Pastor Billington's Blog

Psalm 69:17-29 “Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily! Draw near to my soul and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies. You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you. Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me poison for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent. Pour out your indignation on them. Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them. Let their habitation be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt. Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous. But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.”

Instead of David, imagine that this is from Jesus’ perspective.

Matthew 27:46 “About the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani?’ That is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ”

Matthew 27:48 “Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave him a drink.”

Jesus would certainly have had reason to pray this. To call down retribution on His enemies. To feel the way that we sometimes feel in this life. But what did He do?

Luke 23:34 “Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.’ “

In truth, Jesus died so that we wouldn’t be blotted out from the book of life! Unfortunately, most are, because they don’t believe.

For additional worship: Last Words (Andrew Peterson)

Psalm 69:13-16 “But as for me, my prayer is to you, LORD, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters. Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me. Answer me, LORD, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.”

When is an acceptable time to pray to God? Anytime we feel downtrodden, overcome by sin, persecuted, or overwhelmed. In fact, these very verses of Scripture can be our pattern and guide.

For additional worship: When All Thy Mercies (Hymns of Grace)

Psalm 69:5-12 “God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from you. Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord GOD of Armies. Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel. Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children. For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards.”

David bemoans his own sin. David bemoans the reproach he’s brought upon God. David bemoans the fact that his own faithfulness and repentance become something that others use to mock and humiliate him.

The lesson? Embrace repentance. Zealously return to God, even though others might not understand it. They may even make fun of you for it! But God is the only one we should want to impress. If we’ve rebelled against Him, we need to return.

For additional worship: Holiness (Take My Life)

Psalm 69:1-4 “For the Chief Musician. To the tune of Lilies.’ By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck! I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail looking for my God. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.”

Have you ever been in deep distress and despair? In this Psalm David understands that he’s not perfect; he has certainly done some things wrong! However, there are others whom he has not wronged that pile on, give him grief, demand restitution and seek his downfall. David reveals here what we need to do in these times of deep anguish – we need to cry out to God and seek His help and encouragement!

For additional worship: I Must Tell Jesus (The Isaacs)

Psalm 68:28-35 “Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us. Because of your temple at Jerusalem, kings shall bring presents to you. Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample under foot the bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war. Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God. Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord— Selah— to him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice. Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Israel, his strength is in the skies. You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries. The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God!”

There are many passages in the Bible that talk about God eventually gathering the nations for judgment. Here we see the nations coming for praise, which I believe foreshadows the future Messianic kingdom!

Jeremiah 3:17 “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The LORD’s Throne;’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the LORD’s name, to Jerusalem. They will no longer walk after the stubbornness of their evil heart.”

All nations are a part of the kingdom because the Lord’s people aren’t just restricted to Israel. Instead, anyone who believes in Jesus as their savior is a member!

Isaiah 49:6 “Indeed, he says, ‘It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.’ ”

Revelation 22:1-5 “He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will be no curse anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.”

For additional worship: Lord of All Being (Weekly Hymn Project)

Psalm 68:20-27 “God is to us a God of deliverance. To the LORD, the Lord, belongs escape from death. But God will strike through the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness. The Lord said, “I will bring you again from Bashan, I will bring you again from the depths of the sea, that you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.” They have seen your processions, God, even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. The singers went before, the minstrels followed after, amongst the ladies playing with tambourines, ‘Bless God in the congregations, even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!’ There is little Benjamin, their ruler, the princes of Judah, their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.”

God is our protector and deliverer too!

Colossians 1:12-14 “giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.”

The description of Israel’s procession to the sanctuary for worship should remind us that we are part of an even greater and more magnificent procession made possible because of Jesus!

Hebrews 12:22-24 “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.”

For additional worship: Stand up and Bless the Lord (Hymns of Grace)

Psalm 68:17-19 “The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is amongst them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary. You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts amongst people, yes, amongst the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell there. Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation. Selah.”

The Psalm describes God, accompanied by His angelic army, escorting Israel from Mt. Sinai to Mt. Zion. After the victorious campaign, Israel’s leader receives gifts from the spoils, but he is really a proxy for God. It is God who ultimately brings victory, bears burdens, provides salvation, and is worthy of praise!

Paul uses this passage to refer to Jesus Christ:

Ephesians 4:7-10 “But to each one of us, the grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Therefore he says, ‘When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.’ Now this, ‘He ascended’, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.”

The Hebrew word for “receive” can mean “receive in order to give.” Paul understands it in this sense. Jesus has everything and distributes gifts as he will. We, in turn, use those gifts to worship and serve Him. Why? Because He brings victory, bears burdens, provides salvation, and is worthy of praise! By using this passage Paul identifies Jesus with God and reveals the concept of the trinity to us.

For additional worship: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Reawaken Hymns)

Psalm 68:7-16 “God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness … Selah. The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai— at the presence of God, the God of Israel. You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed your inheritance when it was weary. Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor. The Lord announced the word. The ones who proclaim it are a great company. “Kings of armies flee! They flee!” She who waits at home divides the plunder, while you sleep amongst the camp fires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold. When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon. The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. The mountains of Bashan are rugged. Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, the LORD will dwell there forever.

Here David remembers when God brought His people through the desert and protected and provided for them. He gave them His word at Sinai, and they proclaimed it before the nations. He continued to watch over them as they conquered the promised land, and He gave them a place to worship Him forever.

The way God moved among His people in the past to provide for them and to fulfill His promises should give us hope and encouragement. We can trust His Word and rely on His care both today and for the future!

For additional worship: Sing Songs – Psalm 68 (The Psalm Project)