Psalm 69 (KJV): 1-17: Save me, O God

From Psalms

Psalm 69
(For the director of music.  To the tune of "Lilies."  Of David.)

¹Save me, O God;
      for the waters are come in unto my soul.
²I sink in deep mire,
      where there is no standing:
I am come into deep waters,
      where the floods overflow me.
³I am weary of my crying:
      my throat is dried:
mine eyes fail
      while I wait for my God.
⁴They that hate me without a cause
      are more than the hairs of mine head:
they that would destroy me,
      being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty:
then I restored that
      which I took not away.

⁵O God, thou knowest my foolishness;
      and my sins are not hid from thee.

⁶Let not them that wait on thee,
      O Lord GOD of hosts,
      be ashamed for my sake:
let not those that seek thee
      be confounded for my sake,
      O God of Israel.
⁷Because for thy sake I have borne reproach;
      shame hath covered my face.
⁸I am become a stranger unto my brethren,
      and an alien unto my mother's children.
⁹For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up;
      and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
¹⁰When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting,
      that was to my reproach.
¹¹I made sackcloth also my garment;
      and I became a proverb to them.
¹²They that sit in the gate speak against me;
      and I was the song of the drunkards.

¹³But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD,
      in an acceptable time:
O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me,
      in the truth of thy salvation.
¹⁴Deliver me out of the mire,
      and let me not sink:
let me be delivered from them that hate me,
      and out of the deep waters.
¹⁵Let not the waterflood overflow me,
      neither let the deep swallow me up,
      and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
¹⁶Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good:
      turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
¹⁷And hide not thy face from thy servant;
      for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

God, Save me from my addiction.  I find that as long as I focus on you, and your will, I can stay afloat, above the rising waters.  However, the moment I am distracted, whether its something related to my addiction or not, I find myself wandering more closely to my addiction - with the urges and traps that ensnare me.  At these times I struggle to stay afloat.  At these times help me be focused on you and those things in my life that are important.

God, as the psalmist writes in verse 5, you know my sins and faults.  Let me be open and honest about these that you may take away my difficulties.  "That my victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life." (Third Step Prayer)

As the psalmist goes on in verse 6, I also know that other people suffer because of my sins and faults.  I pray that you do not allow others suffer, or become the "whipping boy," for my mistakes and my sins.  Let me instead support and elevate those around me, than bring them.  "That I may be an instrument of your peace...Where there is hatred that I would sow peace.  Where there is doubt that I would bring faith and where there is despair I can bring hope...For I know that it is in giving that we receive." (From the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, the 11th Step Prayer.)

Amen

Thanks for letting me share.