4. The Privilege of Persecutions Psalm 69:6-7

Text: “Let not them that wait on Thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for My sake: let not those that seek Thee be confounded for My sake, O God of Israel.  Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered My face.”

Psalm 69:6-7.

Good morning, persecuted Christian!  You and I are well aware of what persecutions – small and great – we suffer, merely for being born again, Bible-believing, Christian followers of Christ Jesus, our Saviour and our Lord. 

No one needs to tell us that we are no longer off this world, for the world around us will not, nor cannot, receive us any longer as one of their own. 

Christ in us shines through us all of the time – and because this is Spiritually so, the sins of the unsaved whom we come in contact with, are exposed to their own hearts, and we become a righteous burden to their entire way of worldly life.  They hate us, because they hate Christ’s Holiness dwelling in us, ‘His people’.  Biblical fact!

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

“Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14)

“And ye shall be hated of all men/women for My Name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (Matthew 10:22)

Verse 6.  “Let not them that wait on Thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake.  Unbelievers are ready enough to catch at anything which may turn humble faith into ridicule; there, O God of all the armies of Israel, let not my case cause the enemy to blaspheme – such is the spirit of this verse.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 300)

I remember well one day, a guy who accused me, ‘You are always preaching at me, McClinton!’.  I was sat beside this guy on a plastic prison chair, so I turned to him, looked him straight in the eye, and asked him, ‘When have I EVER preached to you?’  He sat befuddled for a moment, trying to recall some instance of my preaching the Gospel to him, but after a moment he just could not recall any occasion in which I had ever actually preached to him.

He looked quite sheepishly at me and tried to justify his comment by explaining: ‘It’s just the case that, when you are sitting close to me, I find I cannot say some things I usually say, do some things I usually do comfortably – using foul language; smoking my cigarette; swearing by using the Name of Jesus Christ as an exclamation – I feel that you are preaching at me in some way!’

The Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holiness, residing in the hearts of ‘His people’, can often be tangibly felt by the unsaved worldlings all around us, without a word being spoken.  In this manner we prove that genuine, Spiritually regenerate Christians, really ARE purifying ‘salt’ and ‘light’, in a world of increased apostasy, Spiritual darkness, and sinful corruption.

If Christ’s light, consistently shining through the eyes of ‘His people’, is the cause of petty, or severe persecutions – happy is the Christian who suffers.  Such persecutions become positive privileges that encourage us to persevere in the “…faith once delivered unto the saints…”  (Jude 3)

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”  (Matthew 5:10)

On another occasion in the prison setting, after I swatted a fly that was pestering me; an unsaved inmate immediately rebuked me with, ‘Huh! You’re some Christian!  Killing a harmless fly!’

I turned to this detractor, and quietly told him, ‘If you would come down to my cell for a moment and sit with me, I would admit to you some very real faults of my old nature that I battle with day by day as a sincere Bible-believing Christian.  But if killing a fly is all that you can find of a negative nature in which to accuse me – I am one happy Christian man.’  He declined the offer.

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”  (Matthew 5:11-12)

Verse 7.  “Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach. Because He undertook to do the Father’s will, and teach His truth, the people were angry; because He declared Himself to be the Son of God, the priesthood raved.  They could find no real fault in Him but were forced to hatch up a lying accusation before they could commence their sham trial of Him.  The bottom of the quarrel was that God was with Him, and He with God, while the Scribes and Pharisees sought only their own honour.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 300)

Living as a committed, Spiritually regenerate, Bible-believing Christian, in a world of increased ungodliness and censure is hard enough.  Being falsely accused, or being accused of very real failures, brings feelings of deep shame to any genuine Christian.  Shame is so hard to bear.  Praise God for His all-sufficient grace, which covers every fault of the true Christian believer.

“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.  For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”  (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Verse 7. “…Shame hath covered my face. There is nothing that a noble nature more abhors than shame, for honour is a spark of God’s image; and the more of God’s image there is in anyone, the more is shame abhorred by him.  What must it be then to Christ, Who because He was to satisfy God in point of honour debased by man’s sin, therefore of all punishments besides, He suffered most of shame; it being also (as was said) one of the greatest punishments in Hell.”  (Thomas Goodwin 1600-1679)

Thought: When persecuted, ridiculed, treated badly, for manifesting personal Christian character – rejoice at the utter privilege.  For persecutions are proof positive of true saving faith in Christ Jesus!  Glory to the risen Lamb!

3. Our Sin: The Cause of Christ’s Crucifixion! Psalm 69:5

Text: “O God, Thou knowest (knows, and continues to know) my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from Thee.”

Psalm 69:5.

Good morning, sin-repentant Christian!  By the Sovereign grace of a truly loving and gracious Lord God Almighty, you and I have, first, been Spiritually enlightened reference mankind’s vile sin and disobedience to our Creator Lord God; and God’s infinite detestation of all sin. 

“And the Lord God commanded the man (Adam), saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Spiritual death).”     (Genesis 2:16-17)

Secondly: You and I have been clearly convinced by God the Spirit of our personal sin, and Christ’s perfect and Holy righteousness in contrast.

“And when He (God the Spirit) is come, He will reprove the world of sin (our sin), and of righteousness (Christ’s righteousness), and of judgement (Eternal judgement)” (John 16:8)

We have been Spiritually quickened by the Lord God to be absolutely certain of the fearful judgement that is, in the Lord’s decreed timing, to come upon all who are unredeemed, all who have been ‘passed over’ in God the Father’s election of souls; all who want nothing to do with Christ or Christianity, and indeed, who cannot even ‘receive the things of God, for they are Spiritually discerned'.

“But the natural man (the unregenerate) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him/her: neither can he/she know them, because they are Spiritually discerned.”  (1 Corinthians 2:14)

God decides whom He will Spiritually quicken (make alive, Spiritually), and whom He will ‘pass over’, or refuse to Spiritually quicken.  The Lord God is God, and an Almighty Lord God does exactly what He desires to do, otherwise He would not be a Supreme Being Lord God.

“Therefore, hath He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardeneth (makes stubborn, hardens their hearts, passes over for Salvation).”        (Romans 9:18)

Salvation from our sins through Christ’s full Atonement on Calvary’s Cross, is only made available to those whom God the Father has predestined to ‘elect’ in Eternity to give to His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Who saves us in time, and keeps us for Eternity.  “Salvation is of the Lord!”  (Jonah 2:9)

“And YOU (His elected souls) hath He quickened (made Spiritually aware and alive), who were DEAD in trespasses and sins…Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”  (Ephesians 2:1-5)

Without a doubt, it is God’s grace alone, on the full merits of His only dear Son, Jesus Christ alone, that causes God to quicken us, make even aware that we are lost, and that we are sinners against His Holiness. 

If He does not quicken us, grant us His gifts of repentance from sin, and FAITH, His Divine gift, to believe the Gospel of Christ, and Him Crucified for sinners – who would ever even realise that we needed to be saved at all?

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that (faith) not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works (good deeds), lest any man/woman should boast.  For (a conclusion) we are His workmanship, CREATED in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Verse 5. “O God, Thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from Thee.  David might well say this, but not David’s Lord; unless it be understood as an appeal to God as to His freedom from the folly which men imputed to Him when they said He was mad.  That which was foolishness to men was superlative wisdom before God.  How often might we use these words in their natural sense, and if we were not such fools as to be blind to our own folly, this confession would be frequently on our lips.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 299)

Verse 5. “…My sins are not hid from Thee. Yet it seems to be the intention of the Spirit, while He gives us personal TYPES and so shows the likeness to the Firstborn which exists in the heirs of Salvation, to set forth also the disparities between the best of the sons of men and the Son of God, for there are verses here (in Psalm 69) which we dare not apply to our Lord; we almost shudder when we see our brethren attempting to do so, as for instance verse 5.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 298)

Christ Jesus had no sin, and therefore, verse 5 of Psalm 69 cannot be attributed to Him speaking, but only to the Psalmist David, and you and I as natural born sinners.

“For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, YET WITHOUT SIN.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”  (Hebrews 4: 15-16)

With this new look at Calvary, and Christ bearing our sins upon the Cross, refreshed in our minds; the cause of Christ’s Crucifixion becomes more clear to our too often dull Christian minds: IT WAS OUR VILE SIN THAT CAUSED CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION!

“For He (God the Father) hath made Him (God the Son) to be sin for us (His chosen people), Who knew no sin (Jesus Christ); that we (Hell-deserving sinners) might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”      (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“Therefore (a conclusion to the sin question) IF any man/woman be in Christ (born again), he/she is a new creature: old things are passed (or gradually passing) away; behold (look, and fully understand), all things are become new (or are gradually becoming new). And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (the Gospel); to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation.”           (2 Corinthians 5:17) Hallelujah! Glory…

Thought: We are sin-repentant Christians whenever we fully and completely turn from our sins to fully follow the Lord Jesus Christ – and from that time forth, determine to detest our sins, and turn from them continually ever after.  We still sin. But we confess that sin and turn from it, as the Holy Spirit of God empowers us to do so.  Our sin was the cause of Christ’s cruel Crucifixion.  Glory to His Name!

2. Christ’s Abandonment at Calvary Psalm 69:2-4

Text: “My God, My God, why has Thou forsaken Me?  Why art Thou so far from helping Me, and from the words of My roaring?  O My God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest Me not; and in the night season and am not silent.”

Psalm 22:1-2.

Good morning, beleaguered Christian!  As your eyes have been drawn to this Bible message, you are under a most vicious and prolonged attack by the enemies of your soul and mine – the world, the flesh, and that old Serpent, the Devil. 

Like king David in Psalm 69, and reflected by the more profound sufferings of Christ on the Cross – you feel that you are under great siege; deep oppression by anti-Christian forces; terrible oppressions and depressions of your Christian spirit, by events which seem to be completely out of your human control.  Thus, you cry out to the Lord God in your beleaguered plight.  “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”  Yet, there seems to be no answer to your pleas.

Dark are the depths of inner sufferings when, for even a moment, the Living Lord God seems to hide His face from the Spiritually regenerate Christian!

Dictionary Definition: Beleaguer – (verb transitive) to lay siege to; to pester… (The Chambers Dictionary, page 145)

Because Christ on that Cross was bearing all the sins of ‘His people’; suffering to pay the full penalty for sins that our thrice Holy Lord God, Jehovah – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – demanded – the Persons of God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit had to turn their Holy faces from Him there, for our Holy Lord God cannot gaze upon, or tolerate for a moment, SIN.

“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity…”        (Habakkuk 1:13)

The very thought of our Lord Jesus, God the Son, while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, soon having to take our sin upon His Holy self - made Him sweat blood, and cry out that the cup might pass from Him to do so. 

A Holy Lord God cannot abide to even glimpse sin, without punishing it with His Holy wrath. All our sins were placed upon Christ Jesus on the Cross, and He paid the penalty demanded for us, and redeemed us with His sinless Blood.  Glory and praise to His Holy Name!  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour!

The Lord Jesus had to endure all the suffering of ‘His people’ on that Cross – and feeling totally abandoned by the Lord God Whom He loved, was part of that redemptive experience for Him. 

Because Christ was victorious for us – for “Up from the grave, He arose…” – we can be assured that, for those of us that are Spiritually regenerated; washed from our sins by Christ’s shed and sinless Blood – we shall NEVER be abandoned by God, ever!  Glory…

“…Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.  So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”  (Hebrews 13:5-6)

“…Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”  (Matthew 28:20)

Verse 2. “I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.  Our Lord was no faint-hearted sentimentalist; His were real woes, and though He bore them heroically, yet were they terrible even to Him.  He stemmed the torrent of Almighty wrath that we might forever rest in Jehovah’s love.”  (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 298-299)

How, then, can you and I as mere Christians, cope, while experiencing such feelings of oppression and abandonment?  We can look to God’s Word, get a new glimpse of Calvary, and compare our otherwise petty afflictions with the very real sufferings and abandonment of our Saviour Lord, Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Verse 3. “My throat is dried.  Few, very few of His saints follow their Lord in prayer so far as this.  We are, it is to be feared, more likely to be hoarse with talking frivolities to men than by pleading with God; yet our sinful nature demands more prayer than His perfect humanity might seem to need.  His prayers should shame us into fervour.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 299)

Verse 3. “Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.  Many have said throughout history, ‘The eyes are the windows of the soul.’  What we see with our human eyes informs our souls and paints pictures for our human minds from which we make sense of our personal realities.

Only our dear blind brethren know what it is like to walk though life without the use of this vital faculty called sight. 

This is what the Psalmist, writing at all times under the inspiration of God the Spirit, is seeking to portray for our puny minds to grasp.  Christ, hanging upon that cruel Cross, suffering the punishment you and I so rightly deserved for our sins, was placed in a condition of infinite blindness; as God the Father was compelled by His own Holiness to turn His face from His sin-bearing Son.

“There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin; He only could unlock the gate of Heaven and let us in.” (Cecil F. Alexander, née Humphreys, 1818-1895. First published in her Hymns for Little Children, 1848, page 31, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and based upon the words "Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was Crucified, Dead, and Buried," of the Apostles' Creed.)

Verse 4.  “They that hate Me without a cause are more than the hairs of Mine head.  The world, the flesh, and the Devil all detest the Lord Jesus Christ, and His people.  If we were of this world, then the world would love us, but as it hated our Saviour/Lord, so it hates us – and all without a cause.  Christ only suffered to save ‘His people’, all others will have to suffer for their own sins, in that Christ-rejecter’s Hell. (Matthew 1:21)

“We may not know, we cannot tell, what pains he had to bear, but we believe it was for us he hung and suffered there.”  (Cecil F. Alexander, née Humphreys, 1818-1895)

Verse 4. “Then I restored that which I took not away.  Adam’s sin took away mankind’s purity for all of Adam’s race.  Our own sins committed, proves to us that we are born natural sinners in Adam’s fallen image and likeness.  The Lord Jesus restores Eternal life for ‘His people’ by recreating us ‘new creatures in Christ…’  Hallelujah!  What a Saviour! (Ephesians 2:10)

“O dearly, dearly has he loved! And we must love him too, and trust in his redeeming blood, and try his works to do.”  (Cecil F. Alexander, née Humphreys, 1818-1895)

Thought:  Take heart afresh, beleaguered Christian! We have Christ’s Victory always, and He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us.  “It is Finished!”