Psalm 69 is Messianic

Note: This one took a longer time for me to research and I had to spend two weeks on it; and its also why this is posted so late in the day today!

Establish the need: Is this Psalm Messianic? Many Bible scholars seems to think it is not, but what about you?

Purpose: In this session we will see three points concerning this Psalm’s Messianic character so that we would be at awe with God.

1. Psalm 69 is Messianic because the New Testament uses it that way
2. Psalm 69 is Messianic because of context of Book 2 of the Psalms
3. Psalm 69 is Messianic because of details within Psalm 69

Psalm 69 is Messianic because the New Testament use that way

John 2:17 quotes from Psalm 69:9: “His disciples remembered that it was written: ‘Zeal for Your house will consume me.’”[1]

1. This in context was talking about Jesus clearing the money changers from the Temple area.
2. The disciples understood this verse to be talking about Jesus.

John 15:25 quotes from Psalm 69:4: “But this has happened so that the word that is written in their Law will be fulfilled: ‘They hated Me for no reason.’”

1. This might possibly refer to Psalm 35:19 or Psalm 69:4.[2]
2. The phrases John uses does accurately reflect Old Testament Hebrew Masoretic text and Greek Old Testament translations though the verb “they hated” is changed to a substantival participle “those who hate.” [3]

John 19:28-30 quotes from Psalm 69:20-21: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, *said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. 30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

1. Verse 28 mentioned that Jesus knew the Scripture needs to be fulfilled.
2. Psalm 69:21 mentioned that the Individual suffering would be given sour drink that is also bitter or poisoned.[4]
3. John 19:29 describes Psalm 69:21 happening to Jesus.

Acts 1:20 quotes from Psalm 69:25-26: “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his residence be made desolate, And may there be none living in it’; and, ‘May another take his office.’”

1. This describes the early church after Jesus ascended to Heaven.
2. Two Psalms are quoted; the first from Psalm 69:25 and the second from Psalm 109:8.[5]
3. This is understood to be talking about Judas.
4. Matthew 27:7 does mention that the place Judas purchased with his money was not somewhere people were living at since it was turned to a burial place.[6]

Romans 11:9-10 quotes from Psalm 69:22-23: “And David says, “May their table become a snare and a trap, And a stumbling block and a retribution to them. 10 May their eyes be darkened to see not, And bend their backs continually.””= This is the “judicial binding of most of Israel because they rejected Christ.” [7]

Given the authority of the Word of God we must conclude that the New Testament infallibly interpreted Psalm 69 as pointing to the Messiah. The next question is how does Psalm 69 points us to the Messiah?

Psalm 69 is Messianic because of context of Book 2 of the Psalms

There are Messianic Psalms in Book 2

1. Psalms have 5 books.
2. Book 2 consists of thirty one Psalms from Psalm 42-72 which include Psalms by Sons of Korah in Psalm 42-49, a single Psalm of Asaph in Psalm 50 and a second collection of David’s Psalms in Psalms 51-71 followed by a single Psalm by Solomon in Psalm 72.[8]
3. There are prominent Messianic Psalms in book 1: Psalm 45, 72.
4. Since there are Messianic Psalms in Book 2 we are not surprise if there’s Messianic Psalms; that should be our expectation.

Context in the Psalter suggests it is Messianic

1. Book Two of the Psalms has the theme of those opposing the Messianic king.[9]
2. Towards the end of Book Two with Psalms 69-71 we see description of the struggles of the Messianic King.[10]
   1. Psalm 69-71 are connected thematically with the word “ashamed” (Psalm 69:6, 70:2, 71:1-2) and “dishonored” (Psalm 69:6, 70:2).[11]
   2. Psalm 69 focuses on the suffering of the Messiah.[12]
   3. At the end of these trio of Psalms would be Psalm 72 which describes the Triumph of the Messiah.[13]
   4. In other words the lament of the Messiah in Psalm 69-71 is answered in Psalm 72.[14]
   5. This is the same pattern we also see mirrored in Book of the Psalms with Psalm 40 as a Messianic Psalm appearing before the end of the Book.[15]

Psalm 69 is Messianic because of details within Psalm 69

There’s a prediction of the Messiah’s death: “For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me.” (v.9a)

1. Suggestions of death is indicated with the verb for “consumed” in Hebrew that is used to described devouring flame and the Hebrew for “fall” used of burning coals falling on someone, see Psalm 120:3-4.[16]
2. This does not seem to be talking about David since He did not die in the hands of His enemies; also the Temple was not built yet.
3. This seem better to be taken to refer to Jesus who days before His death cleared the Temple of Money changers a second time which sparked the anger of the religious leaders wanting to kill Jesus (see Luke 19-20).

God is involved with this Person’s suffering: “For they have persecuted him whom You Yourself struck, And they tell of the pain of those whom You have wounded.” (v.26)

1. God is involved too with the Person’s suffering as indicated when the Speaker addressing God said “You Yourself struck” and “You have wounded”
2. God is not sinful of course but humans persecuting this individual are sinning.[17]
3. This parallel with the Messianic Prophecy in Isaiah 53:10: “But the Lord desired To crush Him, causing Him grief; If He renders Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.”

The individual’s death and suffering would have worldwide implication of universal worship of God: “Heaven and earth shall praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them.” (v.34)

1. Notice the wide geographical areas mentioned of where praises will occur; it is not only global it is universal.
2. This parallel with the Messianic Prophecy in Psalm 22:27: “All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations will worship before You.”

Handling the Objection: But the Person suffering in this Psalm cannot be the Messiah since He has sinned: “God, You know my foolishness, And my guilt is not hidden from You.” (Psalm 69:5)

1. Interestingly the rest of the Psalm emphasize that there’s no moral justification for His enemies to persecute Him.
   1. After verse 5, in verse 7 it states the reason for His suffering is because He is focused on God: “Because for Your sake I have endured disgrace; Dishonor has covered my face.”
   2. Before verse 5, in verse 4 it states “Those who hate me without a cause.”
   3. Verse 4 is not saying the enemies have no motivation for hating the Speaker but there’s no righteous basis to hate Him; the three things that the enemies hate are mentioned in verses 9-12:[18]
      1. The Speaker’s zeal for the house of God (v.9a)
      2. The Persecutors want to insult God so they insult this Speaker (v.9b)
      3. The Speaker’s humility (v.10-11)

2. To help reconcile the Speakers lack of sin and allegedly God knowing His sins, one should notice in verse 5 the focus of the verse is not on the Person’s sin but the fact that God is omniscient; note the phrase to refer to God’s knowledge in both lines of this verse: “You know” and “not hidden from You.”
3. In other words the verse is saying God would know if the Speaker have any sins, but that does not mean He sinned. This is contrasted with the Speaker’s enemies who does not know and have no moral basis to persecute the Speaker.
4. This does not seem to be David who clearly is willing to confess His sins, as seen in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51.[19] This must then be the Messiah.

Handling the Objection: What about all the water imagery in this Psalm? Does that mean the Psalm is not Messianic?

1. Water motif appear in Psalm 69:1-3,15.
2. If the reason to reject this as being about the Messiah Jesus is because Jesus did not die surrounded by Deep Waters then this also is the reason to say this is not David.
3. Rather there’s a sense we must take the language of Deep Waters as metaphorical.
4. It is also interesting that opposite description of drowning with waters is also described, with languages of thirst:
   1. “my throat is parched;” (3)
   2. “And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” (21)
5. Even with metaphorical language there’s something literal that it is talking about; I think while “deep waters” is metaphorical yet the description of drowning sensation and thirst can be literal.
6. These two opposite phenomenon seem to happen with Jesus’ death on the Cross in which He was thirsty (John 19:28) yet His lungs was filled with fluid as indicated when He was pierced: “Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out” (John 19:34).
7. So instead of seeing this as an objection against this being Messianic and this being about Jesus I think it seems to fit exactly with how Jesus suffered and died as the Messiah!

[1] O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing), Kindle Location 1902 of 4699.

[2] Andreas Kostenberger, “John” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 494.

[3] Andreas Kostenberger, “John” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 494.

[4] Randall L. McKinion, “Psalm 69: The Lament of the Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 597.

[5] I. Howard Marshall, “Acts” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 530.

[6] I. Howard Marshall, “Acts” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 530.

[7] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_069.pdf

[8] O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing), Kindle Location 1431 of 4699.

[9] O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing), Kindle Location 1488 of 1920.

[10] O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing), Kindle Location 1488 of 1895.

[11] Randall L. McKinion, “Psalm 69: The Lament of the Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 593.

[12] O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing), Kindle Location 1488 of 1902.

[13] O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing), Kindle Location 1488 of 1902.

[14] Randall L. McKinion, “Psalm 69: The Lament of the Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 601.

[15] Randall L. McKinion, “Psalm 69: The Lament of the Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 593.

[16] Andreas Kostenberger, “John” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 432.

[17] Randall L. McKinion, “Psalm 69: The Lament of the Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 597.

[18] Randall L. McKinion, “Psalm 69: The Lament of the Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 595.

[19] Randall L. McKinion, “Psalm 69: The Lament of the Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 594.

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