Psalms 69:10 · Bible study
Psalms 69:10 Commentary: When Devotion Brings Reproach
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Psalm 69:10: David's weeping and fasting brought mockery, not honor. This study explores why and how it foreshadows Christ's rejection.
Research Summary
- Meaning: David’s acts of weeping and fasting, instead of earning respect, became a cause for mockery and reproach from those around him.
- Key words: “Wept” (expressed deep grief), “fasted” (self-affliction for spiritual reasons), “reproach” (public disgrace or scorn).
- Main debate: Whether the psalm refers strictly to David’s historical situation or is primarily a prophecy of Christ; most see it as both, with David as a type.
- Theological theme: The cost of wholehearted devotion; suffering righteousness; the solidarity of God’s servants with God’s own honor.
- Best use: Comfort for those whose sincere faith invites scorn; a lens to understand Christ’s rejection; a springboard for lament and perseverance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
I wept and fasted, but it brought me reproach.
WEB World English Bible 2000
When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach.
KJV King James Version 1769
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, That was to my reproach.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And I weep in the fasting of my soul, And it is for a reproach to me.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And I wept, my soul was fasting: that also was to my reproach; —
Translations in other languages (9 available)
Y lloré afligiendo con ayuno mi alma; y esto me ha sido por afrenta.
Minha alma chorou e jejuou; porém mais insultos vieram sobre mim.
Car le zèle de ta maison me dévore,
Und ich weine und faste bitterlich; und man spottet mein dazu.
Want de ijver van Uw huis heeft mij verteerd; en de smaadheden dergenen, die U smaden, zijn op mij gevallen.
Io ho pianto, ho afflitto l’anima mia col digiuno, ma questo è divenuto un motivo d’obbrobrio.
Przeto, że gorliwość domu twego zżarła mię, a urąganie urągających tobie przypadło na mię.
我哭泣，以禁食 刻苦我心；這倒算為 我的 羞辱。
My bitter weeping, and my going without food, were turned to my shame.
Verse in Context
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Psalm 69:10 describes David's devout acts of weeping and fasting being met with scorn, not respect. Barnes notes the literal reading is 'I wept (away) my soul with fasting,' indicating deep exhaustion from grief. The reproach came because David's religion itself was the cause of hostility, his accusers saw his devotion as hypocrisy, madness, or fanaticism. Calvin and others point to the psalm's frequent New Testament quotation (at least seven times) as evidence that David here functions as a type of Christ. Gill specifically applies the verse to Jesus, who wept and fasted yet was mocked by those who said he had a demon. The Cambridge Bible echoes this: in shame for the dishonor done to God, David fasted, but they only derided him. Matthew Henry and Wesley similarly view the reproach as derision for piety. Across traditions, the core is the same: faithful acts of sorrow and self-denial are not always honored by others; they can provoke contempt even from those who should share the same faith.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Historical Davidic lament: Reads the psalm as David’s own complaint against his enemies; the reproach comes from his visible piety during times of national or personal crisis.
- Messianic prophecy: Sees David as a type of Christ; the psalm is quoted in the New Testament concerning Jesus, and the specific reproach of fasting fits Christ’s own experience.
- Both/and (typical-prophetic): Affirms that David’s experience both reflects his own situation and, under divine inspiration, prefigures Christ’s greater suffering and rejection.
What is clear: Regardless of the interpretive frame, the verse records that genuine acts of devotion (weeping and fasting) were met with public reproach, not honor.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Historical occasion | The psalm describes a righteous person being persecuted and reproached for devotion to God. | Some commentators associate it with David’s persecution by Saul; others with Absalom’s rebellion. The exact setting remains uncertain. |
| Messianic reading | Many Christian readers, ancient and modern, see the psalm as prophetic of Christ. | Protestant traditions (Calvin, Barnes) treat David as a type of Christ, while some modern scholars read it strictly as Davidic lament, without direct messianic intent. |
| Meaning of 'wept my soul' | It denotes intense emotional and physical exhaustion from grief and fasting. | Cambridge suggests the Hebrew word for 'wept' may be corrupt (originally 'humbled'); others see it as poetic hyperbole for complete self-giving. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 69 is often called a psalm of the suffering righteous. The superscription (not in all traditions) assigns it to David. The surrounding verses describe deep waters, enemies without cause, alienation from family, and reproach borne for God's sake. In the ancient Near East, weeping and fasting were visible expressions of lament over sin, national calamity, or personal grief. Such acts were normally respected, especially when done publicly as a call to repentance. But David’s enemies twisted even his piety into a weapon against him. Verse 11 says he made sackcloth his garment and became a byword. Sackcloth was rough cloth worn in mourning; pairing it with fasting signaled intense anguish. Yet those who sat at the city gate, the community’s leaders, and drunkards alike made him the target of their songs.
Early Christian interpreters, from the apostles onward, saw in this psalm a pattern for Christ. John 2:17 quotes verse 9 (“Zeal for your house consumes me”); Romans 15:3 quotes that same verse. Jesus’ own weeping (over Jerusalem, at Lazarus’ tomb) and fasting (forty days in the wilderness) were likewise mocked: John the Baptist’s asceticism was called demonic, and Jesus’ eating and drinking was called gluttony and drunkenness (Luke 7:33, 34). The psalm thus speaks to the cost of wholehearted devotion. It warns believers that faithfulness does not guarantee human approval, and it assures that God sees the grief of those who are reproached for His sake.
Textual Notes
The Hebrew text of Psalm 69:10 presents an anomalous construction. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges notes that the word translated “wept” may be a corruption or substitution; some manuscripts and versions read a word meaning “humbled” or “chastened” (compare Psalm 35:13 and 2 Chronicles 10:11,14). Gill and others follow the Targum reading, “in the fasting of my soul.” No significant variant affects the overall meaning of the verse. The KJV, ASV, and WEB all supply the word “chastened” based on the parallel in Psalm 35:13. The reading is stable across major manuscript traditions.
Reception History
Psalm 69 was used extensively in the early church as a messianic psalm. Verses 4, 9, 21, and 25 are quoted in the New Testament (John 15:25; John 2:17; Romans 15:3; Matthew 27:34,48; Acts 1:20). Consequently, verse 10 was read as a description of Christ’s own experience of mockery during his fasting in the wilderness and his sorrow over Jerusalem. Medieval interpreters (e.g., Thomas Aquinas in his commentary on the Psalms) saw in the verse an example of Christ’s voluntary humiliation. During the Reformation, Luther and Calvin drew comfort from the psalm: the righteous suffer reproach for God’s sake, yet God hears their cry. In later Protestant hymnody, lines from the psalm echoed in hymns about the suffering Savior. The verse continues to be used in lectionaries for Passion Sunday and in studies on lament.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The depth of devotion: David wept and fasted, his whole being was poured out in grief and self-denial. This was not a casual act; it was costly and exhausting (Barnes: “wept away my soul”).
- The sting of rejection: Instead of honor, he received reproach. The very people who should have joined in lament turned on him. His piety became a target.
- The pattern of Christ: Jesus walked the same path, his tears, his fasting, his zeal were all met with scorn. The church has always read this psalm as pointing to Him (Calvin, Poole).
Five-point outline
- Psalm 69 in context: A lament of the righteous sufferer, surrounded by enemies and abandoned by kin (vv. 6, 9).
- The gesture: Weeping and fasting, traditional signs of mourning and repentance, here become the occasion for mockery (v. 10).
- The response of the community: Gossip at the gate, songs in the tavern (vv. 11, 12). Their contempt is public and persistent.
- The theological root: The reproach falls on David because of his identification with God (v. 9: “the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me”).
- The Christian reading: New Testament writers apply the psalm to Christ’s passion. What happened to David happened in fuller measure to Jesus, and often to His followers.
Illustration hooks
- The coworker who mocks charity: A person who gives up lunch to volunteer at a shelter is teased for being “too religious.” Their quiet sacrifice is met with eye rolls rather than respect.
- The teenager who fasts for a cause: A student skips meals to pray for a friend in crisis, but classmates call her weird or dramatic, an echo of David’s experience.
- The pastor who grieves publicly: After a tragedy, a leader weeps openly during a service. Some admire the honesty; others whisper that he is unstable or weak.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why do people sometimes treat my faith as something to mock rather than respect?
- If David and even Jesus experienced this, does that mean I should expect the same?
- How do I keep from being bitter when my devotion is met with scorn?
Leading a Discussion
Psalm 69:10 gives voice to a painful reality: our best efforts to draw near to God can be used against us. This passage invites small groups to look honestly at the cost of faithful devotion, and to see how Christ walked this road before us.
Discussion questions
- Read Psalm 69:10 in two or three translations. What words or phrases stand out to you? Why might weeping and fasting be considered a reproach?
- In verses 7, 9, David says he bore reproach “for your sake.” How does identifying with God actually increase opposition in some situations?
- Compare Luke 7:33, 34. How did both John and Jesus face criticism no matter what they did? What does that say about the nature of human resistance to God?
- Barnes says the reproach came from people who saw David’s devotion as “superstitious, gloomy, fanatical.” Have you ever felt that label attached to your faith? How did you respond?
- The apostles saw this psalm as pointing to Christ. In what ways does Jesus’ experience of mockery (at the cross, for example) bring comfort when we face similar treatment?
- How can a small group support someone whose faith is being mocked, without simply telling them to “shake it off”?
- What might it look like for you this week to continue a good habit (prayer, fasting, giving) even if no one notices, or if someone sneers?
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 35:13 | But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I afflicted my soul with fasting. My prayer returned into my own bosom. |
| Psalms 102:8 | My enemies reproach me all day. Those who are mad at me use my name as a curse. |
| Psalms 102:9 | For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears, |
| Psalms 109:24 | My knees are weak through fasting. My body is thin and lacks fat. |
| Psalms 109:25 | I have also become a reproach to them. When they see me, they shake their head. |
| Luke 7:33 | For John the Baptizer came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ |
| Luke 7:34 | The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ |
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
8 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes corrects the common translation: the original means he wept his very soul away with fasting, so exhausting his strength. He then reads the reproach not as charges of hypocrisy but as mockery of his intense religious devotion, which others considered gloomy and fanatical.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin reads Psalm 69 as a prophecy of Christ, not just a record of David's suffering. He points out that the New Testament quotes it at least seven times, showing that David, rejected and persecuted, was a clear type of the coming Messiah.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The psalmist's fasting and mourning over the dishonor done to God were met with mockery and scorn from those who should have repented themselves. His penitent acts became a byword, and his genuine sorrow only brought derision.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva note highlights the painful irony that the psalmist’s weeping and fasting, acts meant to show devotion, were met with scorn rather than sympathy. His sincere religious sorrow actually became a cause for reproach against him.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that Christ's weeping and fasting were not for show but came from genuine sorrow over sin, unbelief, and coming judgment. Yet the Jews twisted even this: if he ate, they called him a glutton; if he wept and fasted, they mocked him as mad and unfit to be the Son of God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB highlights the extreme force behind the phrase "wept my soul," noting that the literal meaning is "wept away my soul." This is not ordinary sorrow but a grief so intense it feels as if weeping has consumed and carried off the very life within.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry highlights David's distinctive complaint: his affliction has gone beyond outward circumstances and penetrated his very soul, filling his mind with perplexing cares and his heart with oppressive grief. The deepest suffering, Henry observes, is when troubles keep a person from the peaceful possession of their own spirit and enjoyment of God.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that the weeping was not for personal loss but over the people's impiety. The reproach they hurled at him mocked him precisely for grieving over their godlessness.