Commentary - Psalm 69:22-28

Bird's-eye view

This section of Psalm 69 is one of the most potent imprecatory passages in all of Scripture. After pouring out his complaint and describing the reproach he has suffered for God's sake, the psalmist, speaking prophetically as a type of Christ, calls for divine justice to be executed upon his unrepentant enemies. These are not petty, personal curses; they are formal, covenantal sanctions invoked against those who have set themselves against God's anointed. The language is severe, calling for their blessings to become curses, for their bodies to fail, for their homes to be desolated, and ultimately, for their names to be erased from the book of the living. The New Testament writers, particularly Paul and Peter, understood this passage as Messianic, applying these very curses to those who rejected the Lord Jesus. This is not the prayer of a vindictive man seeking personal revenge, but rather the cry of the righteous sufferer, handing his cause over to the perfect justice of God and asking that God's own stated covenant curses would fall upon covenant-breakers. It is a prayer for God to be God, for Him to vindicate His own name and His own righteousness against those who persecute the one He Himself has struck.

The central logic of the imprecation is found in the principle of righteous retribution. The enemies of God's anointed have turned fellowship into betrayal, so their own table of fellowship should become a trap. They have persecuted the one God has afflicted, so they should be afflicted. They have delighted in iniquity, so they should be given over to it. They have sought to cut off the righteous, so they themselves should be cut off from the congregation of the righteous. This is a terrifying, but thoroughly biblical, picture of how God's justice works. It is a surrender of the case to the only righteous Judge, who will do right.

Outline

Context In The Psalms

Psalm 69 is a psalm of lament that transitions into a fierce imprecation before concluding with praise. The psalmist, David, is suffering intense persecution and reproach, not for his own sin primarily, but because of his zeal for God's house (v. 9). This makes the psalm profoundly Messianic, as the New Testament makes clear. Jesus Himself quotes verse 4 ("They hated me without a cause"), and verse 9 ("Zeal for your house has consumed me") is applied directly to Him. The offering of gall and vinegar in verse 21 is a clear foreshadowing of the crucifixion. Therefore, the imprecations that follow in our passage must be understood in that same Messianic light. These are not just David's words about his personal enemies; they are the prophetic words of Christ concerning His enemies. These prayers stand alongside other imprecatory psalms (like 35, 58, 109, and 137) as part of the inspired songbook of the church. They teach us how to hand our desire for justice over to God, trusting Him to deal with intractable evil in His own time and in His own righteous way. They are not examples of how not to pray, as some have mistakenly taught, but are rather inspired models for surrendering vengeance to the Lord.

Key Issues

Praying for Justice

Modern Christians often get the vapors when they encounter psalms like this one. We have been so marinated in a sentimentalized view of love that we think any prayer for judgment must be sinful. But this is to misunderstand both justice and love. The Bible teaches that we are to love our personal enemies, bless those who curse us, and overcome evil with good. We must not take vengeance into our own hands. But that is precisely what these psalms are doing; they are handing the case over to God, who says, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." Praying an imprecatory psalm is an act of faith. It is to say, "Father, this situation is out of my hands. This evil is implacable. I trust You, the Judge of all the earth, to do right."

Furthermore, these are not prayers against personal enemies who have slighted us. They are prayers against the covenantal enemies of God who are persecuting the righteous and seeking to destroy the work of God. The Apostle Paul had no problem saying, "If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed" (1 Cor. 16:22). Peter had no problem applying verse 25 of this psalm to Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:20). To pray these psalms rightly is to align our hearts with God's perfect hatred of evil and His perfect love for justice. It is to long for the day when all wrongs are made right, not by our hand, but by His.

Verse by Verse Commentary

22 May their table before them become a snare; And when they are in peace, may it become a trap.

The first curse strikes at the heart of fellowship and prosperity. A table is a place of peace, nourishment, friendship, and security. The psalmist prays that this very place of blessing would be inverted into a curse for his enemies. The thing that should have been for their welfare becomes a trap. The apostle Paul picks up this very verse in Romans 11:9 and applies it to the unbelieving Jews who rejected the Messiah. Their greatest blessing, the covenant table of God, became a snare to them because of their unbelief. They stumbled over the Cornerstone. This is a terrifying principle of divine justice: when God's good gifts are abused and rejected, those gifts themselves become the instruments of judgment.

23 May their eyes darken so that they cannot see, And make their loins quake continually.

This is a curse upon their perception and their strength. "May their eyes darken" is a prayer for judicial blindness. Because they refused to see the truth when it was before them, the prayer is that they would be rendered unable to see. Again, Paul uses this in Romans 11:10 to describe the spiritual state of Israel after the flesh. They had the light of the world in their midst and they preferred darkness; God gave them over to that darkness. The second part, "make their loins quake continually," is a prayer for a perpetual state of weakness, fear, and instability. The loins were seen as the seat of strength. This is a prayer that their strength would fail them and that they would live in constant, debilitating anxiety. It is the opposite of the peace and stability that belongs to the righteous.

24 Pour out Your indignation on them, And may Your burning anger overtake them.

Here the psalmist asks God to act directly and decisively. This is not a request for a minor chastisement; it is a plea for the full measure of God's covenantal wrath. The language is vivid. "Pour out" suggests a deluge, an overwhelming flood of divine fury. "Overtake them" pictures God's anger as a relentless pursuer that will inevitably catch up to the wicked. This is the language of the prophets warning of the Day of the Lord. It is a prayer that God would cease to show forbearance and would instead execute the judgment that their rebellion has so richly deserved.

25 May their camp be desolate; May none dwell in their tents.

This curse moves from the personal to the corporate and domestic. It is a prayer for their entire community to be wiped out, for their homes to be left empty and uninhabited. This is a prayer for total ruin. In the Old Testament context, it would mean the end of their family line and their name being blotted out from Israel. As mentioned earlier, the apostle Peter quotes this verse in Acts 1:20 and applies it directly to Judas Iscariot, the ultimate betrayer. Judas's "camp" was his apostolic office, which was left desolate and was to be filled by another. This shows us that the ultimate fulfillment of this curse falls on those who betray the Son of God.

26 For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have struck down, And they recount the pain of those whom You have wounded.

This verse provides the central justification for the severity of the preceding curses. Their great sin is this: they kicked a man who was already down, and not just any man, but the one whom God Himself had afflicted. In the immediate context, David is suffering under some divine chastisement, and his enemies are piling on, delighting in his pain. But in the ultimate, Messianic context, this points directly to the cross. The Father struck the Son; it pleased the Lord to crush Him. And what did His enemies do? They mocked Him, they jeered, they gloated, they recounted His pain with glee. They were persecuting the one whom God had appointed as the sin-bearer. This is a monstrous evil, to join in the persecution of God's suffering servant. It is for this reason that the judgment is so severe.

27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And may they not come into Your righteousness.

This is perhaps the most spiritually terrifying curse in the entire psalter. It is a prayer for judicial hardening. "Add iniquity to their iniquity" is not asking God to make them sin, but rather to give them over to their sin as a judgment. It is to ask God to remove His restraining grace and let their sinful hearts run their full, destructive course. This is what Paul describes in Romans 1, where God "gave them up" to their lusts. The consequence of this is spelled out: "may they not come into Your righteousness." This is a prayer that they would be excluded from God's saving grace. Because they have rejected the way of righteousness, let them be barred from it. It is a prayer that God would confirm them in the rebellious choice their own hearts have made.

28 May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

This is the final, ultimate curse. The "book of life" in the Old Testament context referred to the register of the citizens of the covenant community, the living members of Israel. To be blotted out was to be excommunicated, cut off, and to die. In its fuller, New Testament sense, it refers to the Lamb's book of life, which contains the names of the elect from before the foundation of the world. This prayer is a plea for ultimate excommunication from God's presence and from the company of His people. It is a prayer that their covenant-breaking would be formally recognized in the courts of heaven and that they would be eternally separated from the righteous. It is the final amen to the justice that has been requested throughout this passage.

Application

So what do we do with a passage like this? First, we must see Christ in it. He is the ultimate persecuted one, the one struck by God, whose enemies received the full measure of these curses in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The judgment prayed for here is not something we are still waiting for; it fell, historically and terribly, on that generation that rejected the Messiah.

Second, we learn the gravity of sin, particularly the sin of persecuting God's people and rejecting His Son. These are not small matters to God. Covenantal rebellion invites covenantal curses. This should lead us to fear God and to flee from all hypocrisy. We should examine our own hearts, lest we be found to have a form of godliness while despising the truly righteous.

Third, it teaches us how to pray when faced with entrenched, malicious evil, whether in our culture or aimed at the church. We are not to take up carnal weapons. We are not to repay evil for evil. Rather, we are to take the entire matter, with all our outrage and desire for justice, and hand it over to God in prayer. We can pray, "Father, vindicate Your name. Let Your kingdom come. Overthrow the wicked who mock You and oppress Your people. Do what You have promised in Your word." This is not vindictive personal hatred; it is a zealous love for the glory of God and the righteousness of His kingdom. We leave the specifics of the judgment to Him, but we are right to long for the day when He will make all things new, which necessarily includes the final judgment of all that is evil and unholy.