The Meaning of Psalms 69:29 Explained

Psalms 69:29

KJV: But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

YLT: And I am afflicted and pained, Thy salvation, O God, doth set me on high.

Darby: But I am afflicted and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me secure on high.

ASV: But I am poor and sorrowful: Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

But I [am] poor  and sorrowful:  let thy salvation,  O God,  set me up on high. 

What does Psalms 69:29 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 69:18-36 - "jehovah Heareth The Needy"
In Psalms 69:19-21 the psalmist again spreads out his griefs before God. He had looked for pity, but his foes only aggravated his sufferings. Both Matthew and John had these verses in mind in describing our Lord's sufferings on the Cross, Matthew 27:48; John 19:29. The next section, Psalms 69:22-28, is full of imprecations. We cannot bring these terrible words within the scope of our Lord's teachings. They show, like a pillar which marks the farthest recession of the tide, how great a difference there is between the standard of the Old Testament ethics and that by which we shall be judged.
Psalms 69:29-36 are full of anticipations of deliverance and vows of thanksgiving. The psalmist is sure that God's salvation will lift him above his enemies, and that his thanks will be sweeter to God than any sacrifice. Notice that sudden address to seekers after God, Psalms 69:32. Let us draw lessons from our own experiences of God that will hearten others. Seekers will certainly be finders where God is concerned! Matthew 7:7. The news of God's restoring power will circle out in ever-widening waves of glory, till heaven and earth and sea catch up the story and respond. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 69

1  David complains of his affliction
13  He prays for deliverance
22  He devotes his enemies to destruction
30  He praises God with thanksgiving

What do the individual words in Psalms 69:29 mean?

But I [am] poor and sorrowful Your salvation God let set me up on high
וַ֭אֲנִי עָנִ֣י וְכוֹאֵ֑ב יְשׁוּעָתְךָ֖ אֱלֹהִ֣ים תְּשַׂגְּבֵֽנִי

וַ֭אֲנִי  But  I  [am] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Pronoun, first person common singular
Root: אֲנִי  
Sense: I (first pers.
עָנִ֣י  poor 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: עָנִי  
Sense: poor, afflicted, humble, wretched.
וְכוֹאֵ֑ב  and  sorrowful 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: כָּאַב  
Sense: to be in pain, be sore, have pain, be sorrowful.
יְשׁוּעָתְךָ֖  Your  salvation 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: יְשׁוּעָה  
Sense: salvation, deliverance.
אֱלֹהִ֣ים  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
תְּשַׂגְּבֵֽנִי  let  set  me  up  on  high 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, third person feminine singular, first person common singular
Root: שָׂגַב  
Sense: to be high, be inaccessibly high.