THE REPROACH OF CHRIST

“Therefore the world knoweth us not”, 1 John 3. 1. The writers of the Psalms were often prophets as well as poets, and often wrote of matters outside their own experience. The two Psalms 69 and 89 deal with the suffering of God’s people: but the only Person in whom all these sufferings met was the Person of Christ.

Reproach and Honour, “Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour”, 69. 19. We cannot say that our sufferings are unnoticed, when Christ was so acquainted with grief and reproach, with its attendant shame and dishonour. This shame and dishonour speak of the offence of the cross. The world has a form of honour in which none of God’s people have a part, but in the Lord’s case it was the Father that honoured Him, John 8. 54. “By honour and dishonour”, 2 Cor. 6. 8.

Reproach and the Heart, “Reproach hath broken my heart”, 69. 20. But “none of the ransomed ever knew, how deep were the waters crossed”; no matter how near we may be to Him, we shall always be a stone’s throw away, as were the disciples in the garden of Gethsemane, Luke 22. 41. Even in our ordinary day-to-day experiences, we look for sympathy; yet remember Him who “looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none”.

Reproach and Hope, “Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants”, 89. 50, 51. This is a prayer that the Lord hears and answers. He did not forget His Son, and He will not forget us. We are called upon quietly to accept these reproaches, and to endure them in silence. Our hope is in God, and we must keep our eyes upon Him. Verse 51 both expresses our hope, and highlights the attitude of the world in unbelief. “They have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed” portrays a picture of a crowd, a rabble, insulting Him wherever He goes, and the idea of footsteps could suggest His return, and the ridicule of the people that have not seen Him, such as the appearance of scoffers in the last days proclaiming, “Where is the promise of his coming?”, 2 Pet. 3. 3, 4.

The people of the world may expect good or bad, but we hope for the good. The Lord is coming back!

Answer reproach with silence.