The N.T. suggests at least four applications of Psalm 69 to the Lord Jesus. Three take the form of fulfilments and the fourth represents a contrast.
- Hated, v. 4. Both the words and the works of the Lord left the Jews of His day without any excuse for their unbelief and hatred of Him, John 15. 22-24. Their hostility towards Him was truly “without a cause”, v. 25. This expression translates the same word as that rendered “freely”, Rom. 3. 24. Just as we have done nothing to merit our justification, so He did nothing to merit men’s hatred.
- Reproached, v. 9. He suffered the harsh censures and reproaches of men. Faithful as God’s representative, the taunts aimed at God were directed at Him. Paul quotes from this verse to demonstrate that “even Christ pleased not himself’, Rom. 15. 3. In the light of His supreme example of unselfishness, we ought not to insist on pleasing ourselves at the expense of harming other believers, vv. 1, 2.
- Determined, v. 21. Immediately prior to His crucifixion, the Lord was offered a drink of sour wine drugged with gall or myrrh, Matt. 27. 34. The drink was intended to deaden the sense of pain, but He refused it. Clearly, His voluntary death for others required the full exercise of His will and consciousness. He was unwilling, therefore, to spare Himself anything of the suffering which lay ahead.
- Forgiving. In verses 22-28, David gives vent to some of the fiercest prayers for vengeance in the Bible. It is true that the words of verses 22 and 23 were fulfilled in the blindness and unbelief of Israel following the Lord’s rejection and death, Rom. 11. 9, 10, and that verse 25 received a fulfilment in the doom and replacement of Judas, Acts 1. 20. Yet at no time did the Lord Jesus pray for these things. In striking contrast to David’s prayer, “Pour out thine indignation upon them”, Psa. 22. 24, He requested, “Father, forgive them”, Luke 23. 34. No bitter threats or cries for revenge escaped His lips. When He was reviled, He “reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not”, 1 Pet. 2. 23. The Son of man had “not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”, Luke 9. 56.
