Psalms 69:15

Psa 69:15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

Ver. 15. Let not the waterflood overflow me] See Psa 69:1.

Let not the pit shut] Leave me not helpless and hopeless.

Vivere spe facias qui moriturus eram.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. (Psa 69:15). Let not the flood overwhelm me, and let not the deep swallow me, and let not the well (or pit) shut its mouth upon me. In the earnestness of his entreaty, he passes from the figure of a sea or stream to that of a well or cistern, the idea common to both being that of deep water.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(15) Pit.—Properly, well. A stone usually covered the wells (Gen_29:10), which explains the phrase, “shut her mouth.” Is this merely figurative; or have we here a reminiscence of some terrible crime, analogous to that of Cawnpore?

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let not the water flood overflow me,.... The enemy, Satan, that came in like a flood upon him, with his whole posse of devils; or the wrath of God, which came upon him like a flood overwhelming him:

neither let the deep swallow me up: as Jonah by the whale, and Dathan and Abiram in the earth:

and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me; either the pit of hell; so the Targum interprets it: for Christ, when he endured the curses of the law, and the wrath of God, suffered the same for kind as the damned in hell; only the mouth of this pit could not be shut upon him, or he be continued under such wrath and curse: or else the pit of the grave, where his divine Father left him not, or suffered him to be so long in it as to see corruption; this pit was not shut upon him, but he was delivered out of it, and will die no more.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Let not the waterflood overflow me - The stream; the volume of waters. The idea is that of a flood or stream rolling along, that threatened to drown him.

Neither let the deep swallow me up - The abyss; the deep waters.

And let not the pit shut her mouth upon me - In his anguish and distress he passes here from the idea of running streams, and deep waters, to that of a well, pit, or cavern - representing himself as “in” that pit, and praying that it might not be closed upon him, leaving him in darkness and in mire, from which he could not then escape. The general idea in all these expressions is the same - that of overwhelming calamities from which he prayed to be delivered.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 15. Let not the waterflood overflow me. He continues to recapitulate the terms of his lament. He is willing to bear suffering, but entreats grace that it may not get the victory over him. He was heard in that he feared.

Neither let the deep swallow me up. As Jonah came forth again, so let me also arise from the abyss of woe; here also our Lord was heard, and so shall we be. Death itself must disgorge us.

Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. When a great stone was rolled over the well, or pit, used as a dungeon, the prisoner was altogether enclosed, and forgotten like one on the oubliettes of the Bastille; this is an apt picture of the state of a man buried alive in grief and left without remedy; against this the great sufferer pleaded and was heard. He was baptised in agony but not drowned in it; the grave enclosed him, but before she could close her mouth he had burst his prison. It is said that truth lies in a well, but it is assuredly an open well, for it walks abroad in power; and so our great Substitute in the pit of woe and death was yet the Conqueror of death and hell. How appropriately may many of us use this prayer. We deserve to be swept away as with a flood, to be drowned in our sins, to be shut up in hell; let us, then, plead the merits of our Saviour, lest these things happen unto us.

Ver. 15. Faith in God giveth hope to be helped, and is half a deliverance before the full deliverance come; for the psalmist is now with his head above water, and not so afraid as when he began the Psalm. David Dickson.

Ver. 15. The pit. According to Dean Stanley, the word Beer here used is always rendered "well, "except in this and three other cases. When such wells no longer yielded a full supply of water they were used as prisons, no care being taken to cleanse out the mire remaining at the bottom. The Dean also tells us in the Appendix to his "Sinai and Palestine, "that "they have a broad margin of masonry round this mouth, and often a stone filling up the orifice." The rolling of this stone over the mouth of the well was the well's "shutting her mouth; "and the poor prisoner was, to all intents and purposes, buried alive. C. H. S.

Ver. 15. (last clause). A tremendous evil, our desert of it, our hope against it, our fear of it, and the reasons which secure us against it.

Psalms 69:16*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. The pit shut her mouth upon me—David had used the figures of deep “waters” and of “mire” without bottom, and now he adds the horror of having the “mouth” of the “pit” into which he had sunk close upon him, thereby shutting out the last ray of hope. The allusion does not appear to be to Num_16:32. באר, (beer,) well, pit, may allude to the dangerous asphaltum pits, (Gen_14:10;) but as in David’s time such pits were rare, and not objects of common dread, we may take the word in its most common signification of well. Stanley says of the numerous vestiges of ancient wells in Palestine, that “they have a broad margin of masonry round the month, and often a stone filling up the orifice.” This covering the well’s mouth when a human person was within was a figure of burying alive, which the psalmist deprecated. See 2Sa_17:18-19

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Let not the waterflood overflew me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. The reference is still to vers. 1, 2; and the prayer is for deliverance from the dangers and entanglements there spoken of.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.