Psalms 69:19-36
19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of heaviness;
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
24 Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute the ones You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity,
And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,
And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.
33 For the LORD hears the poor,
And does not despise His prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
And build the cities of Judah,
That they may dwell there and possess it.
36 Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it,
And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
This is a song of both a broken heart and of praise. It speaks both of the Messiah to come and everyone of God’s people. The reproach and dishonor of the suffering servant are clear here, but also the suffering of the psalmist and we who are descendants by the faith of Abraham. They gave figurative gall and vinegar to the king who was the anointed and chosen ruler of Israel, and they later gave these literally to our Lord upon the cross (Matthew 27:34-35). The enemies of God and His Anointed are the enemies of His people as well, and they share in the sufferings of reproach and dishonor. These will be ensnared on their own traps and scattered in their blindness of disbelief and disobedience. The imprecatory prayer is for God’s wrath on the unrighteous who set themselves against the anointed, that iniquity would be added to their iniquity, piled up for judgment (1 Corinthians 6:9, Revelation 22:11, Romans 2:5, 2 Peter 3:7). The unrighteous enemies of Christ will face judgment. Those who are His chosen people will find mercy through grace in His righteousness. This is why the psalmist confessed in verse 29 that he is poor (in heart) and sorrowful. He is penitent for his sin, and hopeful in His deliverance, his salvation, as we are in Christ. This is the same Messiah and same message of good news from the first mention of covering our sin in Genesis 3:15 in which we are saved. We look to the promise on a cursed tree as the people of God bitten by serpents as of sin in the wilderness, saved through trust in God’s work lifted up as Christ on the cross. Therefore we also sing praises and exalt God’s name in thankful songs day and night (Psalm 42:8, 77:6). Our humble worship brings gladness because we live in Him and seek His face forevermore. We know that He hears us and does not despise the prisoners of sin which He has set free. This is why both Heaven and earth (and everything living on it) praise Him! Like the king, we have assurance that God saves His people and will have a place for us to dwell in eternally. We the descendants of faith inherit these things. We who love His name will live there forever before His face. Hallelujah and Amen!
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