THE REPROACHES OF JESUS.
Psalm 69:7-18.
PSALM 69:7. This is a cry akin to ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ (cf. Psalm 22:1). Of course, we are aware that it was for OUR benefit, OUR salvation that Jesus died. But even before that, it was for the glory of God: that He might be seen to be both ‘just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (cf. Romans 3:26).
For our sakes, and for our salvation, Jesus bore our shame, and suffered for our transgressions. He ‘became sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
PSALM 69:8. Even His mother’s other children became strangers to Him in that day. His disciples (for the most part) scattered from Him. He was alone on the Cross.
PSALM 69:9. “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” This is not fanaticism, but a thoroughgoing honouring of God. The first half of the verse is recognised in the New Testament as applicable to Jesus’ cleansing of the temple (cf. John 2:17).
Also, the Apostle Paul recognises Jesus’ commitment to the will of God in the second half of the verse (cf. Romans 15:3).
PSALM 69:10. It was as if everything that Jesus did became an excuse for further reproach from His haters. Even those over whom He wept were determined to destroy Him.
PSALM 69:11. David certainly wore sackcloth, but this may also be metaphorical, for are never told of Jesus wearing sackcloth. The meaning would then be that He was ‘acquainted with grief’ (cf. Isaiah 53:3).
“And I became a proverb to them.” The ‘man of sorrows’ (cf. Isaiah 53:3) received no comfort, but was rather the subject of malicious scorn.
PSALM 69:12. The gate of the city was the seat of judgment. Jesus was judged by an illegal court in the middle of the night. He was reviled, lied about, and plotted against by His own people.
“And I was the song of the drunkards.” This foreshadows the mocking of ‘the soldiers of the governor’ in the common hall (cf. Matthew 27:27-30), amongst others.
PSALM 69:13. We see a breakthrough here, as Jesus directs His prayers to the covenant “LORD.” With Jesus, there would always be a ‘fulness of time’ (cf. Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:10). When we submit with Jesus’ ‘not my will but thine be done’ (cf. Luke 22:42), or even ‘into thy hands I commit my spirit’ (cf. Luke 23:46), we are acknowledging God’s “acceptable time.”
For us covenant “mercy” (grace), and “truth” leading to “salvation, are found in our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. John 1:17). And that is all because of what He went through for us upon at the Cross (cf. Psalm 85:10).
PSALM 69:14. “Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink.” Jesus turns His lament into prayer (cf. Psalm 69:2). Let me be delivered from “them that hate me,” and out of the “deep waters.”
PSALM 69:15. And He continues, Let not “the waterflood” overflow me; neither “the deep” swallow me up; and let not “the pit” shut her mouth upon me.” All metaphors for death, and separation from the people of God.
PSALM 69:16. The Psalmist, speaking also for our Lord Jesus Christ in all His sufferings, and ourselves in ours, now makes his appeal to the “lovingkindness” of the LORD. A good old covenant word for the faithful covenant God. Even upon the Cross, Jesus was still aware of the tender mercy of the LORD. ‘Forsaken’ as He might deem Himself to be (cf. Psalm 22:1), yet He still longed for, and hoped for - and knew He would yet see - the multitude of His compassions.
PSALM 69:17. Yes, Jesus longed to see the light of God’s countenance. And no dark valley lies before us except that Jesus has gone through it before us. The straightforward phrase “I am in trouble: hear me speedily” has an urgency about it: but we know to whom we may look. “Speedily” speaks to the fact that God will rescue us, deliver us, save us from trouble, in the exact right time: neither a minute to late, nor a minute too early.
PSALM 69:18. There is an assurance, and a reassurance. God will “draw nigh unto my soul;” He will “redeem;” He will “deliver me because of my enemies.” Yes, we will be delivered from those who “hate” us for loving Jesus (cf. Psalm 69:14).
