Psalm 69 is a deep pleading to God for His protection and restoration. Stricken phrases run all through it, until verse 29 when the mood changes to one of more confidence and assurance. Such experiential phrases as ‘My throat is dry’, ‘I am the song of the drunkards’, ‘Let not the pit shut its mouth on me.’

This is also a psalm which gives expression and emotion to the Lord’s passion and the temptations he endured. It echoes events in the gospel story, for example, in verse 21 it says, ‘They gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink’. (see Matthew 27:34, and Apocalypse Explained 519.2)

We are going to pick out some of the main themes in this long psalm and work with them spiritually. First, there is a regular use of ‘deep’, ‘sink’, ‘mire’, ‘shame’ and ‘reproach’. The spiritual idea of such words as us being ‘brought low’ has to do with our experience of temptation. Spiritual temptation originates in the desire of hell to destroy. It is an attack on what we have come to most love, especially that which concerns the Lord. It is a spiritual crisis. If we've been spiritually 'up', making progress, the hells attack our new good loves, wanting to knock us down. (See Arcana Caelestia 5036)

Another theme in the psalm is the endeavour of our enemies. They hate without any cause, they are pitiless, they sit in the gate and speak against me. They openly and endlessly plot to destroy. They include family members. Thinking about this spiritually, it's clear that hell and evil spirits have expertise and cunning to break down resistance. Always note that spiritually, ‘enemies’ are not other people but the evils and the states they inflict. (See Heaven and Hell 580)

A third theme running through is the speaker’s frequent comment that his persecution is not because of himself but because of his faithfulness to the Lord. ‘Because for Your sake I have borne reproach’ ; ‘Zeal for Your house has eaten me up and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me’. (See New Jerusalem 187) Only those who are active in regeneration will experience spiritual temptation, and regeneration cannot happen without temptation.

Another theme is that the Lord knows all that is going on in the heart, mind and state of the person experiencing this distress. ‘O God, You know my foolishness and my sins are not hidden from You.’ ; ‘You know my reproach, my shame, my dishonour; my adversaries are all before You’ . (See Apocalypse Revealed 262)

And in verse 26 there is the additional idea that the Lord has brought about this distress, which, while it is only an appearance, is a permission so that we are strengthened through it. ‘For they persecute the ones You have struck, and talk of the grief of those You have wounded.’ (Divine Providence 234)

Finally, there is the theme of the accountability of evil in bringing on the states which terrify and distress us spiritually. God knows all things, including the desires of evil, and the laws of Providence bring on the consequence – not the punishment – that evil will bring its own downfall. ‘Let their table become a snare before them, and their well-being a trap’ ; ‘Let their dwelling place be desolate; let no one live in their tents’ ; ‘Let them be blotted out from the book of the living’. (See Divine Providence 6490)

With careful scrutiny, one can see and appreciate the gradual stirring of the speaker all through this psalm, moving from abject fear, through clearer and clearer reasoning, to the point of confidently affirming the Lord and all His saving power and presence. The important takeaway for us is that we CAN make the same shift.

413, 13. Because of the power given it by love, wisdom or discernment can be raised up, can accept things in heaven's light, and can grasp them. I have already and often stated that we can grasp hidden treasures of wisdom when we hear them. This ability of ours is what we call "rationality," and it is ours from creation. This ability to see into things deeply and to form conclusions about what is fair and just, about what is good and true, is what distinguishes us from animals. It is also what I mean by the statement that discernment can be raised up, can accept things in heaven's light, and can grasp them.

We can also see a kind of image of this fact in the lungs, since the lungs correspond to our discernment. Looking at the lungs, we see that their substance comprises little chambers. These consist of the extensions of the bronchia all the way into the tiny sacs where the air is taken in when we breathe. Our thoughts act in unison with them because of their correspondence. It is characteristic of the substance of these little sacs that it has two ways of expanding and contracting, one in unison with the heart and the other almost independent of the heart. Its unison with the heart is because of the pulmonary arteries and veins, which come directly from the heart. Its virtual independence is because of the bronchial arteries and veins, which come from the vena cava and aorta, vessels external to the heart. This happens in the lungs because our discernment can be raised above its own love, which answers to the heart, and accept light from heaven. Even so, when our discernment is raised above its own love it does not leave it completely behind. It takes along some of it, which we can call a desire for knowing and discerning for the sake of promotion, praise, or profit in this world. Some trace of this clings to each love like a coating. This gives the love a superficial glow; but for wise people, there is an actual translucence.

I cite these facts about the lungs to show that our discernment can be raised up and accept and grasp things in heaven's light. There is in fact a complete correspondence. To see from correspondence is to see the lungs reflected in our discernment and our discernment reflected in our lungs, and to find assurance in each at the same time.