HarperCollins Study Bible, page 218
68.13 The wings of a dove, possibly some treasure from the spoil (cf. Judg 5.19b).
68.14 Snow fell on Zalmon. Meaning uncertain.
68.15–18 The Lord ascends the holy mountain, which is the divine abode. Unidentified in the psalm, it came to be understood as Mount Zion.
68.15 Bashan, a mountain of unknown location here seen as envious of the mount of God’s dwelling (cf. note on 22.12–13).
68.17 A possible reading of this difficult verse is: “The chariots of God were twice ten thousand, / A thousand the warriors of the LORD, / When he came from Sinai with the holy ones.”
68.18 You ascended. See Eph 4.8–10.
68.19–20 Praise to God, who has saved the people.
68.21–23 God’s defeat of the enemies. V. 22 is enigmatic but probably also has to do with conquest.
68.24–27 The procession of God, whose rule is secured in victory, into the sanctuary.
68.27 Benjamin…in the lead has been seen as suggesting an origin of the psalm in the time of Saul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin.
68.28–31 Call to God to show power over the kings and nations of the earth.
68.32–35 Concluding hymn of praise.
68.33 Cf. 18.9–13; Ps 29.
PSALM 69
Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution
To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.
1Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3I am weary with my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
4More in number than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
O Lord GOD of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
O God of Israel.
7It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that shame has covered my face.
8I have become a stranger to my kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.
9It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10When I humbled my soul with fasting,a
they insulted me for doing so.
11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.
13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help 14rescue me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15Do not let the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the Pit close its mouth over me.
16Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
17Do not hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.
18Draw near to me, redeem me,
set me free because of my enemies.
19You know the insults I receive,
and my shame and dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20Insults have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.
21They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22Let their table be a trap for them,
a snare for their allies.
23Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25May their camp be a desolation;
let no one live in their tents.
26For they persecute those whom you have struck down,
and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more.b
27Add guilt to their guilt;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29But I am lowly and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, protect me.
30I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31This will please the LORD more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32Let the oppressed see it and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33For the LORD hears the needy,
and does not despise his own that are in bonds.
34Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah;
and his servants shall livec there and possess it;
36the children of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall live in it.
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a Gk Syr: Heb I wept, with fasting my soul, or I made my soul mourn with fasting
b Gk Syr: Heb recount the pain of
c Syr: Heb and they shall live
69.1–36 An individual prayer for help. To the leader. See note on 4.1–8. According to Lilies. See note on 45.1–17.
69.1–4 Plea for God’s deliverance and lament over physical and emotional distress and the persecution of others. The particular situation is not described, but aspects of the psalm (e.g., vv. 26, 29) suggest illness seen as God’s judgment and evoking the taunts and insults of others. For the likely character of the insults and reproach, see notes on 79.4; 79.10 (cf. 42.4, 10).
69.1–2 For the imagery of waters and drowning to express personal distress, see vv. 14–15; 32.6; 42.7; 88.7, 17; 124.4–5; 144.7; Jon 2.3–5.
69.5 Confession of sin.
69.6–12 Additional plea for help on the basis of the fact that the sufferer has been taunted and abandoned because of enthusiasm for the service of God and the temple.
69.6 God’s failure to help the petitioner will be a negative reflection on other faithful servants as well as himself.
69.9 Zeal for your house suggests the possibility that the psalmist was an enthusiastic supporter of the efforts to rebuild the temple (cf. vv. 35–36; also Ezra 4.1–5, 23–24; Haggai; Zech 1.16; 8.2–3). Cf. Jn 2.17. Those who insult you. It is God who is the ultimate object of the insults by the enemies (cf. v. 7). Cf. Rom 15.3.
69.11 Sackcloth. See note on 30.11.
69.12 Gate, the place of public assembly.
69.13–18 Additional cries for help rooted in the knowledge of the love and mercy of God.
69.15 Pit. See note on 16.10.
69.17 Hide your face. See notes on 10.1; 27.9.
69.19–28 Continued recounting of the taunting insults of the oppressors and prayers for their downfall.
69.21 Vinegar to drink. See Mt 27.34, 48.
69.22 Quoted at Rom 11.9.
69.25 Quoted at Acts 1.20.
69.28 Book of the living, a heavenly record of human deeds of good or ill, or a record of the righteous (cf. 40.7).
69.29 Final prayer for God’s help.
69.30–36 A vow of praise and thanksgiving because God has heard the prayer.
69.31 Cf. 40.6; 50.9–14; 51.15–17.
69.35–36 The individual prayer is placed in the context of a confident expectation of God’s help for a destroyed Jerusalem and exiled people.
PSALM 70
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
To the leader. Of David, for the memorial offering.
1Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
O LORD, make haste to help me!
2Let those be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire to hurt me.
3Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!”
turn back because of their shame.
4Let all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O LORD, do not delay!
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70.1–5 An individual prayer for help in the face of oppression. This psalm also appears as vv. 13–17 of Ps 40. To the leader. See note on 4.1–8.
70.1 Cry for help.
70.2–3 Plea for God to put to shame the persecutors of the psalmist.
70.4 Anticipated praise by those who have been saved.
70.5 A final cry for help uttered in trust and urgency. Poor and needy may refer to spiritual need and humility or material poverty.
PSALM 71
Prayer for Lifelong Protection and Help
1In you, O LORD, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me and save me.
3Be to me a rock of refuge,
a strong fortress,a to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
5For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O LORD, from my youth.
6Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.
7I have been like a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all day long.
9Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
10For my enemies speak concerning me,
and those who watch for my life consult together.
11They say, “Pursue and seize that person
whom God has forsaken,
for there is no one to deliver.”
12O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, make haste to help me!
13Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
let those who seek to hurt me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14But I will hope continually,
and will praise you yet more and more.
15My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all day long,
though their number is past my knowledge.
16I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD,
I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.
17O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might
to all the generations to come.b
Your power 19and your righteousness, O God,
reach the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?
20You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
21You will increase my honor,
and comfort me once again.
22I will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have rescued.
24All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help,
for those who tried to do me harm
have been put to shame, and disgraced.
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a Gk Compare 31.3: Heb to come continually you have commanded
b Gk Compare Syr: Heb to a generation, to all that come
71.1–24 A prayer for help by an aged person in distress.
71.1–8 Pleas for help interspersed with expressions of trust as a basis for hope in God’s action.
71.1 Refuge. See note on 2.10–12.
71.6 Cf. 22.9–10.
71.7 Portent, a negative sign of God’s wrath. This may refer to some ill health or distress seen by others as an affliction bestowed by God and so an opportunity (see v. 11) for the persecution mentioned in vv. 4, 10–13, 24.
71.9–13 Further cries for help in the face of those who have taken advantage of the psalmist’s distress to bring accusations of some offense.
71.14–24 Vows of praise and thanksgiving in the confidence that God, who has been a refuge in earlier years, will also protect the aged sufferer.
PSALM 72
Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King
Of Solomon.
1Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.
2May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
3May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
4May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5May he livea while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
6May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
8May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9May his foesb bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.
11May all kings fall down before him,
all nations give him service.
12For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.
13He has pity on the weak
and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
14From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his sight.
15Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all day long.
16May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.
17May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;c
may they pronounce him happy.
18Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth. Amen and Amen.
20The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
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a Gk: Heb may they fear you
b Cn: Heb those who live in the wilderness
c Or bless themselves by him
72.1–19 A royal psalm possibly on the occasion of the coronation of a king. Cf. the concluding doxology (vv. 17–18) with David’s doxology upon hearing of the coronation of Solomon (1 Kings 1.48). The ascription to Solomon is suggested by several features of the psalm, including his being a king’s son and a wise judge (vv. 1–2), the broad extent of his rule (v. 8), and rulers coming to him from afar bearing tribute and gifts (vv. 8–11, 15; cf. 1 Kings 10).
72.1–7 A prayer for the king to live long, ruling justly. Justice, or “judgments” in the Hebrew, possibly the specific righteous judgments of the king (cf. 2 Sam 15.1–6; 1 Kings 3.16–28).
72.4 The particular concern of the just king is the poor and the needy, who could appeal to the king when there was no other way of gaining justice.
72.8–14 The rule of this righteous king is universal (vv. 8–11) because (v. 12) he is totally committed to delivering the weak and the poor from violence and oppression (vv. 12–14).
72.15–17 A reiteration of the prayer for the long life of the king and blessings upon him and through him.
72.15 Gold of Sheba. Sheba, located most likely in the southwest of the Arabian peninsula, was known in the OT for its gold and legendary wealth (see 1 Kings 10.2; Isa 60.6; Ezek 27.22).
72.17 All nations…blessed in him is an allusion to the blessing to the nations through Abraham (Gen 12.3; 18.18; 22.18; 28.14). Through the righteous king that blessing will be effected in a kingdom of righteousness and peace.
