Psalms 69:3
What does Psalms 69:3 mean?
A plain-English look at Psalms 69:3 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Psalms 69:3 means
Psalm 69:3 vividly portrays the psalmist's profound distress and exhaustion through striking imagery. The declaration "I am weary with my crying" immediately conveys a sense of prolonged, intense lament, suggesting an emotional and physical toll from constant weeping. The imagery of a "dry throat" further emphasizes this intense suffering, indicating that the psalmist has cried so much that his physical capacity to wail is diminished. This drought is a potent metaphor for spiritual and physical depletion. Finally, "My eyes fail while I wait for my God" speaks to both a physical deterioration of sight, perhaps from constant tears, and a weary, longing expectation. The psalmist's hope is fixed on God, yet the wait has been so arduous that even his vision is failing, highlighting a deep, persistent trial and a desperate plea for divine intervention.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
KJV
King James Version · 1611I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949I am tired with my crying; my throat is burning: my eyes are wasted with waiting for my God.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862I have been wearied with my calling, Burnt hath been my throat, Consumed have been mine eyes, waiting for my God.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul:
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890I am weary with my crying, my throat is parched; mine eyes fail while I wait for myGod.
Context
Psalm 69 is a lament psalm, with verses 1-4 establishing a cry for help from deep trouble. The psalmist, traditionally attributed to David, expresses feelings of overwhelming persecution and distress, stating he is sinking in deep waters. This specific verse, 69:3, serves to heighten the emotional intensity of this predicament, detailing the physical and emotional toll of the psalmist’s suffering and fervent prayer. It immediately follows an appeal for God to save him from drowning and precedes a complaint against his numerous enemies who hate him without cause. The verse therefore functions as a raw, personal confession of the psalmist’s depleted state amidst intense tribulation, setting the stage for further pleas for deliverance and justice.
v.2I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
v.3This passage
v.4They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: They that would cut me off, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: That which I took not away I have to restore.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Job 11:20
But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, And they shall have no way to flee; And their hope shall be the giving up of the ghost.
- Isaiah 38:14
Like a swallowora crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.
- Psalms 119:123
Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, And for thy righteous word.
- Hebrews 5:7
Who in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
- Psalms 13:1
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
- Psalms 25:21
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for thee.
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