Psalms 69

Psalms 69THEME: The silent years in the life of ChristThis is a great messianic psalm. It is another psalm of David, and it is unique because it deals with the silent years in the life of the Lord Jesus. It is also called a shoshannim, or lily, psalm because He is the Lily of the Valley as well as the Rose of Sharon, and He is altogether lovely. Next to Psalms 22 it is the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. Psalms 22 deals with the death of Christ; Psalms 69 deals with the life of Christ. I was drawn to this psalm when I was a student in college, and from that day to this it has been a favorite of mine.

Psalms 22 is number one on the Hit Parade of the New Testament as far as quotes go, and Psalms 69 is second on the Hit Parade. It is quoted in the Gospel of John, in Romans, in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Acts. Very candidly, I think there are many references to it which are not actual quotations. It is classified as an imprecatory psalm because verses Psa_69:22-28 are what is known as an imprecatory prayer. Yet from that section the New Testament writers often quoted. This psalm tells us about the silent years of Christ’s childhood and young manhood, of which the Gospels tell us practically nothing. Dr. Luke tells us about an incident in the life of our Lord when He was twelve years old, and then we learn nothing else about Him until He is about thirty years old. What about that period of time? This psalm fills in some of the details. We see some of Christ’s dark days in Nazareth and His dark hours on the cross. His imprecatory prayer is actually a cry for justice. This is the psalm of His humiliation and rejection. We begin with him way up north at Nazareth. We hear the heart sob of a little boy, a teenager, a young man:

Psalms 69:1

Notice how he suffered. His physical suffering on the cross was bad enough, but I think some of the things He suffered in His life on earth were almost unbearable. I am confident that multitudes of us would have ended our lives if we had gone through what He did during His lifetime. But none of the ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed; Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through Ere He found His sheep that was lost. (“The Ninety and Nine” Elizabeth C. Clephane) During our Lord’s last three hours on the cross he became the Lamb of God that took away the sin of the world. It was then that He was made sin for us. Although He suffered all during His lifetime, as we shall see, there is no salutary or saving value in those sufferings as far as we are concerned. He took the place of humiliation, and He took it voluntarily. The limitation of Christ as a human being was a self-limitation. You and I would like to know more than we now know; we would like to expand our knowledge and our understanding. In contrast to this, when the Lord Jesus became a man, He contracted Himself, He humbled Himself. In this state He cries out:

Psalms 69:2

These are the floods of suffering which started when the Lord was born in a stable, which was probably part of an inn. The stable was a better place to be born because no one could see what took place that night except the cows, the oxen, and the sheep. They were better than the leering crowd that filled the inn. But in the stable He began His life in suffering. Now we go to Nazareth where He was brought up. We are told:

Psalms 69:3

During those thirty years there were times when His eyes were red with weeping. The next verse tells us why.

Psalms 69:4

This verse is quoted in Joh_15:25, “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.” The Lord quoted this verse and applied it to Himself. The enemies of the Lord hated Him without a cause; that is, there was no justification for their hatred. Rom_3:24 says, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Being justified freely is the same as being justified without a cause; the Lord did not find any merit in me. The Lord didn’t say, “That fellow McGee down there is such a nice fellow, I’ll justify him.” You can be sure he didn’t say that! Rather, He said, “He is a poor lost sinner.” He justified me without a cause within me. Now this psalm tells us that they hated Jesus without a causethey hated Him without a cause that I might be justified without a cause. What a wonderful truth this is!

Psalms 69:5

How in the world can this verse apply to the Lord? You must remember that He came to earth as a human being. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. But the last few hours on the cross He became sin for us. That was the thing He was resisting in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed, “Let this cup pass.” What cup? The cup of sin, which was my cup and your cup of iniquity. The sin that was put upon Him was awful for Himit comes naturally for usbut because He was holy, His suffering was terrible.

Psalms 69:6

There are two reasons He is bearing this: (1) They hated Him because of who He was, the same way the sinner hates the righteous person today. (2) He came to take a lowly, humble place on earth.

Psalms 69:8

This verse tells me a lot I would not know otherwise. Mary had other children, which confirms the record in the Gospels. Perhaps one day her boys, Judas and Joses, said to her, “Mother, we heard somebody down the street talking, and they said that Jesus is not really our brother. They said that nobody knows who His father is.” He became an alien unto His mother’s children. Do you think it was a happy home in which he was raised? It may have been a very unhappy home. Note how it reads: “An alien unto my mother’s children"not His father’s children because Joseph was not His father. He was “an alien” because they were half-brothers and half sisters. You see, this verse teaches the virgin birth of Christ.

Psalms 69:9

This is a verse which our Lord also quotedin reference to the temple. In the temple the Lord found men who sold oxen, and sheep, and doves for offerings. He also found money changers there. He made a scourge of small cords and drove them all out. “And [he] said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (Joh_2:16-17). My, these men were religious and as busy as termites; in fact, they were doing just about as much damage as termites would. Oh, they were busy, but they were far from God.

Psalms 69:10

When He would fast or weep, His brothers would ridicule Him for it. They would tell Him that He was just putting on an act.

Psalms 69:11

Do you know what that proverb was? The word that circulated around was that He was illegitimate. You know what people would call Him today.

Psalms 69:12

Those who are “sitting in the gate” are the high officials of the town, the judges. You see, the best people in Nazareth also spoke against Him. Nazareth was a little town that would not accept the Lord Jesus because it would not believe the fact that He was the Son of God. “I was the song of the drunkards"the drunkards at the local bar made up dirty little ditties about Him and His mother. This was His life in Nazareth. It was not nice. Do you know why He endured all of this? He was raised in a town where He was called illegitimate in order that I might be a legitimate son of God. There is nobody in heaven who is going to point a finger at Vernon McGee and say that he is not God’s son. Do you know why? Because the Son of God bore that for me on the cross; He paid the penalty for my sins. My friend, you have no notion what He endured for thirty years in order that you might have a clear title as a legitimate son of God.

Psalms 69:13

This verse is quoted in 2Co_6:2 which tells us, “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” The Gospel records tell us that our Lord prayed, but this psalm tells us what He prayed:

Psalms 69:14

We see His distress but also his assurance of deliverance and victory. Neither the deep nor the pit could hold Him. He was saved out of them. The next two verses tell of our Lord’s dark hours on the cross:

Psalms 69:20

This, now, is His imprecatory prayer:

Psalms 69:22

This is quoted by Paul in his Epistle to the Romans: “And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway” (Rom_11:9-10). Now there are some folk who consider the imprecatory prayers unchristian. But since it is quoted in the New Testament in reference to those who have rejected Christ, I see nothing unchristian about it. I feel that the imprecatory prayers have been greatly misunderstood. When we put them back into the position where they belong, we see they are judgment being pronounced upon the lost.

Psalms 69:25

This is quoted by Peter in Act_1:20 in reference to Judas Iscariot.

Psalms 69:26

“Let them be blotted out of the book of the living” raises a question. There has been a great deal of debate on Rev_3:5 which says, “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” Apparently there is the book of creation, and when we are born we are recorded in that book"Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psa_139:16). Also there is a book of life for those who are saved. And there is the book of works. It would seem that the blotting out has to do with the works of the person who is already saved. There is no suggestion of a name being blotted out of the book of salvation.

There have been many other explanations for this passage. Another one is this: When you are born, you are put in God’s book of the living. I take it that you are a candidate for salvation. When you are blotted out of that book, you have crossed over the line and are no longer a candidate for salvation. Now here in Psalms 69 the “book of the living” is obviously the book of creation; and “not be written with the righteous” means that they will not be written in the book of salvation. This psalm ends with a glorious song of praise.

Psalms 69:30

The first time the Lord came to earth He came in humiliation. He is coming back to earth in exaltation. Those on earth will be the redeemed onesthey are the only ones that will be on this earth. And the only ones who will be in heaven are the redeemed. Friend, there are just two kinds of people in the world today. There are lost people and saved peopleredeemed sinners and unredeemed sinners. You can distinguish quite easily which group you are in. Then there is a verse about God’s poverty program.

Psalms 69:33

God is going to bring justice to this earth some day, but justice will not be realized until He returns.

Psalms 69:34

What a Hallelujah chorus this will be when everything that moves praises Him!