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Psalm 69:15
Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
13But as for me, my prayer is to you, LORD, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.
14Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
16Answer me, LORD, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.
17Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!
Notice
The pit’s closing mouth makes this plea feel urgent: the speaker fears being swallowed beyond escape and asks God to keep that from happening.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What in your life feels like flood waters threatening to overwhelm you?
Write on thisHow does the plea about the pit’s closing mouth shape what you want to ask God?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Revelation 12:15–16The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.Both portray water as a threat that could sweep someone away, though Revelation names a serpent as the source of the attack.
Psalm 88:6You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths.Both use the pit and depths to describe distress; Psalm 88 goes further by attributing the speaker’s placement there to God.
Psalm 124:4then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul.Overwhelming waters describe mortal danger in both psalms, with one pleading for protection and the other recalling what could have happened.
Psalm 16:10For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.Both concern escape from death’s grasp: Psalm 69 pleads against the closing pit, while Psalm 16 expresses confidence against abandonment to Sheol.
Jonah 2:2–7He said, “I called because of my affliction to the LORD. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.Both speakers cry to God from extreme distress; Jonah recounts being heard, while Psalm 69 is still asking for help.
Isaiah 43:1–2But now the LORD who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You …The shared thread is dependence on God: the psalm seeks preservation, while Isaiah identifies God as Israel’s creator and redeemer.
Acts 2:24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.The psalm asks that the pit not close over the speaker; Acts declares that death could not hold the one God raised.
Psalm 28:1By David. To you, LORD, I call. My rock, don’t be deaf to me, lest, if you are silent to me, I would become like those who go down into the pit.Both prayers connect the threat of the pit with an urgent appeal for God to intervene.
Genesis 7:18The waters rose, and increased greatly on the earth; and the ship floated on the surface of the waters.Rising water appears in both passages; the psalm fears being overwhelmed, while Genesis describes the ship floating on the flood.
Numbers 16:33So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.The psalm fears the pit closing its mouth; Numbers recounts people perishing as the earth closes over them.
Judges 12:6then they said to him, “Now say ‘Shibboleth;’” and he said “Sibboleth”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it correctly, then they seized him and killed him …The connection is limited: the psalm pictures death through engulfing waters, while Judges recounts people killed at the Jordan’s fords.
Job 33:28He has redeemed my soul from going into the pit. My life will see the light.’Both speak of being spared the pit: the psalm asks for this rescue, while Job’s speaker describes having received it.
Where this verse fits
Anxiety or panic. fear for the future. death and what comes after.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Your prayer need not sound calm when you feel overwhelmed. This plea reaches God before rescue is in sight; the surrounding prayer appeals to his loving kindness and tender mercies.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 69:15. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
Keep goingPsalm 69 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms
Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).