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Psalms Group

Psalm 69: Disoriented, Yet Being Held

Prepared for Psalms Group for January 31, 2021

More than 1/3 of the psalms are complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat.  These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists show a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy.  A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. 

Psalm 69 Profile

Toni’s Title

The Zeal for Your House and God’s Love for His Own

ESV Title

Save Me, O God

Literary Type

This is an individual lament.

Laments

More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.

Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others

NT Prayer Guide

Matt. 27:32-50

Note that the verse numbering in the New Coverdale version below differs from the ESV.


Superscription

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.

69

Salvum me fac

1 Save me, O God, *

for the waters have come up even to my neck.

2 I sink down in the deep mire, where there is no ground; *

I have come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me.

3 I am weary of crying; my throat is dry; *

my sight fails me from waiting so long for my God.

4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; *

those who are my enemies, and would destroy me wrongfully, are mighty.

5 They bid me restore things I never took. *

O God, you know my foolishness, and my faults are not hidden from you.

6 Let not those who trust in you, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; *

let not those who seek you be confounded through me, O God of Israel.

7 Surely for your sake have I suffered reproach; *

shame has covered my face.

8 I have become a stranger to my brethren, *

unknown to my mother’s children,

9 Because zeal for your house has consumed me, *

and the reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen upon me.

10 I wept, and humbled myself with fasting, *

but that was turned to my reproach.

11 I put on sackcloth also, *

and I became a byword among them.

12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, *

and the drunkards make songs about me.

13 But, Lord, I make my prayer to you *

in an acceptable time.

14 Hear me, O God, in the multitude of your mercy, *

even in the truth of your salvation.

15 Take me out of the mire, lest I sink; *

O let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.

16 Let not the floodwaters drown me, neither let the deep swallow me up, *

and let not the pit shut its mouth upon me.

17 Hear me, O Lord, for your loving-kindness is good; *

turn to me according to the multitude of your mercies;

18 And hide not your face from your servant, for I am in trouble; *

O hasten and hear me.

19 Draw near to me and save me; *

O deliver me because of my enemies.

20 You have known my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; *

my adversaries are all in your sight.

21 Reproach has broken my heart; I am full of heaviness; *

I looked for some to have pity on me, but there was no one, neither have I found any to comfort me.

22 They gave me gall to eat, *

and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.

23 Let their table become a snare for them, *

and let their prosperity become a trap for them.

24 Let their eyes be blinded, that they may not see, *

and make their loins tremble continually.

25 Pour out your indignation upon them, *

and let your wrathful displeasure overtake them.

26 Let their habitation be desolate, *

and let no one dwell in their tents.

27 For they persecute him whom you have stricken, *

and they talk of the pain of those you have wounded.

28 Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, *

and let them not receive your vindication.

29 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living, *

and not be written among the righteous.

30 As for me, when I am poor and in pain, *

your help, O God, shall lift me up.

31 I will praise the Name of God with a song, *

and magnify it with thanksgiving.

32 This also shall please the Lord *

more than an ox or a bullock that has horns and hooves.

33 The humble shall consider this and be glad; *

seek after God and your hearts shall live.

34 For the Lord hears the poor *

and does not despise his prisoners.

35 Let heaven and earth praise him, *

the sea, and all that moves therein.

36 For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, *

that they may dwell there and have it in possession.

37 The posterity of his servants shall inherit it, *

and those who love his Name shall dwell therein.