Psalm 69 Commentary
David uses various images to describe his sad state of affairs. He is stuck in the mud; the waters have come up to his neck; his eyes fail, looking for his God, and his throat is parched, calling out for help.
The psalmist experiences pain and suffering. And he is innocent! Strange. The theology that saints cannot experience suffering is not only strange but anti-scripture.
“Many are my enemies without cause,” says David. They hate him without reason. But I think we understand. “The insults of those who insult you fall on me.” This psalm gives us a balanced view of suffering.
The saint in the correct gear and at a good level can still experience suffering on account of his relationship with God. Suffering because righteousness is absent is normal and well understood. Suffering because righteousness is present calls for maturity and a higher level of spirituality.
Outsiders pride themselves on getting things done by themselves and for themselves by any means necessary. Laziness aside, the saint’s faith and belief that the LORD provides is a source of ridicule.
Out there, men boast about their wealth while laughing at the saint’s “non-starter” methods. It can be painful. They mock the saint’s trust in God.
“But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.”
Deliver me from the evil one. David seems to take up the Lord’s Prayer perfectly.
We know the psalmist is suffers for taking sides with the Creator God. He tastes what the LORD Jesus would go through at Calvary. He looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but found none. It was a lonely trip. He was given vinegar for his thirst.
But the story doesn’t end there. God’s fierce anger overtakes the God-haters. Their eyes are darkened, and their place of advantage is deserted. The smart ones aren’t smart at all.
For their malicious damage to God’s set plans, they are charged with crime upon crime. When God says yes, they say no. They persecute those who say yes. They shall not share in God’s salvation – their names blotted out of the Book of Life.
In the meantime, the psalmist decides to praise God. It is a fitting reaction to persecution. And the saint can rest secure in the hope of a renewed life. A new Garden of peace and tranquility, under the perfect throne of the Lamb of God. Evil will have been destroyed, alongside the evildoers.
An easy pick from today’s psalm is the saint’s vision of a renewed life under the perfect rule of Christ. The confusion and false success are all temporal. It will come under judgment at some point.
The saint can trust the LORD to bear him up in moments of intense trouble, but let him understand that it is the LORD’s will to subject him to this kind of life.
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