A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM LXIX.
_David complaineth of his affliction.—He prayeth for deliverance.—He devoteth his enemies to destruction.—He praiseth God with thanksgiving._ To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim. A Psalm of David. Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto _my_ soul. I sink in deep mire, where _there is_ no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, _being_ mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored _that_ which I took not away. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. When I wept, _and chastened_ my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I _was_ the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer _is_ unto thee, O LORD, _in_ an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me: in the truth of thy salvation, Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water-flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O LORD; for thy loving-kindness _is_ good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble; hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, _and_ redeem it: deliver me, because of mine enemies. Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries _are_ all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness: and I looked _for some_ to take pity, but _there was_ none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Let their table become a snare before them: and _that which should have been_ for _their_ welfare, _let it become_ a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate; _and_ let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute _him_ whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity; and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. But I _am_ poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. _This_ also shall please the LORD better than an ox _or_ bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The humble shall see _this, and_ be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein: For God will save Sion, and will build the cities of Judah; that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein. This Psalm is a prayer full of those most deep and spiritual feelings that were experienced in the person of Christ our Lord. In the beginning of the Psalm, in the first three verses, with what a fervency and weight of words does the Psalmist describe those great terrors of death and hell which Christ undertook and endured, for our sins. “Save me now, O Lord,” saith he, “for the waters overflow me, I sink into the depth of the mire: I have now no where to stand, nothing whereon to set my foot, I sink into the abyss of the sea, and the floods overflow me.” By all which figures and expressions he shadows forth, with all his powers, that unspeakable agony of Christ, which he endured for our sins, when groaning under the infinite weight of the wrath of God. In the 7th verse Christ confesses himself as bearing our sins, and complains of the Jews, who crucify him. “They gave me,” saith he, “gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink:” so expressively and circumstantially does the prophet foretel the sufferings of Christ! And then he speaks, with the same clearness, concerning the Jews who should be blinded, and their kingdom and priesthood which should be destroyed, as also it was fulfilled; so that now we see the accomplishment of these things, and experience has set them plainly before our eyes.
In the end of the Psalm the prophet shows that the law should be abolished, and that a new worship should be instituted without the law and circumcision: “I will praise the name of the Lord,” saith he, “with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.” By these words he shews that the law should be abrogated with the whole of that splendidly ceremonious worship, the boasted pride of circumcision, the sabbaths, and the sacrifices; and that the worship of the New Testament should be established in its stead; namely, the sacrifice of praise and the preaching of the gospel; for it is by faith in Christ, and obedience to the gospel that we attain unto the true knowledge of God, and it is by truly keeping the first commandment that God is truly worshipped; which, as it is written, (Mark xii. 33.) is “more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.