“Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 69:28 Mean?
David prays the most extreme imprecation: "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." The request is for existential erasure — removal from the record of the living, exclusion from the company of the righteous. The enemies' names would disappear from every book that matters: the registry of the living and the catalogue of the righteous.
The "book of the living" (sepher chayyim) is the earliest biblical reference to a divine registry of those who live. The concept develops through Exodus 32:32-33 (Moses asks to be blotted from God's book), Daniel 12:1 (those found written in the book will be delivered), and Revelation 3:5, 20:15 (the Lamb's book of life). The book of the living is the divine record of those who have a future.
The prayer to be "not written with the righteous" adds the communal dimension: the enemies aren't just erased from life — they're excluded from the righteous community. The two requests together constitute total elimination: no life and no belonging.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How do you process the Bible including a prayer for existential erasure as sacred text?
- 2.What does the 'book of the living' concept teach about a divine registry that determines who has a future?
- 3.How does Moses' offer (blot ME out) compare to David's request (blot THEM out)?
- 4.Is your name in the book of the living — and what gives you confidence in the answer?
Devotional
Blot them out. Of the book of the living. Don't write them with the righteous. David prays for his enemies' existential erasure — removal from the divine registry, exclusion from the righteous community, elimination from every record that matters.
The book of the living is the concept that haunts biblical theology from here to Revelation: a divine record of those who belong to life. Your name in the book means you have a future. Your name blotted out means you don't. David asks God to remove his enemies' names — to erase their futures, to eliminate their belonging, to treat them as though they never existed in the book at all.
The prayer is extreme — and it's in the Bible. Not as a footnote. Not as a negative example. As sacred text. The Spirit who inspired David to write this psalm didn't censor the request for existential erasure. The imprecation stands alongside the comfort psalms and the praise psalms as part of the canonical worship of Israel.
The 'not written with the righteous' adds exclusion to erasure: not just removed from the living but removed from the righteous. Not just dead but unbelonging. The enemies don't just lose their lives. They lose their community. The two losses together are comprehensive: no existence and no fellowship.
Moses offered the opposite prayer (Exodus 32:32: 'blot me out of thy book'). David asks for his enemies to be blotted. The same book, the same blotting, opposite directions. Moses' willingness to be erased for the people's sake and David's request for his enemies to be erased illustrate the full range of what the book represents: the record that defines who belongs.
The New Testament transforms the book into the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:27). The registry that David invokes is the registry that Christ maintains. And the question the book poses remains: is your name there?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Let them be blotted out of the book of life,.... Which some understand of this animal life, or of the catalogue of…
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living - That is, Let them cease to live; let them not be numbered among…
These imprecations are not David's prayers against his enemies, but prophecies of the destruction of Christ's…
the book of the living Or, as R.V., the book of life. The figure is borrowed from the lists or registers of citizens…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture