Urgent Plea for Help in the Mud and Flood

Psalms 69:1-18
To the Chief Musician. Set to "The Lilies." A Psalm of David.

1 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.

2 I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.

3 I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4 Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.

5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.

8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother's children;
9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.

10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O LORD, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.

14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.

15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.

16 Hear me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.

18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.

Here is an urgent plea for help in times of trouble, approaching God to be heard and delivered; now we who are in Christ can more directly approach God’s throne for help, holding nothing back, in our times of need (Hebrews 4:16).  Whether the waters cover us or we sink deep in the mud of trials and tribulations, we can look to our LORD God for deliverance.  No flood or mud can overtake or overwhelm God’s children who trust in Him and call for help in these times.  Nothing is too difficult for God (Jeremiah 32:17, 33:3).  Though tears may flood our eyes as our enemies are set against us, being wrongfully accused and hated, He hears when pray for help and strength until deliverance comes.  This was true in our salvation, and holds the same throughout our lifetime of sanctification as we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.  He knows our foolish sins of failure and shame as we bear our rightly deserved reproach from the world, and so we pray as king David the psalmist did here, asking that others may not be kept away from Him and the good news of deliverance because of our sinful behavior when we stumble in our following Christ.  But when we suffer reproach for His sake (and the gospel’s), we can rejoice as we bear His reproach in doing what is right instead (1 Peter 2:19-20).  Here we also find a foreshadowing of Christ in His rejection by His people, and the zeal for righteousness in His response to keep the honor and purity of God’s house, which we are now because He dwells in us.  This one one hand was seen as prophetic in John 2:16-17, where Jesus cleared the temple from dishonoring acts, but on the other hand speaks to our own actions as the inhabitants of the house of God which we are (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).  Repentance is what is called for, even when others mock is for it or try to talk us out of turning from sin with a contrite and broken heart, as they refuse to do and cannot understand.  Instead, we pray for forgiveness as we confess and forsake our sin (1 John 1:9).  He hears us in the truth of our salvation; we who are His are forgiven.  He also will deliver us from the mud and flood, just as He did for the psalmist in this song, and keeps us from the pit which we all so rightly deserve.  This is grace and mercy in our forgiveness.  We therefore pray in the same way for the lovingkindness and tender mercy of our same God, asking for quick relief and restored close fellowship in our salvation from the enemies set against us.  We are as the title of the psalm, like lilies of His planting and care.  May we never forget to follow and trust in our willingness to obey and turn from sin to Him when we fall.  Amen.