Yesterday we heard King David’s cry to God for help, as he faced intense scorn, shame and humiliation for his faith in God, and we thought about it as a picture of how we share in the sufferings of Christ. Today we hear him continue to pour out his heart to God.

19 You know my reproach, my shame and disgrace.
All my adversaries are before You.
20 Insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found no one.
21 They poisoned my food with gall
and gave me vinegar to quench my thirst.

22 May their table become a snare;
may it be a retribution and a trap.
23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.
24 Pour out Your wrath upon them,
and let Your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute the one You struck
and recount the pain of those You wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity;
let them not share in Your righteousness.
28 May they be blotted out of the Book of Life
and not listed with the righteous.

29 But I am in pain and distress;
let Your salvation protect me, O God.
30 I will praise God’s name in song
and exalt Him with thanksgiving.
31 And this will please the LORD more than an ox,
more than a bull with horns and hooves.
32 The humble will see and rejoice.
You who seek God, let your hearts be revived!
33 For the LORD listens to the needy
and does not despise His captive people.

34 Let heaven and earth praise Him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
that they may dwell there and possess it.
36 The descendants of His servants will inherit it,
and those who love His name will settle in it.

REFLECTIONS

As I said yesterday, many Christians find verses 22-28 difficult. Is it appropriate to call on God to pour out his wrath on those who persecute us? I have a strong internal reaction against that.

Some people try to solve it by saying, “This is the message of the Old Testament, but Jesus and the New Testament preach love and forgiveness.” The problem with that argument is that the New Testament quotes Psalm 69 more than almost any other psalm – including the difficult verses (Acts 1:20 about the death of Judas, Romans 11:9-10 about the Jews who rejected Jesus).

Actually, as I reflected on it, it dawned on me that the key to approaching this psalm as a Christian is not to try to distance it from Jesus. It’s to tie it as closely as possible to Jesus – to hear it as his prayer to his Father, not the prayer of any unworthy sinner like me. If I was to pray this on my own merits – “Pour out Your wrath upon them … May they be blotted out of the Book of Life” – I would only be condemning myself. Who am I to ask God to condemn anyone to hell while asking him to forgive me for my stupid sinfulness?

As Christopher Ash says in his commentary on Psalms: “In verses 22-29 the king prays – as only a righteous king can pray – for justice to be done.” Ultimately this can only be the prayer of Jesus – who also prayed, as they crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). I don’t have the wisdom to sift hearts and decide who the prayer of Psalm 69 is for – but Jesus does. And when he returns in glory and all the dead are raised for judgment, Jesus’ prayer for final justice will be fulfilled, with rejoicing and praise for the humble who turned to him for forgiveness, and wrath for those who defiantly refused.

So how can we pray this Psalm? Only in and through Jesus – we can and should long for God to judge and to save, to bring his perfect justice, while we leave the details to our righteous, wise and loving king Jesus. In fact, that’s what we do every time we pray, “Your kingdom come”: we’re asking God to make all things right by bringing sinners to repentance and salvation, and also by judging the arrogant and defiant rebels against his kingship.

Why not pray now for God to bring the final justice of his kingdom? And ask him to help us “live holy and godly lives” to speed the day of Jesus’ return (2 Peter 3:11-12).