For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!
Parallel translations
- KJV Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
- BSB For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- NKJV Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.
- NASB Save me, God, For the waters have threatened my life.
- NLT Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David cries out for God to save him as overwhelming troubles rise like floodwaters to his neck. It models honest prayer in deep distress.
Overview
This lament by David begins with a desperate plea for rescue, picturing his afflictions as rising waters threatening to drown him. The psalm is heavily quoted in the New Testament regarding Christ's sufferings, making David's experience a foreshadowing of the Messiah. Like David and like Jesus, believers may pour out raw cries for salvation, trusting God to hear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 43:2When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned, and flame will not scorch you.
- Ps 69:14–15Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
- Lam 3:54Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.
- Rev 12:15–16The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
- Jonah 2:3–5For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.
- Ps 42:7Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
- Ps 69:2I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
- Rev 17:15He said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages.
- Ps 32:6For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found. Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.
- Ps 18:4The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
- Job 22:11or darkness, so that you can not see, and floods of waters cover you.
- Ps 45:1For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A contemplation by the sons of Korah. A wedding song. My heart overflows with a noble theme. I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.
- Ps 60:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have been angry. Restore us, again.
- Isa 28:17I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place.
- Ps 80:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm by Asaph. Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 69:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.