LHC Midday Word: PSALM Sixty Nine

For the director of music.

To the tune of ‘Lilies’.

Of David.

Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

I sink in the miry depths,

where there is no foothold.

I have come into the deep waters;

the floods engulf me.

I am worn out calling for help;

my throat is parched.

My eyes fail,

looking for my God.

Those who hate me without reason

outnumber the hairs of my head;

many are my enemies without cause,

those who seek to destroy me.

I am forced to restore

what I did not steal.

You, God, know my folly;

my guilt is not hidden from you.

Lord, the Lord Almighty,

may those who hope in you

not be disgraced because of me;

God of Israel,

may those who seek you

not be put to shame because of me.

For I endure scorn for your sake,

and shame covers my face.

I am a foreigner to my own family,

a stranger to my own mother’s children;

for zeal for your house consumes me,

and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

When I weep and fast,

I must endure scorn;

when I put on sackcloth,

people make sport of me.

Those who sit at the gate mock me,

and I am the song of the drunkards.

But I pray to you, Lord,

in the time of your favour;

in your great love, O God,

answer me with your sure salvation.

Rescue me from the mire,

do not let me sink;

deliver me from those who hate me,

from the deep waters.

Do not let the floodwaters engulf me

or the depths swallow me up

or the pit close its mouth over me.

Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;

in your great mercy turn to me.

Do not hide your face from your servant;

answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

Come near and rescue me;

deliver me because of my foes.

You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;

all my enemies are before you.

Scorn has broken my heart

and has left me helpless;

I looked for sympathy, but there was none,

for comforters, but I found none.

They put gall in my food

and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

May the table set before them become a snare;

may it become retribution and a trap.

May their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and their backs be bent for ever.

Pour out your wrath on them;

let your fierce anger overtake them.

May their place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in their tents.

For they persecute those you wound

and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

Charge them with crime upon crime;

do not let them share in your salvation.

May they be blotted out of the book of life

and not be listed with the righteous.

But as for me, afflicted and in pain –

may your salvation, God, protect me.

I will praise God’s name in song

and glorify him with thanksgiving.

This will please the Lord more than an ox,

more than a bull with its horns and hooves.

The poor will see and be glad –

you who seek God, may your hearts live!

The Lord hears the needy

and does not despise his captive people.

Let heaven and earth praise him,

the seas and all that move in them,

for God will save Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah.

Then people will settle there and possess it;

the children of his servants will inherit it,

and those who love his name will dwell there.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 69 : “vinegar” (v.21)

King David takes his struggles to God, admitting his imperfections: “you know my folly, O God; my guilt is not hidden from you” (v.7). Yet in the midst of his prayer about his own life come flashes of revelation. When he writes “zeal for your house consumes me” (v.9), the New Testament clarifies that this phrase refers to Jesus clearing the money-makers out of the temple (see John 2 v.17).

We read “they gave me vinegar for my thirst” (v.21), which was precisely what happened on Calvary at the crucifixion (Luke 23 v.36). Be real as you pray, and the Lord will reveal things to you as well!

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READING

Psalm Sixty Nine

Read by David Suchet