Save Me, O God
PSALM 69 [†] Save me, O God!
For u the waters have come up to my neck. [1]
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood w sweeps over me.
3 x I am weary with my crying out;
y my throat is parched.
z My eyes grow dim
with a waiting for my God.
4[†] b More in number than the hairs of my head
are c those who hate me d without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
e 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 f 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 g for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become h a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9[^][†] For i zeal for your house has consumed me,
and j the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled [2] my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made k sackcloth my clothing,
I became l a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who m sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make n songs about me.
13[†] But as for me, my o prayer is to you, O LORD.
At p an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in q the mire;
r let me be delivered from my enemies
and from s the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or t the pit close u its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O LORD, for your v steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant w mercy, x turn to me.
17 y Hide not your face from your servant;
z for I am in distress; a make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 b Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in c despair.
I d looked for e pity, but there was none,
and for f comforters, but I found none.
21[^][†] They gave me g poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me h sour wine to drink.
22[^][†] i Let their own j table before them become a snare;
k and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. [3]
23 l Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
m and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25[^][†] n May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they o persecute him whom p you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of q those you have wounded.
27[†] r Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you. [4]
28 Let them be s blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be t enrolled among the righteous.
29[†] But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, u set me on high!
30 I will v praise the name of God with a song;
I will w magnify him with x thanksgiving.
31 This will y please the LORD more than an ox
or a bull z with horns and hoofs.
32 When a the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, a let your hearts revive.
33 For the LORD hears the needy
and b does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34[†] Let c heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For d God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 e the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
To the choirmaster. Of David, f for the memorial offering.