Considering the Bible

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 69 is a psalm of sorrow, of apparent defeat and deep emotional stress, of a distress in the heart and of being overwhelmed, of a weariness of soul, and of a waiting for an answer from God. It is a psalm that speaks of loneliness, of disappointment and of extended trials.

As we venture through the psalmist’s deep confession, his pain and his sorrow, we will encounter passages that will be referred to in the New Testament, providing a recounting of the sorrow of Jesus.

Psalm 69:22 Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
Psalm 69:23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.
Psalm 69:24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them.
Psalm 69:25 May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.
Psalm 69:26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
Psalm 69:27 Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you.
Psalm 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

Difficult. This passage is simply very difficult to understand. How can we understand this passage that appears to be praying for vengeance, pain, judgement and suffering on those who are the psalmist’s foes. This passage just seems to be so human, so judgmental, so full of seeking God to punish others.

Let’s consider verse 26 first, try to understand the reason for this prayer, and then return to this general understanding of the passage as a whole

Psalm 69:26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.

A long time ago, a Bible teacher I listened to would always remind me to ask the question, “What is the “therefore” there for in a passage? A similar question can be applied for verse 26. What is the “for” there for?

When a sentence starts with “for”, it indicates purpose or reason for the statement to follow. We could replace “for” with “because’, or “since” or “seeing”. The psalmist is giving us the reason for his complaint, for the seeming vicious judgement he wishes would pour down on his adversaries.

Ok, grammar lesson over, and let’s consider why the psalmist is praying for judgement to be unleashed on others.

Two reasons

1. They persecute him whom you have struck down

The first reason for this judgement to be sought after was that the enemies persecuted the author who was already at a low point, one who was under difficult times.

Per Strong’s concordance, this term of persecution may principally communicate a chasing after the victim, hunting the victim down, pursuing him and causing him no rest. The enemy is chasing the psalmist, even while he is at his weakest point, with God having struck him down.

Let’s be clear here. Two actions are being described here.

God has “struck” this saint down. The term speaks of being smitten, beaten, scourged, destroyed punished, even killed. This is no slight inconvenience on the psalmist!

On top of this, the enemy, seeing advantage in the psalmist’s weakened condition, continues chasing him, persecuting, harassing him.

No relief! Constant pressure!

2. They recount the pain of those you have wounded

Beyond this physical suffering of the saint, the second reason for our psalmist to seek judgement on his foes is that they speak of his pain, of the action of God on his life, on those who are under the hand of God.

After understanding our first reason, the persecution of man and smiting of God, this recounting of suffering seems to be somewhat insignificant. It is simply the telling of a condition the saint is under.

But consider. Being under the hand of God, and having everyone know about it due to someone speaking of it, only doubles the pain. There have been times where I have been the topic of gossip, the recounting of a “truth” that was not very positive about my life. The sting, the embarrassment, the hanging of my head, only helps me to identify with this reason for vengeance. In my heart and head, I have to admit I sought damage on those spreading “truth” about me, about God’s displeasure of me.

Consider this condition in a shame based culture like the Old Testament saint lived in. Multiply the sense of dread and embarrassment many fold, and then the effect may approach the truth of this saint’s condition.

Ok, so we have considered why the psalmist is praying this prayer regarding his enemies, and throughout this short study, I have implied that the psalmist wishes (or prays for) judgement to fall on those who persecute him and speak of his troubles. This may very well be true.

Yet a possible approach to this difficult portion of Scripture may be that the psalmist is recounting what he expects to happen as the just recompence of the outworking of the law on his enemies.

Let me explain.

Yes it appears the psalmist has evil intent, that his heart is full of hatred on his enemies, and this may be the correct interpretation. There are many times in the Word where we see the sinful side of man being exposed, recorded for our learning (and warning).

But I do pause on this way of approaching this passage, only due to the way the apostles considered verse 25.

Psalm 69:25 May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.

Luke writes of Peter reaching back into this psalm in referring to Judas end condition.

Acts 1:20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “‘Let another take his office.’

Therefore, let’s recount the end of Judas.

Judas, by all accounts, took his own life, shortened his life, and caused his “camp” to be desolate. He left this world with no descendants, and the prayer of the psalmist found fulfillment in a disciple of Jesus.

This action of Judas was self inflicted, for the last thing Jesus did towards Judas was call him “friend”.

Matthew 26:50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

Might the psalmist be speaking of the decisions and lifestyle of the enemy causing the judgement of God to be passively worked out in their lives?

Maybe. Maybe not. Simply a thought experiment for my reader to consider.

Yet this passage does speak of the judgement rightly deserved on those who persecute the Righteous One, the One who was smitten and struck down, wounded for our sakes. Verse 26 speaks of One who suffered, of One who was weakened and gossiped about, Who was taken advantage of, persecuted, smitten and scourged. He suffered, accepting this suffering, taking the pain, the shame and the judgement. He was placed in a tomb, by Himself, under the social stain of the “truth” of his legal conviction by the state.

Judgement should rightly fall on those whose heart and mind would have joined those who condemned Him. Judgement should rightly fall on me.

But He is a Savior like no other, and His substitution on my behalf is a fact I cannot get over, nor wish to. May His name and not mine, be honored today.

His name is Jesus, and He is beyond all explanation and understanding.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.

Follow Considering the Bible on WordPress.com

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 69 is a psalm of sorrow, of apparent defeat and deep emotional stress, of a distress in the heart and of being overwhelmed, of a weariness of soul, and of a waiting for an answer from God. It is a psalm that speaks of loneliness, of disappointment and of extended trials.

As we venture through the psalmist’s deep confession, his pain and his sorrow, we will encounter passages that will be referred to in the New Testament, providing a recounting of the sorrow of Jesus.

Psalm 69:19 You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you.
Psalm 69:20 Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.
Psalm 69:21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

It has been said that this passage is amongst the deepest pleas for mercy in the Old Testament. David is hitting rock bottom, and expressing a complete helplessness and hopelessness, a condition that repeats the first few verses but has the sense of a deeper exposing of the grief and despair of the subject.

Reproach

Reproach is a common refrain in this psalm.

Psalm 69:7 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face.
Psalm 69:9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
Psalm 69:10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.
Psalm 69:19 You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you.
Psalm 69:20 Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.

The Hebrew term is חֶרְפָּה cherpâh and includes the concepts of disgrace, rebuke and shame.

Shame

This is the only occurrence of shame in this psalm, and the Hebrew term is בֹּשֶׁת bôsheth. This term includes the concepts of confusion and shame, and is associated sometimes with idols, the object of shame for an Israelite. Shame, for the modern world is such that it is ignored, an emotion that is considered to be rejected as opposed to accepted and trained from. How often has our modern society taken a topic that is shameful, even just decades ago, and turned the topic into a discussion of those brave to enter into a shameful life decision. This rejection of the painful emotion of shame is not to anyone’s benefit. We, as a modern society have lost much honor by rejecting shame in our society.

The Hebrew culture was a shame based culture, and to be inflicted with shame was to enter into a condition that may effectively remove you from the social order, from business associations, from family and loved ones, who sought to uphold the social fabric of their community.

Shame, when accepted due to sinful activities performed by the subject, should produce repentance and possibly allow for reentrance in to the social order. At the very least, right living after repentance would be the fruit of accepting and responding to shame in a godly way.

On the other hand, shame laid on a person due to libel, gossip, slander defamation and lies is not something that can be responded to by the victim. Repentance is not necessary, or even available as a tool to repair the damage. The lies and vilification of the enemy stick to the victims character, and even in the best situations, some of the slander will never be removed from the social conscience.

Dishonor

Our third term is the Hebrew word כְּלִמָּה kᵉlimmâh, and it is mentioned twice within our Psalm.

Psalm 69:7 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face.
Psalm 69:19 You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you.

This term includes the concepts of insult, reproach, shame, confusion and ignominy.

As you have read through this short study, I am sure you have recognized the three terms we have looked at all describe the basic concept of shame.

David was experiencing a depth of shame in his condition that bared repeating in three different shades of meaning. For a king of Israel, the man after God’s own heart, to experience shame within the culture should speak volumes to the modern believer. It is not always the way of the Christ to walk in apparent honor within the social order, though we are not to bring the shame upon ourselves or family, or the church by willful sin and rebellion. Yet our enemy may fling accusations and slander to create the illusion of dishonor on our lives. Let us remember the counsel of Peter in regards to suffering, even of undeserved shame.

1 Peter 3:14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,

1 Peter 3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Of course, we are to look to the Master in all areas of our life, and as David poured out his heart, helpless in his circumstance, we too may also cry out to the One who hears, and can restore in His time. For of all those who have walked this earth, He alone has suffered the greatest undeserved shame.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.

Follow Considering the Bible on WordPress.com

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 69 is a psalm of sorrow, of apparent defeat and deep emotional stress, of a distress in the heart and of being overwhelmed, of a weariness of soul, and of a waiting for an answer from God. It is a psalm that speaks of loneliness, of disappointment and of extended trials.

As we venture through the psalmist’s deep confession, his pain and his sorrow, we will encounter passages that will be referred to in the New Testament, providing a recounting of the sorrow of Jesus.

Psalm 69:16 Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
Psalm 69:17 Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
Psalm 69:18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies!

David has bared his soul, revealed his troubles, the threat on his life and kingdom and admitted to his inability to find strength in himself. He has spoken of his humbling in front of his enemies, and the apparent success they bore over him. How it looked for all watching that he had trusted in error. His faith had been directed towards a God who was not able to answer.

How terrible for a saint to go through the appearance of One you have boasted of, and yet experience the appearance of His failing to save. The sting of disappointment cuts to the core, along with the raising of questions in the mind, the self doubt in the heart and the “lostness” the saint may experience.

David has but one thing to say to His Master.

Answer me. The boldness of this saint to demand an answer is beyond my experience. Yes, I have been through difficult times, but I fall into the “Why”, category of prayers. In reflection, this response to difficulty be asking “Why, why why” is the sign of a self indulgent prayer, concerned with my life as opposed to the honor of God!

David needs answers, and he is speaking to God from the most inner core of his being, demanding a response, knowing even in this apparent failure, that God is steadfast in His love, and that He is good. This is foundational for David, an unshakeable truth that he depends on and reminds God of, as he struggles through this prayer.

He hinted in his appeal to God’s nature in a previous verse.

Psalm 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

By the time we are three verses later, David has dropped the acceptable time option and is simply appealing to the Lord’s steadfast love and mercy.

He repeats similar demands throughout this small portion of the Psalm

Answer me

We have spent a moment on this demand, yet a moment more. To speak “answer me” is to demand an accounting from One of their inactivity, to direct One to pay attention to the state of the situation, and is to imply that the One spoken to has lost focus, is distracted, and possibly has lost interest.

David is so bold before God, yet his appeal is to the Lord of all creation, and not some vengeful, arrogant, sensitive, insecure cultural deity. He knows to whom he is speaking!

Hide not your face

For God to hide His face is a study that needs to be addressed at a later time, in a separate post or series of posts, for my readings have provided amazing implications.

For the purposes of this posting, and as a generality, God would hide His face due to His people forgetting Him. It was a way of expressing the discipline of God on His people, especially in times of prosperity for the people of God.

But let us consider the modern day believer. For the saint in the New Testament, God has provided the promise of never hiding His face.

Ezekiel 39:29 And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

Yet we know that the believer is sometimes disciplined by God.

Hebrews 12:5-6 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

He has promised to not hide His face, and yet we turn from Him.

We turn from Him. His face is towards us in the Savior Jesus, and yet we turn from Him.

Draw near to my soul (Redeem me)

David, after all his confessions, his admission of weakness, his declaration of the trials he is going through, the injustice that he recognizes, in all of this whirlwind of distractions and tribulations, he calls on God to draw near to him.

What?

Are we not to draw near to God? Are we not the ones who are to initiate the process of closeness to God, of repentance and confession? Yes James makes that abundantly clear.

James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

David has spent the previous verses drawing near to God through confession of his sin and inability to solve his trials. He has admitted he is not in control, and that he has no other hope than in God.

Now, he is only expecting that which a millennium later James so succinctly put together for us.

But get this – David speaks in the imperative. For those like myself that aren’t grammar nerds, that speaks of a command, even an order. David may be telling God …

I am broken before you. I am helpless. But You are of a constant and steadfast love. It is who You are O Lord! Now your faithful response O God, is to draw near to me, to my very soul.

David knew his Master. He knew his God and His nature in that He is abundant in mercy, steadfast in love, that his God is a saving God, and that His love is good.

Yes – He is good!

May those who know the Lord confess always and only that He is good!

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.

Follow Considering the Bible on WordPress.com

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 69 is a psalm of sorrow, of apparent defeat and deep emotional stress, of a distress in the heart and of being overwhelmed, of a weariness of soul, and of a waiting for an answer from God. It is a psalm that speaks of loneliness, of disappointment and of extended trials.

As we venture through the psalmist’s deep confession, his pain and his sorrow, we will encounter passages that will be referred to in the New Testament, providing a recounting of the sorrow of Jesus.

Psalm 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
Psalm 69:14 Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.
Psalm 69:15 Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.

The psalmist turns to prayer for deliverance. After describing the pit of trials he is experiencing, he draws his attention to the only One who can provide deliverance.

After describing men in the earlier passage as those who disapprove of him, as those who throw reproach and shame upon him, David now looks to the One who rightly may show disapproval. Yet David knows the God he serves. He emphasizes the impossible when he writes of God and His

..abundance of His steadfast love

Recall that for God to have steadfast love is to describe His faithfulness in the midst of rebellion. Steadfast love was often translated in older versions as mercy or even pity. The term used is חֶסֶד cheçed and is closely equivalent to our term grace in the New Testament. Also embedded in this term is the concept of commitment, of covenant keeping. I am sure when I mention that God is the ultimate keeper of covenant, my reader will heartily agree!

And yet David goes beyond simply speaking of the cheçed of God, but adds the superlative of abundance. He appeals to the abundance of mercy, faithfulness, love and commitment of God in this prayer. He is looking to the One who is NOT like the men he has just described, throwing reproach and shame on his life. No – God is different, and to that difference, David appeals!

David prays for deliverance. He has described those who are against him previously, and now uses pictures of mire, of the deep, of a flood and of the pit (grave) to emphasize his hopelessness.

Each of the pictures he uses are overwhelming situations that provide no hope of self rescue. Only an outsider could provide the deliverance required, and thankfully David knew His God as One who was fully committed to His cause, including his own life and kingdom.

How much more for the greater Son of David, and how this prayer may have contained the same spirit of desperation for Him as He prayed in the garden. God exercised an abundance of steadfast love to the Savior in delivering Him up from the grave, and shedding the salvation to the world.

Are you in a place where there is no self preservation, no way to find strength or rescue within yourself. Be it known that in this condition, you need to reach out to the One who is abundant in steadfast love.

His name is Jesus, and to follow Him is to know the love of God.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.

Follow Considering the Bible on WordPress.com