But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
The verse is the cry of one who is poor and sorrowful asking for God's salvation to lift him up on high. That lifting is deliverance for the needy and fainting, restoring the sinking soul and setting the humble in a place of honor and refuge that ends in praise. David here personifies Christ as the greater David, and the psalm foretells the experience Jesus passed through when the sins of the world rested upon Him, even His poverty fulfilled in the manger, His labor, and His having nowhere to lay His head. Yet not every line can be pressed as literal of Him, since to do so would make Him a sinner, though those who held the opposite view taught it is only a record of David's experience with no more application to Jesus than to any other hated without cause. Its prayers may still be prayed by God's children in like circumstances, for need and distress are no barrier to coming to God, and the triumph Jesus won is theirs as well.
Words and Setting
The one who speaks is poor and sorrowful, and he looks to God's salvation to set him on high. That lifting is the saving of the sorrowing poor, the reviving of the fainting, the restoring of the sinking soul, and the making alive of the contrite. It raises the poor and sorrowful to a place of honor, according to the principle that the humble shall be exalted and according to the conditions of mercy.
The cry to be saved and raised up is a plea for refuge from danger and for acceptance with God. It is uttered by one afflicted and sorrowful who seeks divine salvation and deliverance. Beyond present reproach and hardship, it looks forward to heavenly praise.
The psalm gives thanks for deliverance from trials. It stands with Psalms 109 and 137 among the cursing psalms. It is not a prayer of vindictive revenge, but is typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and is predictive.
Prophecy of Christ
In this psalm David personifies Christ and points to Christ as the greater David, and its petitions prefigure experiences and events in the life of Jesus. The psalm is prophetic of the experience through which Jesus passed. More particularly it is prophetic of His experience when the sins of the world rested upon Him, picturing His inward experience in suffering and in struggle with the enemy.
It is to be read in connection with His betrayal and condemnation and crucifixion, though that identification leaves this verse's specific wording unexplained. It stands as a testimony to His suffering, alongside His bearing of human infirmities and His pouring out of His soul unto death. This verse foretells that Christ would be poor and sorrowful, fulfilled by His birth in a manger and His humble work as a laborer and His statement that He had nowhere to lay His head. The psalm's plea concerning enemies being erased from the book of the living gains significance in relation to Christ and the fate of Lucifer and his followers, whose names had once been recorded among the righteous but were erased after their rebellion.
The burden relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, with portions quoted in the New Testament as fulfilled in Christ. Not every verse transfers to Christ, for Psalm 69:5 applied to Christ would make Him a sinner, while verses 9 and 21 and others were fulfilled in Him. A prophecy may apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, and part of Psalm 69 applies literally to Christ as the New Testament expressly states, but the whole psalm cannot be pressed as literal of Him, for that would make Him a sinner. By contrast, on another understanding the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's experience, applying no more to Jesus than to anyone else who happens to be hated without a cause and whose history is tangent to David's in certain points.
Prayer for Believers
The psalm foretells the experience through which Jesus passed, yet its prayers belong also to God's children whenever their circumstances call for them. They may offer them with assurance that God hears, and the triumph Jesus won becomes theirs as well. One who is poor and sorrowful may therefore seek God's salvation to be lifted up on high. Need and distress are no barrier to coming to God for help.
The psalm may also be applied by appropriation when a Christian's history runs parallel to David's. Being consumed with zeal for God's house and taking upon oneself reproaches aimed at God are examples of such appropriated use. That kind of fulfillment of Scripture is real, but it is not the same as the fulfillment of a prediction.
The verse is the cry of one who is poor and sorrowful asking for God's salvation to lift him up on high. That lifting is deliverance for the needy and fainting, restoring the sinking soul and setting the humble in a place of honor and refuge that ends in praise. David here personifies Christ as the greater David, and the psalm foretells the experience Jesus passed through when the sins of the world rested upon Him, even His poverty fulfilled in the manger, His labor, and His having nowhere to lay His head. Yet not every line can be pressed as literal of Him, since to do so would make Him a sinner, though those who held the opposite view taught it is only a record of David's experience with no more application to Jesus than to any other hated without cause. Its prayers may still be prayed by God's children in like circumstances, for need and distress are no barrier to coming to God, and the triumph Jesus won is theirs as well.
Words and Setting
The one who speaks is poor and sorrowful, and he looks to God's salvation to set him on high. That lifting is the saving of the sorrowing poor, the reviving of the fainting, the restoring of the sinking soul, and the making alive of the contrite. It raises the poor and sorrowful to a place of honor, according to the principle that the humble shall be exalted and according to the conditions of mercy.
The cry to be saved and raised up is a plea for refuge from danger and for acceptance with God. It is uttered by one afflicted and sorrowful who seeks divine salvation and deliverance. Beyond present reproach and hardship, it looks forward to heavenly praise.
The psalm gives thanks for deliverance from trials. It stands with Psalms 109 and 137 among the cursing psalms. It is not a prayer of vindictive revenge, but is typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and is predictive.
Prophecy of Christ
In this psalm David personifies Christ and points to Christ as the greater David, and its petitions prefigure experiences and events in the life of Jesus. The psalm is prophetic of the experience through which Jesus passed. More particularly it is prophetic of His experience when the sins of the world rested upon Him, picturing His inward experience in suffering and in struggle with the enemy.
It is to be read in connection with His betrayal and condemnation and crucifixion, though that identification leaves this verse's specific wording unexplained. It stands as a testimony to His suffering, alongside His bearing of human infirmities and His pouring out of His soul unto death. This verse foretells that Christ would be poor and sorrowful, fulfilled by His birth in a manger and His humble work as a laborer and His statement that He had nowhere to lay His head. The psalm's plea concerning enemies being erased from the book of the living gains significance in relation to Christ and the fate of Lucifer and his followers, whose names had once been recorded among the righteous but were erased after their rebellion.
The burden relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, with portions quoted in the New Testament as fulfilled in Christ. Not every verse transfers to Christ, for Psalm 69:5 applied to Christ would make Him a sinner, while verses 9 and 21 and others were fulfilled in Him. A prophecy may apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, and part of Psalm 69 applies literally to Christ as the New Testament expressly states, but the whole psalm cannot be pressed as literal of Him, for that would make Him a sinner. By contrast, on another understanding the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's experience, applying no more to Jesus than to anyone else who happens to be hated without a cause and whose history is tangent to David's in certain points.
Prayer for Believers
The psalm foretells the experience through which Jesus passed, yet its prayers belong also to God's children whenever their circumstances call for them. They may offer them with assurance that God hears, and the triumph Jesus won becomes theirs as well. One who is poor and sorrowful may therefore seek God's salvation to be lifted up on high. Need and distress are no barrier to coming to God for help.
The psalm may also be applied by appropriation when a Christian's history runs parallel to David's. Being consumed with zeal for God's house and taking upon oneself reproaches aimed at God are examples of such appropriated use. That kind of fulfillment of Scripture is real, but it is not the same as the fulfillment of a prediction.