Bible Commentaries

We shall read together at this time a part of the 69^th Psalm, and afterwards two passages in the New Testament. Although there is no doubt that this Psalm is intended to describe a very large class of sufferers, but we think it never had its full meaning perfectly carried out, until our blessed Lord and Master suffered at the hands of men. We shall read the Psalm believing that it is full of Christ. It is absolutely certain that we have references here to his advent, his passion, and his resurrection.

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, a Psalm of David.

Psalms 69:1. Save me, O God; for the waters are come into my soul.

The waves have not only teased the bank, but they have dashed over the bulwarks, and there is a flood within, as well as a flood without.

Psalms 69:2. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.

We had this text explained to us last Friday night, when the traveler told us he saw a man sink in the mud, almost swallowed up by it, till by a very desperate grasp of the beat he made his escape. Christ was, as it; were, sucked in by the great deeps of his afflictions, as if he would be swallowed up quickly.

Psalms 69:3. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried:

He had been so long in the garden in that awful agony, with strong crying and tears.

Psalms 69:3-4. Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: him now in the street being led away to Mount Calvary; a vast multitude has congregated there, all eager to see him die.

Psalms 69:4. They that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty:

They have the Roman soldiers at their backs, while the mob applauds them.

Psalms 69:4. Then I restored that which I took not away.

Christ did not take away our innocence, nor our safety, nor our honour, but he restored them all to us. He hath made us clean; he hath made us accepted in the Beloved; he hath put a crown of pure gold upon our heads, and set our feet upon a rock.

Psalms 69:5. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.

These words are not applicable to our Lord, except so far as they may refer to our foolishness and to our sin, which we know were all laid on him; except that one commentator says that he is here speaking according to the manner of the people. They called him foolish; they charged him with sin, but he appeals to heaven, “Lord, thou knowest whether I have been foolish, whether I have any sins or not.” In that sense we might apply it literally to the Saviour.

Psalms 69:6. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those who seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

“Let not the shame of my cross destroy their faith; grant unto them such confidence in me that they may take up thy cross daily, and follow me: that they may even learn to say with my apostle, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Psalms 69:7. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

It was for his Father’s sake, that he might bring honour to Jehovah, that he thus suffered reproach. “Shame hath covered my face”—that face which is brighter than the sun, and which angels desire to gaze upon.

Psalms 69:8. I am become a stranger unto my brethren,

“Peter says he knows me not; all of them have forsaken me.”

Psalms 69:8-9. And an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Every hard word that was spoken of the Father fell upon the Son: the iniquities which were rebellions against Jehovah all fell upon the Man of Nazareth.

Psalms 69:10. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.

That was scandal unto them.

Psalms 69:11. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb unto them.

Just as Michael said of David, “How glorious did the King of Israel become in the eyes of his handmaidens.” out of mockery, so did they reproach Christ, “How glorious was the King of Israel, so daintily arrayed in a peasant’s robe, or stripped naked upon his cross.”

Psalms 69:12. They that sit in the gate speak against me;

The judges who there dispensed justice, the merchants who there trade their wares, the idlers who were there to loiter, to hear the news, these speak against me.

Psalms 69:12. And I became the song of the drunkard.

They made ballads of him, we may understand that to mean; they issued lampoons; every now and then there came out a caricature.

Psalms 69:13-14. But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude or thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Think you hear your Master as he silently prays this prayer in the streets of Jerusalem; the mob is hooting, but he is praying; women are weeping, and he is weeping, too.

Psalms 69:15-20. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for if am in trouble: hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies. Thou hast known my reproach and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.

Reproach hath broken my heart. This is one of the most extraordinary verses in Holy Writ.

Psalms 69:20-21. And I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Now, let us read the incidents in the history of Christ, of which this Psalm is a sort of prophecy and exposition.

This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 69:1-21. Mark 15:15-23. Luke 23:26-33.