We Have Found the Messiah

...in Psalm 69

For the zeal of your house has eaten me up ... in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink (verse 9, 21)

God's covenant with David, as we have seen, was a high water-mark of messianic prediction in the Old Testament. One of the ways in which David was used by God to declare the messianic plan was through the psalms, in which (according to Acts 2:30) David exercised a prophetic ministry and function. He was the one by whom the saving purposes of God in Christ were declared in the Old Testament. And the fact that the Psalms are full of Christ means that they are still of use for the church today.

There are several psalms that are clearly messianic. They speak of the blessing of God on his anointed one. These include Psalm 2, in which the Messiah will triumph over all God's enemies, Psalm 18, which refers to David, Psalm 45, which speaks of the glory of the Messiah in his Person, his Marriage and his Kingdom, Psalm 89, which anchors the New Testament revelation in the Davidic covenant, and Psalm 132, which speaks of God's sovereign choice of Sion, and of David's line.

Other psalms are cited in the New Testament with reference to Jesus. These include Psalm 16, with the promise that God's Holy One would conquer death, Psalm 40, which speaks of the willing obedience of God's Messianic servant, and Psalm 110, which identified Jesus with Melchisedek and gives us a unique insight into the priestly role and work of the Messiah.

In this study we are going to focus on one of these psalms, Psalm 69. I do so for two reasons. First, apart from Psalm 110, it is the psalm most often quoted in the New Testament, with seven citations. These are as follows:

Matthew 27:48 (citing Psalm 69:21)

And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

John 2:17 (citing Psalm 69:9)

And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

John 15:25 (citing Psalm 69:4)

But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

John 19:28-29 (citing Psalm 69:21)

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. [29] Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.

Acts 1:16-20 (citing Psalm 69:25)

Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. [17] For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. [18] Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. [19] And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. [20] For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.

Romans 11:9-10 (citing Psalm 69:22-3)

And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: [10] Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

Romans 15:3 (citing Psalm 69:9)

For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

It will be obvious that not all of these references are to the Messiah; one is to Judas, and another is to those who reject Christ. But they are all grounded in this one psalm, and the fact that it is so frequently cited is of interest.

Secondly, this psalm raises interesting questions about how we define a messianic psalm. It is very clear, for example, that not every element of the psalm concerns Jesus Christ. He had neither 'folly' nor sin (verse 5), and so the confession of the psalm is hardly applicable to Christ. Similarly, the psalm is both messianic and imprecatory; that is, it both prophecies the coming of Jesus Christ, and it calls down curses upon the psalmist's (Messiah's ?) enemies. These curses are themselves both interesting and solemn: interesting because they force us to ask questions about their integrity, as well as about the integrity of using such words in the praises of the New Testament church; and solemn, because they reflect the holy and just will of God.

Several suggestions have been put forward for interpreting and explaining the imprecatory psalms: that they are poetic exaggeration, that they are typical of future judgement, that they speak of God's judgement over nations rather than over individuals, that to use them we must distinguish the sin from the sinner. None of these approaches are in my view helpful; we need to take the curses within the psalms and set them within the framework of biblical theology.

Two points could be made about them. First, they show the seriousness with which the Bible addresses the whole issue of human sin. C.S. Lewis pointed out that such rage is not found in pagan literature, where a holy anger against sin is missing. That anger is found in Scripture not because David or other psalmists have lost their integrity, but precisely because they have kept it.

Second, the imprecations reflect the fact that the last word is always with God. An imprecation or a curse belongs to the realm of covenant. It is the opposite of blessing and of benediction. Both in imprecation and in benediction, what is being invoked is nothing less than the faithful, just, righteous and holy response of God. It is a call for God to act. In the final analysis, God alone is judge. That is why Romans 11 cites part of the curses of this psalm -- because it reflects God's sovereign work in his response to the hardness of Israel. He blinded them -- left them in their sinful condition. That is his holy prerogative. Never is there unrighteousness with him.

The Messianic Figure

Who is the Messianic figure of the psalm? It is clear that the psalm, like every other psalm, has its origins in the personal experience of the psalmist -- in this case, of David. He is the one who pens the words "Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul". It is possible that these words were simply written by him, without being a reflection of his own personal experience. It is, after all, possible, to write a hymn about the experiences of others. And David was clearly a prophet, so it is possible that he was making predictive statements.

Yet the confession of sin in verses 4-5 is to my mind a clear indication of Davidic authorship. This psalm, with its deep sense of personal failing as well as of personal zeal, is clearly grounded in a human experience.

At the same time, we soon lose sight of David. There is enough in this psalm for us to firmly ground and root the psalm in his personal history; but there is not enough personal detail to allow us to say that it is about him exclusively. That is surely one of the most brilliant aspects of the messianic psalms ---they are clearly grounded in history, but they are not poetic autobiography. Indeed, they cut so deep a channel that we lose sight of their immediate focus of interest and see in them the ultimate focus of the whole messianic theology of the Old Testament.

C.H. Spurgeon says of the opening prayer of the psalms that "Thus David had prayed, and here his Son and Lord utters the same cry". Interestingly, Spurgeon contrasts the closing movements of Psalm 68 with the opening ones of Psalm 69 -- where the previous psalm speaks of glory, this one speaks of suffering and shame. Both had to be in the experience of Christ.

Thus the psalm is grounded in history -- rooted in the personal experiences of David. Things are written here that were certainly true of him. He was, literally, a stranger to his brothers and an alien to his mother's children (verse 8). But was he ever the song of drunkards (verse 12) or given vinegar to drink (verse 21)? If so, we have no knowledge of it. What we do know is that the one who is the root and offspring of David certainly experienced these things. The ultimate focus of the psalm is the ultimate focus of all the Messianic interest of the Old Testament -- the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Messiah In His Zeal

The Messiah is portrayed here as one who is zealous for God's house (verse 9), consumed with that commitment and that consecration. This verse is cited in two places in the New Testament: in John 2, following the cleansing of the Temple, and in Romans 15.

The cleansing of the Temple was occasioned by the commercialisation of the holy precincts. Instead of making it a house of prayer, the Jewish leaders had made it a place for buying and selling. Jesus saw in this operation a complete blindness to the reality of God and of the truth of God's revelation. The whole scene was itself a reminder to Jesus of why he had come into the world: to cleanse God's Temple, and to build the new Temple of his church.

That was the impulse which drove all of Jesus's ministry and activity. Nothing was of greater concern to him than that he should fulfill the Father's will. God's commitment to the Messiah was reflected in the Messiah's commitment to the God of the covenant, to the God of salvation-promise.

There was a cost to be borne for such dedication. Those who reproached God reproached the Messiah too. In his dedication to God's will, he became the focus of enmity and hatred of those who had rebelled against God's will. But the cost was not too great. For Jesus it would have cost him more NOT to have given his life in obedience to the Father.

The same verse is cited in Romans 15:3, the implications of which we cannot ignore. This is what Paul says to us:

We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.

Here is the fulfillment of the messianic prophecy taken and regarded in a moralistic and exemplary way. We are to be what Jesus was: ready to please God, to please others and to put obedience to God before everything and anything else. Having discovered Christ in this psalm, we cannot confine its meaning to what it says about Him. We are forced to ask what impact it has on our own lives. Are we consumed with passion for God's house and cause? Are we willing to bear the reproaches heaped on God in an unbelieving world? Are we willing to please our neighbour for his good to edification?

The Messiah In His Suffering

Loneliness

The Messiah counts his enemies more than his friends -- counts them, indeed, more than the hairs of his head (verse 4). He finds himself in the position of a drowning man who has no source of help anywhere. The loneliness is intensified because it is the isolation of a man who has trusted all to God, and is risking all for God.

Christ found this world to be a lonely place. His humble origins, his distinctive ministry, and his ignominious death were all marked by a lack of help. At last, even Heaven was silent, and he had to cry out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" There is nothing like being lonely, and Christ knew it in intensity.

Injustice

Then there was the fact of the injustice of it all. It was without a cause (verse 4). It was not without an explanation -- there was a reason for the hatred in their own sin. Yet sin itself defies explanation. It is an absurdity. It is the great lawlessness, to which no logic may be applied. And out of the depth of sin there was a continued assault upon the only One who could do the world good. They hated him without a cause.

That was a point reinforced by Christ in John 15:25. And again, in the context of John 15, Christ is preparing his disciples for the assaults upon their own faith and witness. As the world persecuted him, it will persecute them. We cannot expect justice from a world that hates us at it hated Jesus, without a cause.

Betrayal

And then there was the betrayal. The sufferer of Psalm 69 found no help or comfort in his distress. What comfort he might have expected was snatched from him in the way in which his companions turned against him. This becomes the occasion for the imprecations.

The New Testament is explicit in its application of this psalm, referring the words of verse 25 to Judas (Acts 1). His office was to remain vacant, as a punishment for his act of treachery. And the invocation that his name be blotted out of the book of the living finds its echo in Christ's devastating words that it would have been better for him had he never been born (Matthew 26:24).

Treason among the disciples was scarcely thinkable, yet it became the reality. That it was possible for one of the closest followers of Christ to cause him such pain causes us to shudder. And what is more remarkable was that the other disciples had no idea; indeed, they asked "Is it I?".

Death

Finally there was the death -- the awful, agonising fact of Calvary. That was the deepest mire in which he stood -- the pit to which he had to go down. The vinegar was not served to him in a cup but on a cross, not at table but on his deathbed. It is in dying for us that the Messiah fulfills his great destiny -- at Calvary he is the Saviour, the seed of the woman who finally crushes the head of the serpent.

The Messiah In His Glory

There are shades of glory in this psalm, too. There is the confidence, first, that God is hearing him. "But as for me, my prayer is unto you, O Lord, in an acceptable time" (verse 13). Peter said of Jesus that he went to his death without rancour or threatening, committing his all to the God who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23). The prayer was that God would give him glory, as he had before the foundation of the world (John 17:5). And with the assurance that all things were in the hands of the Father, Christ went to his death as the Saviour of his people.

Second, there is the hope of his vindication. God will not falsify his covenant. That is what gives the imprecations such force. The shed blood of Calvary will not go unrequited. Iniquity is added to the iniquity of the instigators of the transaction -- they will not be written with the righteous. The one who prayed "Father, forgive them" also knows that his glory will be vindicated by the God of the covenant, who will not give Satan room to stand.

Third, there is the prospect of Zion being built and inhabited by the seed of his servants. He will see of the travail of his soul. It is not to be in vain. The day will be with him, and the issue will be secure -- a place to which his blood bought people will be gathered. To him the gathering of the people will be. This is the great promise which is set before him, for which he is prepared to endure the cross and to despise its shame. Then it is but a small step to the session at the right hand of the Majesty on High. Blessed are those whose trust is in such a God as this.

© Iain D. Campbell 2003