Exploring Psalm 69
Hosanna! This Hebrew word means, "Save me!" In another place it is the call of a large group of people to Christ. We look to Him for God's salvation, and we are right to do so, even in the deepest distress. In Psalm 69, it is the call of a single psalmist, perhaps David, crying out to God. The words that he uses here remind us of a later prophet, Jonah. (Read Jonah 2) Jonah remembers his cries from the overwhelming waters after he was thrown into the deep. The fish that God appointed was a help to him, an agent of the Lord's rescue, and the beginning of something new for Jonah. Here in Psalm 69, the psalmist is looking for deliverance from God in the most desperate situation. Anyone who lives a full life in this age of challenge and opportunity will face something that is at least in some small way like this; a desperate moment, or even a desperate season of life that does not seem to end. The psalmist is sinking into a pit like Jeremiah, another later prophet; no clean water to drink, and eyes fool of tears, eyes that are hurting for the appearance of God and for God's deliverance.
The trouble that the psalmist faces is not impersonal but massively personal. His enemies are more than the hairs on his head, and they hate him without a cause. This phrase is quoted in John 15:25 and applied to Jesus Christ: "They hated me without a cause." The psalmist faces mighty lying foes who want to see him dead, and he has to pay a debt that he did not incur. He says, "What I did not steal must I now restore?" This is what God has done for us in Christ. We have incurred a great debt to God because of our sins, and Christ has paid that debt through His blood.
The Lord knows what is in our hearts and our lives; He is aware of our foolishness and our sin. He knew David, and He knows us. He also knew His Son Jesus, but in Him there was no foolishness or sin. His Father spoke from heaven about how well-pleased He was with His Son. Since that is the case, how would Christ have been able to sings verses 5 and 6 of this psalm? He would have been able to meditate on the greatness of the knowledge of His Father, who surely would have known of any evil in His Son, of which there was none. He also could have considered His own willingness to take upon Himself the burden of our sin on the cross, and how His Father would see all of our sin on Him on that day when God would send His wrath upon His beloved Son for our sake. He pleads for us, knowing that all of our covenant hopes are in Him as the servant of the Lord on our behalf. It is absolutely critical that He not fail in the great trial before Him, or we will be lost.
Why has this one Servant of God become the enemy of so many? He sings to God about this. He says that it is for God's sake that He is hated. Those who hate the Lord have found a ready target for their mockery in this chosen Servant. He has a zeal for the Lord's house in both the Old Covenant expressions of the tabernacle, and later the temple (though beyond the days of David), but then especially the coming church comprised of Jews and Gentiles, and most especially the resurrection kingdom of God united perfectly with the resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ. Zeal for this house consumes this suffering Servant, and drunkards have made it their joke. Even His brothers act like they don't know Him. The more He is consecrated to God, the more He is hated by men.
This Servant of the Lord turns toward God at this time, and He looks for His deliverance at an acceptable time. He pleads the steadfast covenant love of God for Him, and renews His plea for help, for the presence of God, and for God's deliverance. Death is often called a pit in the Scriptures. If God's Servant is lost in death forever, there would be no hope for us. It of great importance to us that His suffering pleas be heard at just the right time.
We know from other Old Testament passages that this Servant of the Lord must actually die. It cannot be that like Isaac, He comes off of the place of sacrifice, and a ram in the thicket takes His place. There is no other Lamb that will do. Therefore His deliverance must come beyond death. Just as Abraham raised His hand, ready to sacrifice His only Son, we must reason with Him that God is able to raise the dead; that while the servant of the Lord will taste death, God will not leave His Holy One in the grave forever. This deliverance will be past the point of death. In fact, details about the death of Jesus we now know to have been hidden in this psalm. "They gave me sour wine to drink." There were no comforters for Him, and no pity.
We know from the story of Acts 2 that there were those who had been somehow responsible for the sufferings of the Messiah; people who later found mercy through faith in Christ. The way to mercy can only come through a true faith and repentance. For those who will not call upon the Name of the Lord, those who persist in hating God and His anointed Servant, there is no other expectation than the curses of the covenant falling upon them. It is still today a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; to be among those who have rejected the One who took our pain, to turn away from Him, only to face eternal indignation and punishment in a place from which there can be no acquittal.
There is a better way. There is one who faced the pain and affliction that we deserve. He cried out to His Father, and He was heard. He asked for salvation, not because He had sin. What was it for this servant to be saved? He tells us plainly in verse 29: "Let Your salvation, O God, set me on high!" We know that He suffered death for us. There was no other way. Yet He was set on high. He has risen from the dead, and even ascended into heaven, where He reigns and is known by all who fear and love the Lord. Even now, we worship God through Him, and He is alive on high. Our worship, though feeble to us, is perfected through Him, and has become perfectly acceptable to the Father. We praise God in song through Jesus Christ. We offer up thanksgiving through Him. All true worship is acceptable only through this Mediator.
This is a tremendous help to those who suffer now. We who have humbled ourselves, recognizing our desperate condition and finding our consolation only in the perfections and mercies of our Redeemer, we see something. Verse 32 says, "the humble see it." What do we see? We see Jesus, who cried out to the Father; by faith we see Him now at the right of the Majestic One in glory. We see that He has been set on high, and we know that our destiny is in Him. Our hearts revive even now, knowing that God hears the cries of the afflicted, and that He brings heavenly glory to His children. Though evil men and angels might despise us, though we are the taunting song of some, "the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners."
If this at all seems questionable today to you, Your courage is said to come from looking to the One who cried out and was heard, and who now has been set on high, far above every other name that is named in heaven or on earth. If You are assaulted by doubts, remember that if You are truly in Him who died for Your sins and was raised again for Your justification, then all Your questions will be entirely cast away one day. It is the Lord's settled intention that heaven and earth will praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. God will save His Zion forever, and build up the cities of the new resurrection world, and people shall dwell there and possess it; the offspring of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His name shall dwell in it."
The trouble that the psalmist faces is not impersonal but massively personal. His enemies are more than the hairs on his head, and they hate him without a cause. This phrase is quoted in John 15:25 and applied to Jesus Christ: "They hated me without a cause." The psalmist faces mighty lying foes who want to see him dead, and he has to pay a debt that he did not incur. He says, "What I did not steal must I now restore?" This is what God has done for us in Christ. We have incurred a great debt to God because of our sins, and Christ has paid that debt through His blood.
The Lord knows what is in our hearts and our lives; He is aware of our foolishness and our sin. He knew David, and He knows us. He also knew His Son Jesus, but in Him there was no foolishness or sin. His Father spoke from heaven about how well-pleased He was with His Son. Since that is the case, how would Christ have been able to sings verses 5 and 6 of this psalm? He would have been able to meditate on the greatness of the knowledge of His Father, who surely would have known of any evil in His Son, of which there was none. He also could have considered His own willingness to take upon Himself the burden of our sin on the cross, and how His Father would see all of our sin on Him on that day when God would send His wrath upon His beloved Son for our sake. He pleads for us, knowing that all of our covenant hopes are in Him as the servant of the Lord on our behalf. It is absolutely critical that He not fail in the great trial before Him, or we will be lost.
Why has this one Servant of God become the enemy of so many? He sings to God about this. He says that it is for God's sake that He is hated. Those who hate the Lord have found a ready target for their mockery in this chosen Servant. He has a zeal for the Lord's house in both the Old Covenant expressions of the tabernacle, and later the temple (though beyond the days of David), but then especially the coming church comprised of Jews and Gentiles, and most especially the resurrection kingdom of God united perfectly with the resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ. Zeal for this house consumes this suffering Servant, and drunkards have made it their joke. Even His brothers act like they don't know Him. The more He is consecrated to God, the more He is hated by men.
This Servant of the Lord turns toward God at this time, and He looks for His deliverance at an acceptable time. He pleads the steadfast covenant love of God for Him, and renews His plea for help, for the presence of God, and for God's deliverance. Death is often called a pit in the Scriptures. If God's Servant is lost in death forever, there would be no hope for us. It of great importance to us that His suffering pleas be heard at just the right time.
We know from other Old Testament passages that this Servant of the Lord must actually die. It cannot be that like Isaac, He comes off of the place of sacrifice, and a ram in the thicket takes His place. There is no other Lamb that will do. Therefore His deliverance must come beyond death. Just as Abraham raised His hand, ready to sacrifice His only Son, we must reason with Him that God is able to raise the dead; that while the servant of the Lord will taste death, God will not leave His Holy One in the grave forever. This deliverance will be past the point of death. In fact, details about the death of Jesus we now know to have been hidden in this psalm. "They gave me sour wine to drink." There were no comforters for Him, and no pity.
We know from the story of Acts 2 that there were those who had been somehow responsible for the sufferings of the Messiah; people who later found mercy through faith in Christ. The way to mercy can only come through a true faith and repentance. For those who will not call upon the Name of the Lord, those who persist in hating God and His anointed Servant, there is no other expectation than the curses of the covenant falling upon them. It is still today a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; to be among those who have rejected the One who took our pain, to turn away from Him, only to face eternal indignation and punishment in a place from which there can be no acquittal.
There is a better way. There is one who faced the pain and affliction that we deserve. He cried out to His Father, and He was heard. He asked for salvation, not because He had sin. What was it for this servant to be saved? He tells us plainly in verse 29: "Let Your salvation, O God, set me on high!" We know that He suffered death for us. There was no other way. Yet He was set on high. He has risen from the dead, and even ascended into heaven, where He reigns and is known by all who fear and love the Lord. Even now, we worship God through Him, and He is alive on high. Our worship, though feeble to us, is perfected through Him, and has become perfectly acceptable to the Father. We praise God in song through Jesus Christ. We offer up thanksgiving through Him. All true worship is acceptable only through this Mediator.
This is a tremendous help to those who suffer now. We who have humbled ourselves, recognizing our desperate condition and finding our consolation only in the perfections and mercies of our Redeemer, we see something. Verse 32 says, "the humble see it." What do we see? We see Jesus, who cried out to the Father; by faith we see Him now at the right of the Majestic One in glory. We see that He has been set on high, and we know that our destiny is in Him. Our hearts revive even now, knowing that God hears the cries of the afflicted, and that He brings heavenly glory to His children. Though evil men and angels might despise us, though we are the taunting song of some, "the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners."
If this at all seems questionable today to you, Your courage is said to come from looking to the One who cried out and was heard, and who now has been set on high, far above every other name that is named in heaven or on earth. If You are assaulted by doubts, remember that if You are truly in Him who died for Your sins and was raised again for Your justification, then all Your questions will be entirely cast away one day. It is the Lord's settled intention that heaven and earth will praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. God will save His Zion forever, and build up the cities of the new resurrection world, and people shall dwell there and possess it; the offspring of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His name shall dwell in it."
posted by Pastor Magee at 4:29 AM
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