Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 69:19
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor: mine adversaries [are] all before thee.
19. Thou hast known ] Rather, THOU knowest. Thou, as in Psa 69:5, is emphatic. See note there for references to Jeremiah’s use of this phrase.
all before thee ] They are all in Thy sight. He pleads with God as he might with men, who are more easily moved to pity by the sight of suffering than by merely hearing of it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
19 21. Once more he lays before God the severity of his sufferings, and the inhumanity of his enemies.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou hast known my reproach – The reproach that has come upon me; the shame and contempt which I am called to endure. God had seen all this; and the psalmist appeals to him as having seen it, as a reason why he should now interpose and save him.
And my shame, and my dishonor – These are different words to express the same idea. They are accumulated here to denote the greatness of his distress. In other words, shame and reproach bad come upon him in every possible form.
Mine adversaries are all before thee – All who persecute and oppose me are constantly in thine eye. Thou knowest who they are; thou seest all that they do. Nothing in their conduct is concealed from thee. God, therefore, could take an accurate view of his troubles, and could see all the reasons which existed for interfering in his behalf.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. Thou hast known my reproach] This is one of the most forcible appeals to mercy and compassion that was ever made. The language of these two verses is inimitable; and the sentiment cannot be mended. I can devise no comment that would not lessen their effect.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thou hast known my reproach, & c.; thou seest how much of it I suffer, and that for thy sake; as he said, Psa 69:7.
Are all before thee; thou knowest them thoroughly, and all their injurious and wicked devices and implacable malice against me, and all their impiety and contempt of thee; for which they deserve to be utterly and speedily destroyed.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19, 20. Calling God to witnesshis distress, he presents its aggravation produced by the want ofsympathizing friends (compare Isa 63:5;Mar 14:50).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour,…. A heap of words to express the greatness of the contempt that was cast upon him, and the injury that was done to his person and character; which was all known to God: as how he was vilified by wicked words and blasphemous speeches; how he was exposed to shame and dishonour by deeds; by spitting upon him, buffeting him, veiling his face, stripping him of his garments, and scourging and crucifying him naked;
mine adversaries [are] all before thee; in his sight: he knew their persons, the malice and wickedness that were in their hearts; and all the evil words that were spoken, and the evil actions that were done by them. Or, “are all against thee” f; for they that were against Christ were against his Father.
f “coram te, vel contra te”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
19 Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion. This is a confirmation of the preceding sentence. Whence is it that the greater part of men become dispirited when they see the wicked outrageously rushing upon them, and their wickedness, like a water-flood, carrying all before it, but because they think that heaven is so obscured and overcast with clouds as to prevent God from beholding what is done upon the earth? It becomes us, therefore, in this matter, to call to our remembrance the doctrine of a Divine Providence, that contemplating it we may be assured beyond all doubt, that God will appear for our succor in due season; for he cannot, on the one hand, shut his eyes to our miseries, and it is impossible for him, on the other, to allow the license which the wicked take in doing evil to pass with impunity, without denying himself. David, therefore, takes comfort from the consideration that God is the witness of his grief, fear, sorrows, and cares; nothing being hidden from the eye of Him who is the judge and governor of the world. Nor is it a vain repetition when he speaks so frequently of his reproach and shame. As he was subjected to such dreadful assaults of temptations as might have made the stoutest heart to tremble, it was indispensably necessary for his own defense to oppose to them a strong barrier for resistance. Nothing is more bitter to men of an ingenuous and noble spirit than reproach; but when this is repeated, or rather when shame and reproach are heaped upon us, how needful is it then for us to possess more than ordinary strength, that we may not thereby be overwhelmed? for when succor is delayed, our patience is very apt to give way, and despair very easily creeps in upon us. This shame and reproach may very properly be referred both to the outward appearance and to the actual feelings of the mind. It is well known that he was everywhere held in open derision; and the mockeries which he experienced could not but strike into him both shame and sorrow. For the same reason he subjoins that his enemies are before God, or known to him; as if he had said, Lord, thou knowest how, like a poor sheep, I am surrounded by thousands of wolves.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
19. Thou hast known He returns to a review of his miserable state, and of the conduct of his enemies, and comforts himself in the thought that all is “known” to God, and this appeal to the omniscience of God implies that he will, in his own time, arise to judgment. Only to the righteous is the perfect knowledge of God a consolation.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 69:19. Mine adversaries are all before thee i.e. “None of them, nor of their secret plots and subtle lies, whereby they seek to defame and undo me, are hidden from thy all-seeing view.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 69:19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries [are] all before thee.
Ver. 19. Thou hast known my reproach ] That is enough for David, that God taketh cognizance of the injuries and indignities cast upon him; for he will surely right him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 69:19-21
Psa 69:19-21
A SAD COMPLAINT
“Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor:
Mine adversaries are all before thee.
Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness:
And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
They gave me also gall for my food;
And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
“Thou knowest … mine adversaries” (Psa 69:19). These lines say that God knows all of the circumstances, both those regarding David, and those concerning his enemies. Nothing is hidden from God, hence the psalmist’s plea that God will judge the situation and help him.
“My heart is broken … none to pity … no comforters … gall and vinegar for food and drink” (Psa 69:20-21). It is difficult to conceive of any time in the life of David when he actually ate gall and drank vinegar. The meaning might be that with all of his sorrows pressing upon him, even his meals became repulsive to him. Also, it may be that these words spoken “in the Spirit of God” (Mat 22:43) were a prophecy of what would actually occur in. the life of the Blessed Messiah. At least, all of the Gospel writers seemed to think so.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 69:19. David would not presume to offer information to God. But rather, the form of speech was his way of acknowledging the complete wisdom of the Lord.
Psa 69:20. The intensity of David’s persecutions was being more definitely described. The mind of inspiration was getting ready to pass again to a prediction concerning the great Descendant of David.
Psa 69:21. This and several following verses are in reference to the persecutions of Christ and also the fate called for upon his persecutors. This present prediction was fulfilled while Jesus was on the cross. See Mat 27:34; Mar 15:23; Luk 23:36; Joh 19:29 for the record of fulfillment of this noted prophecy.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
my reproach: Psa 69:7-9, Psa 22:6, Psa 22:7, Isa 53:3, Heb 12:2, 1Pe 2:23
dishonour: Joh 8:49
mine: Psa 2:2-4, Psa 38:9
Reciprocal: Psa 31:11 – I was Psa 89:50 – General Psa 109:25 – a reproach Isa 49:7 – to him whom man despiseth Jer 20:18 – with Mat 27:29 – platted Mar 15:19 – they smote Mar 15:29 – they Luk 23:11 – set
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 69:19-20. Thou hast known my reproach, &c. Thou seest how much of it I suffer, and that for thy sake. Mine adversaries are all before thee Thou knowest them thoroughly, and all their injurious and wicked devices, and implacable malice against me. None of them, nor of their secret plots and subtle lies, whereby they seek to defame and undo me: are hidden from thy all-seeing view: nor art thou unacquainted with their impiety and contempt of thee and thy truth. Reproach hath broken my heart Reproach is the most grievous to those whose spirits are the most generous and noble; and this was the highest degree and the worst kind of reproach, being cast upon him for Gods sake, and upon God also for his sake. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none That is, few or none; for whether it be understood of David or of Christ, there were some who pitied both of them. Dr. Delaney, who considers the distress which David was now in as being occasioned by his fall, observes, There were two circumstances of it which, though they are beyond all question the greatest and severest which human nature, can suffer, are not sufficiently considered. The first is, the distress he endured on account of the obloquy and reproach brought upon the true religion and the truly religious by his guilt; and the second, the reproach and endless insults brought upon himself, even by his repentance and humiliation before God and the world. Let any ingenuous man, who feels for virtue and is not seared to shame, put the question to himself: I appeal to his own heart, whether he would not infinitely rather die than endure the state now described one day; forsaken by his friends, scorned by his enemies, insulted by his inferiors, the scoff of libertines, and the song of sots? What then must we think of the fortitude and magnanimity of that man who could endure all this for a series of years? Or rather, how shall we adore that unfailing mercy and all- sufficient goodness which could support him thus, under the quickest sense of shame and infamy, and deepest compunctions of conscience; which could enable him to bear up steadily against guilt, infamy, and the evil world united; from a principle of true religion! and, in the end, even rejoice in his sad estate; as he plainly perceived it must finally tend to promote the true interest of virtue, and the glory of God; that is, must finally tend to promote that interest, which was the great governing principle and main purpose of his life. Life of David, b. 3. vol. 3. pp. 30-33.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
69:19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine {p} adversaries [are] all before thee.
(p) You see that I am beset as a sheep among many wolves.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
David was confident that God knew his situation, and that because He knew it, He would help him. The opposition of his critics had wounded David’s spirit. None of his friends stood with him when popular opinion turned against him. Instead of sustaining him with a good meal, they gave him poison to eat and vinegar to drink. This is probably a figurative description of their treatment of him. The Hebrew word barut (food) describes a meal that sympathetic friends gave to a mourner. [Note: A. Cohen, The Psalms, p. 219.] David’s use of this particular word highlights the hypocrisy of his friends’ actions.
One of Jesus’ disciples treated Him hypocritically by betraying Him with a kiss (Mat 26:48), and Jesus’ enemies gave Him real vinegar to drink as He hung on the cross (Mat 27:48).