Psalm 69:32-36

Psalm 69:32 belongs with the verses which precede it (verses 29-31), as indicated in the previous "Blog," but this verse also belongs with the verses which follow it (verses 33-36). This is clear from the obvious "pattern" of verses 32-36: "Let so and so do something" (verses 32a, 34a), "For the Lord [God] does something" (verses 33a, 35a). So verses 32-33 are parallel to verses 34-36:

"Let the oppressed see it [namely, what Yahweh has done for me, the psalmist] and be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
For the Lord [Yahweh] hears the needy,
and does not despise his own that are in bonds.
Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah;
and his servants shall live there and possess it;
the children of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall live in it."

1. Yahweh's deliverance of the psalmist whom hostile enemies have oppressed is living proof that Yahweh cares very much for and protects the needy, the poor, the orphan, the widow, the alien, the disenfranchised who depend on him, and that even if human beings put God's faithful followers in prison ("in bonds"), God loves them as much as he always did, and will protect them and deliver them in his own good time and way. The Bible is full of examples of God's faithful followers whom the world imprisoned because of their commitment to God (Jeremiah, Jesus, Paul, those mentioned in Matthew 25:36, 39; Hebrews 11:36; and many others), whom God rescued as he saw fit and blessed immensely.
2. What God does is so extensive that it affects heaven and earth and all that is in them. So the psalmist calls on all creation to praise God for his wonderful works. See Psalms 47; 66:1-4; 67; 148; etc.
3. Verses 35-36 suggest that the setting of Psalm 69 is the end of the Babylonian exile (ca. 550-536 B. C.). Zion and the cities of Judah apparently are not populated when this psalm was written, but the psalmist anticipates a time when God's true servants ("those who love his name") will return there and re-inhabit these vacated places. The composer looks even beyond this to the next generation, who will be born and grow up in these cities which now are without people. "God's name" in verse 36b is a circumlocution for God; so the poet is referring to people who genuinely love God.
May God help us trust in him when we are in dire circumstances like the people envisioned in Psalm 69, who are captives in Babylon. And may God help us hope in him alone as we wait for him to deliver his faithful followers from hostile enemies and harsh oppression.

John Willis