Psalm Sixty Nine

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David.

Shoshannim. The term shoshannim in the superscript (also in the heading to Psalm 45) means “The lilies.” It is clearly a Messianic psalm, so the title may refer to the ones who are “lilies among thorns,” a term applied by the Bridegroom to His Bride (Song of Solomon 2:2; see note on Song of Solomon 2:1).

Psalm 69:1 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.

Psalm 69:2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

Psalm 69:3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

Psalm 69:4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

without a cause. This was fulfilled most specifically in Jesus Christ, as He asserted in John 15:25 (note also Psalm 35:19). It continues to be fulfilled today as multitudes hate Him and would destroy His followers if they could. Psalm 69 is a Messianic psalm, focusing especially on Christ's sufferings in both soul and body. Note the specific fulfillments of Psalm 69:9 (In John 2:17 and Romans 15:3), of Psalm 69:8 (in John 7:3-5), and Psalm 69:21 (in John 19:28-30).

Psalm 69:5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

my sins. The Messiah of whom this psalm is prophesying had no sins of His own, of course, but He willingly took “our sins in His own body” and was made “sin for us” (1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Psalm 69:6 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.

Psalm 69:7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

Psalm 69:8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.

stranger unto my brethren. This is a prophecy often fulfilled in the lives of those who yield their hearts unreservedly to Christ, but most specifically fulfilled in the unbelief of Christ's own human siblings. Note John 7:3-5. Also note the psalm speaks of “my mother's children,” since Christ had no human father.

Psalm 69:9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

eaten me up. Cited in John 2:17, in reference to Christ's purging of the temple, an act which certainly incurred the wrath of the religious leaders who were desecrating the temple with their covetousness.

fallen upon me. This verse is quoted and applied to Christ by Paul in Romans 15:3.

Psalm 69:10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

Psalm 69:11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.

Psalm 69:12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.

Psalm 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

Psalm 69:14 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.

Psalm 69:15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

Psalm 69:16 Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

Psalm 69:17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

Psalm 69:18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.

Psalm 69:19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.

Psalm 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

Psalm 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

in my thirst. This was fulfilled when Christ spoke on the cross of His thirst, being careful to fulfill everything that the prophets had written (John 19:28-30). The entire 69th psalm depicts His grief and humiliation.

Psalm 69:22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.

table become a snare. Psalm 69:22, 23, is cited by Paul in Romans 11:9, 10, as having been fulfilled in Israel when that nation rejected Christ.

Psalm 69:23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.

Psalm 69:24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

Psalm 69:25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.

habitation be desolate. A prophecy repeated and enlarged by Christ (Matthew 23:38), precursively fulfilled in Judas (Acts 1:20), and fully implemented in the destruction of Jerusalem and the worldwide dispersion of those who had Him crucified.

Psalm 69:26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

Psalm 69:27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.

Psalm 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.

book of the living. This “book of the living” is undoubtedly equivalent to “the book of life,” as it is called in the New Testament (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 20:15; 22:19).

Psalm 69:29 But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Psalm 69:31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

Psalm 69:32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.

Psalm 69:33 For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.

Psalm 69:34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.

heaven and earth praise him. God's marvelous creation is, in its beauty and complexity, always giving a testimony of praise to its Creator, at least for those with spiritual eyes and ears to hear and see it. Note also Psalm 19:1; 96:11-13; 145:10; 148:3-10; 150:6. Jesus said on one occasion that if men should refuse to praise Him, “the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40).

Psalm 69:35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.

Psalm 69:36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.