THE PSALMS – A JOURNEY IN WORSHIP AND FAITH - October 16, 2014 - Day 69 - Psalm 69

Psalm 69 is a deep psalm that has powerful spiritual truths. I am humbled by it and though every day I write on a psalm I feel awed and intimidated by the thought of speaking about God’s Holy word, today I am simply inadequate. I carry on in the hope that each who read this will spend some time learning of this psalm for in it we see the depth of God’s mercy as it reflects the sorrow of our Savior. We shall look at it just one dimension today, though it like all of scripture has its historical context as well. This psalm is a story of Jesus and what He bore at Calvary when He took my place on the cross.

Psalm 69:1-3
Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.

Imagine if you can the anguish of Jesus as He hung on the cross. Never in all of eternity had He known separation from God. The ultimate penalty for sin is separation from God. This is what He endured. 2 Corinthians 5:21 teaches us that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Not in all of eternity had Jesus ever sinned. Even in all the temptations as a man He never sinned one time. Now He hangs on the cross of shame.

Psalm 69:4
Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

Jesus hung there and could hear the mocking and feel the spittle as the world laughed in derision. Yet it was the very people who crucified Him for who He would die. It was not His sin, not His penalty to pay.

Psalm 69:7-12
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face. I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother's sons. For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. When I wept in my soul with fasting, It became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me, And I am the song of the drunkards.

He took the reproach, the dishonor, and the separation. He knew in the garden what was to come. It distressed Him to the point of sweating blood. Even the drunks laugh at Him.

Jesus longed for restoration with the Father as He suffered our death. He cried out. In the hearts of all men and women is the need for this type of prayer.

Psalm 69:13-15
But as for me, my prayer is to You, O LORD, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Your loving kindness, Answer me with Your saving truth. Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink; May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.

Oh that he hears our prayers. We must appeal to His mercy and His grace.

Psalm 69:16-19
Answer me, O LORD, for Your loving kindness is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, And do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me quickly. Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it; Ransom me because of my enemies! You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; All my adversaries are before You.

Jesus understands your suffering in this life. He knows what it feels to cry for relief only to have those surrounding you offer bitter drink.

Psalm 69:20-21
Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, And for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

But suddenly this psalm takes a turn and it is a frightening one. Jesus bore the sins of mankind but yet many will reject Him. For them, the one who offered His own life that they might live, will come a day of reckoning.

Psalm 69:22-27
May their table before them become a snare; And when they are in peace, may it become a trap. May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, And make their loins shake continually. Pour out Your indignation on them, And may Your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be desolate; May none dwell in their tents. For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself have smitten, And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded. Add iniquity to their iniquity, And may they not come into Your righteousness.

Some teach that no, no, no in the end all will be saved but scripture teaches otherwise. Jesus Himself will return and bring eternal judgment to those who will not receive Him.

Psalm 69:28
May they be blotted out of the book of life And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

He suffered and died for me. He suffered and died for you. He paid the price we owed; the price of sin. Turn to Him and rejoice in that.

Psalm 69:29-33
But I am afflicted and in pain; May Your salvation, O God, set me securely on high. I will praise the name of God with song And magnify Him with thanksgiving. And it will please the LORD better than an ox Or a young bull with horns and hoofs. The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek God, let your heart revive. For the LORD hears the needy And does not despise His who are prisoners.

To those who call Him savior and Lord it is time to rejoice and to lift Him up in praise.

Psalm 69:34-36
Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell there and possess it. The descendants of His servants will inherit it, And those who love His name will dwell in it.

Jesus. Name above all names. Those who love His name will dwell with him in eternity.