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Psalm 69

Prayer of an Innocent Sufferer: Save Me, O God

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For the choir director. According to “Lilies.”[a] By David.

Prayer of an Innocent Sufferer

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink into the deep mud, where there is no place to stand.
I have entered deep waters, and the rapids rush over me.
I am worn out from my crying. My throat is sore.
My eyes are blurry, as I wait for my God.

The Unfairness of His Enemies

Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me, my lying enemies, are strong.
I must repay things I did not steal.

His Guilt and Shame

God, you know my folly,
and my guilt is not hidden from you.
May those who place their confidence in you[b]
    not be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord, the Lord of Armies.
May those who seek you not be disgraced because of me,
    O God of Israel.
It is for your sake that I bear scorn.
Shame covers my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
Yes, zeal for your house consumes me.
The scorn of those who scorn you falls on me.
10 I wept as I fasted,
but this only brought insults to me.
11 When I wore sackcloth as my clothing,
I was a joke to them.
12 Those who sit in the gatehouse gossip about me,
and the songs of the drunks are about me.

An Interlude of Prayer

13 But I direct my prayer to you, O Lord, for a time of favor.
God, in the greatness of your mercy,
    answer me with the certainty of salvation from you.
14 Rescue me from the mud, so I do not sink.
Let me escape from those who hate me and from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the rapids rush over me.
Do not let the deep swallow me up.
Do not let the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, Lord, for your mercy is good.
According to your great compassion, turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant.
Because I am in distress, hurry, answer me.
18 Come near. Redeem my soul.
Ransom me because of my enemies.

His Shame

19 You know my disgrace, my shame, and my confusion.
All my foes are in front of you.
20 Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am helpless.
I waited for sympathy, but there was none.
I waited for comforters, but I did not find any.
21 Instead they put bitter poison in my food.
For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

His Curse

22 May the table set before them become a snare.
May it be a trap to them and their allies.[c]
23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see.
Make their legs always tremble.
24 Pour out your wrath on them.
Let the heat of your anger catch up with them.
25 May their camp be desolate.
May there be no one dwelling in their tents.
26 For they pursue those you have disciplined, O God,
and they talk about the pain of those you wound.
27 Add guilt to their guilt.
Do not let them enter into your righteousness.
28 May they be erased from the book of life.
May they not be listed among the righteous.

His Closing Prayer

29 But I am afflicted and in pain.
O God, may salvation from you set me on high.
30 I will praise God’s name in song.
I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
31 For the Lord this is better than an ox,
than a bull that has horns and hoofs.
32 The poor will see and be glad.
You who seek God, may your hearts live!
33 For the Lord listens to the needy,
and he does not despise the captives who belong to him.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that move in them,
35 for God will save Zion,
and he will build the cities of Judah.
Then people will settle there and possess it.
36 Then the descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell in it.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 69:1 This may be the name of the tune.
  2. Psalm 69:6 Or wait for you to help
  3. Psalm 69:22 The translation is based on the Hebrew. The Greek reads may it be a retribution and a trap to them. The Targum reads may their fellowship offerings be a trap to them.

God’s Way of Saving People Seems Foolish to Some

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 19 In fact, it is written:

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nothing.[a]

20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Jewish law? Where is the probing thinker of the present age? Has God not shown that the wisdom of this world[b] is foolish? 21 Indeed, since the world through its wisdom did not know God, God in his wisdom decided to save those who believe, through the foolishness of the preached message. 22 Yes, Jews ask for signs, Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified—which is offensive to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 We preach Christ crucified, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 1:19 Isaiah 29:14
  2. 1 Corinthians 1:20 Some witnesses to the text read the world. (“Witnesses to the text” mentioned in footnotes may include Greek manuscripts, lectionaries, translations, and quotations in the church fathers.)

Jesus Clears Out the Temple

13 The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers sitting at tables. 15 He made a whip of cords and drove everyone out of the temple courts, along with the sheep and oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those selling doves he said, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a place of business!”

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”[a]

18 So the Jews responded, “What sign are you going to show us to prove you can do these things?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”

20 The Jews said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! And you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When Jesus was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. Then they believed the Scripture and what Jesus had said.

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