PSALM 69 Reading Guide April 27 May 3, 2014
PSALM 69 2 PSALM 69 1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. 3 I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. 4 More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore? 5 O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. 6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. 7 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. 8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's sons. 9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. 10 When I wept and humble my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. 11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. 12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. 13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. 14 Deliver me
PSALM 69 3 from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. 15 Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me. 16 Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. 17 Hide not your face from your servant; for I am in distress; make haste to answer me. 18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies! 19 You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you. 20 Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. 21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. 22 Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.3 23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. 24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. 25 May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents. 26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded. 27 Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you.4 28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous. 29 But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! 30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31 This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. 32 When the humble see it they will be glad;
PSALM 69 4 you who seek God, let your hearts revive. 33 For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. 34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. 35 For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; 36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
PSALM 69 5 DAY 1 Read through Psalm 69 once writing down what you find interesting, what you find helpful, and what you don t fully understand. This longer Psalm requires multiple readings, some which focus on you and your situation and others that focus on Jesus. According to the introductory notes in the ESV Study Bible on Psalm 69, This is an individual lament, geared especially to a situation in which a faithful Israelite is suffering for wrongs he has done... but also finds attackers piling on, taking advantage of his suffering and making it worse... The [New Testament] cites several passages from this psalm, applying them to the life of Christ. In this Psalm, David calls down curses on his enemies. The notes on specific verses and sections in the ESV Study Bible (especially verses 21 and 22-28) help explain the reasons for these curses and their applicability to Christians today. Read through the notes on Psalm 69 in the ESV Study Bible. Write at least one paragraph highlighting what you learned from the study notes. Reread Psalm 69, personalizing the Psalm as your own prayer. Write out that prayer. DAY 2 Read Psalm 69 again. New Testament writers quote from Psalm 69. Verses 4, 9, and 21 are all quoted to describe Jesus, thereby making him the perfect one to sing this Psalm (though unlike David he had no sin to confess, verse 5). Read through Psalm 69 again, stopping on one verse or collection of verses that remind you of Jesus and what he experienced for you during his time on earth. Write a paragraph explaining the reasons that verse or verses remind you of Jesus. Because Jesus lived out this lament for you, though you may sing a similar lament, you won t sing that song forever. You, like David, can and will also sing verses 33-36: For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
PSALM 69 6 Write out a prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus. Read the verse or verses from Psalm 69 that remind you of him and his life on earth. Thank him for singing and living out this lament for you. DAY 3 Read Psalm 69 again, focusing on verses 5-12 and 19-21. David s cry is simple: Save me, O God! (verses 1). This is not the first time he s cried out to God for help: I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. In verses 5-12 and 19-28, David explains what he is experiencing and feeling. Read those verses again, writing out the things that David is experiencing and feeling. In verse 19 he takes great comfort in praying this to God: You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor. God knows David s deep heart emotions. God invites David to pray when he is feeling those things. God invites David to process those emotions with him. Charles Wesley writes a similar desperate prayer in his hymn Jesus, Lover of My Soul. Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, til life s storm is past; Safe into the haven guide; receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, I helpless, hang on Thee; Leave, oh leave me not alone, support and comfort me. All my trust on Thee is stayed, all help from Thee I bring; Cover my defenseless head in the shadow of Thy wing. Thou, O Christ, are all I want, here more than all I find; Raise the fallen, cheer the faint, heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is Thy Name, I am all unrighteousness; False and full of sin I am; thou art full of truth and grace. Plenteous grace with Thee is found, grace to cover all my sin; Let the healing streams abound; make and keep me pure within. Thou of life the fountain art, let me take of Thee; Spring Thou up within my heart; for all eternity. Read verses 5-12 and 19-28 again. Think of a situation in your life where you are feeling at least one of the things detailed in those verses, which is often a place where things on earth aren t like things in heaven. Write out a similar prayer of lament to Jesus, telling him what you are feeling, how long you ve been feeling that, why you are feeling that, and what you want him to do about it. End your prayer by quoting verses 16-17: Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. Hide not your face from your servant; for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
PSALM 69 7 DAY 4 Read Psalm 69 again, focusing on verses 30-34. At the end of the Psalm, David expresses confidence in God s deliverance: I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving (verses 29-30). Though the majority of the Psalm is lament, it ends with praise to God. This Psalm is yet another reminder that the most desperate of prayers can end, and rightly so, in doxology. 1 David needed God s help. He was confident that God would deliver him. He commits to praise God when he s delivered. The Psalm then invites all of creation to praise God for the way he protects his people: Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them (verse 34). Because Jesus rose from the dead, our deliverance is guaranteed. God will deliver us and many will thank him in response. Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11. For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. Tell a friend (or friends) about the situation you prayed about on Day 3. Ask them to join you in praying for God s intervention. Commit to letting them know when God intervenes so they can join you in praising God for his work in your life. DAY 5 Read through Psalm 69 twice. Write out at least two paragraphs reflecting on what you ve learned about God, yourself, and others from Psalm 69. Write out at least one thing you hope to apply to your life from Psalm 69. Spend at least 15 minutes sharing what you wrote with a trusted friend or family member. If they read Psalm 69 this week, ask them to do the same. End your time in prayer, thanking God for what he taught you this week. 1 D. Kidner, Psalms 1-72. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973: p. 249.
PSALM 69 8 * Purchasing an ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Bibles, 2008.) will aid you in your understanding of the Psalms. The first day s reading each week assumes you will have access to the notes in the ESV Study Bible. The ESV Study Bible is the most comprehensive study Bible ever published. It will help you understand not just the Psalms, but also the rest of the Bible in a deeper way. You can either buy the Bible (amazon.com, search: ESV Study Bible) or purchase online access to the notes at www.esvbible.org. Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 2014 Elliot Grudem.