John Calvin Commentary Psalms 69:19

"Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: Mine adversaries are all before thee." — Psalms 69:19 (ASV)

Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion. This is a confirmation of the preceding sentence. Why is it that most men become dispirited when they see the wicked outrageously rushing upon them, and their wickedness, like a flood, carrying all before it, but because they think that heaven is so obscured and overcast with clouds as to prevent God from seeing what is done upon the earth?

It is fitting for us, therefore, in this matter, to remember the doctrine of Divine Providence, so that by contemplating it we may be assured beyond all doubt that God will appear for our aid at the proper time. For he cannot, on the one hand, shut his eyes to our miseries, and it is impossible for him, on the other, to allow the freedom the wicked take in doing evil to go unpunished, without denying himself.

David, therefore, takes comfort from the realization that God is the witness of his grief, fear, sorrows, and cares, with nothing being hidden from the eye of Him who is the judge and governor of the world. Nor is it a meaningless repetition when he speaks so frequently of his reproach and shame. As he was subjected to such dreadful assaults of temptations as might have made the strongest heart tremble, it was absolutely necessary for his own defense to oppose them with a strong barrier for resistance.

Nothing is more bitter to men of a sincere and noble spirit than reproach. But when this is repeated, or rather when shame and reproach are heaped upon us, how necessary it is then for us to possess more than ordinary strength, so that we may not be overwhelmed by it. For when aid is delayed, our patience is very likely to give way, and despair very easily creeps in.

This shame and reproach can rightly be related both to outward appearance and to the actual feelings of the mind. It is well known that he was openly ridiculed everywhere, and the mockeries he experienced inevitably struck him with both shame and sorrow. For the same reason, he adds that his enemies are before God, or known to him, as if he had said, Lord, you know how, like a poor sheep, I am surrounded by thousands of wolves.