Psalm 69:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord God of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.

NIV: Lord, the Lord Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me.

NASB: May those who wait for You not be ashamed because of me, Lord God of armies; May those who seek You not be dishonored because of me, God of Israel,

CSB: Do not let those who put their hope in you be disgraced because of me, Lord God of Armies; do not let those who seek you be humiliated because of me, God of Israel.

NLT: Don’t let those who trust in you be ashamed because of me, O Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Don’t let me cause them to be humiliated, O God of Israel.

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.

Psalm 69:1–21 is a cry over David's troubles and a call for God's rescue from them. Enemies lie and conspire, including even family members. The sheer volume of opposition is overwhelming. These attacks come because David has enthusiastically defended the Lord; he takes attacks against God as harms to his own self. David calls on God to provide relief from such persecution.

David opens with a passionate plea for God's rescue. He feels as if he is drowning among enemies and liars. These opponents hate David for his loyalty to the Lord. They even hate him for faithfully continuing to practice his faith. David wants more than to be rescued, however. He calls on God to bring brutal justice to these enemies, including seeing them die with no hope of eternity. David closes the psalm on a more positive note: planning to worship God. This means he fully expects God's long-awaited answer to come in the form of rescue.

David gives no explicit event as the inspiration for his writing. This psalm has messianic overtones, and it is frequently quoted in the New Testament (John 2:17; 15:25; Romans 11:9–10; Acts 1:20). It is also an imprecatory psalm: a call for God to severely punish His enemies. The words of this psalm may have been set to the same musical tune as psalm 45. Similar psalms include 35, 40, and 109.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.