Psalms 69:26-36

Context

69:26 For they harass¹ the one whom you discipline;²

they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish.³

69:27 Hold them accountable for all their sins!⁴

Do not vindicate them!⁵

69:28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living!⁶

Do not let their names be listed with the godly!⁷

69:29 I am oppressed and suffering!

O God, deliver and protect me!⁸

69:30 I will sing praises to God’s name!⁹

I will magnify him as I give him thanks!¹⁰

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,¹¹ may you be encouraged!¹²

69:33 For the Lord listens to the needy;

he does not despise his captive people.¹³

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 people¹⁴ will again live in them and possess Zion.¹⁵

69:36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,

and those who are loyal to him¹⁶ will live in it.¹⁷

[69:26] ¹tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

[69:26] ²tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

[69:26] ³tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

[69:27] ⁴tn Heb “place sin upon their sin.”

[69:27] ⁵tn Heb “let them not come into your vindication.”

[69:28] ⁶tn Heb “let them be wiped out of the scroll of the living.”

[69:28] ⁷tn Heb “and with the godly let them not be written.”

[69:29] ⁸tn Heb “your deliverance, O God, may it protect me.”

[69:30] ⁹tn Heb “I will praise the name of God with a song.”

[69:30] ¹⁰tn Heb “I will magnify him with thanks.”

[69:32] ¹¹sn You who seek God refers to those who seek to have a relationship with God by obeying and worshiping him (see Ps 53:2).

[69:32] ¹²tn Heb “may your heart[s] live.” See Ps 22:26.

[69:33] ¹³tn Heb “his prisoners he does not despise.”

[69:35] ¹⁴tn Heb “they”; the referent (God’s people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[69:35] ¹⁵tn 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.

[69:36] ¹⁶tn 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.

[69:36] ¹⁷sn 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.