“Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I have come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.” (Psalm 69:1–2, NKJV)

Sometimes we are so low that no one can save us except God alone. David was in such a place of despair. He felt that he would soon drown in a sea of troubles. He was sinking into the mud, and it seemed that there was no bottom. He had cried out to God so many times that his throat was parched and dry. He wept until there were no tears left.

This miserable condition was brought about by people who hated David without a cause. He had done nothing wrong, yet they were destroying him.

“O God, You know my foolishness, and my sins are not hidden from You.” (Psalm 69:5, NKJV)

David knew that he was not perfect and that God knew all his sins. But he had done nothing to offend these people, yet they ridiculed him so that even his own family members separated themselves from him. But David knew the real reason he was despised was because zeal for the LORD’s house had consumed him. He was passionate to worship God and tell others about Him, and he pressed others to do the same, but they were unwilling.

Perhaps you are suffering ridicule from others because of your love for Christ. Perhaps you have become the object of their whispering. Such reproach is hard to bear, but Jesus warned us that it would be this way.

“Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!” (Matthew 10:24–25, NLT)

Can you bear it? You can if you trust in the LORD and pray.

“But I keep praying to you, LORD, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation. Rescue me from the mud; don’t let me sink any deeper! Save me from those who hate me, and pull me from these deep waters.” (Psalm 69:13–14, NLT)

God alone can save us when others threaten to swallow us up. We can bear this affliction because it is ultimately against Christ (v. 9). We can take comfort because we know that if we suffer with Christ, then we will also be glorified together with Him (Romans 8:17).