Psalm 69 explained: Sinking, Scorned, and Still Calling Out

Drowning in trouble (vv. 1-4)

The writer pictures their distress as sinking in mud and floodwater with nothing to stand on, hoarse from calling for help. Many people hate them for no reason, and they are made to pay back what they never stole, meaning they are treated as guilty of wrongs they did not do.

Mocked for being devoted (vv. 5-12)

The writer admits God knows their faults, yet says much of the scorn comes because of their loyalty to God, so that even their own family treats them like a stranger. Their fasting and sackcloth, a rough cloth worn in grief, become a joke both to the town leaders at the gate, where public business happened, and to the drunkards.

A plea with no comfort (vv. 13-21)

The writer begs God to answer out of his steady love, but finds no one to show sympathy, only enemies who give them bitter food and sour wine. Christians read this psalm in light of Jesus, since the New Testament quotes it about his passion for the temple, about being hated without cause, and about the sour wine offered at his crucifixion.

Calling down curses (vv. 22-28)

The writer asks God to turn the enemies' comforts into traps, darken their eyes, empty their homes, and remove them from the book of life, a picture of God's list of those who belong to him. These are raw, unsoftened words, and readers of faith have long wrestled with what to make of praying them.

Praise and hope (vv. 29-36)

Still in pain, the writer promises a song of thanks, which they say pleases God more than sacrificing a bull, and expects poor and humble people to take heart. The psalm ends with all creation praising God for rescuing Zion, meaning Jerusalem, and rebuilding Judah's towns, a line that leads many scholars to think the ending comes from a time after those places were ruined.

Key verse: Psalm 69:13

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over the curses at the heart of this psalm: some see them as honest anger handed over to God, some as a prophetic picture of judgment, and some as words followers of Jesus should no longer pray.

Something to think about

What, if anything, is gained by saying your rawest anger out loud instead of keeping it inside?