Psalm 69 (1928 BCP)
Psalm 69 (1928 BCP) is the penitential and persecuted prayer, Salvum me fac, in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer Psalter. Its movement is from engulfing distress and unjust reproach, through an appeal to God's mercy, to praise with thanksgiving. The 1928 Psalter places it under the heading “Evening Prayer,” so that its language of danger, waiting, and trust is given to the Church as public prayer rather than left as private religious feeling.
Prayer Book Text
SAVE me, O God; * for the waters are come in, even unto my soul. 2 I stick fast in the deep mire, where no ground is; * I am come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me. 3 I am weary of crying; my throat is dry; * my sight faileth me for waiting so long upon my God. 4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; * they that are mine enemies, and would destroy me guiltless, are mighty.
The opening images do not minimize suffering: mire has no footing and the flood threatens to submerge the praying speaker. Yet the appeal is addressed to God. Even exhaustion—“waiting so long upon my God”—is prayerful waiting, not abandonment of God.
For the zeal of thine house hath even eaten me; * and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee are fallen upon me. 10 I wept, and chastened myself with fasting, * and that was turned to my reproof. 11 I put on sackcloth also, * and they jested upon me. 12 They that sit in the gate speak against me, * and the drunkards make songs upon me.
Christ and the Psalter
The New Testament explicitly hears Psalm 69 in Christ's passion and ministry. John applies verse 9 to Jesus after the cleansing of the temple; Romans applies its second clause to Christ's self-giving patience. These uses warrant a Christian reading without erasing the psalm's first-person cry or turning every line into a detached prediction.
And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Augustine's exposition helps state the Church's classic rule of reading: the psalm may be heard in the voice of the Head, Christ, and also in the voice of his Body, the Church. On the plea that those who wait for God not be put to shame, he writes:
This also may be understood of the Body, but only if you consider the Body of Him not one man: for in truth one man is not the Body of Him, but a small member, but the Body is made up of members. Therefore the full Body of Him is the whole Church.
Thus the sufferer’s concern in verse 6—“Let not them that trust in thee … be ashamed for my cause”—has a corporate horizon. A Christian may pray it with Christ's members in mind: public disgrace can wound a whole community, and God's vindication serves the faith of those who seek him.
Petition, mercy, and praise
Hear me, O LORD, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable; * turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies. 18 And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: * O haste thee, and hear me. 19 Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it; * O deliver me, because of mine enemies.
The Prayer Book translation says that God's loving-kindness is “comfortable”: it strengthens and consoles the afflicted. Augustine similarly observes that the psalm grounds its plea not in the pray-er’s merit but in divine mercy:
“Hearken unto me, O Lord, for sweet is Your mercy.” He has given this as a reason why He ought to be hearkened unto, because sweet is the mercy of God.… “After the multitude of Your pities have regard unto me:” not after the multitude of my sins.
This is a theological reading of the psalm's actual petition, not a denial of its pain. The one in trouble asks God to draw near because God's mercy is abundant. The appointed Evening Prayer heading makes that appeal suitable for the Church at day's end, when it entrusts both distress and deliverance to God.
As for me, when I am poor and in heaviness, * thy help, O God, shall lift me up. 31 I will praise the Name of God with a song, * and magnify it with thanksgiving. 32 This also shall please the LORD * better than a bullock that hath horns and hoofs. 33 The humble shall consider this, and be glad: * seek ye after God, and your soul shall live. 34 For the LORD heareth the poor, * and despiseth not his prisoners.
The final turn to thanksgiving is integral, not an escape from the preceding lament. Praise arises because the Lord hears the poor and does not despise prisoners. It also frames sacrifice rightly: song and thanksgiving are offered by the humbled people who seek God, rather than being a substitute for mercy or justice.
Use in worship
Because the 1928 Psalter prints Psalm 69 in the Evening Prayer sequence, it may be said or sung as the appointed psalm when the Psalter is followed. In pastoral use, its imagery gives words to sufferers facing hostility, slander, grief, or exhaustion. The New Testament and Augustine together also guard Christian prayer from isolation: believers pray this lament in union with Christ and within his whole Body.
See Also
External Links
References
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church (New York: The Church Pension Fund, 1928), Psalter, “Psalm 69. Salvum me fac,” vv. 1–4, headed “Evening Prayer”; Justus Anglican, The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, “Psalms 51–75”. The wording was checked against the local transcription at
sources/justus1928/Psalms2.htm. - ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Psalter, “Psalm 69. Salvum me fac,” vv. 9–12, under “Evening Prayer”; Justus Anglican, The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, “Psalms 51–75”.
- ↑ The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments, Translated out of the Original Tongues (Authorized Version, 1611), John 2:17, citing Psalm 69:9; Bible Gateway, “John 2:17, KJV”.
- ↑ The Holy Bible (Authorized Version, 1611), Romans 15:3, citing Psalm 69:9; Bible Gateway, “Romans 15:3, KJV”.
- ↑ Augustine of Hippo, “Exposition on Psalm 69,” §10, in A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series, vol. VIII, ed. Philip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888); New Advent, “Exposition on Psalm 69”.
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Psalter, “Psalm 69. Salvum me fac,” vv. 17–19, under “Evening Prayer”; Justus Anglican, The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, “Psalms 51–75”.
- ↑ Augustine of Hippo, “Exposition on Psalm 69,” §19, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. VIII, ed. Philip Schaff (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1888); New Advent, “Exposition on Psalm 69”.
- ↑ The Protestant Episcopal Church, The Book of Common Prayer (1928), Psalter, “Psalm 69. Salvum me fac,” vv. 30–34, under “Evening Prayer”; Justus Anglican, The 1928 Book of Common Prayer, “Psalms 51–75”.