Psalm 69:1-19 chanted in the Sarum Use by Sarah James.

Themes: The Psalmist describes his afflicted state, and the wickedness of his adversaries; he declares the miseries that should come upon his enemies; enlarges on his afflicted state, and expresses his confidence in God; prophesies the restoration of the Jewish people to their own land and temple. The title is: "To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, A Psalm of David. The Psalm is supposed to have been written during the captivity, and to have been the work of some Levite Divinely inspired. It is a very fine composition, equal to most in the Psalter. (From the Adam Clarke Commentary, 1831)

In Judaism: Verse 7 ("Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face") is incorporated into the repetition of the Mussaf Amidah (the Standing Prayer) on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Verses 14 and 32 are recited in the blessings before the Shema (“Hear, O Israel) on the second day of Rosh Hashanah.

In Christianity: Psalm 69 is quoted or referred to in several places in the New Testament: In John 15:25 Jesus interpreted his rejection to fulfilment of the Jewish law: "This happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause’" (Psalm 69:4). In John 2:17, after Jesus had expelled the money changers from the Temple, his disciples remembered the words of Psalm 69:9a: "zeal for Your house has eaten me up.” Paul quotes Psalm 69:9b in Romans 15:3: "Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, 'The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me'." On the cross, Jesus was given gall or vinegar to drink when he was crucified. Matthew 27:34,48, Mark 15:36, Luke 23:36, and John 19:28, 29 all recall Psalm 69:3 ("my throat is dry") and Psalm 69:21 ("They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink”). Acts 1:20 refers to the Field of Blood (where Judas Iscariot committed suicide) by recalling Psalm 69:25: "For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it’.” Paul quotes Psalm 69:23 in Romans11:9-10: "Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down their back always." (Wikipedia)

Nine hundred years ago, the Cathedral of Salisbury, England developed a unique form of chant and liturgy known as the “Use of Salisbury,” or “Sarum Use.” Differences from the Roman rite are both melodic (more florid in the Sarum) and textual (Elizabethan English rather than Latin). The best repository of Sarum Use tones is the St. Dunstan's Plainsong Psalter, from which Sarah has sung this psalm. Additional resources on Sarum Use plainsong at https://canticasacra.org.

The 2009 photograph of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, at the place where Jesus agonized on the night before his crucifixion, is by Yoav Dothan, who has released it, via Wikimedia Commons, into the public domain.