Text -- Psalms 69:25-36 (NET)

69:25 May their camp become desolate, their tents uninhabited! 69:26 For they harass the one whom you discipline; they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. 69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins! Do not vindicate them! 69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living! Do not let their names be listed with the godly! 69:29 I am oppressed and suffering! O God, deliver and protect me! 69:30 I will sing praises to God’s name! I will magnify him as I give him thanks! 69:31 That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hooves. 69:32 The oppressed look on– let them rejoice! You who seek God, may you be encouraged! 69:33 For the Lord listens to the needy; he does not despise his captive people. 69:34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him, along with the seas and everything that swims in them! 69:35 For God will deliver Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, and his people will again live in them and possess Zion. 69:36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who are loyal to him will live in it.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Psa 69:25

¹ tn Heb “in their tents may there not be one who dwells.”

sn In Acts 1:20 Peter applies the language of this verse to Judas’ experience. By changing the pronouns from plural to singular, he is able to apply the ancient curse, pronounced against the psalmist’s enemies, to Judas in particular.

NET Notes: Psa 69:26

¹ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

² tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

³ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

sn The psalmist is innocent of the false charges made by his enemies (v. 4), but he is also aware of his sinfulness (v. 5) and admits that he experiences divine discipline (v. 26) despite his devotion to God (v. 9). Here he laments that his enemies take advantage of such divine discipline by harassing and slandering him. They “kick him while he’s down,” as the expression goes.

NET Notes: Psa 69:27

¹ tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”

² tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”

NET Notes: Psa 69:28

¹ tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”

sn The phrase the scroll of the living occurs only here in the OT. It pictures a scroll or census list containing the names of the citizens of a community. When an individual died, that person’s name was removed from the list. So this curse is a very vivid way of asking that the enemies die.

² tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”

sn Do not let their names be listed with the godly. This curse pictures a scroll in which God records the names of his loyal followers. The psalmist makes the point that his enemies have no right to be included in this list of the godly.

NET Notes: Psa 69:29

¹ tn Heb “your deliverance, O God, may it protect me.”

NET Notes: Psa 69:30

¹ tn Heb “I will praise the name of God with a song.”

² tn Heb “I will magnify him with thanks.”

NET Notes: Psa 69:32

¹ sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).

² tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.

NET Notes: Psa 69:33

¹ tn Heb “his prisoners he does not despise.”

NET Notes: Psa 69:35

¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to “Zion” (see Pss 48:12; 102:14); thus the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: Psa 69:36

¹ tn Heb “the lovers of his name.” The phrase refers to those who are loyal to God (cf. v. 35). See Pss 5:11; 119:132; Isa 56:6.

² sn Verses 35-36 appear to be an addition to the psalm from the time of the exile. The earlier lament reflects an individual’s situation, while these verses seem to reflect a communal application of it.