Psalm 69
After Psalm 22, Psalm 69 is referred to in the New Testament more times than any of the others. John 15:25 quotes Psalm 69:4 as the fulfillment of Christ’s experience of being hated “without cause.” The disciples remembered verse seven of this passage as being fulfilled when Jesus cleansed the temple: “Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up” (see John 2:17). The reproach and shame of Christ were predicted in Psalm 69:7 and 9 (compare Romans 15:3).
Christ as Surety for the human race is presented in Psalm 69:4: “Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it.” A surety is a bondsman, one who places money or possessions in behalf of another who has been legally charged with a crime, but awaits his trial. The bondsman in placing his money or possessions, makes himself responsible for the failure of the person charged with a crime to show up for trial. Christ as our Surety pledged His life for the failure of mankind. He became responsible for Adam’s failure. He pledged Himself to restore that which He had not done.
Christ took the place of Adam as the Federal Head of the human race. He took Adam’s sin in which He had no share that Adam and we might partake of His righteousness. Christ ran the fearful risk of losing everything in undertaking the work of redeeming man. He became us in all things that we might be saved. Our sins became His because He became our Surety.
Christ experienced what the sinner experiences to the fullest extent, when weighted down with sin and guilt. As He “was made to be sin” He felt what we feel when we give in to sin. He knows true sorrow for sin.
When Adam sinned against known light, the entire race that was to come from him was doomed to condemnation and everlasting destruction. Had Adam died then as he should have, you and I would never have seen the light of day. But God had a plan for us. He made Himself responsible for man’s failure. He became Surety for the whole race. This is the reason why “we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death …” He became “the Lamb slain from he foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). The altar of sacrifice and the promise of redemption were placed side by side in the beginning (Genesis 3:15; 4:4). Each sheds light on the other concerning Christ and Him crucified.
In the psalms the Holy Spirit speaks in the person of Christ. In several He testifies in clear words that Christ has sin—our sin. These are the words of a suffering Christ as He was “made” to be guilty for the sins of the world; as He was “made to be sin” itself for us! He is the second and last Adam. He became the Head of a race that willed to sin.
Psalm 69 begins with a figure of calamity:
“Save Me, O God! for the waters have come up to My neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow Me. I am weary with My crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for My God” (verses 1-3).
Then verse 5: “O God, You know My foolishness; and My sins are not hidden from You.” What a picture of Christ here, repenting and confessing sin! In this is our assurance. In Christ’s repentance, in Christ’s confession our repentance, our confession is complete. After confessing your sins as thoroughly as you know how, have you wondered if your confession was good enough?
After asking an audience that question I observed the tear streaked faces of a man and his wife and heard their answer: “Yes, every day!” I pointed out that our confession of sin falls short in and of itself. But thank God there is One that did not. Your sincere heartfelt repentance and confessions are made complete in Christ’s perfect repentance and confession. He took our sins and repented of them and confessed them as if He had committed them. Never in any way did Christ sin. If He would have sinned, there would be no hope for us or for Himself. But our sins were laid upon Him. He was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:4-6, 12). Christ and Him crucified means Christ crucified for us.
Another practical aspect is found in this psalm.
Were you ever rejected by close friends or relatives? In verse 8 we read the prophetic word concerning Christ’s non-acceptance by immediate family members. “I have become a stranger to My brothers, and an alien to My mother’s children.” Family members became enemies of the cross of Christ! These did not know what Christ was doing. At one time they thought He had lost His mind. As they learned of some of Christ’s activities of ordaining His twelve disciples and of healing the sick, Mark recorded their reaction: “But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is out of His mind” (Mark 3:2).
About one year before Christ was crucified, His brothers mocked him with unbelief. A “shaking” occurred within the followers of Christ. Many left Him. In Judea Jews sought to kill Him and He departed from there and returned to Galilee. At the time of the Feast of Tabernacles Christ’s brothers in unbelief said “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the work that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world” (John 7:3, 4). John added, “For even His brothers did not believe on Him” (verse 5). Christ’s enemies included members of His own household. But there is some good news.
Calvary made peace within that family. It created friends out of enemies. As far as a person in his carnal state is concerned, the cross is totally foreign to him. The natural man hates the cross. There are no friends of the cross. But the cross creates faith. It makes friends out of enemies. Jesus’ own brothers who hated Him became His friends through the cross. We find them listed among the disciples who gathered together in the upper room in Jerusalem after Jesus ascended to heaven (Acts 1:14). One of His brothers, James, became the presiding leader of the early church (Acts 15:13; Galatians 1:18, 19).
If there are problems of alienation and animosity in your family, consider studying the closing scenes of Christ’s life together and see if the cross will unite the family again. The cross is the great center of attraction for the world. It makes friends out of enemies. It creates hope. The cross is a revelation of God’s goodness and grace to us while at the same time it caused infinite grief to Him and to His Son Jesus Christ.
Because Christ was made to be sin, the mental anguish from sin broke His heart. Psalm 69:20, 21 reveals to us that experience: “Reproach has broken My heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, and there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.” Christ longed for comfort, but no one—no disciple, no friend, no relative would or could comfort Him. A pagan soldier in mercy offered Jesus a pain killer.
“They also gave Me gall for My food, and for My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink” (Matthew 27:33-46). Christ was tempted to use a drug. This was a fearful temptation. He needed something to drink from the loss of body fluids that occurred because of the activities of the previous grueling hours of interrogation and physical abuse. He had not slept for approximately thirty hours.
Without a doubt, Christ was fearfully tempted to bite down on that sponge filled with vinegar to ease the pain and to relieve a bit of His physical need for liquid. But as soon as that sponge touched His lips, He turned from it, refusing any temporary “fix.” He could not afford to allow any possibility of having His mind clouded in those crucial hours of agony.
Satan’s dreaded hour arrived.
The battle raged between these two princes. The stakes were enormous. All the pent-up fires of hell burst upon Christ on the cross. But the enemy could not induce Christ to sin, neither could he force Him. Christ’s faith and mind held fast to God during that fearful struggle. After describing the judgments to come upon those who betrayed and crucified Christ, this psalm then ends in the triumph of faith and praise (verses 30-36).