Psalms 69:16 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Psalms 69:13–21
• Psalms 69:1–36

Read Psalms 69:16 with 69:13–21 and 69:1–36. Read alone, “Hear me, O LORD” could lose the individual voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 69:13–21, the individual voice carries the movement “Petition for rescue and unanswered compassion” as part of “Flooded lament, zeal, reproach, and severe curses.” Its lament-imprecation form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Psalms 69:13–21 answers or redirects “Sinking lament and public reproach” within Psalm 69 by carrying “Petition for rescue and unanswered compassion.” The turn from “They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards” to “But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in…” explains why this movement occurs here. Within that relationship, Psalm 69:16 directs a petition or address toward God in “Hear me, O LORD” rather than turning the line into a command against another person.