Psalm 69 - Zeal for God

INTRODUCTION:

Interest:

I like stories with a twist. I love an unexpected twist in a movie plot or a fictional story. Without a twist, I find that I rapidly become bored with a story and do not remember it for very long after it is finished. This is especially true in a murder mystery story. I love it if I am unable to figure out who the murderer is until the page of the reveal…which should be ideally very near the end, preferably with an intense chase scene. Are you similar?

Involvement:

As we will see in our Psalm this morning, God is the ultimate Author when it comes to creating a story with a completely unexpected twist.

Context:

Last week our psalm was one of triumph. This week, through the arrangement of the various psalms in the psalter, we are going to step back from triumph to desperate hope for that triumph. We are going to look at a psalm that is looking for deliverance, for the twist in the story which will bring triumph from our God in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

Our psalm, Psalm 69, is another psalm attributed to David. Once again, though, that is all we know about it. It is a psalm that could have been written at many points in David’s life. It is also one of the psalms that is traditionally called an imprecatory psalm. Psalm 58, that we looked at in August was also an imprecatory psalm. Imprecatory psalms call on God to bring harm down upon the enemies of the writer. They tend to sound extremely harsh in our ears. They place the wrath of God front and center, calling for it to come upon their enemies in full.

Preview:

I mentioned last week that this psalm is the longest one in the second book of the Psalter that we are looking at in our current series through the psalms. This is a powerful psalm; one that we can well relate to because we live in a sin-broken world. Because it is so long and is one of these imprecatory psalms, I am going to have us work our way through it…fairly quickly, I hope…so that we understand it well before I have us step back and ask how it applies to our lives. I may make a few minor notes of application along the way, but for the most part the application for us will come at the end this morning.

Transition from introduction to body:

Our psalm begins with a personal lament, a cry of anguish if you will, in the first 28 verses. In these verses we observe that as believers…

BODY:

I. We cry out to God when hated by the world.

We are ever aware that we live in a sin-broken world, a world that brings pain and discomfort in many forms into our lives.

Illustration

For example, I could tell from Facebook that many of us were missing our regular gatherings with family and friends this past week; our Thanksgiving gatherings were smaller than normal. Largely that was due to concerns over COVID. Our limited gatherings were a reminder that we are still in the middle of a pandemic, itself a reminder of the brokenness of this world.

There are lots of things that remind us that the world is broken. The starkest reminder, though, for the believer is when we encounter hatred because of our faith. When we are hated because we reflect our Savior to a world that has rejected Him, that is the greatest evidence that this world is broken. We see hatred of the One who has given His life for others and experience the reflection of that hatred into our own lives.

Now, because we are blessed to live in this country, we do not regularly face open hostilities because of our faith. The model that David gives us though for facing the worst issues that come from living in this world can guide us as to how our faith should respond to all the various hurts and disappointments and pressures that we face.

Transition:

The first thing that we can see in the first four verses is that when the brokenness of this world starts to hurt,…

A. We call to God in our pain, vv. 1–4

David begins with a general cry; he compares himself to a drowning man calling out to God to save him. It takes several verses before we learn what the actual troubles are that David is facing because he begins by voicing his emotional pain.

Application

Isn’t it the case that so often the emotions generated by our situations are more significant to us than the details themselves? We hurt emotionally and that causes our minds to freeze up in anguish; we simply call out to God in our pain.

In David’s case, the pain has come because for some time he has faced fierce hatred from many people even though he has done nothing to prompt such attacks.

Look at the first four verses…<read Ps 69:1–4>.

Transition:

In the next several verses, after calling to God in our pain, the next natural step is that…

B. We tell God of our troubles, vv. 5–12

David’s issue is that he is suffering reproach for God’s sake. He is not suffering because he has sinned; he is suffering because he has not sinned. He is identified as God-fearing by those who hate God, and that identification has generated his troubles. God’s enemies are taunting David because he is identified with God. To make matters worse, it seems as if David is already down…verses 10 and 11 mention fasting and sackcloth. He is already mourning, but that does not stop those who hate him from metaphorically kicking him while he is down.

As we read verses 5–12, notice that before David describes his troubles to God, he acknowledges that God knows all David’s own sins and failures. God is all-knowing, so He knows that David has not brought these problems upon himself. David also expresses concern that other believers are not discouraged or do not suffer because of his own response to troubles.

Application

We need to remember that we are not islands unto ourselves. Everything that we do impacts the body of Christ. Our failures will bring shame and suffering on our brother and sisters as they are branded by our actions. Our failures embarrass the rest of the church before the world.

Let’s read what David writes…<read Ps 69:5–12>.

Transition:

We tell God of our troubles. Having done that, next...

C. We ask God for deliverance, vv. 13–18

Having unburdened his breast before God, David begins pressing God, knowing that help can come from God alone. Only God can rescue him, saving him from the intents of his enemies. There is an urgency communicated through David’s words. He is in a covenant relationship with God, but that relationship will provide no benefit to him if God does not act quickly. David uses the poetic image of a flood to capture the overwhelming nature of the attacks launched against him by his enemies.

Follow along as I read verses 13–18…<read Ps 69:13–18>.

Transition:

We ask God for deliverance. Having done that, it is fitting that…

D. We share with God our shame, vv. 19–21

Having just asked God for deliverance, David circles around again to express his desperate need. His enemies are mocking him. He, one of God’s people, is living in shame. The people whom he might have expected to stand with him have all abandoned him. David is alone.

Application

Can you see the emotional progression? Are you able to think of times when you have experienced a similar distress in your life? You needed God to deliver you because it seemed as if everyone else had abandoned you?

Listen to verses 19–21…<read Ps 69:19–21>.

Transition:

We share with God our shame. Having asked for deliverance and having reminded God of our shame,…

E. We trust in God for justice, vv. 22–28

David appeals to God for direct intervention in the final verses of his personal lament, his cry of anguish. As a member of God’s covenant-community there are curses that David expects to fall on those who rebel against God. God has promised wrath for those who violate His covenant. David has not violated the covenant, but his enemies cannot say the same. David wants to see clear indications that God is opposed to his enemies. His enemies do not deserve to be numbered among the covenant community, either now or throughout all eternity. Rather, they deserve God’s wrath. Justice demands that God pour wrath down upon David’s enemies.

Application

One of the things that the imprecatory psalms do for us as NT believers is that they remind us that the wrath of God is severe. We rightly focus much on God’s grace and His love, but we must not forget that both are balanced by His wrath, His holiness demands such. A holy God must be a just God and a just God must deal with all rebellion against Him as God. God’s wrath will fall on all who rebel against Him. While we may be collateral damage in that rebellion, suffering under the hands of those who hate God, we can trust that justice will come.

Listen to David’s appeal for justice, verses 22–28…<read Ps 69:22–28>.

Transition:

Do you remember when I said that I love a story with a twist? Well, so far there hasn’t been any twist in our psalm. It has progressed quite naturally. We cry out to God when hated by the world. That begins when we call to God in our pain. We tell God of our troubles. We ask God for deliverance. We share with God our shame. And we trust in God for justice. The various steps in the progression that we followed in David’s personal lament in the first 28 verses of this psalm.

It is when we come to verse 29 that the twist comes. In the final verses of this psalm, having poured out his heart to God, David teaches us that not only do we cry out to God when hated by the world, additionally…

II. We praise God when hated by the world

Giving God praise is an unexpected twist. Complaining. Grumbling. Moping. These are things that I could anticipate coming about under the pain of suffering; they resonate with me. But praising God! I did not see that coming. Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly the right response—the response of faith.

Transition:

From the rest of our psalm this morning, we can learn that there are two lines of praise to consider under the hatred of the world. First,…

A. We commit to continued personal praise, vv. 29–33

Continued personal praise. As believers there have undoubtedly been times of praise in the past. Yet, the arrival of difficulties and the encountering of hostilities have the potential of disrupting that praise. David teaches us that we must commit to continuing in our personal giving of praise. After all, God has promised salvation to us; that is personal. Our praise should match.

In verses 29–33 David recognizes that heartfelt praise is more acceptable to God than merely offering animal sacrifices. God did not want David to go through the motions of worship; God wanted David to give heartfelt worship…and David commits himself to precisely doing that. David knows that not only will his worship then be pleasing to God, but it will also encourage others to rejoice and worship God as well.

Application

Again, we need to remember that we are never an island to ourselves. When we gather for worship amid great trials and publicly praise our God, we encourage others to praise Him as well.

Listen to David as he commits to continuing his praise of God…<read Ps 69:29–33>.

Transition:

We commit to continued personal praise. That is the first line of praise that we find in the conclusion of this psalm. Our personal praise can then be combined with the second line as…

B. We envision coming universal praise, vv. 34–36

We should never be content with the amount of praise our God receives. He always deserves more. As he concludes this psalm, David envisions a coming day when even inanimate nature will join him in praise to the Lord. The day will come when God’s people will no longer experience suffering at the hands of rebels. Instead, God’s people will have rest because the entire world has joined in universal praise of God.

Verse 34…<read Ps 69:34–36>

Transition:

The twist. We cry out to God when hated by the world. Unexpectedly though, for the believer, we follow our cry with praise; we praise God when hated by the world. We commit to continued personal praise and we envision coming universal praise.

Going back to the idea of a good story plot, though, what is needed in order to make a twist work is an underlying reason, something has to come out to explain why the twist happened. Well, when it comes to the twist that we just saw in our psalm, the twist of a cry turning to praise in the face of hatred, there is a reason, a great reason: Jesus Christ. The reason that our cry turns to praise when we are hated by the world is because…

III. We cherish Christ when hated by the world.

It is quite likely that as we read through our psalm this morning, some of the verses echoed in your ears as familiar lines. Psalm 69 is the one of the most quoted psalms in the NT. David’s experience of being hated by people who hated God found its fullest expression in our Lord’s experience. In several places the NT writers take the bitter experiences of David and apply them to Christ.

We too, then should allow this psalm to point us to Christ. David did not know that the Messiah he was waiting for would be Jesus. He did not know that Jesus would die on a Roman cross as neither Rome nor the cross existed in his day. There were countless details that we can look back on, recorded now in the pages of the NT, that David did not know. But David knew that God would save him through the promised Messiah from those who hated him because he loved God. And David clung to that knowledge.

Since we know so much more about how Christ provides our salvation, we should find ourselves clinging to Christ, cherishing Christ when hated by the world.

Transition:

There are at least three specific ways in which hatred should cause us to cherish our Savior. First,…

A. We remember Christ’s experiences

All of the suffering that we experience is because of sin. Well, Christ experienced the consequences of sin to the fullest. He suffered because the world hated Him. He was God. He was righteous. He was holy. He was completely unacceptable to everyone who was in rebellion against God. He, because of who He was, experienced the full animosity of those who oppose God. Jesus was so unacceptable to those who hate God and His standard of righteousness that they demanded Jesus’ death, as painful and cruel of a death as they could possibly inflict. That was Christ’s experience.

Still, because of Christ’s experience, the author of Hebrews assures us that our Savior can sympathize with our weakness. He knows the pressure that hatred creates. He knows our feelings of discouragement and despair. He knows and He sympathizes. He knows and He strengthens. He knows and He loves. He knows what is like to go through life in this sin-broken world. He relates to our pain.

Transition:

We remember Christ’s experiences, and this causes us to cherish Him when hated by the world. Second, we cherish Him as…

B. We remember Christ’s victory

Not only does Christ relate to us, but He also provided a way for us to overcome the world. He provides the very deliverance from the oppression of this world that we so naturally yearn. His victory is something worth remembering.

Illustration

One pastor who I follow on Twitter is a history nut. Almost daily he will post some historical event: on this day x number of years ago, such and such occurred. Oftentimes he gravitates to historical battles that were fought. The army of nation X defeated that army of nation Y in the Battle of such-and-such, leading to a victory for nation X that turned the course of history.

Well, this is the Lord’s Day. On this day of the week nearly 2,000 years ago, our Savior, Jesus Christ, won the battle against sin and death. This is the Lord’s Day because we gather to remember that not only did Christ refuse to yield to the oppression of this world and sin Himself; He conquered sin. He went to the cross as the willing substitute for us. He died so that our sin could be forgiven. He walked out of the grave, having overcome sin. He ascended back to heaven in complete victory. He forgives us based on faith in His victory.

This world may continue to hate us because it hates Christ and all He is—the holy, righteous, sovereign of this world—it may hate us but it can never overcome us if we remember Christ’s victory. His victory is our victory through faith.

Application

Now, I know that there are a few listening to me who do not have faith in Jesus as Savior. Let’s call you out for what you are, you are rebels—haters of God. You may try to convince yourself that that is not really who you are, but all you are doing is lying to yourself, listening to the father of lies—the Devil, God’s archenemy. By refusing to trust Jesus for your salvation you have chosen to align yourself with the haters of God. Remembering Christ’s victory can bring no comfort to you. Yet, I want you to hear that Christ died for you anyway. He offers you forgiveness for you sins. He offers you hope for your life. I urge you to contact me so that I can tell you more about Christ’s victory.

Transition:

For all of us who have faith in Jesus as our Savior, though, we remember Christ’s victory. We cherish Christ when hated by the world.

Third,…

C. We remember Christ’s return

Our Savior is coming again. When we encounter the hatred of the world, or any other discouragement and disappointment that comes from living in this broken world for that matter, we must remember that Christ is coming again. He is coming as the glorious, victorious God and as our Savior. All of creation will praise and worship our Lord.

Application

Now, we don’t pray imprecatory prayers like David prayed because the OT imprecatory prayer was grounded in the unique covenant God had with Israel. Still, we are doing something similar every time we pray for the Lord to return. While we may not think about it, when we pray for the Lord to return, we are praying for judgment upon those who hate us because of our love for Him. We are praying for judgment to fall on everyone who is in rebellion against. God. We know that when Jesus comes every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of lords and King of kings. But they will confess that under His wrath if they meet Him in rebellion.

I am not, by any means, suggesting that we cease praying for Christ to return when we face the hatred of the world. The Bible shows us that we should yearn for His return. At the same time, the implication of what will happen to those rebelling against Him at that time should spur us to share the gospel message of forgiveness while there is still time.

Transition from body to conclusion:

We cherish God when hated by the world. We remember Christ’s return. Three specific ways in which we cherish Christ when hated by the world. We remember Christ’s experiences, we remember Christ’s victory, and we remember Christ’s return.

CONCLUSION

Psalm 69 throws us an unexpected twist, much like a good story or movie plot. We see David turn from lament to praise and from that learn to cherish Christ ourselves. All of this is in the face of the world’s hatred. So how can we put together all that we have seen this morning into a single idea? I would suggest that the surprising twist of Psalm 69 has taught us that The world’s hatred lets us magnify Christ. The world’s hatred lets us magnify Christ.

We cry out to God when hated by the world. We praise God when hated by the world. We cherish God when hated by the world.

The world’s hatred lets us magnify Christ. The world’s hatred lets us magnify Christ.