Psalms 69:26

For they harass ¹  the one whom you discipline; ²  they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ³ 

For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.

To those you have punished, they add insult to injury; they scoff at the pain of those you have hurt.

They gossiped about the one you disciplined, Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.

Because they are cruel to him against whom your hand is turned; they make bitter the grief of him who is wounded by you.

For they persecute those whom you have struck down, and those whom you have wounded, they attack still more.

For they persecute the ones You have struck, And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.

For they harass ¹  the one whom you discipline; ²  they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish. ³ 

¹ tn Or “persecute”; Heb “chase.”

² tn Heb “for you, the one whom you strike, they chase.”

³ tn Heb “they announce the pain of your wounded ones” (i.e., “the ones whom you wounded,” as the parallel line makes clear).

sn The psalmist is innocent of the false charges made by his enemies (v. 4), but he is also aware of his sinfulness (v. 5) and admits that he experiences divine discipline (v. 26) despite his devotion to God (v. 9). Here he laments that his enemies take advantage of such divine discipline by harassing and slandering him. They “kick him while he’s down,” as the expression goes.