Listen:  87 Question 3

Psalm 69 is known as a Messianic psalm.  That means that it is in prophetic reference to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.  Let’s read Psalms 69:9, “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”  Now let’s compare that to John 2:13-17 which says, “And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”  Comparing these two verses, we see that Psalm 69:9 was a prophesy of the Messiah, and John 2:13-17 shows the fulfillment of that prophesy.

Now let’s read Psalms 69:20-21, “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.  They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”  Let’s compare that to John 19:29-30, “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. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”  It is simple enough to see that these verses are in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ while He was on the cross.

The next few verses in Psalm 69 are in reference to God’s governmental judgment of the nation of Israel because of their rejection of their Messiah.  Psalms 69:22-28 says, “Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.   For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.  Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.  Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”  In speaking of Israel’s rejection of the Lord, the Apostle Paul quoted part of this portion in Romans 11:9-10 where he said, “And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.”

The language of Psalms 69:28 sound very harsh, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.”  However, this has nothing to do with the Lamb’s book of life as mentioned in Revelation 21:27.  In the Old Testament, long life was a reward of a righteous and faithful life.  Proverbs 10:27 says, “The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.”  Let’s compare that with Psalms 55:23 which says, “But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.”  We see here that the reward of ungodly men was the shortening of their days.

Psalm 69:28 speaks not of the loss of eternal life, but the loss of natural life due to the rejection of the Lord.  Of course, those who had rejected the Lord did not have eternal life anyway.  These words speak of those individuals that rejected the Lord and of the nation of Israel as a whole for its rejection of its Messiah.  (87.3)