Psalm 69 - Part 1 - An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble

 

Psalm 69  King James Version

Psalm 69:1-2 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.  I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

The cry of David sounds similar to that of Jonah the prophet who got himself into trouble because of his disobedience to the Lord. God had called Jonah to warn the city of Nineveh of its impending doom if they repented not. But Jonah ran from the presence of the Lord and took a ship in the opposite direction.

Jonah ends up getting thrown off the ship he took and swallowed by a whale. Here are some of the cries that are recorded in Jonah’s book. Most of them were cries from David’s own mouth and recorded in the Psalms.

Jonah 2:1-2 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly. And said, I cried by reason of my affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and You heard my voice.

Jonah, being a man of God, a prophet, was familiar with the scriptures. The above verses sound similar to Psalm 18:4-6.

Psalm 18:4-6 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called unto the Lord, and cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears.

Jonah continues praying or reciting scripture.

Jonah 2:3 For You have cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

The above cry sounds like something from Psalm 42:7. “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of thy water-sprouts (waterfalls): all thy waves and billows have gone over me.”

Next recorded in Jonah 2:4 is, “Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward they holy temple.”

Psalm 31:22 has the same idea of being cast out of the Lord’s sight or feeling a lack of God’s help. “For I said in my haste, I am cut off (cast out) from before Your eyes (out of your sight); nevertheless, You heard the voice of my supplication when I cried unto thee.

Jonah continues, “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet have You brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God,” Jonah 2:5-6.

An aside note here on the above verse which mentions mountains in the ocean: the first recorded sea mountain was discovered by a Swedish deep-sea dredging operation on July 2, 1869. The Soviets discovered the Lomonosov Ridge in the Arctic Ocean in 1948, proving the Arctic basin was divided by underwater mountains. 

Of course, sailors in antiquity had noticed that some parts of the ocean were shallower than others. However, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the American and Soviets began to map the floor of the oceans and confirmed the existence of massive interconnected mountain ranges across the ocean floors.

The question is how did Jonah, writing between 790-750 BC, know about the mountains on the ocean floor? The fact that he did seems to point to a hidden knowledge, which the Bible refers to as the Holy Spirit. In 2 Timothy 3:16a we find Apostle Paul giving the answer: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.”  

Apostle Peter confirms Paul’s affirmation. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” 2 Peter 1:20-21. Therefore, the Holy Spirit inspired Jonah to write what he did and gave him knowledge that he himself could not have known.

In Jonah 2:5, Jonah could be remembering Psalm 18:5 or Psalm 116:3 which says, “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold of me: I found trouble and sorrow.” Jonah in his predicament calls out to the Lord as does David in Psalm 18:6 and the author of Psalm 116:4. "Then called I upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul."

We can remember, also, that Jonah is a foreshadowing of Jesus. Jonah was three days and nights in the whale’s belly, while Jesus was three days and nights in the heart of the earth, Matthew 12:40.

In time of emotional stress and anxiety, we must, like David and Jonah after him, cry out to the Lord for help. However, David, at this point in the psalm, is still overwhelmed with emotion and the feeling of being forsaken. His faith is still battling and he has not seen the light of day yet.

Psalm 69:3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: my eyes fail while I wait for my God.

David is in great distress of soul and spiritual turmoil while waiting on God to respond to his cry. The Psalm could aptly apply to Jesus who may have used it as one of His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane. Remember Jesus sweat blood because He was in so much torment of soul and spirit. “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground,” Luke 22:44.

Psalm 69:4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: they that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.

David feels overwhelmed by the number of enemies he has. Jesus, also, had innumerable enemies, both physical and spiritual.

Psalm 69:5 O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from thee.

David frequently confesses his sins and short-coming to God in his songs of prayer and praise. Elsewhere in the scripture we find the idea of God being all-knowing and ever-present throughout His creation. Theologically it is called Omniscient, and Omnipresent.

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.

Jesus said that whatsoever is done in secret shall be made known in public. In Number 32:23 we read, “Be sure your sin will find you out.” There is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. Nevertheless, “if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and cleanse us of all unrighteousness,” 1 John 1:9. “He that covers his sin shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy,” Proverbs 28:13.

Psalm 69:6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

David is compassionately praying that his life, his problems, do not become a stumbling block to other believers. Jesus, also, before His passion, prayed for His disciples that God would keep them from the evil, John 17:15b. He specifically told Peter that He had prayed for him. He told Peter to not lose faith, and that when he was "converted, strengthen your brethren," Luke 22:32b.

Psalm 69:7-9 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of thine house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Because of David’s love for God, he bears reproach. As David is a protype of Christ, the verse could also be seen prophetically as pertaining to Jesus. Jesus bore reproach because of His love of God, and love for mankind. The section, “the zeal of thine house has eaten me up,” is quoting in John 2:17 as referring to Jesus and His zeal in cleansing the temple of the money-changers and merchants.

Psalm 69:10-12 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.

“They that sit in the gate,” refers to the leaders or elders of the community who we see throughout scripture sitting at the gates of the city to pass judgment or witness business transactions.

Psalm 69:13-15 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.  Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

David is more encouraged now. We could imagine Jesus using these verses in prayer to His Father while he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. End of part one. Go to Part 2.