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Psalms 69:13–21, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 69:13–21
Flooded lament, zeal, reproach, and severe curses: Petition for rescue and unanswered compassion
An acceptable time is asked while the mire is still over the mouth
But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
Hear me, for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh, redeem, deliver because of mine enemies. The petition is timed by mercy, not by the speaker's remaining strength.
He looked for pity and found gall
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Broken-heart language here is social abandonment. Gall and vinegar are the opposite of comfort food. Later passion narratives hear these lines around Jesus. That reuse is Christian reading of Israel's lament. It does not erase the first thirsty mouth, and it does not make every later opponent of a church into the people who handed over gall.
How this should shape us
When a heart is broken by missing comforters, show up with actual help, not vinegar. Do not use the passion echo to skip the living person in the pit, and do not treat delayed mercy as the sufferer's fault.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 69:13–21 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 69 and Book II, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do responsible readings differ?
Best judgment: New Testament reuse is extensive, but the psalm first voices an Israelite sufferer; imprecations are not authorization for revenge, antisemitism, or targeting opponents.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 69:13–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 69:13–21
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 69:13–21.
Official NET Bible Psalm 69 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 69:13–21
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: individual and communal lament, from lament to praise, and Bible in the World; applied to Psalms 69:13–21
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 69 for Psalms 69:13–21
Supports: Major historical, literary, covenantal, ethical, and reception approaches to curses and enemy language.
Simango and Krüger, 'An Overview of the Study of Imprecatory Psalms,' OTE 29.3 (2016), pp. 581–600, complete approach survey; applied to Psalms 69:13–21
Supports: Imprecation retained as difficult prayer and communal speech without converting violent wishes into commands or erasing Jewish reception.
deClaissé-Walford, 'Embracing the Psalter's imprecatory words,' Acta Theologica Suppl. 32 (2021), pp. 275–292, especially literary, liturgical, trauma, and ethical proposal; applied to Psalms 69:13–21
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying despair, isolation, death wishes, and severe loss; not exegesis.
WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii and dos and don'ts pp. 11–16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Psalms 69:13–21
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 69:13–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 69:13–21
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 69:13–21.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 69 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 69:13–21
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Introductory Issues: individual and communal lament, from lament to praise, and Bible in the World; applied to Psalms 69:13–21
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 69 for Psalms 69:13–21
Open NETS Psalms ↗peer reviewed open access research overview
An Overview of the Study of Imprecatory Psalms: Reformed and Evangelical Approaches to the Interpretation of Imprecatory Psalms
Daniel Simango and P. Paul Krüger
Old Testament Essays 29.3, 2016
Supports: Major historical, literary, covenantal, ethical, and reception approaches to curses and enemy language.
Exact location: Simango and Krüger, 'An Overview of the Study of Imprecatory Psalms,' OTE 29.3 (2016), pp. 581–600, complete approach survey; applied to Psalms 69:13–21
Open the imprecatory-psalm overview ↗peer reviewed open access literary and ethical study
Embracing the Psalter's imprecatory words in the 21st century
Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford
Acta Theologica Supplementum 32, 2021
Supports: Imprecation retained as difficult prayer and communal speech without converting violent wishes into commands or erasing Jewish reception.
Exact location: deClaissé-Walford, 'Embracing the Psalter's imprecatory words,' Acta Theologica Suppl. 32 (2021), pp. 275–292, especially literary, liturgical, trauma, and ethical proposal; applied to Psalms 69:13–21
Open deClaissé-Walford on imprecation ↗public health communication guidance
Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023
World Health Organization
World Health Organization, 2023
Supports: Communication safeguards against romanticizing, sensationalizing, diagnosing, blaming, or simplifying despair, isolation, death wishes, and severe loss; not exegesis.
Exact location: WHO, Preventing Suicide: A Resource for Media Professionals, Update 2023, quick guide p. xiii and dos and don'ts pp. 11–16; applied only to modern safety-aware presentation of Psalms 69:13–21
Open the WHO communication guide ↗