What the rejection of the Messiah meant to Him.
The title of Psalm 69 identifies its human author as David1 but provides us with no historical context or background. Nor are there any internal clues to enable us to fix the time or circumstances in David’s life which occasioned the writing of the psalm.
The introduction to the psalm
Not all the details of the psalm can be regarded as receiving their fulfillment in our Lord Jesus. For example, there are David’s frank acknowledgement of personal sin (v. 5) and his fierce plea for the destruction of his persecutors (vv. 22-28; contrast with Lk. 23:34; 1 Pet. 2:23). Some of the sentiments must therefore refer only to David himself and not to his greater—and greatest—Son!
And yet, much of the psalm does point forward to the person of our Lord Jesus. Indeed, the New Testament cites no less than six distinct prophesies in Psalm 69 which have been literally and accurately fulfilled in connection with the Saviour. As we will see, material was excavated from this quarry by the apostles Matthew, John, Peter, and Paul, by the gospel writer Mark, and even by our Lord Himself.
Outline of the psalm
The present predicament of the psalmist (vv.1-21) The future prospect for the psalmist (vv.22-36)
The cry: “hear me” (vv.13, 16, 17) The confidence: “the Lord hears” (v.33)
This section divided by “But as for me” (v.13)—literally, “But me” This section divided by “But I”(v.29)—literally, “But me”
The reproach and hatred stated (vv.1-12)
The prayer against the background of reproach and hatred (vv.13-21)
The prospect for the psalmist’s foes (vv.22-28)
Prospect for the psalmist, the humble-poor and all creation (vv.29-36)
Note the points in common:
The waters, mire, hatred, and enemies (vv.1-4) – The waters, mire, hatred, and enemies (vv.14-18)
“You know” (v.5) – “You know” (v.19)
Three-fold reproach (vv.7, 9, 10) – Three-fold deliver me/let me be delivered (vv.14, 18)
The feeling of being very much alone (v.8) – The feeling of being very much alone (v.20)
The psalm begins with sinking but ends with singing. It progresses from prayer to praise, from reproach to rejoicing, and from humiliation to glory.
The portrait of the Lord Jesus
Psalm 69 has little to say of our Lord’s physical suffering or His suffering for sin. It focuses rather on the reproach and ridicule to which He was exposed 2—on what He suffered from man and not for man.
Although there may well be other allusions to the sufferings of our Lord3, we will confine our study to those predictions which are specifically said by the New Testament to have been fulfilled.
“Zeal for Your house…” (v. 9a; Jn. 2:174). The sacred precincts of His Father’s house had been desecrated by a money-making market known as the Bazaar of the Sons of Annas. Our Lord gathered up several lengths of discarded rope, twisted them into a rough whip, and sprang into action. He drove out the sheep and oxen, with their sellers, poured out the coins of the money-changers, and ordered out those who sold doves. “Out …out …out!” (Jn. 2:14, 16) Our Lord’s manifest zeal and consuming passion for God, His house, and His glory, brought this verse to the disciples’ minds. “If it be the defilement of His Father’s house, He will let zeal consume Him; if it be His own wrong at the hand of some Samaritan villagers, He will suffer it, and pass on.”5 (See Luke 9:51-56.) Blessed Saviour!
“Those who hate Me without a cause…” (v. 4; Jn. 15:25). The Lord Himself quotes this verse in John 15. He spoke there to His disciples of the world’s hatred, which would be directed at them, “ for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me” (v. 21), for He in turn had come in His Father’s name (Jn. 5:43). If He had not spoken His words to them and done among them the works which none other had done, they should not have been responsible for the sin of rejecting Him. But now they had no excuse (Jn. 15:22-24a). “Now,” He concluded, “they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled…They hated Me without a cause” (vv. 24b-25).
They had no just cause for their hatred of Him. He had done nothing to deserve it. The word translated “without a cause” is the same as that rendered “freely” in Paul’s description, “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). Just as there was nothing good in us to merit our justification, so there was nothing evil in Lord Jesus to merit men’s hatred.
“The reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on Me” (v. 9b; Rom. 15:3). In the context, Paul is exhorting the saints to thoughtful and considerate behaviour (Rom. 14:1-15:7). Those whose faith is more robust, Paul argues, ought not despise the scruples of “the weak,” but to bear with them—not pleasing themselves (Rom. 15:1). “Let each of us please his neighbour for his good, leading to edification,” the apostle adds, pointing us immediately to the supreme Example, “ for even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.’” Our Lord Jesus never put His own interests first. He willingly endured man’s hostility and taunts which were directed properly towards God.
“Let their dwelling place be desolate; let no one live in their tents” (v. 25; Acts 1:20). Peter quotes these words with reference to Judas Iscariot. Verses 22 to 28 of Psalm 69 speak prophetically of the fate of those responsible for the rejection and death of the Lord Jesus. But because Judas collaborated with them, he involved himself in their fate. Peter therefore saw words which are plural (“their dwelling place”) fulfilled in Judas: “Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it.” Following the suicide of Judas, the Jewish priests bought a field with the betrayal money, which was later put to use as a cemetery (Mt. 27:7-8), which would, of course, never be inhabited by any living person.
“They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (v. 21; Mt. 27:34, 48; Mk. 15:23; Jn. 19:28-29). A small quantity of gall—a bitter and poisonous plant—included in a drink would serve, in part at least, to deaden the sense of pain, as would a drink spiced with myrrh. Our Lord declined the wine mingled with gall (Mt. 27:34), refusing to have His senses dulled in any way when He faced His sufferings. But He gladly accepted (indeed, requested) a drink of vinegar—of sour wine (v. 48). Although in Psalm 69, giving vinegar to drink was an act of malice, at the cross of our Lord Jesus, it was an act of compassion.
“Let their table become a snare…Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see” (vv. 22-23; Rom. 11:9-10). These words depict the sequel to our Lord’s rejection, particularly for the majority of the nation of Israel. To Paul, the unbelief of the nation raised the question, “Has God cast away His people?” (Rom. 11:1) Never! Their rejection is neither total (vv. 1-10) nor final (vv. 11-25). Nothing can defeat God’s purpose, and, in the present, this purpose is safeguarded by “a remnant according to the election of grace” (v. 5). But what of the rest of the nation (v. 7)? With his eye in part on verses 22-23 of Psalm 69, Paul speaks of their spiritual blindness. Having earlier chosen not to see, now, in God’s just judgment, they cannot!
Endnotes
1 This is confirmed for us by the apostle Paul (Rom. 11:9).
2 We know from His comments to Simon the Pharisee that our Lord felt the insults of men very keenly (Lk. 7:44-46).
3 For example, verses 1-4, 8, 12, 20 and 29.
4 We owe to John the fact that both the first and the last Old Testament prophesies explicitly said to be fulfilled in the public ministry of our Lord came from Psalm 69:9 in John 2:17, 21 and in John 19:28-29.
5 J. G. Bellett, A Short meditation on the Moral Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ (Stow Hill Bible and Tract Depot, 1963), p. 9.