PSALMS LESSON 68
We will now begin by giving the Psalms of David in metre for
chapter 69.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 69
Verse 1 "O God, preserve me, for the foods Do so encompass me, That
even to my very soul Come in the Waters be."
Verse 2 "I downward in deep mire do sink, Where standing there is
none, And into waters deep have come, Where floods have o'er
me gone."
Verse 3 "I weary with my crying am, My throat is also dried; My sight
decays while for my God I waiting do abide."
Verse 4 "The men who do without a cause bear hatred unto me, Ev'n
than the hairs upon my head In number more they be."
Verse 5 "They who are wrongful enemies, And seek my soul to slay Are
great in might; then I restored What I took not away."
Verse 6 "O God, my folly and my sins Are not concealed from thee. Let
none that wait on thee be shamed, Lord God of hosts, for
me."
Verse 7 "O Lord, the God of Israel, Let none who seek thy face Be
ever made to suffer shame Because of my disgrace."
Verse 8 "For I have born reproach for thee, My face is hid with
shame. To brethren strange, to mother's sons An alien I
became."
Verse 9 "Because the zeal did eat me up Which to thy house I bear;
And the reproaches cast at thee Upon me fallen are.
Verse 10 "I wept and fasted in my soul, And that was to my shame; When
I with sackcloth clothed myself, A by-word I became."
Verse 11 "The men who sit within the gate Against me evil spake; They
also that vile drunkards were, Of me their song did make."
Verse 12 "But in a time accepted, Lord, My prayer is to thee; In thy
salvation's truth, O Lord, In mercy great hear me."
Verse 13 "Deliver me out of the mire, And me from sinking keep; Free
me from those that do me hate, And from the waters deep."
Verse 14 "Let not the flood on me prevail, Whose water overflows; Nor
deep me˙swallow, nor the pit Her mouth upon me close."
Verse 15 "Thy loving-kindness, Lord, is good, My prayer therefore
hear; Turn thou to me, for every great Thy tender mercies
are."
Verse 16 "Nor from thy servant hide thy face; I'm troubled, soon
attend. Draw near my soul, and it redeem; Me from my foes
defend."
Verse 17 "To thee is my reproach well known, My shame and my disgrace;
Those that to me are enemies Are all before thy face."
Verse 18 "My heart is broken by reproach, My soul is full of grief.
I looked in vain for those who would give pity and relief.
Verse 19 "They also bitter gall did give To me instead of meat; they
gave me vinegar to drink. What time my thirst was great.
Verse 20 "Before them let their table prove A snare; and do thou make
Their welfare and prosperity A trap themselves to make.
Verse 21 "Let thou their eyes so darkened be, That sight may them
forsake; And let their loins be made by thee Continually to
shake.
Verse 22 "Upon them, Lord, thy fury pour, Them seize in anger great;
And in their tents let no one dwell, Their homes be
desolate.
Verse 23 "For they have persecuted him, Whom thou didst smite before;
And to the grief of those they talk Whom thou hast wounded
score.
Verse 24 "Add thou iniquity to all Their former wickedness; And do not
let them come at all Into thy righteousness.
Verse 25 "And from the book of life let them Be blotted out by thee;
Among the just and righteous ones Their names not written
be.
Verse 26 "But now become exceeding poor And sorrowful am I: By thy
salvation, O my God, Let me be set on high.
Verse 27 "The name of God I with a song Most cheerfully will praise;
And I, in giving thanks to him, His name will highly raise.
Verse 28 "And to the Lord an offering More pleasing this shall prove
Than sacrifice of any beast That hath both horn and hoof.
Verse 29 "When this the humble men shall see, It joy to them shall
give: O all ye that do seek the Lord, Your hearts shall over
live.
Verse 30 "For God the poor hears, and will not His prisoners contemn.
Let heaven, and earth, and seas him praise; And all that
move in them.
Verse 31 "For God will Judah's cities build, And Zion he will save,
That they may dwell therein, and it In sure possession have.
Verse 32 "And they that are his servants' seed Inherit shall the same;
So they shall have their dwelling there Who love his
blessed name.
We will begin now in the verse by verse study of the 69th Psalm.
Psalms 69:1 "{To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, [A Psalm] of
David.} Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto [my] soul."
In this whole chapter, we will see the Son of God portrayed, as
well as David. Not in every verse will He be shown, but in nearly
every verse. Watch, with me, as we begin this study, and see if you,
too, can not see the Lord.
In this very first verse, we can see Jesus in the garden of
Gethsemene praying so earnestly to the Father for the cup to pass from
Him that sweat of blood was on His forhead. There was at this moment a
flooding of His soul. I believe the dread was for that one terrible
moment, when the Father would turn from Him. We, also, see David in
this, crying to God to save him. Christians all over the world are
crying this same cry now. God, please do not turn from us. Our souls
are troubled.
Psalms 69:2 "I sink in deep mire, where [there is] no standing: I
am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me."
Have you ever been to the point that you thought, if God does not
intervene today, I will not be able to stand any longer? The more you
attempt to do what is right, the deeper in the mud you get and the
higher the problems come up like a raging river. If help does not
come, you will go under.
Psalms 69:3 "I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine
eyes fail while I wait for my God."
Jesus prayed three times for the cup to pass. He submitted His
will to the will of the Father. David is crying desperately to God. I
have felt this same despair in my Christian ministry. It is as if
there is no strength left in you to fight with. Waiting sometimes can
be a painful experience.
Psalms 69:4 "They that hate me without a cause are more than the
hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, [being] mine enemies
wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored [that] which I took not away."
More than anyone else who ever lived, Jesus was hated without a
cause. Truly those opposed to Jesus were more than the hairs of His
head. Jesus had done nothing to harm any of these people who were
against Him. Jesus went around doing good. He healed the sick, cast
out devil spirits, and raised the dead. Jesus bought salvation for
even those who rejected Him, if they would repent and turn to Him.
Paul was among those opposed to Jesus, until the face to face
encounter with Jesus. It was not just the worldly people who were
opposed to Jesus, it was the church people along with the world. There
was Rome, there was just the average citizen , and there were the
scribes and the pharisees, as well. It gives us some consolation, when
we are undergoing so much opposition {trying to do good}, that our
Lord suffered much more persecution than we could ever stand. David
felt this same opposition, and some of it from his own family.
Psalms 69:5 "O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are
not hid from thee."
This Scripture does not apply to the Lord at all. He was
completely without sin. It does, however, apply to David and to us.
David made some foolish mistakes with Bathsheba. We have done things
we wish we could take back, too. We may be able to hide from the
world, but we can not hide from God. He knows even every evil thought
we have ever had. Praise God! My sins are forgiven.
Psalms 69:6 "Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts,
be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for
my sake, O God of Israel."
This does not apply to the Lord, either. Jesus did not have short
comings. I have thought myself, Lord, please do not let my short
comings cause anyone to have reason to fall away from you. The non-
believer is watching every move you make trying to figure out
something that he can ridicule Christianity for. Weak Christians are,
also, looking to find some reason why it is alright for them to go
back into the world. Some will go so far as to say, I told you it was
not real. In both of these cases, this is someone who does not have
the right relation with God. If we have the right relation with the
Lord, the following Scriptures are true in our life. Romans 8:35 "Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? [shall] tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword?" Romans 8:36 "As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all
the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Romans
8:37 "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him
that loved us." Romans 8:38 "For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come," Romans 8:39 "Nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Psalms 69:7 "Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame
hath covered my face."
Jesus bore our sin upon His body on the cross. He was not guilty
of sin, we were. Jesus went around telling the truth, and it made the
religious people of His day angry. Their religion offered regulation.
His message brought hope. Jesus came to the Jewish people first, and
they rejected Him. We can not put all the blame on them, however. Our
sin really brought Jesus to such shame. It was our sin that He took on
His body that caused the shame to cover His face.
Psalms 69:8 "I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an
alien unto my mother's children."
Jesus half-brothers and sisters did not accept Him for who He
said He was, until after He rose from the grave. Notice, {mother's
children}. Joseph was the father of the rest, but Jesus' Father was
the Holy Spirit of God.
Psalms 69:9 "For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and
the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me."
This zeal, spoken of here, is the keeping of the letter of the
law. These people, in authority in the temple, had been taught by
Gamaliel. They knew the letter of the law, they did not know the
lawgiver. Those who had said ugly things about God and His temple are
now turning that anger to the Son of God. They are trying to stop
Jesus. If the temple had been a threat to them, think what greater
threat it would be for the powerful ministry of Jesus to come against
them.
Psalms 69:10 "When I wept, [and chastened] my soul with fasting,
that was to my reproach."
Jesus was accused no matter what He did. He really did not need
food. At one point He told the disciples that He had food that they
knew not of. He was not speaking of physical food, but of spiritual
food. When Jesus joined in and ate with the others, the people called
Him a glutton and a winebibber. They were never satisfied, they were
just looking for anything to accuse Him of. Jesus had no reason to
fast. This particular part of the verse, possibly, has to do with
David.
Psalms 69:11 "I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a
proverb to them."
When a person was dedicated to prayer, it was the custom to wear
sackcloth and not eat. This showed total separation from the world. It
was saying, that the world and all it has to offer were not important.
Psalms 69:12 "They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I
[was] the song of the drunkards."
Just about the worst thing there is in a community, is the corner
where those without work hang around. Gossip is traded regardless of
whether it is true or not, and most of the time it is not true. Some
people get their thrills by trying to tear someone else down.
Gossipers are house wreckers, not builders. This is saying, that even
the drunkards are in on this gossip.
Psalms 69:13 "But as for me, my prayer [is] unto thee, O LORD,
[in] an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me,
in the truth of thy salvation."
Jesus did not ask for mercy from the authorities. David is not
going to earthly authorities for help, either. He is praying to the
Lord for help. The acceptable time for salvation is today. Jesus came
to this earth at the appointed time and showed God's great mercy for
mankind. There is salvation in no other.
Psalms 69:14 "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." Psalms 69:15 "Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let
the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me."
David is crying to God to deliver him. The children of Israel
cried this same cry, when they were in the mud in Egypt making brick
as slaves. You and I cry this, too, in a world that is about to drown
us in the sin and filth all around us. Sometimes it feels as if we are
about overcome. That is when we must cry the harder to the Lord to
deliver us. The pit could be speaking of hell, as well. Without Jesus
Christ, our Lord and Saviour, we would be headed for an eternity in
that very pit. He came and saved us.
Psalms 69:16 "Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness [is] good:
turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies."
Psalms 69:17 "And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in
trouble: hear me speedily." Psalms 69:18 "Draw nigh unto my soul,
[and] redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies."
Turn unto me and help me, not because I deserve it, but because
you are kind. Thy mercy, Lord, is sufficient for me. Isn't it strange
how we can relate so closely to what David is saying here, and he
lived thousands of years before us? We all cry, help, I am in trouble.
Questions 68
1. What message do we see spiritually about Jesus in verse 1?
2. What was the dread that Jesus had?
3. What is the condition of the true Christian around the world
today?
4. Have you ever been to the point that you thought, if God does not
intervene today, I will not be able to stand?
5. How many times did Jesus pray for the cup to pass from Him?
6. Waiting sometimes can be a _________ experience.
7. They that hate me without a cause are more than the ______ __ __
____.
8. Who, in all of history, could say this and it be the most
truthful?
9. Who were those opposed to Jesus without cause?
10. What brings some consolation to us, when we are being persecuted
unjustly?
11. Who lived completely without sin?
12. What was one of the foolish mistakes David made?
13. What do Christians have reason to praise God about pertaining to
their sin?
14. Who is watching every move the Christian makes, besides God?
15. Read aloud Romans chapter 8 verses 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39.
16. Jesus bore our sin upon His ______ upon the cross.
17. What made the religious people of Jesus day angry with Him?
18. When did Jesus' half-brothers and sisters believe who He really
was?
19. Why does verse 8 say, alien to my mother's children?
20. What is the zeal in verse 9?
21. They knew the letter of the law, they did not know the ________.
22. When Jesus ate, what did the people call Him?
23. What was the food that Jesus said He had, that the disciples did
not know about?
24. When a person had totally dedicated themselves to prayer, what did
they wear?
25. What is verse 12 all about?
26. Who is our salvation in?
27. Did David ask for help of those around him?
28. What are the Christians, in the world today, about to drown in?
29. Turn unto me according to thy ________ _______.
30. Do you find it strange that we relate so closely to the problems
of David?
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