Pslam 69

Psalm 69

The Message (MSG)

Psalm 69

A David Psalm

 ¹ God, God, save me! I'm in over my head,

 ² Quicksand under me, swamp water over me;
   I'm going down for the third time.

 ³ I'm hoarse from calling for help,
   Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.

 ⁴ I've got more enemies than hairs on my head;
   Sneaks and liars are out to knife me in the back.    What I never stole
   Must I now give back?

 ⁵ God, you know every sin I've committed;
   My life's a wide-open book before you.

 ⁶ Don't let those who look to you in hope
   Be discouraged by what happens to me,
   Dear Lord! God of the armies!
   Don't let those out looking for you
   Come to a dead end by following me—
   Please, dear God of Israel!

 ⁷ Because of you I look like an idiot,
   I walk around ashamed to show my face.

 ⁸ My brothers shun me like a bum off the street;
   My family treats me like an unwanted guest.

 ⁹ I love you more than I can say.
   Because I'm madly in love with you,
   They blame me for everything they dislike about you.

 ¹⁰ When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting,
   All it got me was more contempt.

 ¹¹ When I put on a sad face,
   They treated me like a clown.

 ¹² Now drunks and gluttons
   Make up drinking songs about me.

 ¹³ And me? I pray.
   God, it's time for a break!
   God, answer in love!
   Answer with your sure salvation!

 ¹⁴ Rescue me from the swamp,
   Don't let me go under for good,
   Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy;
   This whirlpool is sucking me down.

 ¹⁵ Don't let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole
   Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.

 ¹⁶ Now answer me, God, because you love me;
   Let me see your great mercy full-face.

 ¹⁷ Don't look the other way; your servant can't take it.
   I'm in trouble. Answer right now!

 ¹⁸ Come close, God; get me out of here.
   Rescue me from this deathtrap.

 ¹⁹ You know how they kick me around—
   Pin on me the donkey's ears, the dunce's cap.

 ²⁰ I'm broken by their taunts,
   Flat on my face, reduced to a nothing.
   I looked in vain for one friendly face. Not one.
   I couldn't find one shoulder to cry on.

 ²¹ They put poison in my soup,
   Vinegar in my drink.

 ²² Let their supper be bait in a trap that snaps shut;
   May their best friends be trappers who'll skin them alive.

 ²³ Make them become blind as bats,
   Give them the shakes from morning to night.

 ²⁴ Let them know what you think of them,
   Blast them with your red-hot anger.

 ²⁵ Burn down their houses,
   Leave them desolate with nobody at home.

 ²⁶ They gossiped about the one you disciplined,
   Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.

 ²⁷ Pile on the guilt,
   Don't let them off the hook.

 ²⁸ Strike their names from the list of the living;
   No rock-carved honor for them among the righteous.

 ²⁹ I'm hurt and in pain;
   Give me space for healing, and mountain air.

 ³⁰ Let me shout God's name with a praising song,
   Let me tell his greatness in a prayer of thanks.

 ³¹ For God, this is better than oxen on the altar,
   Far better than blue-ribbon bulls.

 ³² The poor in spirit see and are glad—
   Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!

 ³³ For God listens to the poor,
   He doesn't walk out on the wretched.

 ³⁴ You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth;
   Also ocean and all things that swim in it.

 ³⁵ For God is out to help Zion,
   Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah.
   Guess who will live there—
   The proud owners of the land?

 ³⁶ No, the children of his servants will get it,
   The lovers of his name will live in it.