Psalm 69 · a question people ask
"Let them be blotted out of the book of life" (69:28). How can a psalm pray that?
First, what the verses say. From 69:22 to 69:28 the psalmist prays against those who persecute him: "Let their table before them become a snare" (69:22), "Pour out your indignation on them" (69:24), "Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness" (69:27), and "Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous" (69:28) (tap blotted, book). He gives his reason: "For they persecute him whom you have wounded" (69:26). The prayers are spoken to God, and the psalmist doesn't say he will act against anyone himself. The psalm doesn't name them, and these notes apply its words to no people today. The New Testament gives words from these verses twice. Paul (Romans 1:1) writes "David says" (Romans 11:9) and gives words close to Psalm 69:22-23, after "the rest were hardened" (Romans 11:7). Peter (Acts 1:15) speaks of the Scripture the Holy Spirit spoke "by the mouth of David concerning Judas" (Acts 1:16), and gives words close to Psalm 69:25: "Let his habitation be made desolate. Let no one dwell in it" (Acts 1:20). Psalm 69 is not the only psalm that prays against enemies, and Christians read these prayers in more than one way. The chapter on Psalm 109 sets out the main readings, each resting on its verses, and chooses none. These notes don't choose either.
The verses
“Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent. Pour out your indignation on them. Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them. Let their habitation be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt. Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.”
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,”
“What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened. According as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day.” David says, “Let their table be made a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Always keep their backs bent.””
“In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said, “Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus.”