Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 69:12

"They that sit in the gate talk of me; And [I am] the song of the drunkards." — Psalms 69:12 (ASV)

They that sit in the gate speak against me - The gates of cities were places where people assembled; places where business was transacted; places where courts were frequently held. See the notes at Job 29:7. Compare Isaiah 14:31; Isaiah 28:6; Psalms 9:14. Calvin supposes that as the gates were the places where the judges sat to administer justice, the meaning here is that magistrates, or those who were high in rank and power, joined in the cry of reproach against him. The more probable interpretation, however, is that he was subject to the reproach of those who were gathered around these places—the people of business and the idlers who were assembled there; or, as we would say, that he was the subject of “town talk.”

And I was the song of the drunkards - Margin, as in the Hebrew, “drinkers of strong drink.” They made ballads or low songs about me. They selected me as an example in their drunken songs. David was not alone in this. It has not been uncommon for the songs of revellers and drunkards to be designed to turn piety and the pious into derision. Compare, alas! some of the songs of Burns. See Job 30:9, note; Psalms 35:15–16, notes.