Old Testament · Poetry and wisdom

Psalms chapter 69

Rescue me, God— the have risen to my .I am sinking in with nothing solid beneath me. I have drifted into deep water, and the current is pulling me under.I am exhausted from . My throat is raw. My eyes have given out from watching for my God.Those who outnumber the hairs on my head. Those who want to destroy me are powerful— enemies built on lies. I am forced to return what I never stole.God, you know how I have been. My are not hidden from you.Do not let those who put their in you be shamed because of me, Master—. Do not let those who seek you be humiliated because of me, God of Israel.Because it is for your sake that I carry this , that shame covers my face.I have become a to my own brothers, a foreigner to my mother’s children.Because for has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.When I wept and , that only brought me more scorn.When I put on to mourn, I became a joke to them.Those who sit at the talk about me. I am the subject of drunkards’ songs.But as for me—my prayer is to you, Yahweh. At just the right time, God, in the abundance of your , answer me with your .Pull me out of the mud—do not let me sink. Rescue me from those who hate me and from the deep waters.Do not let the floodwaters sweep me away, or the deep swallow me, or close its mouth over me.Answer me, Yahweh, because your faithful love is good. In the fullness of your , turn toward me.Do not from the one who serves you. I am in trouble—answer me quickly.Come close to me and set me free. Because of my enemies, .You know every insult I have endured— all my and humiliation. Every one of my enemies is in plain sight to you.Insults have my and left me sick with grief. I looked for sympathy—there was none. I looked for someone to comfort me—I found no one.They put in my food. When I was thirsty, they gave me to drink.Let their own become a trap for them, and their prosperity a snare.Let their eyes go dark so they cannot see, and make their under the weight forever.Pour out your on them. Let the heat of your anger overtake them.Let their be abandoned. Let no one be left in their tents.Because they the one you already struck, and add pain to those you have wounded.Add upon their guilt. Do not let them share in your .Erase them from the . Do not let them be recorded among the just.But I am broken and in pain. Let your , God, lift me to safety.I will the name of God with a song. I will make him great with my thanks.And this will please Yahweh more than an — more than a bull with horns and hooves.The will see this and be glad. You who seek God—let your .Because Yahweh hears , and he does not despise his own who are .Let praise him— the seas and everything that moves in them.Because God will rescue and rebuild the cities of . They will settle there and possess it.The children of those who serve him will it, and those who love will make their home there.