SPIRITIUAL
DIARY FOR4/5/2012 8:07:53 AM
My
Worship Time Focus: Deliverance
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm 69:1-18
Message
of the verses: In today’s SD we will
look at several introductions to Psalm 69 and then begin to look at the psalm
in detail.
“This psalm is a prayer of
desperation. David realizes that because
he is hated by others, he may shortly be killed. Though he begs for rescue, and calls down
curses on his enemies, he concludes the psalm with a high note of praise, with
inferences concerning the coming messianic kingdom when all enemies of God’s
people are dealt with swiftly and severely (cf. Rev. 2:27). Much of this psalm was applied to Christ by
the NT writers. This psalm expresses the
feelings of any believer who is being horribly ridiculed, but it uniquely
referrers to Christ.” (The John MacArthur
Study Bible)
“This is a Messianic psalm, an
imprecatory psalm, and after 22 and 110, the most frequently quoted psalm in
the New Testament. It is attributed to
David and has definite affinities with 35, 40, and 109, which are also Davidic
psalms. But what about verses
35-36? When during David’s reign did the
cities of Judah need to be rebuilt and the people brought back home? When were the drunkards singing about him in
the gates (v. 12) and his enemies about to destroy him (vv. 4, 18-19)? Selected data from the psalm fits the times
of both Jeremiah and Hezekiah, but it is difficult to fit everything into the
times of David. Perhaps David’s original
psalm ended at verse 29 and the Holy Spirit directed the prophet Jeremiah to
add verses 30-36 after the fall of Judah and Jerusalem to the Babylonians. The collection of psalms was a ‘living
heritage’ and some of the psalms were adapted to new occasions. Whatever the answer, when you read the psalm, you find the author
confronting the Lord with three important concerns.” (Dr. Warren Wiersbe’s Commentary)
Deliverance: “Save Me!”
(vs. 1-18): “1 For the choir
director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Lilies.’’! Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to
my neck. 2 Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I
am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. 3 I am exhausted from crying for
help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my
God to help me. 4 Those
who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head. Many enemies
try to destroy me with lies, demanding that I give back what I didn’t steal. 5
O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you. 6 Don’t
let those who trust in you be ashamed because of me, O Sovereign LORD of
Heaven’s Armies. Don’t let me cause them to be humiliated, O God of Israel. 7
For I endure insults for your sake; humiliation is written all over my face. 8
Even my own brothers pretend they don’t know me; they treat me like a stranger.
9 Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult
you have fallen on me. 10 When I weep and fast, they scoff at me. 11 When I
dress in burlap to show sorrow, they make fun of me. 12 I am the favorite topic
of town gossip, and all the drunks sing about me.
“13 But I keep praying to you, LORD, hoping
this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my
prayer with your sure salvation. 14 Rescue me from the mud; don’t let me sink
any deeper! Save me from those who hate me, and pull me from these deep waters.
15 Don’t let the floods overwhelm me, or the deep waters swallow me, or the pit
of death devour me. 16 Answer my prayers, O LORD, for your unfailing love is
wonderful. Take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful. 17 Don’t hide from
your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble! 18 Come and redeem
me; free me from my enemies.” (NLT)
In verses 1-5 David asks for
deliverance for his own sake and we see in these verses that David uses a
drowning man to describe the kind of situation that he was in. Dr. Wiersbe writes that Amy Carmichael wrote
the following on verses 1-2 “Our waters are shallow because His were
deep.” she then adds “How True.”
The highlighted portion of verse
four was quoted by the Lord Jesus Christ in John 15:25, “"But they have
done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ’THEY HATED ME
WITHOUT A CAUSE.’” Yes Jesus was hated
without a cause for He was the only man ever born of woman who did not sin and
the writer of Hebrews affirms this when he writes in “Heb 4:15 For we do not
have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has
been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus was tempted with many issues and yet He never sinned, for Jesus
kept the whole Law so that we did not have to, for it is impossible for us to
do this and that is why we need a Savior.
It is said of Jesus that He was humble, and He was the most humble and
meek person who ever lived on this earth.
Meekness is not weakness, but meekness is power under control and Jesus
had all power and yet He did not use that power to destroy those who were doing
Him harm. I can’t imagine any other
person who had the power that Jesus possessed not using it when people began to
spit on Him and hit Him and drive nails into His hands and feet. There is a song that has in its lyrics “He
could have called ten thousand angels and I know that I am a little off track
in my thoughts of Psalm 69, but seeing that tomorrow we think of the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ I think that the lyrics to this song fit in here:
“"He could have called ten
thousand angels" lyrics:
They
bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where he prayed
They
led him thru the streets in shame
They
spat upon the savior so pure and free from sin
They
said, "crucify him: he's to blame
He could have called ten thousand
angels
To destroy the world and set him free
He could have called ten thousand
angels
But he died alone, for you and me
Upon
his precious head they placed a crown of thorns
They
laughed and said, "Behold the king"
They
struck him and they cursed him and mocked his holy name
All
alone he suffered everything
When
they nailed him to the cross, his mother stood nearby,
He said,
"Woman, behold thy son!"
He
cried, "I thirst for water," but they gave him none to drink
Then
the sinful work of man was done
To the
howling mob he yielded: he did not for mercy cry
The
cross of shame he took alone
And
when he cried, "It’s finished," he gave himself to die
Salvation's wondrous plan was done.
Back to Psalm 69. David prayed for deliverance for his own sake
in verses 1-5 and now we will see that he prays for the Lord’s sake in
verses 6-12. The reason he dose this is
because those who were lying about him were blaspheming the name of the
Lord. We must remember who David was, as
he was the Lord’s anointed, the leader of the chosen people of God, for when we
look back at the life of David when he was on the run we saw that when he had
chances to kill King Saul he would not do it because David knew that Saul was
the Lord’s anointed, and now David was the Lord’s anointed so those who would
attack him in a sense were attacking the Lord and blaspheming the name of the
Lord.
Dr. Wiersbe writes that “The word
‘reproach’ (scorn, insult) is used six times in the psalm (vv. 7, 9, 10, 19,
20). He was scorned because he stood up
for the Lord (v. 7) and because he was zealous for God’s house (v. 9). He even alienated his own family (v. 8; see
John 7:5; Mark 3:31-35), and the insults that people threw at the Lord also
fell on him (v. 9; John 2:17; Rom. 15:3; and see Isa. 56:7 and Jer. 7:11). When they blasphemed God, they blasphemed
David, and their attacks against God, and David felt them.”
When we look at this psalm we can
see how Jesus was treated, and before He was treated this way, a shameful way
to be treated, David was too, but not to the extent that our Lord was.
We now will look at verses 13-18 to
see a third argument for deliverance and that was based on the character of God. “13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O
LORD, at an acceptable time; O God, in the greatness of Your lovingkindness, Answer me with Your
saving truth. 14 Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink; May I be
delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. 15 May the flood of water not
overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit shut its mouth on me. 16 Answer me, O LORD, for Your lovingkindness is
good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, 17 And
do not hide Your face from Your servant, For I am in distress; answer me
quickly. 18 Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it; Ransom me because of my
enemies!” (NASB)
We have talked before about the
character of God and the attributes of God and said that it is a good way to
get to know the Lord through these attributes and also to claim them in your
prayers to God which is what David was doing here. David knew that part of God’s character was
lovingkindness and so that is the character of God that he uses to pray to
God. David knew God in a wonderful way
for many of the attributes of God are found in the writings of David and I
believe that is surely one of the reasons that David was called a man after
God’s own heart.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: When I
think of the cross of Jesus Christ I know that it was the best thing that has
ever happened on this earth, and yet it was the worst thing that ever happened
on this earth. Jesus did not deserve to
die, and yet it was because of the lovingkindness of the Lord that He died and
that makes it the best thing that has ever happened on this earth. When I look at this portion of Psalm 69 I see
Jesus and how He was treated and I also see the zeal that He had for the house
of God. I see people treating Him
wrongly, but I see Jesus being meek, having His power under control. This makes me want to praise Him even
more. Psalm 69 is a good psalm to be
studying around this time of the year.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Praise
the Lord for His wonderful gift of salvation given to me who does not deserve
it. Continue to learn contentment.
4/5/2012
9:37:40 AM
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