Psalm 69:To the chief musician upon Shoshannim (Set to Lillies) A Psalm of David.
Set to the Lillies- even that blessed Lilly of the Valley and Bright and Morning Star. “Here is another gospel Psalm, not of David's troubles, but of David's Lord....” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary) It is highly probable that David thought he was speaking for himself, and this psalm no doubt was written on the occasion of one of his many times of trials. “However, the Holy Spirit also inspired David in such a way that this psalm in many parts could also apply to Christ. His footprints all through this sorrowful song have been pointed out by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, and therefore we believe, and are sure, that the Son of Man is here.” (C. H. Spurgeon) “NT writers frequently quote this imprecatory psalm. They apply its words to Jesus— (v. 9, ‘Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.’ /John 2:17; Rom 15:3 and v. 21, ‘They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.’ John 19:28–30; Matthew 27:34,48)— on the one hand; —>
and to Judas—(v. 25, ‘Let their dwelling place be desolate; let no one live in their tents.’ etc /Acts 1:20) and unbelieving Israel (vv. 22–23— ‘Let their table become a snare before them, and their well-being a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; and make their loins shake continually.’ /Rom 11:9–10)— on the other.” (Edward William Fudge)
1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. 3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God. 4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; they are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully; though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. 5 O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You. 6 Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. 7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.
Jesus was perfect. David was imperfect. “Even when, as to men’s unjust accusations, we plead ‘Not guilty’ (v. 4) yet, before God, we must acknowledge ourselves to have deserved all that is brought upon us, and much worse.” (Matthew Henry) “’Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness.’ (V. 5) Our version errs here by copying the Latin. All the first critics read the text subjunctively. ‘Thou knowest whether the accusation of folly which is brought against me be true.’ So Beza in his Psalms. Claude likewise.” (Adam Clarke)
“Let not those who wait for You, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.’ Paul taught that “He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” (Romans 9:18) Then he to the identifies those on whom He will have mercy. “For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’(cp. Ps 69:6; Is 28: 16) For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’(Joel2:32a).” (Romans 10:11-13)
“Then you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel: I am Yahweh your God and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of Yahweh shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, among the remnant whom Yahweh calls.” (Joel 2:27-32)
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children; 9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me. 10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach. 11 I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them. 12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, and I am the song of the drunkards. 13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
“‘I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children.’ Oh! how precious are these words of our Christ! And how were they all fulfilled in his own sacred person! When he ‘came to his own, his own received him not.’ And was not Jesus treated worse than a stranger, when, though their law commanded them to remember the heart of a stranger, yet of Jesus, their Brother after the flesh, they said, ‘As for this fellow, we know not from whence he is?’ John 1:10-11; Deuteronomy 10:19; John 9:29.
Christ's zeal for his Father's honor was so manifested in the temple, that the disciples were struck with it, and immediately remembered this very scripture; John 2:17. And the reproaches Christ sustained, the Holy Ghost, by his servant the apostle Paul, directly applied to Him in a plain scripture, Romans 15:3.” ” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
"“Christ never acted as one who sought His own ease or profit; He not only bore with the weakness, but with the insults, of His creatures; as it is written in <Psalm 69:9b>: ‘The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on Me’— I not only bore their insults, but bore the punishment due to them for their vicious and abominable conduct. That this Psalm refers to the Messiah and his sufferings for mankind is evident, not only from the quotation here, but also from <John 19:28-29>, when our Lord's receiving the vinegar during his expiatory suffering is said to be a fulfilling of the Scripture, namely, of <Psa. 69:21>; and his cleansing of the temple, <John 2:15-17>, is said to be a fulfillment of <Psa. 69:9>, ‘for the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up,’ the former part of which verse the apostle quotes here.” (Adam Clarke) “‘When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach. I also made sackcloth my garment; I became a byword to them.’ (10-11) That was to my reproach; they derided me for my piety and devotion, and for my faith in God’s promises, and hopes of assistance from Him.” “He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" (Matt 27:43) “‘But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time; O God, in the multitude of Your mercy, hear me in the truth of Your salvation.’ (v. 13) If we compare this verse with Isaiah 49:8, what a beautiful light will they throw upon each other. ’Thus says Yahweh, ‘In a favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land, to make them inherit the desolate heritages.'.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Comm)
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters. 15 Let not the floodwater overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut its mouth on me. 16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies. 17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in trouble; hear me speedily. 18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies. 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.
“‘Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink;’ When speaking of ‘the miry depths’, David speaks in a metaphor that reflects the hopelessness of his situation. He paints a picture of one sinking in the mud, while standing in a river. There is ‘no foothold’ in the mud, and so there is no way to reverse the sinking as the waters of the river rise. In such hopeless situations, one can only turn to the Rock of our salvation).” (Classic Christian Library) “The Reader will not fail, I hope, to recollect that the reproaches and taunts of the Jews, while Jesus hung on the cross, the desertion of all His disciples in that hour of sorrow, and the sufferings of Jesus not being finished until this last prediction was fulfilled, in the giving Him the gall and vinegar to drink; all so strikingly belonged to the Lord Jesus, as that they could belong to no ether, and plainly manifest it is of Him alone the prophet speaks.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Comm) Jesus was sure that the Father would not abandon Him to the realm of the dead. He said, “You will not let Your Holy One see decay.” (Acts 2:27)
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 Yahweh 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.
But Judas and unbelieving Israel are still in their sins. So here we finds “a series of prophetic denunciations, whereby the wicked were warned of the consequences of such wickedness as theirs, and stimulated to repentance.” (Pulpit Commentary) Here is the desperate cry of the Man of sorrows “outnumbered and overpowered by wicked enemies, calling on God (His Father) for vindication (justification) and deliverance (salvation). The Psalmist longs to see God’s wrath poured out on the wicked (v. 24), their place deserted and their tents empty (v. 25). He is sure they will have no part in God’s salvation (v. 27) but rather will be blotted out of the book of life (v. 28). God will finally hear the righteous (vv. 32–33); they and their children (perhaps He and His spiritual children) will inherit Zion (vv. 34–36). In this psalm, the end of the wicked is that they cannot be found! Their place is empty—they are not listed among the living. They are victims of the righteous wrath of God. Meanwhile, the righteous enjoy God’s salvation. The language is figurative, the style is poetic, but the meaning is clear and the message is true. We must make room in our understanding for the imagery of this psalm.” (Edward William Fudge, “The Fire That Consumes”)