Encounter With God 13th September 2020 Devotional – A Prayer of Jesus

Encounter With God 13th September 2020 Devotional

8 I am a foreigner to my own family,
a stranger to my own mother’s children;
9 for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
10 When I weep and fast,
I must endure scorn;
11 when I put on sackcloth,
people make sport of me.
12 Those who sit at the gate mock me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.

13 But I pray to you, Lord,
in the time of your favor;
in your great love, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.
14 Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
from the deep waters.
15 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
18 Come near and rescue me;
deliver me because of my foes.

19 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
all my enemies are before you.
20 Scorn has broken my heart
and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but I found none.
21 They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

22 May the table set before them become a snare;
may it become retribution and[b] a trap.
23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.
24 Pour out your wrath on them;
let your fierce anger overtake them.

25 May their place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute those you wound
and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

27 Charge them with crime upon crime;
do not let them share in your salvation.
28 May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous.

29 But as for me, afflicted and in pain—
may your salvation, God, protect me.

30 I will praise God’s name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox,
more than a bull with its horns and hooves.

32 The poor will see and be glad—
you who seek God, may your hearts live!
33 The Lord hears the needy
and does not despise his captive people.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that move in them,
35 for God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will settle there and possess it;
36 the children of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell there.

Footnotes
a Psalm 69:1 In Hebrew texts 69:1-36 is numbered 69:2-37.
b Psalm 69:22 Or snare / and their fellowship become

New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Meditate: Encounter With God 13th September 2020 Devotional
“David sings to us about Christ, and through him Christ sings about himself” (Tertullian, c. 160–240). “You can hear the voice of Christ in every psalm—praying with us and for us” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906–1945).

Think Further: Years ago, when I was studying theology, one of my professors taught us that the psalms are the autobiography of Jesus. This is true of some more than others, but undoubtedly Psalm 69 was regarded as messianic by both the apostles and the early church. As you read it today, reflect on how Jesus might have thought and felt as he prayed this psalm.

Let’s take time to explore some New Testament quotations from the psalm. John 15:25 tells us that on the day before his crucifixion, Jesus quotes verse 4: “Those who hate me without reason.” It is the lens through which he interprets for his disciples the hateful treatment meted out to him by religious leaders. Again, in John 2:17 we learn that verse 9 (“zeal for your house consumes me”) enables the disciples to deduce Jesus’ motivation for cleansing the temple.

Yet again, in describing the crucifixion all four evangelists allude to verse 21 (they “gave me vinegar for my thirst”; Matt. 27:34; Mark 15:23; Luke 23:36; John 19:28–30). In Romans 15:3, Paul quotes verse 9 (“the insults of those who insult you fall on me”) to anticipate the readiness of Jesus not to please himself. Verses 22–28 of the psalm make difficult reading for us. The early church found them less of a problem. For the psalmist, these verses are a passionate and colorful request to God for justice, but for Paul they are a warning! The judgment requested by the psalmist has become a grim reality from which all hardened enemies of God cannot escape (Rom. 11:7–10).

Which parts of Psalm 69 have you found to be autobiographical of Jesus? Are some parts not? Were you conscious of Christ praying with you and for you?

Apply: “When we pray this psalm the prayer does not come out of any personal experience of suffering we may have but out of the sufferings of Christ in which we too are partakers” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Psalms).

Closing Prayer: Lord, Your people thank You for Your willingness to suffer and to die for us.

ONE YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN
Isaiah 25,26 / Psalm 105

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