Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 69:35

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 69:35. God will save Zion — This fixes the Psalm to the time of the captivity. There was no Zion belonging to the Jews in the time of Saul, when those suppose the Psalm to be written who make David the author; for David after he came to the throne, won the stronghold of Zion from the Jebusites. 2 Samuel 5:7; 1 Chronicles 11:5.

Will build the cities of Judah — This refers to the return from the captivity, when all the destroyed cities should be rebuilt, and the Jews repossess their forfeited heritages. Some apply this to the redemption of the human race; and suppose that Zion is the type of the Christian Church into which the Gentiles were to be called. What evangelists and apostles apply to our Lord, we safely may. What others see so clearly in this Psalm relative to Gospel matters, I cannot discern.

ANALYSIS OF THE SIXTY-NINTH PSALM

There are three parts in this Psalm: -

I. The psalmist's prayer, and the reasons for it, Psalms 69:1-21.

II. Declaration of God's judgments against his enemies, Psalms 69:22-28.

III. His profession of thanks, Psalms 69:29-36.

I. His prayer: "Save me, O God!" And then his reasons.

1. His present condition: "The waters are come in unto my soul."

2. "I sink in deep mire."

3. "I am come into deep waters."

4. "I am weary of my crying."

5. "My throat is dried" with calling on thee.

6. "Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God."

When he considered his enemies, he found reason to cry. They were,

1. Malicious: "They hate me without a cause."

2. Numerous: "More than the hairs of my head."

3. Powerful: "My enemies are mighty," Psalms 69:1-4.

1. He declares his innocence with respect to their accusations, and the oppression he suffered: "I restored that which I took not away."

2. Begs to be heard, lest he should be confounded before his enemies.

3. Shows that he suffers for God's cause.

4. He was zealous for the Divine worship.

5. He was a deep penitent.

On which account he was a subject of reproach: -

1. To the high - those who sat in the gate.

2. To the low and base: "I was the song of the drunkards."

He renews his petition, and presses on God to hear him: -

1. Because of his being ready to sink. Psalms 69:13-15.

2. Because of God's goodness, mercy, and truth: "In the multitude of thy mercies," c.

3. Because he was God's servant, and would not desert his Master.

4. Because of his enemies, who would have a sinful triumph if he was not delivered.

And he pleads their ill usage as a reason why God should help him.

1. They were scorners, and God knew it: "They are all before thee," Psalms 69:19.

2. Reproach had almost broken his heart.

3. His friends had abandoned him, Psalms 69:20.

4. His enemies were inhuman: "They gave me gall," &c., Psalms 69:22.

II. Prophetic declaration of God's judgments against them: -

1. Their "table should be a snare to them," Psalms 69:22.

2. They should be given up to judicial blindness, Psalms 69:23.

3. They should be enfeebled in their bodies: "Make their loins shake," Psalms 69:23.

4. God's "wrath should be poured out upon them," Psalms 69:24.

5. Their country should be wasted, Psalms 69:25.

6. They should have the punishment due to their iniquity, Psalms 69:27.

7. They should come to an untimely death: "Let them be blotted out," Psalms 69:28.

III. His profession of thanks. Having spoken of his own condition, that he was poor and sorrowful, he now breaks out into praise: -

1. "I will praise the name of God," Psalms 69:30.

2. This will be the most acceptable sacrifice, Psalms 69:31.

The effect of his deliverance would be double: -

1. It would "gladden the poor," Psalms 69:32 Psalms 69:33.

2. All "creatures would take an interest in it," Psalms 69:34. All shall praise God.

And for this he gives the following reasons: -

1. God's goodness to his Church: "He will save Zion."

2. He will confirm his kingdom among them: "He will build," &c.

3. They shall have peace and security: "That they may dwell there, and have it in possession," Psalms 69:35.

4. All that love his name should have it perpetually, Psalms 69:36.

The cruel, the oppressor, the scorner, the irreligious, the hypocrite, shall have nothing of God's approbation here, and shall be excluded from his heavenly kingdom for ever.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 69:0 Undeserved suffering

As a person sinking in a muddy pit, or someone drowning in swirling floodwaters, so the psalmist fears he is being overwhelmed by his sufferings. No human help is near (1-3). His enemies cruelly injure him, forcing him to suffer for sins that he did not commit (4). He knows he is not sinless, but he also knows that he has tried to live uprightly before God. On the basis of this he cries out to God to rescue him. He does not want his enemies to triumph over him, in case other believers are discouraged (5-6).
This suffering is for God’s sake. The psalmist is an outcast even among his own family (7-8). His zeal for God, his fasting, and his other acts of devotion are merely an excuse for others to mock him and insult God (9-12).
At this point the psalmist turns to consider God’s steadfast love. Although his sufferings and dangers are not lessened, he believes God will rescue him from them (13-18). He has nothing but disappointment from those he thought were his friends. They have all deserted him. His enemies increase his torture by the poisoned food and bitter drink they give him (19-21). The psalmist prays that his persecutors themselves will taste something of the tortures that they have been giving him - the poisoned food, the dark hiding places, the weakness the fear, the loneliness (22-25). As they have heaped sorrow on the godly, may God heap his punishment on them (26-28).
Although in pain and despair, the psalmist still trusts in God, believing that God will hear him. He promises that his worship will be thankful and sincere, far more than the mere sacrifice of animals (29-31). His deliverance will encourage others who are harshly treated to put their whole trust in God (32-33). And if God can save the individual, he can also save the nation and make it a fitting dwelling place for the righteous (34-36).

For the wider meaning of many sections of the psalm in the experience of Jesus Christ, see Background. See also introductory and closing notes to Psalms 22:0. For quotations of this psalm in the New Testament cf. v. 4 with John 15:25; cf. v. 9 with John 2:17, Romans 15:3; cf. v. 21 with Matthew 27:34,Matthew 27:38; cf. v. 22-23 with Romans 11:9-10; cf. v. 24 with Revelation 16:1; cf. v. 25 with Acts 1:20; cf. v. 28 with Revelation 20:15.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

A HOPEFUL OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE

"Let heaven and earth praise him, The seas and everything that moveth therein. For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah; And they shall abide there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it; And they that love his name shall dwell therein."

"Let heaven and earth… the sea and everything… praise God

EVERYWHERE

"Where myriad waterfowl with thunderous wings
Ascending climb dawn's flaming stair,
The oratorio of all created things
Is heard upon the morning air.

Where velvet footsteps march beneath the shade
Of giant trees, and move along
The resinous forest's colonnade,
God hears this thrilling glory song.

Where countless life-forms teem the ocean floor,
Is sung God's glory in the sea.
A mighty chores shore to shore,
They justify their right to be.

Where Pleiades and Morning Star adorn
The arch of heaven, even there,
From Creation's birthday more,
God's glory sings, and EVERYWHERE."

- James Burton Coffman, 1962.

"For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah" This, of course is the verse, which according to Dummelow, "Points to a date long after the age of David."J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 356. Of course, Dummelow was thinking of the times of Zedekiah; but others find that this verse allegedly points to the times of "Nehemiah and Ezra,"The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IV, p. 362. or "The times of the Maccabees."W. E. Addis, p. 385.

We reject such opinions in full confidence of their error. It seems never to have occurred to such scholars that they are misinterpreting the word "build," reading it instead as "rebuild," which is simply not in the Hebrew at all. Even though the RSV, apparently for the purpose of supporting such false views, has without authority changed the word to rebuild, the Douay Version and the Septuagint (LXX) both support the American Standard Version (our version) in rendering the word "build," not "rebuild."

Rawlinson gave the proper meaning of the term as follows: "`Build the cities of Judah' means to maintain them, and to keep them from decay and ruin."The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8-B, p. 56.

At the time David wrote this, many of the "cities of Judah had never been built." It was only after David became king that Jerusalem itself was secured as a bastion of Israel's power; and what David prophesied here was not that the cities of Judah would be rebuilt after having been destroyed, but that they would be constructed for the first time.

"The seed of his servants shall inherit it" This is a reference to God's children, the seed of the kingdom.

"And they that love his name shall dwell therein" This line, according to the genius of Hebrew poetry has the same meaning as the preceding line, enabling us more certainly to determine the meaning of both.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

For God will save Zion - See the notes at Psalms 51:18. That is, he will save his people; he will protect and defend them. This expresses the confident assurance of the psalmist that, whatever might be the existing troubles, God would not forsake his people, but would interpose in their behalf.

And will build the cities of Judah - Though they may now lie waste, or be desolate. See the notes at Psalms 51:18. The general idea here is, that God would be favorable to his land; that he would give success and prosperity to his people; that he would manifest his mercy to them. There is no necessity from the language used here to suppose, as DeWette and Rosenmuller do, that there is an allusion to the time of the exile, and to the restoration of the Jews from Babylon, and that consequently either the whole psalm must have been composed at that time - or (as Rosenmuller supposes) that the last verses of the psalm were added by a later hand, and that thus the whole psalm was adapted to the time of the exile. From Psalms 69:9 it would seem that, when the psalm was composed, the place of public worship was still standing, and the language here, as in Psalms 51:18, is so general that it might have been employed at any time.

That they may dwell there ... - That his people may dwell there according to the ancient promise. The idea is, that he would be the protector of his people, and that all his promises to them would be fulfilled.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 69:1-36

The sixty-ninth psalm is a Messianic psalm. That is, it is a psalm of prophecy concerning Jesus Christ. And there are many scriptures within the psalm here that make reference to Jesus Christ.

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. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for God. They that hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head: they that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restore that which I took not away. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. 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. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face ( Psalms 69:1-7 ).

Again, referring to Christ. For God's sake He bore the reproach; shame covered His face.

I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children ( Psalms 69:8 ).

It said that His brothers did not believe in Him. They thought that He was crazy, actually.

For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me ( Psalms 69:9 ).

Remember when Jesus went into the temple and He saw them making merchandise, and He took and He made a scourge, a whip, and He began to drive out the moneychangers and those that were selling doves. And He said, "Get out of here! You've made my Father's house a den of thieves." And then they remembered the scripture that was written of Him that said, "The zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up." The zeal for the house of God, it just ate Him up when He saw the terrible things that were being done in the house of God in the name of God. I wonder what would be His reaction today if He should come and visit some of the bingo parties and other functions that have been devised to make money for the church.

"The zeal of Mine house hath eaten Me up. The reproaches of them that reproach Thee fall upon Me."

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 drunkards ( Psalms 69:10-12 ).

He is still the song of drunkards. The blasphemy when a person becomes intoxicated so often.

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 ( Psalms 69:13 ).

Some believe that this is actually the prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

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 ( Psalms 69:14 ).

You remember He said, "If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me."

Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O LORD; for thy loving-kindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. For thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness ( Psalms 69:15-20 ):

The fact that when Jesus was pierced with a sword there came forth blood and water indicates that actually His death was by a heart rupture. The fact that there was water that came forth with the blood indicates death by heart rupture. They broke, "Reproach," he said, "hath broken my heart. I am full of heaviness." Also there is something to that bloody sweat that indicates much the same.

and I looked for some to take pity ( Psalms 69:20 ),

You remember in the Garden of Gethsemane, and in great heaviness, He sweat as it were, great drops of blood flowing to the ground. "And I looked for some to take pity." You remember He came back to His disciples, but they were sleeping. "I looked for some to take pity,"

but there was none; for comforters, I found none ( Psalms 69:20 ).

"Oh Peter, could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray." "I looked for someone to have pity. I looked for comforters, but I found none."

They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink ( Psalms 69:21 ).

You remember that when Jesus cried, "I thirst," someone took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it to His lips.

Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap ( Psalms 69:22 ).

Paul quotes this in Romans, the eleventh chapter, concerning Israel.

Let their eyes become darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake ( Psalms 69:23 ).

The judgment that should come upon the Jews for the rejection of Jesus.

Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate ( Psalms 69:24-25 );

Now in the first chapter of Acts, Peter quotes this as referring to Judas Iscariot. And he puts it together with another psalm, "Let their habitation be desolate and let another take his bishopric." And so, this is quoted concerning Judas Iscariot by Peter in Acts, chapter 1.

and let none dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom you have smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom you have wounded. Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song, and I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs. The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God. For the LORD heareth the poor, and despise not the prisoners. Let the heaven and the earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moves therein. For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein ( Psalms 69:25-36 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 69

In this imprecatory psalm of individual lament, David sought God to deliver him from destruction. He was experiencing criticism and rejection from the Israelites because of decisions he had made to do God’s will. He asked God to deal with his oppressors, and he looked forward to relief and the renewal of praise to God. Some scholars have labeled this psalm "indirectly messianic" because, while it does not specifically predict Messiah, Messiah fulfilled what the writer expressed (cf. Psalms 16; Psalms 22; Psalms 34; Psalms 40; Psalms 41; Psalms 109). [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," pp. 290-91.] After Psalms 110, 22, this is the third most frequently quoted psalm in the New Testament.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

4. David’s resolution to praise God 69:29-36

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Anticipation of personal deliverance encouraged David to expect God to fulfill His promises to Israel as well. He called on the whole creation to praise God who would establish Israel as He had promised.

When the godly purpose to glorify God, many people will oppose their efforts and persecute them. This opposition should not drive us away from God, but to Him, in order to obtain the grace we need to remain faithful. God will reward this type of faithfulness greatly (e.g., James 1:12). We can see the truth of this in David’s life and in the life of His greatest son, Jesus Christ.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

For God will save Zion,.... The church of Christ, as it is often called; :-; this is to be understood not so much of the salvation of the people of God, by Christ, from sin and Satan, and the world, law, hell, and death, as of the preservation and continuance of the Gospel church state, notwithstanding all the opposition and persecution of the Jews and Gentiles; and especially of the deliverance of the Lord's people, in the latter day, from the cruelty, captivity, and bondage of antichrist, by the destruction of him; which will occasion joy and praise, Revelation 18:4;

and will build the cities of Judah: erect Gospel churches in the Roman empire, and in the several parts of the world; as were in the first times of the Gospel, and will be in the latter day, when the cities of God shall be yet spread abroad through prosperity, Zechariah 1:17; of which the saints are citizens, and enjoy in them many privileges and immunities: these may be said to be "built", when they are built upon Christ, and on their most holy faith; when the members of them are edified and multiplied; when purity of faith, discipline, and worship, prevails among them; and though this is usually by the ministers of the Gospel, as instruments, yet the Lord is the chief builder; for, unless he builds, in vain do the builders build, Psalms 127:1;

that they may dwell there, and have it in possession; the men of Judah, such as confess the name of Christ, as the word "Judah" signifies; who profess to believe in him with their hearts; these have a name and a place, and an inheritance in the churches, and an abiding one; they shall never go out, but dwell in the house of God for ever; Gospel churches being erected and built up for their sakes, and for such ends and purposes.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.   31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.   32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.   33 For the LORD heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.   34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.   35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.   36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

      The psalmist here, both as a type of Christ and as an example to Christians, concludes a psalm with holy joy and praise which he began with complaints and remonstrances of his griefs.

      I. He resolves to praise God himself, not doubting but that therein he should be accepted of him (Psalms 69:30; Psalms 69:31): "I will praise the name of God, not only with my heart, but with my song, and magnify him with thanksgiving;" for he is pleased to reckon himself magnified by the thankful praises of his people. It is intimated that all Christians ought to glorify God with their praises, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. And this shall please the Lord, through Christ the Mediator of our praises as well as of our prayers, better than the most valuable of the legal sacrifices (Psalms 69:31; Psalms 69:31), an ox or bullock. This is a plain intimation that in the days of the Messiah an end should be put, not only to the sacrifices of atonement, but to those of praise and acknowledgment which were instituted by the ceremonial law; and, instead of them, spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving are accepted--the calves of our lips, not the calves of the stall, Hebrews 13:15. It is a great comfort to us that humble and thankful praises are more pleasing to God than the most costly pompous sacrifices are or ever were.

      II. He encourages other good people to rejoice in God and continue seeking him (Psalms 69:32; Psalms 69:33): The humble shall see this and be glad. They shall observe, to their comfort, 1. The experiences of the saints. They shall see how ready God is to hear the poor when they cry to him, and to give them that which they call upon him for, how far he is from despising his prisoners; though men despise them, he favours them with his gracious visits and will find a time to enlarge them. The humble shall see this and be glad, not only because when one member is honoured all the members rejoice with it, but because it is an encouragement to them in their straits and difficulties to trust in God. It shall revive the hearts of those who seek God to see more seals and subscriptions to this truth, that Jacob's God never said to Jacob's seed, Seek you me in vain. 2. The exaltation of the Saviour, for of him the psalmist had been speaking, and of himself as a type of him. When his sorrows are over, and he enters into the joy that was set before him, when he is heard and discharged from his imprisonment in the grave, the humble shall look upon it and be glad, and those that seek God through Christ shall live and be comforted, concluding that, if they suffer with him, they shall also reign with him.

      III. He calls upon all the creatures to praise God, the heaven, and earth, and sea, and the inhabitants of each, Psalms 69:34; Psalms 69:34. Heaven and earth, and the hosts of both, were made by him, and therefore let heaven and earth praise him. Angels in heaven, and saints on earth, may each of them in their respective habitations furnish themselves with matter enough for constant praise. Let the fishes of the sea, though mute to a proverb, praise the Lord, for the sea is his, and he made it. The praises of the world must be offered for God's favours to his church, Psalms 69:35; Psalms 69:36. For God will save Zion, the holy mountain, where his service was kept up. He will save all that are sanctified and set apart to him, all that employ themselves in his worship, and all those over whom Christ reigns; for he was King upon the holy hill of Zion. He has mercy in store for the cities of Judah, of which tribe Christ was. God will do great things for the gospel church, in which let all that wish well to it rejoice. For, 1. It shall be peopled and inhabited. There shall be added to it such as shall be saved. The cities of Judah shall be built, particular churches shall be formed and incorporated according to the gospel model, that there may be a remnant to dwell there and to have it in possession, to enjoy the privileges conferred upon it and to pay the tributes and services required from it. Those that love his name, that have a kindness for religion in general, shall embrace the Christian religion, and take their place in the Christian church; they shall dwell therein, as citizens, and of the household of God 2. It shall be perpetuated and inherited. Christianity was not to be res unius ætatis--a transitory thin. No: The seed of his servants shall inherit it. God will secure and raise up for himself a seed to serve him, and they shall inherit the privileges of their fathers; for the promise is to you and your children, as it was of old. I will be a God to thee, and thy seed after thee. The land of promise shall never be lost for want of heirs, for God can out of stones raise up children unto Abraham and will do so rather than the entail shall be cut off. David shall never want a man to stand before him. The Redeemer shall see his seed, and prolong his days in them, till the mystery of God shall be finished and the mystical body completed. And since the holy seed is the substance of the world, and if that were all gathered in the world would be at an end quickly, it is just that for this assurance of the preservation of it heaven and earth should praise him.