Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 69. 2 and following. Indeed, Psalm 68 showed us Christ lifted up to heaven as a conqueror, receiving glorious gifts (Pet68:19). Psalm 69 presents Him lowered to us, in shame and unspeakable pain, rendering what He had not taken (verse 5). We have already found in this order Psalm 21 preceding Psalm 22, so that no one may be mistaken as to who is then presented in the midst of such suffering. Like the ark making the people a way across the Jordan River (river of death), Christ comes forward taking upon Himself the burden of the faults, the “folly” of His people (verse 6). He sinks into the deep mud of sin, into the depth of the waters of judgment (verse 3); He sees the awful well of death threatening to engulf him (verse 16); but in spite of all this He never ceases to raise His prayer to His God (verse 14).
For the quotation from verse 10 in Romans 15:3 invites us to imitate this great Model who never sought to please Himself, to escape from outrages that concerned His Father (Matthew 27:39-43). He also asks that his trial not be a stumbling block for believers when they see such a faithful plunged into such distress (verse 7). Psalms 22 and 69, both of which concern us with the Lord’s sufferings, have an essential difference between them: In Psalm 22 Christ is seen fulfilling the Atonement for our sins; He is presented as the One whom God has struck in our place. Here, on the contrary, we see Jesus suffering at the hands of men; and what means have they not found to persecute him! The Lord experienced insults and dishonor (verses 8, 11, 20, 21; Ps 69.6-20). The Lord’s infinitely sensitive heart was broken (verse 21). In Him the glory of God, His love, His holiness, have been trampled underfoot before all by iniquitous men. And verse 22 was literally realized at the hour of the cross (Matthew 27:33-49).
Another cause of deep pain for the Savior was the incomprehension, the indifference of His disciples: “I waited for a gesture of compassion, but there was none, and Comforters, but I did not find any” (v. 21). It is with good reason that the representatives of the human race guilty of such a crime will suffer, if they have not repented, the indignation and anger demanded in verse 25 by the rest of Israel. But may the Lord find each of our readers among “those who love his name” (verse 37). This solemn and moving psalm makes us hear the words of the Son of Man. His soul experiences the weight of the affliction he goes through, anticipates the judgment of his persecutors and finally evokes his resurrection and reign in Zion on the last day. Here we find the communion of Jesus’ soul with God, both the one who could save him from death (Heb. 5), and the one who judges justly (1 Peter 2). For he shouts at one, and he surrenders to the other to be guarded.
Thus, this psalm illustrates the two truths taught in these passages, so perfect is the way in which the lights of the Old and New Testaments harmonize, whether given by the prophets in the psalms, or by the apostles in the epistles. It is possible to discern several parts in this psalm: Jesus, the Son of man, gives expression to his sorrows. Verse 6 shows how much He identified with His chosen ones (2 Cor. 5:21), and it is a relief for us to know that He thus confessed our sins as His own. For God knew the secret of all of Jesus’ “languors” even though man did not enter into it (Isa. 53:4). Verse 6: He asks that his shame or pain not be an occasion for fall or scandal for anyone (Matt. 11:6); and that, on the contrary, everyone learns that it was suffered in the place of the culprits. For those who do not understand its scope or value, the affliction of the just will be a scandal. Christ’s sufferings at man’s hands were for God’s glory in the world, while His sufferings at God’s part were for the atonement of our sins and for our eternal salvation. Verse 4 is quoted by the Lord Himself in John 15:25.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Call for help:
- Discouragement in the lives of good men
-Moses Nb 11:15 Rather than treat me like this, kill me, I beg you, if I have found favor with your eyes, and that I do not see my misfortune.
-Joshua Joshua 7:7 Joshua says: Ah! Eternal Lord, why did you pass the Jordan to this people, to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites and make us perish? Oh! if we could have stayed on the other side of the Jordan!
-Elijah 1 Kings 19:4 For him, he went into the wilderness where, after a day of walking, he sat under a broom, and asked for death, saying: Enough is enough! Now, Eternal, take my soul, for I am no better than my fathers.
-Job Jb 10.1 My soul is disgusted with life! I will give effect to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
-David Ps 42:7 My soul is slaughtered within me: So, it is to you that I think, from the land of the Jordan, from the Hermon, from the mountain of Mitsear.
-Jeremiah Jr 15:10 Woe to me, my mother, for what you have made me born a man of dispute and quarrel for the whole country! I don’t borrow or lend, and yet all curse me.
-The disciples Luke 24:17 He said to them: What do you talk about as you walk, that you may be all sad?
- Favorable time to seek God
Ps 32:6 May every pious man pray to you at the right time! If great waters overflow, they will not reach it in any way. Ps 69:14 But I pray to you, O Lord! May it be the favorable time, O God, by your great goodness! Answer me, assuring me of your help! Isa 49:8 Thus saith the Lord: In the time of grace I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you, and I will establish you to deal with the covenant with the people, to raise up the country, and to distribute the desolate inheritances;
- Divine knowledge, general references
1 S 2.3 Do not speak with so much height; Let arrogance no longer come out of your mouth; For Jehovah is a God who knows everything, and through him are weighed all actions. Esa 40:28 Don’t you know? didn’t you learn it? It is the God of eternity, Jehovah, Who created the ends of the earth; He does not get tired, he does not tire; One cannot probe his intelligence. Dn 2:22 He reveals what is deep and hidden, He knows what is in darkness, and the light dwells with Him. Mt 6:8 Do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him.
- Divine approval, possession of the, identified with being pleasing to God
-Make life safe Pr 16:7 When Jehovah approves of a man’s ways, He disposes favorably of him even his enemies.
-A characteristic of Christ Mt 3:17 And behold, a voice made these words heard from heaven: This is my beloved Son, in whom I have put all my affection. John 8:29 He who sent me is with me; He did not leave me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to Him. 1 Thes 2:4
-A goal of the true servant of God 1 Thes 2:4 but, according to God has deemed us worthy to entrust us with the Gospel, so we speak, not as if to please men, but to please God, who probes our hearts.
-The duty of the Christian 1 Thes 4:1 Moreover, brethren, since you have learned from us how you must conduct yourself and please God, and this is what you are doing, we pray to you and we conjure you in the name of the Lord Jesus to walk in this regard from progress to progress.
-Enoch, example of Hb 11:5 It was by faith that Enoch was raptured so that he would not see death, and that he would no longer appear because God had taken him away; for before his rapture he had received the testimony that he was pleasing to God.
-Goodness, a means of Hb 13:16 And do not forget beneficence and liberality, for it is to such sacrifices that God takes pleasure.
From all the above, we note thatthis perfectly meets the condition of the faithful in the midst of the residue of Israel: he acknowledges his sins, – all the sins of his people; yet he suffers opprobrium and enmity without cause for the love of the God of Israel; the more faithful he is, the more he suffers. However, faith lets him know that he prays to the God of Israel in an agreed time (this is the character of the last Psalms that we have just gone through), but he is in the deepest distress; his eyes burn while he waits for his God. His interest in Israel, his submission to outrages, make him the subject of their contempt. He asks for the destruction of his adversaries and persecutors who have no mercy, who do not want it, assured that the Lord listens to the poor and does not despise his prisoners. All creation is invited to celebrate it, for God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, so that they may dwell and possess them; the seed of his servants will inherit it and those who love his name will dwell there. All this is exactly the position and feeling of the faithful residue – the maskilim. But in verse 21 and even in the 9th, although the latter is of more general application, we find what was literally accomplished in Christ. The use made in Romans (Rom. 11:9-10) of verse 22 leads us to the same conclusion: it is also to Christ that several other verses find their most perfect application, while being applicable to other people. Let’s notice, however: in this Psalm, Christ does not speak in any way as abandoned of God. Therefore, whatever it relates to the life of Christ, and whatever it may extend to the sufferings of the cross, there is, as we have seen, no allusion to the grace and mercy that flow from it. It is the sufferings on the part of man that are presented to us in this Psalm, and not the abandonment of God: so, he does not announce grace by virtue of justice, but he calls for judgment on man. However, sins are confessed before God, and the one who endures persecution is someone Whom God has struck. It’s because of this that it is impossible not to see, in this Psalm, Christ entering with heart and thought, – after his righteous life, because of which he suffered opprobrium (and of which he recounts in relation to the great principles that directed it), in the evils and distress that Israel had attracted upon him according to the laws of God’s government. It is not, however, a question of abandonment or rejection, for it was the part of Christ alone, as if bearing sin, and making the Atonement. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow ” Cry of distress of the faithful (Ps 70).”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.