David over all his elder brethren was calculated to arouse their jealousy (<a href="/1_samuel/16-6.htm">1 Samuel 16:6-13</a>); and Eliab's hostile feeling is distinctly shown in <a href="/1_samuel/17-28.htm">1 Samuel 17:28</a>. We may gather from <a href="/psalms/38.htm">Psalm 38</a>:, as well as from the present passage, that the alienation continued, and was not confined to Eliab. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-9.htm">Psalm 69:9</a></div><div class="verse">For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 9.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.</span> David's "zeal for God's house" was shown, first, in his establishment of the tabernacle on Mount Zion (<a href="/2_samuel/6-12.htm">2 Samuel 6:12-19</a>); next, in his earnest desire to build a permanent and magnificent dwelling for the ark of the covenant (<a href="/2_samuel/7-2.htm">2 Samuel 7:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/132-2.htm">Psalm 132:2-5</a>); then, in his careful collection of materials for the building which he was forbidden to erect himself (<a href="/1_chronicles/28-11.htm">1 Chronicles 28:11-18</a>; <a href="/1_chronicles/29-2.htm">1 Chronicles 29:2-5</a>); and finally, in the directions that he left to Solomon with respect to it (<a href="/1_chronicles/28-9.htm">1 Chronicles 28:9, 10, 20</a>). It was also shown, if we take "house" in a wider sense, by his careful government of the land and people, the kingdom and household of God, for forty years. <span class="cmt_word">And the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.</span> David may either mean that every reproach uttered against God was as keenly felt by him as if it had been directed against himself, or that, when men reproached him, they really meant to reproach God (<span class="accented">i.e.</span> religion) in him. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-10.htm">Psalm 69:10</a></div><div class="verse">When I wept, <i>and chastened</i> my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 10.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.</span> David's practice of fasting appears both here and also in <a href="/psalms/35-13.htm">Psalm 35:13</a>; <a href="/psalms/109-24.htm">Psalm 109:24</a>; <a href="/2_kings/12-16.htm">2 Kings 12:16</a>, 22. As fasting was not enjoined by the Law, he might be reproached for over-righteousness, and perhaps also for ostentation, on account of it. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-11.htm">Psalm 69:11</a></div><div class="verse">I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 11.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I made sackcloth also my garment</span> (see <a href="/psalms/30-12.htm">Psalm 30:12</a>; <a href="/psalms/35-13.htm">Psalm 35:13</a>); <span class="cmt_word">and I became a proverb to them;</span> or, <span class="accented">a byword</span>, as the same word, <span class="accented">mashal</span>, is rendered in <a href="/psalms/44-14.htm">Psalm 44:14</a>. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-12.htm">Psalm 69:12</a></div><div class="verse">They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I <i>was</i> the song of the drunkards.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They that sit in the gate speak against me;</span> rather, <span class="accented">talk about me</span> (Revised Version) - <span class="accented">make me</span> <span class="accented">their theme</span> (Cheyne). The gates, where the chief business was done, were no doubt also places of gossip. And I was the song of the drunkards (comp. <a href="/job/30-9.htm">Job 30:9</a>); literally, <span class="accented">of the drinkers of strong drink.</span> </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-13.htm">Psalm 69:13</a></div><div class="verse">But as for me, my prayer <i>is</i> unto thee, O LORD, <i>in</i> an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 13-21.</span> - The psalmist now betakes himself to earnest prayer - he has sufficiently represented his condition, though he still adds a few words respecting it (vers. 19-21), and the immediate need is relief. He therefore approaches God in what he hopes is "an acceptable time" (ver. 13), and humbly entreats for mercy (vers. 14-18). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 13.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/32-6.htm">Psalm 32:6</a>; <a href="/isaiah/49-8.htm">Isaiah 49:8</a>). Professor Cheyne asks, "How has it been revealed to the psalmist that this is an acceptable time?" We can only answer - Perhaps it has not been revealed; he may express a hope rather than a full assurance. Or it may have been revealed to him in the way that other things were. <span class="cmt_word">O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me;</span> or, "in the <span class="accented">greatness</span> of thy mercy;" <span class="accented">i.e.</span> as thy mercy is so great. <span class="cmt_word">In the truth of thy salvation.</span> "In the exercise of that fidelity which secures the salvation of all that trust it" (Professor Alexander). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-14.htm">Psalm 69:14</a></div><div class="verse">Deliver 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.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 14.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink</span> (comp. ver. 2, with the comment). <span class="cmt_word">Let me be delivered from them that hate me</span> (see ver. 4). <span class="cmt_word">And out of the deep waters</span> (comp. vers. 1, 2). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-15.htm">Psalm 69:15</a></div><div class="verse">Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 15.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Let not the waterflood overflew me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.</span> The reference is still to vers. 1, 2; and the prayer is for deliverance from the dangers and entanglements there spoken of. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-16.htm">Psalm 69:16</a></div><div class="verse">Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness <i>is</i> good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 16.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving kindness is good</span> (comp. ver. 13). <span class="cmt_word">Turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.</span> The psalmist implies that God's face had been for some time turned away from him, and begs to be restored to favour. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-17.htm">Psalm 69:17</a></div><div class="verse">And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 17.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And hide not thy face from thy servant</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/10-1.htm">Psalm 10:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/13-1.htm">Psalm 13:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/22-24.htm">Psalm 22:24</a>; <a href="/psalms/27-9.htm">Psalm 27:9</a>, etc.). <span class="cmt_word">For I am in trouble;</span> literally, <span class="accented">for there is trouble to me.</span> On the probable nature of the "trouble," see the introductory paragraph. <span class="cmt_word">Hear me speedily</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/22-19.htm">Psalm 22:19</a>; <a href="/psalms/31-2.htm">Psalm 31:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/38-22.htm">Psalm 38:22</a>; <a href="/psalms/70-1.htm">Psalm 70:1</a>, etc.). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-18.htm">Psalm 69:18</a></div><div class="verse">Draw nigh unto my soul, <i>and</i> redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 18.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it.</span> David often complains that God is far from him (<a href="/psalms/10-1.htm">Psalm 10:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/22-19.htm">Psalm 22:19</a>; <a href="/psalms/38-21.htm">Psalm 38:21</a>; <a href="/psalms/71-12.htm">Psalm 71:12</a>, etc.), and prays that he will "draw nigh," the sense of distance and alienation being intolerable. <span class="cmt_word">Deliver me because of mine enemies;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> because of their plots and machinations (see ver. 4). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-19.htm">Psalm 69:19</a></div><div class="verse">Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries <i>are</i> all before thee.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 19.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour</span> (comp. vers. 7-12). Whatever David has suffered at the hands of his enemies has been fully known to God, who has at any rate permitted it. Having seen and known, God will not forget. <span class="cmt_word">My adversaries are all before thee.</span> Thou hast seen my adversaries also, and still hast them in thy sight. Thou beholdest their insolence and audacity. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-20.htm">Psalm 69:20</a></div><div class="verse">Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked <i>for some</i> to take pity, but <i>there was</i> none; and for comforters, but I found none.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 20.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Reproach hath broken my heart.</span> (comp. vers. 7, 9, 19). Some of his enemies' reproaches were, no doubt, based on David's old misdoings. These, which he could not rebut, would cause him the severest pain. <span class="cmt_word">And I am full of heaviness;</span> or, "full of sickness;" "very sick" (Kay); "sick to death" (Delitzsch). <span class="cmt_word">And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.</span> It is questioned whether David was ever without friends to pity and comfort him, and suggested that at this point he passes from narrative to prophecy, and describes, not his own condition, but that of the Messiah, whom he typified, speaking as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. Jesus was certainly left without pity or comfort, when "all the disciples forsook him, and fled" (<a href="/matthew/26-56.htm">Matthew 26:56</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-21.htm">Psalm 69:21</a></div><div class="verse">They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 21.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">They gave me also gall for my meat</span>. Here, at any rate, the psalmist is inspired to be Messianic, <span class="accented">i.e.</span> to use words which, while they can only be applied to himself metaphorically and loosely, are in the strictest and most literal sense applicable to Christ. Gall was actually mingled with the drink which was given to Christ just before he was crucified, and which he tasted, but would not swallow (<a href="/matthew/27-34.htm">Matthew 27:34</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.</span> Similarly, when upon the cress Christ uttered the words, "I thirst," those who stood by "filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his month. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished; and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost" (<a href="/john/19-29.htm">John 19:29, 30</a>); comp. <a href="/psalms/22-16.htm">Psalm 22:16-18</a>, where little facts, not true of David, but true of Christ, are recorded of an afflicted one, who partly represents David, partly his great Descendant. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-22.htm">Psalm 69:22</a></div><div class="verse">Let their table become a snare before them: and <i>that which should have been</i> for <i>their</i> welfare, <i>let it become</i> a trap.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 22-29.</span> - The imagination of the cruelties to be inflicted on his innocent Descendant works up the psalmist to a pitch of passionate resentment, which finds vent in a series of bitter imprecations, very distasteful to many. They are less startling, however, than some to be found elsewhere, as in <a href="/psalms/102.htm">Psalm 102</a>. We may view them either as an outpouring of righteous indignation upon the enemies, not of David only, but of God; or as a series of prophetic denunciations, whereby the wicked of David's time were warned of the consequences of such wickedness as theirs, and stimulated to repentance. <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 22.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Let their table become a snare</span> <span class="cmt_word">before them.</span> It is not very clear how their table was to ensnare them: perhaps by encouraging them to gluttony and sensuousness, and bringing upon them the diseases which those sins breed; perhaps by leading them to an ostentatious display of wealth and luxury (comp. <a href="/ezekiel/23-40.htm">Ezekiel 23:40, 41</a>). <span class="cmt_word">And that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.</span> Let them be trapped by the good things of their table, like a wild beast by a bait. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-23.htm">Psalm 69:23</a></div><div class="verse">Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 23.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not.</span> This may be taken either literally, "let blindness come upon those who have so misused their eyes;" or metaphorically, "let their understandings, which they have partially blinded, be wholly darkened." <span class="cmt_word">And make their loins continually to shake.</span> Deprive them of the strength whereof they have boasted, and which they have misapplied. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-24.htm">Psalm 69:24</a></div><div class="verse">Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 24.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.</span> At any rate, be angry with them, and show thine anger in some way or other. Let them net escape scatheless. A general malediction, after which the writer returns to particulars. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-25.htm">Psalm 69:25</a></div><div class="verse">Let their habitation be desolate; <i>and</i> let none dwell in their tents.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 25.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Let their habitation be desolate;</span> literally, <span class="accented">their encampment Tirah</span> (<span class="hebrew">טִירָה</span>) is the circular enclosure of a nomadic tribe, within which it kept its cattle or took refuge itself (<a href="/genesis/26-16.htm">Genesis 26:16</a>; <a href="/numbers/31-10.htm">Numbers 31:10</a>). Nomadic expressions remained in use after nomadic habits had ceased (see <a href="/1_kings/12-16.htm">1 Kings 12:16</a>). And let none dwell in their tents. A duplication of the preceding clause. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-26.htm">Psalm 69:26</a></div><div class="verse">For they persecute <i>him</i> whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 26.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten.</span> This would apply equally to David, and his great Antitype. It is an aggravation of cruelty when men persecute one who is already suffering affliction at God's hand. <span class="cmt_word">And they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded;</span> rather, <span class="accented">they talk of the grief of those</span>, etc. They speak of it mockingly, or, at any rate, unsympathetically. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-27.htm">Psalm 69:27</a></div><div class="verse">Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 27.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Add iniquity unto their iniquity.</span> Either "let them fall from one wickedness to another," as the clause is rendered in the Prayer book Version; or "add to the record of their sin in thy book, a further record of other sins, as they commit them." <span class="cmt_word">And let them not come into thy righteousness;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> let them not receive the gift of thy justifying grace, and so be counted among thy righteous ones. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-28.htm">Psalm 69:28</a></div><div class="verse">Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 28.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Let them be blotted out of the Book of the living.</span> God is supposed to have a "book of the living" in his possession, which contains the names of all those on whom he looks with favour, and whom he will bless both in this world and beyond the grave (comp. <a href="/exodus/32-32.htm">Exodus 32:32</a>; <a href="/psalms/86-6.htm">Psalm 86:6</a>; <a href="/ezekiel/13-9.htm">Ezekiel 13:9</a>; <a href="/daniel/12-1.htm">Daniel 12:1</a>). From this list, as from any register of earthly citizenship, the names of the unworthy may be erased. David prays for the erasure of the names of those unworthy ones against whom his imprecations are uttered. <span class="cmt_word">And not be written with the righteous;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> not remain written in the book side by side with the names of the righteous. The New Testament, no less than the Old, tells of this book (see <a href="/luke/10-20.htm">Luke 10:20</a>; <a href="/philippians/4-3.htm">Philippians 4:3</a>; <a href="/revelation/3-5.htm">Revelation 3:5</a>; <a href="/revelation/13-8.htm">Revelation 13:8</a>; <a href="/revelation/20-12.htm">Revelation 20:12</a>; <a href="/revelation/21-27.htm">Revelation 21:27</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-29.htm">Psalm 69:29</a></div><div class="verse">But I <i>am</i> poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 29.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">But I am poor and sorrowful; let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.</span> The psalmist adds to his list of imprecations, by way of contrast, an invocation of blessing on himself. As his present condition is iu strong contrast with that of his ungodly enemies, as be is "poor and sorrowful," while they are prosperous and self-satisfied, so let their future conditions be. While they are depressed and disgraced, let him be "set up on high." </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-30.htm">Psalm 69:30</a></div><div class="verse">I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 30-36.</span> - In conclusion, the psalmist bursts out into praise. Confident of receiving the deliverance for which he has prayed, he anticipates it by at once offering thanksgiving (ver. 30). He then calls on others to rejoice with him, first on the poor and humble (vers. 32, 33), then on heaven and earth and their inhabitants generally (ver. 34). Finally, he delivers a confident prophecy of the continued prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem (vers. 35, 36). <span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 30.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">I will praise the Name of God with a song.</span> (For praise of the <span class="accented">Name</span> of God, see <a href="/psalms/7-17.htm">Psalm 7:17</a>; <a href="/psalms/9-2.htm">Psalm 9:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/29-2.htm">Psalm 29:2</a>; <a href="/psalms/34-3.htm">Psalm 34:3</a>; <a href="/psalms/66-1.htm">Psalm 66:1</a>; <a href="/psalms/68-4.htm">Psalm 68:4</a>, etc.) <span class="cmt_word">And will magnify him with thanksgiving.</span> Thanksgiving had already, in <a href="/psalms/50-13.htm">Psalm 50:13, 14</a>, been set above sacrifice. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-31.htm">Psalm 69:31</a></div><div class="verse"><i>This</i> also shall please the LORD better than an ox <i>or</i> bullock that hath horns and hoofs.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 31.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> that is fit for legal sacrifice - of full age, and clean. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-32.htm">Psalm 69:32</a></div><div class="verse">The humble shall see <i>this, and</i> be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 32.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The humble shall see this, and be glad.</span> The meek - God's people - see David's deliverance, and are glad - rejoice in their heart, and unite with him in thanksgiving. <span class="cmt_word">And your heart shall live that seek</span> God (comp. <a href="/psalms/22-26.htm">Psalm 22:26</a>). </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-33.htm">Psalm 69:33</a></div><div class="verse">For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 33.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For the Lord heareth the poor.</span> The "poor in spirit" are probably meant (comp. ver. 29). <span class="cmt_word">And despiseth not his prisoners.</span> Those who suffer for his sake. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-34.htm">Psalm 69:34</a></div><div class="verse">Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 34.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein</span> (comp. <a href="/psalms/96-11.htm">Psalm 96:11</a>). As Job calls on heaven and earth to sympathize with him in his distress (<a href="/job/16-18.htm">Job 16:18, 19</a>), so David would have them to partake in his joy at his deliverance. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-35.htm">Psalm 69:35</a></div><div class="verse">For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 35.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">For God will save Zion.</span> It is not necessary to suppose that Jerusalem was in any immediate danger. The psalmist merely means that the same God from whom he now confidently expects deliverance will always watch over his city, over his people, over his inheritance, and <span class="accented">whenever</span> danger threatens, will exert his protecting power and save. Prophecies of this kind are always conditional, and thus Zion, when she rejected God for idols (<a href="/2_chronicles/36-14.htm">2 Chronicles 36:14</a>), and again when she rejected him for Barabbas (<a href="/matthew/27-21.htm">Matthew 27:21</a>), forfeited the promised blessing of continuance, and brought about her own destruction. <span class="cmt_word">And will build the cities of Judah;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> maintain them, keep them from decay and ruin. <span class="cmt_word">That they may dwell there;</span> <span class="accented">i.e.</span> continue to inhabit the cities. <span class="cmt_word">And have it</span> (<span class="accented">i.e.</span> Zion, or Jerusalem) in possession. </div> <div class="versenum"><a href="/psalms/69-36.htm">Psalm 69:36</a></div><div class="verse">The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.</div><div class="comm"><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 36.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">The seed also of his servants shall inherit it.</span> Nor shall the city alone - the mere walls and buildings - continue to exist. "The seed of God's servants" - his people Israel - shall continue to inhabit it. <span class="cmt_word">And they that love his Name shall dwell therein.</span> When the earthly Zion fell away and forfeited the promises, they passed to the heavenly Zion (<a href="/hebrews/12-22.htm">Hebrews 12:22</a>) - the Church of God, the true Israel. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> <span class="p"><br /><br /></span> </div></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. 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