0 For the director according to crocuses,
Of David.
Psalm 69:1–6 Rescue Me
1 Save me, God, for waters are closing in on my life.
2 I sink in deep mud and there is no footing.
I have come into the depth of waters,
and the flow overwhelms me.
3 I am weary in my crying out.
My throat is parched.
My eyes are spent waiting for my God.
4 Those who hate me without cause are many;
More than the hairs of my head.
Those who would annihilate me are beyond counting.
My enemies are a lie.
I repaid what I didn’t steal.
5 O God, you, you know my foolishness;
My wrongdoings are not hidden from you.
6 Don't let those who wait for you be shamed by me, Lord Yahweh of armies.
Don't let those who seek you be humiliated by me, God of Israel.
Psalm 69:7–12 God’s Reputation at Stake
7 For your sake I bear scorn.
Insult covers my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
and an alien to the sons of my mother.
9 I am consumed because of jealousy for your house,
and the taunts that taunted you fall on me.
10 I wept with fasting.
My life became a taunt to me.
11 When I put sackcloth to my flesh
I became a proverb for them.
12 They who sit at the gate complain about me.
Those who drink beer make up songs.
Psalm 69:13–18 Rescue Me
13 But as for me my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in a time of grace.
God, in the abundance of your covenant faithfulness
Answer me with the reliability of your salvation.
14 Rescue me from the mud and I won't sink.
I will be delivered from those who hate me,
and from the depths of the waters.
15 Don't let a flow of water overwhelm me
or the deep swallow me
or the pit shut its mouth over me.
16 Answer me Yahweh for your covenant faithfulness is good.
Turn towards me according to the abundance of your compassions.
17 Don't hide your face from your servant,
for I am in trouble.
Hurry. Answer me.
18 Come near to me.
Redeem me.
Ransom me on account of my enemies.
Psalm 69:19–21 Inhuman persecutors
19 You, you know my scorn, my shame, and my insults.
All who are hostile to me are in front of you.
20 Scorn breaks my heart and I am sick.
I waited for someone to sympathise but there was none.
and for comforters but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for my food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Psalm 69:22–28 Deliver judgement on them
22 Let their table be a trap before them,
and their peace offerings be like a lure.
23 Their eyes will be dark from seeing;
their thighs continually causing them to totter.
24 Pour your indignation on them,
and let the rage of your anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be desolate.
Let them not dwell in their tents.
26 For they go after the one whom you struck,
and they record the pain of your wounded.
27 Attribute guilt to their guilt.
Do not let them enter into your righteousness.
28 Let them be erased from the book of life.
Do not let them be written down among the righteous.
Psalm 69:29–36 Praise for God’s Justice and Redemption
29 But I am afflicted and in pain.
Your salvation, O God, sets me up and out of reach.
30 I will praise the name of God in song.
I will cause it to expand with thanksgiving.
31 And it will be good for Yahweh,
better than a steer showing horns and split in two.
32 The afflicted see.
Those who seek God rejoice and their hearts come alive.
33 For Yahweh is listening to the poor.
He does not despise his imprisoned ones.
34 The heavens and the earth praise him;
The waters and all that move about in them.
35 For God saves Zion and builds the cities of Judah.
They dwell there and possess it.
36 The offspring of his servants inherit it.
Those who love his name settle in it.