A Psalm for Sunday, Psalm 69, verses 13 to 21, Hear me, O LORD

 

Psalm 69:13 ¶  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. 14  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. 15  Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 16  Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 17  And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. 18  Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. 19  Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. 20  Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. 21  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

 

David prayed regularly and was disciplined about it.

 

Psalm 55:17  Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.

 

He pleads with God to deliver him from the mire like quicksand in which he is held fast, as we can experience. Think about this for verse 14;

 

Psalm 40:2  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

 

Imagine Jeremiah thrown into the pit in Jeremiah, chapter 38.

 

For verse 15 I am reminded of Jonah in chapter 2 of that book.

 

The sentiment in verse 16 is expressed elsewhere in Psalms.

 

Psalm 36:7  How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.

 

Psalm 63:3 ¶  Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.

 

Psalm 109:21 ¶  But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.

 

Can you hear yourself praying this? You need help, deliverance, and yet there is no one to help you. You call unto God for mercy and for the help only He can provide.

 

Also, do you see how this references Christ’s suffering.

 

Matthew 27:34  They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

 

We can see the torment of Christ’s sufferings in this passage although we must always remember where such typology breaks down, as I’ve noted before. We can also easily see our own torment. If you have ever stood alone accused and with no one willing to help you, you can understand how this passage can apply to you. Every alcoholic and drug addict and any Christian addicted to anything knows what it means to stand alone and plead to God for mercy and help from the situation in which they are sinking.