Psalm 69:26 describes people who go after someone God has already allowed to be wounded, and who keep retelling the pain of those God has struck. The verse is a prayer of David’s enemies, or more precisely a description of their cruelty, and David is the one who is hurting and asking God for rescue. It is spoken by a sufferer who feels surrounded by people who pile on rather than help.
For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.
Psalm 69:26 (WEB)
What Psalm 69:26 Means
The phrase “they persecute him whom you have wounded” pictures someone already bruised, often by hardship or by God’s discipline, and then pursued by others who press harder. The sufferer is not only hurt but kicked while down. The verse names a particular kind of cruelty: enemies who treat a person’s weakness as an opportunity.
The second line, “they tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt,” adds a further sting. Their enemies gossip about the pain and turn it into a story for their own amusement or to strengthen their case. The verse does not promise that justice will be swift or that the enemies will feel remorse. It simply records what the writer sees and asks God to act.
The Context of Psalm 69:26
Psalm 69 belongs to the book of Psalms, the collection of songs and prayers that Israel used in worship and that Christians have read for centuries as part of the Old Testament. It is traditionally attributed to David, and its language of being overwhelmed by water, slandered without cause, and shamed for loyalty to God fits the pattern of his troubles recorded elsewhere in Scripture. The original audience was the worshiping community of Israel, who learned to pray these words alongside the one who first spoke them.
The verses just before, which call for God’s indignation and anger to fall on the enemies, and the verses just after, where David turns to plead for his own salvation, show that verse 26 is part of a larger cry. It is not a random outburst of spite. David brings his full emotional state before God, including his desire for justice, and then returns to asking for protection. That movement from description to petition is what makes the verse read as honest prayer rather than simple bitterness.
Key Phrases in Psalm 69:26
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
(WEB)
This verse says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. It connects with the sorrow named in Psalm 69:26 by showing that God’s nearness is the answer to the grief the enemies exploit. The psalmist’s wounds are not hidden from God, and he draws close to the sufferer.
Romans 12:19
Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.”
(WEB)
Paul writes this to believers who have been mistreated, urging them not to take revenge and to leave justice in God’s hands. It echoes the pattern in Psalm 69 of bringing the desire for justice to God rather than acting on it personally, and it helps readers see how the New Testament continues this trust.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 69:26
Lord, you know how deep this hurt goes. People keep pressing on the places where I am already tender, and they talk about my pain as if it were theirs to share. I bring that to you honestly. Deal with what is unjust in their hearts and in their words. Keep me from answering cruelty with cruelty, and steady my heart when the gossip gets loud. Be my protection, the one who restores what has been broken. Amen.
