Psalm 69a - The Reproach and Cry of the Righteous

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Life is filled with test and trials. The faithful son and daughter of God will experience his / her fair share in this life. So certain of this that we were told to count it all joy () by James in his epistle. Some test and trials will have natural causes, such as sickness or disease. The kingdom of darkness certainly desires to seek and destroy citizens of the kingdom of light. Much of what we experience however will come from those in our lives. This is what David was dealing with.
We see a contrast between this psalm and the ones proceeding it. told of God’s mighty acts in creation and for Israel. They were filled with gratitude and expresses of praise. They called for, and looked forward to, all nations giving praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel and the one true and living God of all the earth. are altogether different. These psalms detail a long faithful king suffering and in anguish. The king has served the Lord throughout his long life but is suffering unjustly. Worse still, his God has not come to his aid. The psalmist on is poor and needy.[1] The king of these psalms feels abandoned by God and suffers unjust judgment.

The collection of Psalms 69–72 represents the last four psalms of Book II. Psalms 69–71 form quite a contrast with the story of God’s march to Zion (Ps 68) and the recitation of God’s mighty acts in creation and in redemption (Pss 65–68, see Ps 66). Psalms 69–71 portray the anguish of the king. The king of Psalm 71 is godly but abandoned by the Lord and is the object of unjust suffering. God’s redress will encourage the poor and needy (v. 32–33). The poet of Psalm 70 confesses that he is poor and needy (v. 5), whereas the poet of Psalm 71 is an aged king who has a long history of commitment to the Lord but feels he has been abandoned.

recitation of God’s mighty acts in creation and in redemption (Pss 65–68, see Ps 66). Psalms 69–71 portray the anguish of the king. The king of Psalm 71 is godly but abandoned by the Lord and is the object of unjust

recitation of God’s mighty acts in creation and in redemption (Pss 65–68, see Ps 66). Psalms 69–71 portray the anguish of the king. The king of Psalm 71 is godly but abandoned by the Lord and is the object of unjust

We see a contrast between this psalm and the ones proceeding it. told of God’s mighty acts in creation and for Israel. They were filled with gratitude and expresses of praise. They called for, and looked forward to, all nations giving praise to Yahweh, the God of Israel and the one true and living God of all the earth. are all together different. These psalms detail a long faithful king suffering and in anguish. The king has served the long through out his long life but is suffering unjustly. Worse still, his God has not come to his aid. The psalmist on is poor and needy. The king of these psalms feels abandoned by God and suffers unjust judgment.
is a psalm of imprecation and an individual lament. The psalmist David has endured a great deal of unjust treatment at the hand of his enemies. David acknowledges his sin in this psalm and acknowledges God’s discipline of him is just. We don’t know the specific event in view but we do know that his persecution and shame is not warranted. It is David’s faithfulness that brings their disdain. In response, David has cried out to the Lord with his complaint and calls for the justice of God upon those who persecute him. This psalm also has messianic implications.
This is the third most quoted psalm in the New Testament behind and . There are eight direct quotations or allusion of verses in this psalm, including when Christ was on the cross (,). We must keep it mind that while the psalm is considered messianic, it originally was about its human author and not everything applies to Christ (Christ was without sin while He walked the earth). It also can be applied to the lives of believers today who endure suffering due to faithfulness to Christ. This is a major theme of the New Testament. It should take us about three weeks to study this psalm. We will look at this first twelve verses today as follows:
The desperate situation of David (vs. 1 - 4)
David’s reproach for the Lord’s sake (vs. 5 - 12)
David’s prayer for rescue (vs. 13 - 18)
Verse 1 - 4: David’s describes his situation as a form of drowning. He has fallen into mud. If you try to walk or maintain balance, you can’t. You also can’t stand strong against a strong tide. The persecution and attacks of David’s enemies against him are so great and have endured for so long that David can’t stand any longer. His very life is in danger. To make matters worse, He has cried and cried and cried to God for so long without answer. He is at the point of despair. He has wept and wept to no seeming avail. Yet me must notice that he does not stop crying out to God. When it seems like God is not listening, remember that He both hears and sees. When it seems like prayers aren’t being answered, keep praying. God is there even if He, from our standpoint, delays deliverance for us. David has a lot of enemies who have no justifiable basis for their hatred for him. They slander him in hopes of destroying him. They seek payment they are not owed. In other words, he is suffering for things he did not do. David’s situation is bad, but the God of Israel was and is still greater.
Messianic application of verse 4: The first part of this verse is quoted by Christ in . Christ is relating to the apostles that they will be hated because of Him. The world will persecute them because they are faithful to the Son of God. It won’t be because of their sin or wrongdoing but rather their obedience to their Lord and Savior. This will happen to them even as it happened to Him. Christ gave the message of the Father. He spoke and performed His will and they (the Pharisees and some of the people) don’t like it. It is the case that those who live for God against the world will be hated by the world unjustly because of their judgment of the world.
Matthew Henry gives us another beautiful application: “he underwent the punishment that was due to us, paid our debt, suffered for our offence. God’s glory, in some instances of it, was taken away by the sin of man; man’s honour, and peace, and happiness, were taken away; it was not he that took them away, and yet by the merit of his death he restored them.”[2]
Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 841). Peabody: Hendrickson.
Christ restored to us that which He did not take away. We gave it up. He endured judgment He did not to, suffered for crimes that He did not commit so that we could be made whole.
Verse 5: Here David takes a moment to acknowledge he is a sinner. He has himself violated God’s law at times and has been discipled because of it. David is innocent not sinless. Yet this is not the reason for his current persecution. Again, his enemies act without basis.
Verses 6: David resumes his lament to the LORD. His concern is the faithful will be discouraged or embarrassed because of what is happening to him. His treatment is unjust but it can still impact others in the community who are also living faithful. David cries out to the Sovereign Lord of creation, the covenant God, and warrior of Israel[3] that is does not come to pass. He fears that the faithful will stumble because of what they see and he asks the Lord to uphold them.
Verses 7 - 12: David’s suffering is because of his faithfulness to God. His enemies hate him because he seeks to please the Lord in his life. He has an exuberant desire for the glory of God (;, ;). His commitment to God has cost him amongst the covenant community. He has been isolated because of the wicked around him. They look at what he is doing and despise him for it. He cries out because of the evil around him and receives scorn and derision from those around him. He is mocked by the town drunks and fools. He is the subject of gossip because of his walk with the Lord.
Messianic and other applications of verse 9: The apostle John uses the first part of verse 9 to describe Jesus’ clearing of the temple in . Christ is outraged by the degradation of the house of God by the people. In his zeal for the things of God, he drives out all those whom are doing business in a place set aside for the worship of the Lord. Christ would suffer because of His care and concern for the glory of God the Father. It is for us to do the same. The second part of verse 9 is quoted by Paul in where Paul is making the point that we are to seek the benefit of the community, the body of Christ, and not myopically focus on our own pleasure. We are to act so that all are built up. The writer of Hebrews alludes to this verse in where he describes Moses as preferring Christ above the riches of Egypt. David endured what he did for the glory of God and the benefit of the faithful Israelite. Christ endured what he did for the glory of God the Father and the good of the saints.
Verses 13 - 18: His lament given, David prays for the favor of God to break through in his life. Appealing to the abundant covenant faithfulness of God, he asks the Lord to bring sure salvation. He pleads for the Lord to prevent him from being overwhelmed by his situation. He asks God to deliver him from his hateful enemies. As Matthew Henry puts it: “Let my fears be prevented and silenced”.[4] He cries out to God to prevent his destruction by the lying words and deeds for his adversaries. The Lord’s steadfast love is good and so David begs for God to answer and intercede. He wants God to take compassion and look upon his circumstances. He is distressed and discouraged and pleads for God not to delay any longer but come quickly. He is in desperate need of the Lord’s redeeming and freeing ransom of him because of the enemy attacks.
1. VanGemeren, W. A. (2008). Psalms. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Psalms (Revised Edition) (Vol. 5, p. 529). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
2. Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 841). Peabody: Hendrickson.
3. Ibid.
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