Hello, my friend. Thank you for your prayers. God is faithful when our trust is in Him alone. He is able!
Our PSALM 69 for today contains some very serious concerns of this young King David, some of which are very appropriate for us. He expresses his despair in the first verses, where he so dramatically describes his condition, feeling he was sinking in the miry depths where there is no foothold. I’m sure most people have had those experiences where they felt they were in deep waters and (vs.3) were worn out calling for help, eyes failing, and hearts desperate. While David admits he is a sinner (vs.5), he senses the anguish of such loneliness, feeling he is (vs.8) a stranger to his brothers, an alien to his own mother’s sons. And we can see that much of his problems came about because of his zeal for the Lord (vs.9). And there are so many believers who have experienced this very sense of rejection, of condemnation from their own households because of their love of the Lord and the Word.
David continues in the next verses, “I am in trouble! (vs.17). And the following verses are startling in David’s expression of anger against his enemies, calling down God’s special wrath on them. He even says, “May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.” But then we breathe a sigh of relief when he comes back to his place of refuge, beginning with vs. 30, when he says, “I’ll praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving…this will please the Lord more than sacrifice…for the poor will see and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts live!” And he says finally, “The Lord hears the needy and He does not despise His captive people.” How this Psalm reflects the mood swings we all sometimes have, and it also gives a strong evidence of David’s intimate relationship with the Lord as he pours out his heart without hiding or without pretense.
I think we can see how the prevailing tone is prayer for deliverance from suffering for the Lord’s sake. John Walvoord in his commentary points out how parts of the psalm were applied to the life of Christ: “people’s hatred for him (vs.4) as in John 15:25, ‘This is to fulfill what is written in their Law: They hated me without reason.’ And His zeal for God, (vs.9), as referred to in John 2:17, ‘His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ We can see how this Psalm is in a sense typological of Christ’s suffering, being a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.” This is a window in the life and love of our Lord.
“We pause, Lord, seeing how this ancient king’s suffering was in a small way like yours on the Cross, dying for our salvation. Thank you for your faithfulness to us, all the day long. May your presence bring great encouragement to some Village E-Link today who may sense a keen loneliness and hurt. You are able. We trust in you.”
Thank you, my friend, for being along. I’m thankful. Cheerio!
These meditations on the Psalms were written by Village Schools of the Bible Founder, Monty Sholund and first published in book form as Monty’s Musings on the Psalms in 2000. Copies are available for $10 and can be ordered here.
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