Psalms 69:5-12

69:5 O God, you are aware of my foolish sins; ¹ 

my guilt is not hidden from you. ² 

69:6 Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me,

O sovereign Lord and king! ³ 

Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me,

O God of Israel!

69:7 For I suffer ⁴  humiliation for your sake ⁵ 

and am thoroughly disgraced. ⁶ 

69:8 My own brothers treat me like a stranger;

they act as if I were a foreigner. ⁷ 

69:9 Certainly ⁸  zeal for ⁹  your house ¹⁰  consumes me;

I endure the insults of those who insult you. ¹¹ 

69:10 I weep and refrain from eating food, ¹² 

which causes others to insult me. ¹³ 

69:11 I wear sackcloth

and they ridicule me. ¹⁴ 

69:12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;

drunkards mock me in their songs. ¹⁵ 

[69:5]  ¹ tn Heb “you know my foolishness.”

[69:5]  ² sn The psalmist is the first to admit that he is not perfect. But even so, he is innocent of the allegations which his enemies bring against him (v. 5b). God, who is aware of his foolish sins and guilt, can testify to the truth of his claim.

[69:6]  ³ tn Heb “O Master, Lord of hosts.” Both titles draw attention to God’s sovereign position.

[69:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “carry, bear.”

[69:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “on account of you.”

[69:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “and shame covers my face.”

[69:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I am estranged to my brothers, and a foreigner to the sons of my mother.”

[69:9]  ⁹ tn Or “for.” This verse explains that the psalmist’s suffering is due to his allegiance to God.

[69:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “devotion to.”

[69:9]  ¹¹ sn God’s house, the temple, here represents by metonymy God himself.

[69:9]  ¹² tn Heb “the insults of those who insult you fall upon me.”

[69:10]  ¹¹ sn Fasting was a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.

[69:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and it becomes insults to me.”

[69:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “and I am an object of ridicule to them.”

[69:12]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”