Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2643 of our trek. The purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.
In today’s Wisdom Nugget, we continue our journey into the raw and profoundly human expressions of Psalm 69 in the New Living Translation.
We’ve already spent time in the depths of the psalmist’s despair, hearing his cries of being overwhelmed by floodwaters of trouble, unjustly accused, and cruelly mocked even for his heartfelt devotion to God. He felt the pain of being abandoned, offered gall and vinegar instead of comfort. Now, as we move into verses 22 through 28, the tone shifts dramatically from lament to imprecation—a fervent prayer for God’s judgment upon his enemies.
This section of Psalm 69, like other “imprecatory psalms,” can be challenging for us to understand from our modern perspective. It often seems to clash with the New Testament call to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. However, to truly grasp the wisdom here, we must understand the ancient Israelite worldview. These are not expressions of personal vengeance taken into human hands, but desperate cries for divine justice, handed over to God alone to execute. The psalmist is not acting as a judge; he is pleading with the ultimate Judge of all the earth to intervene where human justice has failed.
Let’s lean in and explore these challenging yet truthful words, starting with Psalm 69, verses 22 through 24:
Let their bountiful table become a snare, and let their prosperity be a trap. Let their eyes go dim so they cannot see, and make their backs stoop forever. Pour out your fury on them; unleash your fierce anger.
The psalmist begins his imprecatory prayer with a plea for the very source of his enemies’ comfort and strength to become their downfall: “Let their bountiful table become a snare, and let their prosperity be a trap.” In ancient society, a “bountiful table” symbolized prosperity, security, and enjoyment of life. It was a place of feasting and conviviality. For this symbol of their well-being to become a “snare” or a “trap” means that what they enjoy and trust in will turn against them, leading to their capture or ruin. Their very success and abundance, gained perhaps through injustice and oppression, will become the instrument of their judgment.
Imagine a predator setting a trap, using bait to lure its prey. The psalmist is asking God to turn the tables, to make the enemies’ own blessings the bait that leads them to their doom. This highlights the idea that their unjust prosperity is not a sign of God’s favor, but a temporary illusion that will ultimately ensnare them.
The prayer then extends to physical and spiritual debilitation: “Let their eyes go dim so they cannot see, and make their backs stoop forever." “Dimmed eyes” could refer to physical blindness or, more powerfully, spiritual blindness – an inability to perceive God’s truth or their own impending judgment. In a culture
