John Gill Commentary Psalms 69

Save me, O God
The petitioner is Christ; not as a divine Person, as such he is blessed for ever, and stands in no need of help and assistance; but as man, and in distressed and suffering circumstances. As a priest, it was part of his work to intercede, as well as to offer sacrifice; and though he did not offer a sin offering for himself, yet he offered up supplications, with strong cryings and tears; and, as the surety of his people, he prayed, in point of right and justice, both for himself and them; see (John 17:4John 17:5John 17:24) . The person petitioned is God the Father, who was able to save him, and always heard him; and did in this petition, (Hebrews 5:7) ; which perfectly agrees with some petitions of Christ, recorded in the New Testament, (John 12:27) (Matthew 26:39) . These show the weakness of the human nature, the weight of sin upon him, and his sense of the wrath of God; and which, notwithstanding, were made with limitations and restrictions, and even with a correction.

Moreover, this may also design help and assistance from his divine Father, which was promised him, and he expected and had, in the acceptable time, in the day of salvation: and he was so saved in death, as that he abolished that, and destroyed him that had the power of it; and was quickly raised from the grave, and thereby saved out of it. And this he could have done himself, but he would be saved in a legal way, in a way of justice; and as a point of honour, when he had done the work, he, as a surety, engaged to do. The reasons enforcing this petition follow:

for the waters are come in unto [my] soul :
the Messiah represents his case, in these words, and in (Psalms 69:2) , as like to that of a man standing up to his chin in water, and the waters running into his mouth, just suffocating him; and that in a miry place, where he could not set his feet firm, nor get himself out; and even overflowed with the floods, and immersed in the deep waters, and so in the most imminent danger. These overwhelming waters may signify the floods of ungodly men that encompassed him, the assembly of the wicked that enclosed him; and the proud waters that went over his soul, the Gentiles and people of Israel, that were gathered against him to destroy him; and so the Targum interprets it of the camp of sinners, that pressed him on every side, as water: the whole posse of devils may also be designed, for now was the hour and power of darkness; Satan, and his principalities and powers, came in like a flood upon him, to swallow him up;

innumerable evils, the sins of his people, came upon him from every quarter, and pressed him sore; the curses of the law fell upon him, which may be compared to the bitter water of jealousy that caused the curse. These entered into him, when he was made a curse for his people; and the wrath of God went over him, and lay hard upon him, and came about him like water, into his very soul, which made him exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.

I sink in deep mire, where [there is] no standing
Which signifies not despair of mind, but difficult and distressed circumstances; the Messiah now bearing the filthy sins of his people, and the punishment of them, and so was got into the horrible pit, the mire and clay; (See Gill on Psalms 40:2);

I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me :
as afflictions are often compared to waters in Scripture, Christ's sorrows and sufferings are very aptly signified by deep waters and overflowing floods; and therefore rightly called a baptism, as by himself, (Luke 12:50) , when he was as one immersed in and overwhelmed with water.

I am weary of my crying
In his distress; when, bearing the punishment both of loss and sense, he cried to God; he prayed earnestly, with great intenseness and fervency of spirit; he offered supplications, with strong cryings and tears, insomuch that he calls it a roaring: and where there was a seeming delay of answer to his cries, he cried till he was weary of crying; and yet it is remarkable that his last cry was with a loud voice, which surprised the centurion; see (Psalms 22:1Psalms 22:2) (Matthew 27:46) ;

my throat is dried ;
with crying, so that he was hoarse; or "burnt" ^F21 ; with inward heat of a fever, which usually attended persons crucified; see (Psalms 22:15) ;

mine eyes fail while I wait for my God ;
God the Father was the God of Christ, as he was man; he prepared a body for him, and anointed his human nature with the Holy Spirit; he supported and upheld him: and as such Christ loved him, believed in him, prayed to him, and waited and looked for help and salvation from him; this being delayed, his eyes failed with intense looking about for it, as well as with grief and tears. Ainsworth observes, that failing of the eyes is one of the curses of the law, (Leviticus 26:16) (Deuteronomy 28:30) , and it shows how in every thing Christ was made a curse for his people.

FOOTNOTES:

• F21: (rxn) "adustum", Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis; so Ainsworth.

They that hate me without a cause
As the Jews did; see (John 15:18–25); for he did no injury to the persons or properties of men; but went about continually doing good, both to their souls and bodies; so that he merited their highest esteem and love, and not their hatred; and yet they were his implacable enemies; see (Luke 19:14Luke 19:27);

are more than the hairs of mine head ;
they were a multitude that came to take him in the garden; and it was the multitude that the priests and Pharisees instigated to ask for the release of Barabbas, and the crucifixion of Jesus; and a vast number of people followed him to the cross, and insulted him on it; the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together against him;

they that would destroy me ;
as the Jews sought to do often before his time was come;

[being] mine enemies wrongfully ;
without cause, as before; or through lies and falsehoods told of him, and spread about concerning him:

are mighty ;
lively and strong, as David's enemies were, (Psalms 38:19). The great men of the earth, kings and princes, as Herod and Pontius Pilate, and also the infernal principalities and powers, who were concerned in contriving those lies, and putting them into the minds of men; for Satan is the father of lies and falsehood;

then I restored [that] which I took not away ;
by rapine, force, and violence, as the word ^F23 signifies; and which was done by others.

Thus, for instance, Christ restored the glory of God, of which he was robbed, and which was taken away by the sin of man; by veiling his own glory, not seeking that, but his Father's; and by working out the salvation of his people, in such a manner as that all the divine perfections were glorified by it; hence, "glory to God in the highest", (Luke 2:14). He satisfied justice he had never injured, though others had; he fulfilled a law, and bore the penalty of it, which he never broke; and made satisfaction for sins he never committed; and brought in a righteousness he had not taken away; and provided a better inheritance than what was lost by Adam: and all this was done at the time of his sufferings and death, and by the means of them.

FOOTNOTES:

• F23: (ytlzg) "rapui", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus

O God, you know my foolishness
Not that there was real foolishness in him, who, as man, from his infancy was filled with wisdom, and increased in it; and, as Mediator, had the spirit of wisdom on him, and the treasures of wisdom in him; and, as a divine Person, he is the Wisdom of God, and the only wise God; and, as in our nature, there was no foolishness in his heart, nor in his words, nor in his actions: but this is to be understood either of what was accounted so by others; he and his followers were reckoned foolish and illiterate men, and the Gospel preached by him and his apostles was foolishness to them that perished; or of what he was charged with by his enemies; even with immorality, heresy, blasphemy, and sedition; of all which he was innocent, and therefore could appeal to his divine Father, who knows all things, that he was clear of all such folly; for it may be rendered, "you know as to my foolishness" ^F24 , with respect to what he was charged with, that there was none in him;

or else it regards the foolishness of his people imputed to him. This is the sin that is the folly of follies, together with all the foolishness in the heart, lip, and lives of his people, before and after conversion; these were all reckoned to him, and reckoned by him, as his own in some sense; and which is confirmed by what follows:

and my sins are not hid from you ;
meaning not any committed by him; for then he could not have said what he does in (Psalms 69:4) ; but the sins of his people imputed to him, which he calls his own, (See Gill on Psalms 40:12): these must be known to his divine Father, since he is God omniscient, and since he laid them upon him, and he made satisfaction for them to him; and which he observes to enforce his petition, (Psalms 69:1) ; with this compare (Isaiah 53:11Isaiah 53:12) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: (ytlwal) "tu nosti ut res se habeat quoad stultitiam meam", Gussetius, p. 312.