Title: Save us, O Turner of tables!

-1
Text: Psalm 69

Title: Save us, O Turner of tables!

Text: Psalm 69
Speaker: Pastor Chad Bresson
Introduction When the dawn broke there was no stirring in the bedchamber. The master of the house did
not show up for the usual breakfast that morning. This wasn’t completely unexpected. He
and old friends had been up to the wee hours of the morning watching movies, laughing,
and draining their favorite brew. And on this morning, no one dared wake him. They were
under strict orders not to bother the man of the house under any circumstances. And so
they waited and waited, not disturbing him throughout the day for fear of upsetting “The
Boss”. The late morning became afternoon became evening. Finally, late in the evening
one trusted employee decided to take the daily mail to the owner’s room. What he found
changed the course of history for an entire nation. There on the floor, dying from a stroke,
most likely brought on from rat poison, lay his boss, a man who not coincidentally had
poisoned hundreds of others. It was revealed later that the one most suspected of the death
of the owner of the vacation home was himself the subject of a murderous plot by the
owner himself. Poisoned was one Joseph Stalin, killed in much the same manner as he
himself had killed millions of others. The tables had been turned. A taste of his own
medicine. A reversal of fortune.
The turning of the tables is a familiar plot device for anyone who is a fan of James Bond or
Indiana Jones. The evil villain is done in by an ironic twist of fate, many times at his own
hand. The turning of the tables turned Wile E. Coyote into a Saturday morning favorite.
There’s even an instance of this in the Scriptures… the Persian official who dastardly
plotted to exterminate the Jews in the book of Esther is hung on the very same gallows he
himself built for his genocidal plans.
This last instance is quite close to the kind of turning of the tables that we will be looking
at tonight. The turning of the tables in Psalm 69 is not simply a plot device. Nor does it
ride on the evil plans of an evil man an even “eviler” man. This is justice served on the
enemies of God and his people.
Turn with me to Psalm 69. Passion week is only a week away. We are looking at a Psalm
that not only helps us orient our thoughts when life is bad and we get desperate, but also
help us identify with One who was crushed on our behalf in the events that became known
in church history as The Passion. As we consider the movement of our Lord Jesus Christ
toward a death that has given us life abundant, we are considering Psalm 69, a Psalm that
helps shape our thoughts regarding The Passion.
Some questions that arise in our own lives as we consider Passion week: What are your
thoughts when life is its darkest? When your life is narrowed in focus down to a single yet
cataclysmic crisis, what is it that governs your thoughts about the circumstances in which
you find yourself? What are your thoughts about Jesus? What do you believe to be true
about the One who died for you? And before we walk too far down the individual road,
there are those congregations this evening who are going through some dark hours because
of things that have occurred in the past week. They simply want this day to be over.
Monday morning these church bodies will collectively wake up with no other thought than
survival. When we as a body are faced with disappointment or even attack, what governs
our thoughts? What do we believe to be true about the One who died for us, regenerated
us, and gathered us together?
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! -2
Text: Psalm 69

Our passage this evening is a journey into the thoughts and emotions of a king and a
people who are at the end of themselves. Life is dark. Life is hopeless. The Psalmist’s
world is in total upheaval. The outlook is bleak. The destiny of a people rides on a king
whose life seems on the verge of being snuffed out. And as this king is being crushed by
those who hate him and his God, there is a cry of desperation.

Psalms as a hymnbook: the Psalm of Lament

Tonight, our text is found in the Psalms. The Psalter was the hymnbook of God’s people.
The Psalms were meant to be sung in the assembly. Commonly in Jerusalem, the context
for the original piece was the tabernacle or temple. Even in the instances in which the
songs of lament were written in the first person, the assembly well understood, as they
were singing, that the writer of the Psalm was one of them. The assembly identifies itself
with the writer in corporate solidarity with the Psalmist. The plight of the writer
represented the plight of the people.
Our text is Psalm 69. Psalm 69 is a Psalm of Lament, songs sung as complaints to God
coupled with expressions of trust in the midst of complaint. In Psalms of lament, Israel
collectively voices complaint to God. While songs of Praise and Hope take their cue from
the covenantal blessings given to God’s people, songs of lament arise from situations in
which there is either no covenant or the covenant has been broken. Songs of lament are
sung by those feeling the effects of the curse of the fall and covenant-breaking. In the
Psalm of blessing, all is right with the world. God is in control and we enjoy his blessing.
The Lament Psalms are songs sung in distress, distress that is both physical and
fundamentally spiritual. In the Psalm of lament, the Psalmist’s world is in chaos. All is not
right with the world; in fact, very little is right with the world. The enemies of the Psalmist
and his people seem to have the upper hand. The righteous are unjustly suffering the fate of
a covenant breaker. Most Psalms of Lament move from the cry for help and a sense of
hopelessness to a declaration of hope and praise in a God who does not forsake his people.
We need to see that in this Psalm.
As we read this Psalm together, we need to notice that this theme of salvation is the glue
that holds this Psalm together.
Verse 1: Save me O God is the desperate cry of a drowning king.
Verse 14 is another plea for God’s salvation, this time in the context of a
loving God being faithful to his covenant with his people. The Psalmist is
moving from absolute desperation to an appeal to God’s covenantal love
and faithfulness.
Verse 29 is the bookend. In the final appeal, the Psalmist has moved into a full
confidence of God’s salvation… so much so that salvation becomes the vehicle for
the King’s exaltation. This Psalm’s story of salvation is moving from desperation to
exaltation through the covenantal love and faithfulness of God for his people.
And the addendum is in verse 33: God will save Zion. The Psalmist’s desperate cry
for salvation ends with an affirmation that God will indeed save His people.
Verse 1, verse 14, and verse 29 form the basic structure holding the Psalm in place,
highlighting the work of God’s salvation. Verse 14 is the thesis statement of the Psalm…
more on that later. But notice how this theme provides the context for what we are reading.
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! -3
Text: Psalm 69

Psalms of lament are not completely hopeless, though a couple of them seem to end that
way. From within the upside world comes a resolute expression of trust in the steadfast
love and faithfulness of a God who does not break covenant with his people. There is an
acknowledgment that no matter how bleak it looks, God is still in control, still saving his
people, and some day, he will make all things right. Psalm 69 is *that* kind of Psalm. As
we read the Psalm together, let’s notice the desperation, notice the faith in the midst of
despair, notice how the expressions of trust are woven into the complaints.
One other thing we need to keep in mind as we read this Psalm. There’s a reason why
Psalm 69 is not familiar to us. Even though this Psalm is quoted as much or more than any
other Psalm in the New Testament, it’s true Psalm 22 gets all the press when it comes to
Messianic Psalms. But Psalm 69 has something else that makes it a Psalm many
commentators and preachers these days won’t touch. It is not only a Psalm of Lament, it is
a Psalm of imprecation. That fancy term is simply a term that means a Psalm that calls
down God’s damnation on the Psalmist’s enemies. These kinds of Psalms in which the
Psalmist prays for all sorts of bad things to happen to his enemies defies our politically
correct sensibilities. In Psalm 69, it’s not enough for the Psalmist to cry out for help in
facing what seems to be certain death. His faith and trust in God moves him to expresses
confidence that God will save him, but also moves him to beg for God to judge his
enemies.

Psalm 69
Psalm 69 is a Psalm of David. This song is written in eight discernable movements,
successively alternating between cries for help (vs. 1, 6, 13b-18, 22-29) and statements of
plight (vs. 2-5, 7-13a, 19-21), with the final statement being a statement of praise (30-36).
The statements of plight function as the reasons for the cries for salvation and deliverance,
and as one moves through the Psalm, the lament increases in its intensity resolving the
complaint and expression of trust in a chorus of praise.
It is a bit of a long Psalm, but meant to be sung in its entirety. The tune, identified here as
“lilies” has been lost to posterity. But let’s stand as God’s people and read it aloud
together as an assembly. This is what God’s Word says:
1 Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
3 I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! -4
Text: Psalm 69

are those who hate me without cause;

mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make songs about me.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! -5
Text: Psalm 69

17 Hide not your face from your servant;

for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
22 Let their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 When the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
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Text: Psalm 69

33 For the Lord hears the needy

and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

A Psalm of David
The first thing we notice about Psalm 69 is what we said earlier in that this is a Psalm of
David. We know almost nothing of the origins of this Psalm. Other than a couple of hints
in this passage, we do not know the circumstances that gave rise to this Psalm. We do
know from the book of Samuel that there are a couple of events in David’s life that would
seem similar to what we find here. The first is Saul’s chasing of David through the
wilderness. There were days that David thought that he might not make it out of the desert
alive, save for the fact that he was the Lord’s anointed and heir to the throne. There are
some Psalms written in those dark days. There’s also the time in David’s life after he was
king when he was pushed off his throne, out of his house, out of Jerusalem and was on the
run for his life again. This time, his own son Absalom was the hunter with David’s life in
danger as the hunted. Both Saul and Absalom fit the perpetrator’s profile in this Psalm.
And there’s a reference to homelessness away from brothers who were opposed to him…
that might fit the description regarding David’s flight from Saul, since there are intimations
in Samuel that David’s brothers, like Joseph, were not all that fond of their young sibling.
Regardless, we simply don’t know the circumstances, other than it’s a Psalm of David.

A Psalm of Contrast
The second thing we notice as we come to Psalm 69 is the stark contrast in the Psalter
between Psalm 69 and the ending of Psalm 68. The contrast is so stark… this cannot be
accidental:
O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides in
the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold he sends out his voice his might voice.
Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the
skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel – he is the one who
gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God.
What lofty vision and declaration of God. Awesome is God from his sanctuary. Blessed be
God! Here is God in all of his heavenly glory, the occasion of which is to break forth in
song. The Grand and Exalted Ancient of Days in his heavenly dwelling is given praise for
who He is for his people… giving them power and strength. Psalm 68 ends with the only
possible ending of this exalted vision of the God who keeps covenant with Israel: Blessed
be God! Blessed be God!
Save me O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! -7
Text: Psalm 69

over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
Where is the praise? Where is the vision of God in all of his glory? Where is the
recognition of what God has done for his people? Where is the comfort of knowing God is
ruling and reigning from his heavenly dwelling place? Where is the pronouncement of
covenantal blessing on the ever faithful God… where is “Blessed be God!”?
Save me O God! Where has God gone for David? Is Psalm 68 still true? No longer is there
the casting of a grand vision of God in his sanctuary. Instead, David, the Anointed One of
Israel, the recipient of the divine covenant, the king who sees God in all of his glory and
has heaped upon God praise for who he has been for his people in power and strength now
find himself in hell on earth where God not only is seemingly absent, his hand seems to be
against him. This contrast between the ending and opening of these two Psalms is David’s
recognition that even those who are God’s covenantal people still find themselves very
much affected by the curse.

David’s First Plea: Save me O God!

Save me O God! Becomes the overarching theme of this Psalm. All that follows in this
Psalm could be subsumed under that desperate cry. It is a cry of anguish. It is a cry of
terror. It is a blood-curdling cry meant to make the assembly’s hair stand on end: Save me
O God! The Psalmist wastes no time in making an immediate appeal to the saving God of
Israel, the only one in whom there is any hope of salvation. Whatever it is that compels
David to cry out, it is apparent that David has no choice but to turn to the only One who
can save him.

David’s first statement of plight: I’m drowning

Why is it that “Save me O God” contains such anguish and desperation? This first cry for
help is followed by a description of his situation. “I sink in deep mire where I’m losing my
feet. I have come into deep waters and the floods sweep over me.”
David is drowning. David is going under. David is so overwhelmed by his situation, he is
about to succumb with his very life. David is such a mess, his voice is nearly spent from
his pleas of desperation, and the flicker of life in his eyes nearly out. He has been waiting
on God’s salvation that long. This, for David, is the dark night of the soul, in which all
light seems to be gone from the eyes. Life is out of control. There is a seeming inevitability
of doom. David’s life is in upheaval to the point of catastrophic. There seems to be no way
out and God seems so distant. His cry for salvation rises to God, because he senses God’s
hand in the events of his life. But what used to be a calm and resolute waiting on God and
the vindication of his servant has now become a waiting for help that may seem like it will
never come.
Throughout the Old Testament, these “waters” and “deep mire” are symbolic of distress
that is brought on by judgment. This kind of catastrophic upheaval that is overwhelming
David is accentuated by alienation and darkness. The imagery here evokes the concept of
Sheol, the pit, the realm of the dead, and indeed the pit is mentioned later in this song.
Echoes of Jonah and Joseph and Jeremiah can be heard here. Even God’s people are not
immune to the effects of the curse in a fallen world. The pain is real, the suffering is real.
This suffering is exacerbated by the fact that it is an unjust suffering. “Mighty are those
who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal, must I now
restore?” There’s no more severe mental anguish portrayed in the pages of scripture than
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Text: Psalm 69

that of unjust suffering at the hands of those who hate God and hate God’s people because
they hate God. These who hate God are many. The language in verse 4 mirrors verse 2.
“More in number” and “mighty” describe enemies who threaten to overrun David’s life.
The sheer number of those out to destroy David are flooding David’s world to the point he
feels as if he is drowning.
This near hopelessness of the Psalmist’s situation isn’t simply because God seems to have
God missing, but along with God, truth and justice have also gone missing. There is a
longing for vindication, but vindication of the anointed one is elusive because justice is
AWOL. What gives rise to David’s sense of being overwhelmed by life in the darkest hour
of his soul are lies being spread like wildfire about the Anointed One of Israel. And there is
nothing he can do about it.
The distress of the situation explains the impulse and desperation behind “Save me O
God!” And the magnitude of his helplessness forces David to confess his own sin. There’s
sense in which David recognizes his plight with fallen humanity. “O God, you know my
folly. The wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.” Here we are clued in that this
great distress of David’s life wasn’t simply physical. That becomes more apparent as we
move through the Psalm. In the clarifying moments of being pulled under the rushing tide,
David acknowledges and confesses his falling short of the glory of a God who holiness is
so bright and intimate knowledge so vast nothing escapes his attention.

Mediation for his people

David follows this confession with his second petition or plea. This petition is on behalf of
his people, and further clarifies the kind of flood that has put his life in danger. David
recognizes that the destiny of his people rests with his destiny. Whatever affects him,
affects them. His shame is their shame. If David’s destiny comes to an end, so too the
destiny of his people. If all hope is lost with David, all hope is lost for his people. David,
the mediator, offers himself as a substitute for his people: “let not those who hope in you
be put to shame through me; let not those who see you be brought to dishonor through
me.” Shame me, but don’t shame them. Allow me to be dishonored, but don’t allow that
dishonor to fall on them.

Suffering for God’s Sake

And this substitutionary mediator follows this plea with more clarification about his plight.
The second plea is followed by a second explanation or declaration of the nature of the
Psalmist’s adversity. “For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach.” These flood
waters of life that are about to overwhelm David and extinguish the flicker of life in his
eye are the result of David’s identification with the Covenanting God of Israel. This
oppression is spiritual warfare. This oppression is persecution. David, as God’s choice to
lead Israel, suffers humiliation because he *is* God’s choice. David suffers reproach
because he is the anointed one with whom God has made covenant. His opposition isn’t
simply against David. It is against the one true God of Israel that has redeemed himself a
people out of Egypt and has made David a leader for the people.
The persecution of David for the sake of a covenanting God on behalf of his people has
resulted in his homelessness – verse 8. Piled on top of this sense of anguish is a familial
alienation. False accusation and innuendo have taken their toll on family relationships. The
unjust attacks on David have cut him off from his family in dishonor and shame. The
scoffing of older brothers at a young teenager heading off to fight goliath have given way
to an outright disowning of David.
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Text: Psalm 69

No longer welcome in the family house, he runs to take refuge in God’s house. What a
contrast between verse 8 and verse 9. He trades the broken relationship of family in an
earthly house for divine communion in the heavenly house, the place where God comes to
meet his people. But even that doesn’t stem the floodwaters engulfing David.
Verse 9 - Not only is David suffering because of his identification with the one true God of
Israel, but also because of his identification with God’s glorious dwelling presence among
his people. “Zeal for your house has consumed me.” There’s probably a double meaning
here. This is typically understood to be a description of David’s passion for worship and
the dwelling presence of God in the tabernacle. Such a passion is well chronicled. But
given the circumstances of David’s plight and his lament here, we must also see here that it
is precisely David’s passion for God’s house that is his undoing. David’s self-identification
with God’s dwelling presence with his people is such that David is being consumed to the
point of losing his life and being cut off from the people of God. The reproaches of those
who reproach the covenanting God of Israel have fallen on David.
David’s zeal for God’s communion with his people in shekinah glory is consuming his life.
Falsehoods are being spread. He bears the reproach of unjust suffering because of God’s
name and God’s presence among his people, the ironic result of which is an alienation
from God’s people. Even more ironic… the shame and humiliation and alienation that
would so richly be deserved by those who hate God have fallen on the one who loves God
and his dwelling place.
This section ends in another ironic contrast. Such is David’s humiliation and infamy that
“Saul has slain his thousands, David his ten thousands” is no longer playing in Jerusalem’s
Top 40. That hit song has been replaced the song of infamy. The humiliation of David
doesn’t settle for the gossip chain. It goes viral in song. Reinforcing the overwhelming
sense of doom is the blasphemous melody borne by alcohol. Long after the lights have
gone down, and the streets have gone silent, stuck in David’s consciousness is the
blasphemous melody whose notes propagate the lies into the inner recesses of the soul.
David’s response is a classic response of the righteous to the wicked: But as for me, my
prayer is to you, O Lord. If the rancor of a bartune is going to carry the tale of David’s
demise hither and yon, then his only response can be his own prayer song in appeal to the
only one who can save him. How ironic indeed. David’s appeal as the waters of life rise to
his neck and the tide threatens to drown him in humiliation and shame, is to the One whose
reproach he bears. Let that sink in. The destiny of Isarel rides with one whose last,
desperate appeal is to the very one who is the subject of his humiliation. These enemies
hate David… these enemies hate Israel… these enemies hunt down David because they
hate God.
Thus, David’s appeal for salvation isn’t simply for his own personal vengeance. David’s
appeal is for God’s vindication not only of those who love him, but for his own sake.
Instead of running from God when life seems over, David runs right to God: Save me O
God. I’m drowning. I’m being shamed. Don’t allow this shame to spread to your people.
I’m bearing your reproach. Zeal for *your* house has consumed me. Vindicate me,
vindicate your people, vindicate You! If God cannot vindicate, there will be no vindication.
If God cannot or will not save, there will be no salvation.

Salvation as an attribute of God

When we get to verse 13b, the desperate plea “Save me O God” is beginning a wonderful
transformation in the heart of the Psalmist. In fact, the centerpiece of this Psalm is verse
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Text: Psalm 69

13b. If we were going to write a thesis statement for this Psalm, this would be it! “At an
acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me in your saving
faithfulness.”
The salvation of the King and people is grounded in God’s personal and intimate covenant
with Israel. Sometime go through the Psalms and count all of the times that the Psalmist
highlights or praises God for his steadfast love and faithfulness. Steadfast love and
faithfulness are understood by the Psalmist to be at the heart of God’s promises to Israel as
God’s people. If there are two characteristics that set God as the unique God above all
others, the two characteristics that declare God’s unique relationship to Israel and identify
them as His people, it is a love for His people that never wavers and never quits and a
zealous loyalty that never, ever falters. And here the Psalmist notes that these two
characteristics that speak to God’s never ending covenant with his people are grounds for
hope. Why? These aren’t simply nice, moral attributes. No. This steadfast love and
faithfulness are actually, and really *saving* His people. The Psalmist cries out “Save me
O God” because in the very being of God, the very *morality* of God isn’t static, but is
active on behalf of His people. There is the hope when the King is drowning. When it
looks as though the destiny of the King and His people will disappear into the dustbin of
history, there is still a flicker of hope based not on what David can do for himself, but what
he knows God has done and is doing for His people. God is characterized by a love and
*saving* faithfulness for his people… so much so that He is not God if He fails to do so.

Answer me
Not only has the initial appeal “Save me O God” laid hold of God’s covenantal love and
faithfulness, it has become resolute in its appeal. It does not give up. Notice here that the
appeal is no longer “save me”, but “answer me.” In fact, “answer me” is repeated 3 times
in this section. Even as God’s covenant with Israel becomes the basis for the appeal, the
desperation in the plea has increased threefold. Hope begins to appear on the lips of the
Psalmist, but the initial cry for salvation has been met with silence. Answer me. Answer
me. Answer me. All the Psalmist can hear is the mocking song of the drunkard.
The initial descriptions of David’s plight of “drowning in water up to the neck” and
“sinking in the mire” are now attached to the increasing intensity of David’s plea. Answer
me. Deliver me from sinking in the mire. Let me be delivered from my enemies and from
the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me. The king’s enemies threaten to overrun
him and extinguish him and with him his people. And at stake is God’s covenant with King
and people.
And if God didn’t hear the first time, or the second time, this plea is repeated, and again,
David in his desperation is appeal to the very covenant that was the basis of Israel
becoming a nation: Answer me for your steadfast love is good, according to your abundant
mercy, turn to me. Answer me. Deliver me. Let me be delivered. Let not the flood sweep.
Answer me. Turn to me. Hide not your face. Make haste to answer me. Draw near.
Redeem me. Ransom me. O God, where are You? If anything, things are so desperate for
the Psalmist in the midst of great suffering and great pain, suffering that is unjust, suffering
that is because of who God is for His people, that he is now reminding himself and
reminding himself and reminding himself of God’s love and his mercy and his saving
faithfulness. When life is at its bleakest, David is preaching the gospel to himself and to
His people. Again and again. Over and over. Answer me because you are a saving God.
Answer me because you love us. Answer me because you are great in mercy.
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Text: Psalm 69

Answer me. Do not abandon us… and oh, is that thought here. Mingled with hope that
begins to appear on the Psalmist’s lips is an appeal to not abandon. And if there is any
thought that is darker than dark in a moment like this, “Save Me O God, I’m drowning.
Answer me. Answer me. Don’t turn from me, Hide not your face”, it’s the thought of a
faithful and loving covenanting God who saves his people turning from His king and
people and hiding his face. If there is anything worse than bearing reproach for the sake of
God’s name and His presence among His people it’s the withdrawing of that presence from
His people. If there’s anything worse than the thought over being overrun by God’s
enemies, it’s being abandoned by God himself.
These thoughts here are the barest of a soul hanging on by a thread in the face of death.
“Turn to me” suggests that the Psalmist has already begun to believe that the prospect is
there that God indeed has abandoned his anointed one, the chosen one of Israel. And if
God has abandoned his anointed one he has abandoned his people. The fate of the people
rides on the fate of the king. “Turn to me, hide not your face” is the inner motivation
behind “Save me O God”. In fact, it’s simply amazing that “Save me O God” has been
uttered at all. Even though there is the prospect of abandonment, even though David a
righteous sufferer, enduring the agony of reproach for God’s name and God’s people,
David’s faith and trust in God’s love and faithfulness is so resolute he makes the appeal
anyway. Answer me out of your love and your mercy and your faithfulness to your people.
Deliver me from being overrun by your enemies. Turn to me, hide not your face. Do not
abandon me. I need your redemption.

You know my reproach

This third set of appeals is follow by a third set of explanation of David’s plight. And
again, notice how there is an increase in the intensity of David’s plight. Reproach, shame,
dishonor, and reproaches reinforce David’s plight, but this time, David intimately ties this
plight to God himself. “You know” my reproach. My shame and dishonor are “known to
you.” This shame and humiliation isn’t faceless. These are known enemies. Reproach and
shame have names and addresses.
David’s plight is increasing personal. The metaphors of “drowning” and “sinking” are
being replaced with David looking for pity and finding no pity and no comfort. David is
looking for relief from his plight and not finding any. The spiritual suffering and torment
are taking a very real physical toll. David’s life is in danger. The shame and reproach are
reinforced with physical discomfort and suffering. It’s one thing to suffer shame and
humiliation in a posh palace or the comfort of home. But David is homeless. David’s
internal agony finds no relief in physical comfort. There’s nothing to alleviate the internal
disintegration.
In fact, not only did David find no pity and no comfort, he found the opposite. Instead of
pit, they gave him poison for food. Instead of comfort in the quenching of thirst, his
enemies gave him sour wine to drink. David isn’t simply cut off from comfort, but cut off
from life’s sustenance in a way that simply adds to the mockery. In our language we talk
about “pouring it on”, “kicking him while he’s down”, “piling on”, “pouring salt in the
wounds.” David’s fingers are on the ledge, he hangs by the fingernails, and his enemies are
stepping on them. Food and water run to the very essence of what it means to be human.
Life itself is carried on bread and water. David is not only being deprived of that which
would give him life, but he’s being given that which would drive life from him in a way
that makes a mockery of David’s plight. One can hear the mocking laughter of David’s
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! - 12
Text: Psalm 69

enemies as the king’s table is no longer a place that gives sustenance but is a table that
would actually kill you.
It is here that shame and the humiliation is complete. It is here that the drunkard’s song is
the loudest. It is here that David’s alienation has run its course into complete isolation. The
bread and the wine upon which David depends for his life are actually killing him. Save
me O God. Answer me. Answer me. Turn to me. Hide not your face from me. Man cannot
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God’s mouth. And David has
neither. There is no bread, only poison. There is no water, only undrinkable wine. There is
no answer. Only silence.

Turn the tables

What happens next is uncharted territory for the Psalmist. With an outlook so bleak, even
the basic necessities of life are no longer providing the sustenance necessary to live, there
is a startling shift… a jolt… in David’s appeal. David’s last appeal is simply stunning.
Having made his desperate plea, having appealed to God’s abundant love and faithfulness
and mercy, his appeal moves from the salvation that he desires from a loving a faithful
God to justice that he desires from a God who rights all wrongs. The focus shifts from the
Psalmist to his enemies, those who are the cause of the suffering of the righteous. The
petition moves from what the Psalmist wants God to do for himself and His people to what
the Psalmist wants God to do *to* his enemies.
Verse 22 begins a series of the imprecatory appeals, appeals invoking God’s justice and
judgment on the enemies of king and people, covenant breakers who mock the very
presence of God in the shekinah glory of the tabernacle.
This Psalmist doesn’t simply call down God’s judgment on his enemies. Note the dramatic
shift between verses 21 and 22. They poisoned my food. They gave me sour wine to drink.
Let their own table before them become snares. Even within an inch of his life, about to be
overwhelmed, the Psalmist’s view of God’s holiness and justice are so acute his prayer is
that God’s justice will be meted in a manner loaded with the irony that to this point has
been all his. He appeals to a divine retribution whose chief characteristic is that we reap
what we sow. And it is an appeal for justice to right the ironic wrong. This is the righteous
suffer who suffers having done no wrong. This is the one who suffers the reproach of those
who reproach. This is David so passionate for God’s presence and people that he is about
to lose his life because of that passion. David’s enemies mock him. His prayer is for God
to have the last laugh. There is, in David’s view of divine retribution, a sense that one’s
actions become their own consequences.
This prayer for the table to become a snare is the first of five curses invoked on behalf of
the Psalmist and God’s people…and all five are the inverse of details that speak to David’s
plight:
They poison my food and give me sour wine to drink. Let their own idolatrous
table before them become a snare. My eyes grow dim waiting on God to save me.
Let their eyes be darkened. I’m drowning and I cannot keep my feet. Let their loins
be so shaky in the wake of God’s judgment they can’t stand up. Zeal for your house
where your presence glows has consumed me. Rain down your righteous anger and
let your glowing and burning anger consume them. I am alienated from my family
and homeless. May their camp be a desolation and let no one dwell in their tents.
The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. Add to them
punishment upon punishment. They defame me and recount my stories in the city
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! - 13
Text: Psalm 69

gates and in song. Blot their names out of the book of the living and do not allow
them to be recounted among the righteous.
Save me O God and be my reverser of fortune. Save me O God and turn the tables on your
enemies. Answer me out of your steadfast love and saving faithfulness. We want your love
and mercy. Strike down your enemies with justice and holiness.
And as we make our way to the final section, it becomes quite evident that such is the
Psalmist’s view of God’s majesty and glory, such is his confidence in God’s salvation of
his people that one must notice that the turning of the tables involves a trade of the
temporary for the eternal, a physical for the spiritual, an earthly for the heavenly. I desire
some comfort. I have looked for pity. Show your enemies your divine wrath in which there
will never be comfort. I’m suffering humiliation and shame. In the halls of divine justice,
declare them guilty and eternally damned. My life is about to be extinguished. Banish them
from the Book of life.
As bleak as it looks, the Psalmist has not taken his eye off of the big picture. He is about to
be overwhelmed by those who hate Him and his God. Yet David knows that any suffering
in this life is temporary. The worst that can happen to him is that he dies. But his desire is
to see God’s justice satisfied and God’s name vindicated. He is afflicted and in pain, verse
29, but he fully expects, even as hopeless as it seems for God’s salvation to exalt him in his
suffering. Let your salvation set me on high. David doesn’t simply want saved from his
temporary predicament. David has higher purposes and aims. David is the Anointed One.
God’s saving activity in history won’t be content to simply pull David out of the flood.
Divine salvation doesn’t simply restore. Salvation acting on behalf of people and king is
incomplete if all it does is save David from his enemies. David’s final appeal here shows
the full measure of his faith and trust in the God who acts on behalf of his people. This
divine salvation involves the rightful exaltation of the Anointed One. This isn’t simply
restoration, but a new creation.
It is here that the transformation of David’s appeal is at its highest and fullest end. It begins
with Save Me O God, I’m being overwhelmed. It ends with Let your Salvation set me on
high. From the hellish pit to the glorious throne. This is David’s appeal that has been
transformed by seeing God in his love and mercy and justice and holiness. David fully
expects the Covenanting God of Israel to act in love and mercy toward His Anointed One
and justice and retribution toward his enemies… and as a result that very same salvation
will result in the exaltation of the righteous one.

I will praise
The final section of this Psalm moves from the lament to an expression of praise and trust
and assurance in the God who vindicates his people and his name. And notice the reversal
of fortunes continues. The drunkards are defaming my name with their blasphemous song.
I will praise the name of God with a song. Let not those who seek God be brought to
dishonor. You who seek God let your hearts revive. Zeal for your house has consumed me.
God will save Zion. I am homeless. God’s people will dwell in Zion and possess it and
those who love his name shall dwell in it.
The anticipation of David’s exaltation gives way to the crescendo of a Psalm that began in
the blackest of nights. “Save me O God” has moved through an appeal for Israel’s
covenanting God to work on the Anointed One’s behalf and to the salvation of the
Anointed One in his exaltation. The appeal for exultation of the Anointed One places both
the vision and desire for the Psalmist squarely in the heavens. There has been a
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Text: Psalm 69

reorientation of perspective. That reminder of God’s love and faithfulness, working toward
David’s exaltation, orchestrates praise and thanksgiving in the Psalmist, a praise and
thanksgiving that God values more than sacrifice. The danger is still present. God hasn’t
yet answered. David, mind you, is still drowning. What has changed is his inner orientation
and disposition. God hasn’t answered, but he has already answered in what he has done for
His people and what he will do. David has been reminded of the gospel in the promises of
the covenant. He cries “Save Me O God” because salvation promised will be salvation
accomplished both in God’s love and mercy and his justice. While the danger is still
present, God will indeed reward the wicked for their treatment of the righteous sufferer.
When all is said and done, the tables will be turned and those who reproach God and his
people will “get theirs”.
And when those who, like David, find themselves drowning in a sea of God’s enemies see
the pleasure of the Lord in the glory presence of the shekinah cloud of the tabernacle, they
– like David – will be glad. Those who are half-dead, seeing God’s pleasure at the praise
and thanksgiving of his people, will find themselves resurrected. God’s salvation brings to
life those who have been raised from the mire and the pit. The cry “Save Me O God” has
as its end the salvation of God in His dwelling with His people forever. Salvation cannot
and will not come from David. It must come from outside of himself and is found in the
all-loving, all-merciful, all-faithful saving God of Israel’s covenant promises.
Any feeling of God’s distance and abandonment, in light of God’s final salvation of his
people, is short-lived and in the final analysis is simply the true mirage. God will exalt his
Anointed One and God will save His people and dwell with them forever… such a thought
sustains David when he is drowning in a sea of God’s enemies and being consumed
because of God’s house and God’s people.

The Voice of the Messiah

But is this passage simply about David’s misery and his personal mediation on behalf of
Israel? Not hardly. The New Testament writers see Messiah written all over this passage.
New Testament writers do not allow us to read this Psalm without making the connection
between David and Messiah, the Messiah named Jesus. Some of these lines are oh so
familiar to us and we are reminded of them around this time of year. In fact, few Psalms
are quoted more in the New Testament. In the backdrop of David’s voice is the voice of
another who would come who is greater than David. And these Psalms of lament placed on
the lips of the Messiah became expressions of the inner thoughts and emotions of One who
endured unimaginable suffering on behalf of His people.
Ever wonder what Christ was thinking or feeling in those hours that led up to the cross?
Ever wonder what Christ was thinking as he hung on that cross for hours? We need not
wonder. We’re looking at once such journey into his thoughts and emotions in those final
hours.
In the Upper Room on that final night when he gathered with his disciples and observed a
final Passover, he quotes from verse 4 here: they hate me without cause. There on this final
night, the Passover lamb looks at those for whom he will be reproach and says, “More in
number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause, mighty are those
who would destroy me.”
When Christ drives out the money changers on another Passover occasion, John ties
Christ’s actions to verse nine, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” While the passion
for God’s presence among his people is noted by John, in the end, it was zeal for the
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Text: Psalm 69

temple that literally consumed Christ. Mark notes that a false accusation stemming from
that event of driving out the moneychangers was presented at Christ’s trial: we heard him
say, “I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days will build another
made without hands.” Psalm 69:9: Zeal for your house consumed me… and the reproaches
of those who reproach you have fallen on me.”
Bearing reproach instead of those who deserved it, Christ went to the cross to endure
alienation from everyone including His own father. There he hung in shame and
humiliation, bearing reproach for those who deserved reproach. There he hung and one
must wonder, where is the Blessed be God, heard only one week before as the throngs
waved Palm Branches? Where is the praise? Where is God? Where is truth? Where is
justice? There he hangs and his world, in fact the world he created is in catastrophic
upheaval… so much so, the sun refuses to shine. The ultimate in unjust suffering has fallen
to one who, unlike the Psalmist, knew no rebellion. Christ’s destiny and the destiny of his
people will seemingly come to an inglorious end in infamy. The drunkards have already
begun their song. If you are really the Christ, save yourself and come down.
As he hangs on the cross, vindication seems like a mirage. This is Christ’s dark night of the
soul. He is drowning under the weight of all that went wrong in Adam’s fall in the garden:
Save Me O God. The waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire. I have come
into deep waters, and the floods sweep over me. I am weary with my crying out, my throat
is parched. The numbers of my enemies are overwhelming. They hate me without cause.
The mighty are out to destroy me. They attack me with lies. It is for your sake I have borne
reproach. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons. The
drunkards are singing their blasphemous songs about me. Save me O God!
Yet Christ endured it all and entrusted his very soul to his father. He did not succumb to
the temptation to come down from the cross, but instead, bore the reproach on behalf of a
nation whose destiny was tied to his. Even as the blasphemers warmed up their bartunes,
Christ sang his own song of resolute trust in His father: Let not those who hope in you be
put to shame through me; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me.
His shame became our hope. His dishonor became our honor. This is the prayer, this is the
petition and plea of a King dying on behalf of His people.
And it’s not just David’s plight shared by the Messiah. Virtually every one of the curses in
verses 22ff, and there are between 7 and 11 of them, are found somewhere in the New
Testament. One line is so familiar, not only does it function as a swing point in this Psalm,
but it pulls the entire Passion story into this text.
Again, as we noted above, this Psalm is a window into what Jesus is thinking as he
redeems for himself a people in the suffering of the garden and the cross. Let me be
delivered from my enemies. Let this cup pass from me. Let not the flood sweep over me.
Let this cup pass from me. There on the cross, zeal for God’s house is consuming him. He
came bearing witness to the Father and now those who hate the Father have crucified the
Son. Christ bears the reproach of those who have reproached God.
But there is a fundamental difference between David, God’s anointed to lead Israel, and
Christ God’s Anointed to not only rule Israel, but save His people from their enemies. And
this fundamental difference we *must* see if we are to understand this Psalm rightly and
its fulfillment in Jesus. David suffers as one who is righteous, even though he has done
wrong. Christ suffers as one who is righteous, even though he has done no wrong. David’s
cry of desperation, Save Me O God is grounded in God’s love and faithfulness. David
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! - 16
Text: Psalm 69

anticipates exaltation in God’s salvation. But horror of horrors, Christ’s cry “Save Me O
God” really does go unanswered. Christ cries, answer me, for your steadfast love is good…
and there is no answer. Christ’s desperation on the cross is evident as the Father abandons
the Son. “Hide not your face from me” has no response in the heavens. “Turn to me” is
met with stone cold silence.. The worst of all possible scenarios… that God would curse
the innocent and abandon his people falls like a reproach on the One who had a zeal for
God’s presence and His people like no other. How could this be?
Christ will not be saved. The tables will not be turned. The curses will not be reversed. The
wicked will not get theirs… in fact, they kick Christ when he is down. Christ is the
reproach instead of those who reproach God. The swing point of this Psalm becomes the
climax of the suffering on the cross. John 19:28
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the Scripture, "I
thirst." 29A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour
wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the
sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
We often read this part of the crucifixion story as if the soldiers are finally feeling sorry for
Jesus. But that’s not the context of Psalm 69:21 which is the allusion here. The context in
Psalm 69 is mockery. Kicking the anointed one who is down. Stepping on the fingers of
Christ who is hanging on to the ledge by his fingers to save his life. They are singing the
drunkard’s song. Christ dies the death of one mocked. Instead of being exalted, the
Anointed One dies the death of the shamed, the humiliated, the dishonored. The one who
was abandoned by his fathers, fills up the meaning of Psalm 69 to its fullest and drowns in
the sea of his enemies. The suffering of the righteous sufferer is complete. In the end… the
Righteous Sufferer of Psalm 69 will die. The Righteous Sufferer will not be saved.
Because it is God’s intent to save his people.Christ cries out “it is finished”. Not only is
the king dead, so is the destiny of the people whose fate is tied to his. “Save me O God has
gone unanswered.” All foreshadowed in the suffering the anointed one in Psalm 69 is
complete. The tables will not be turned. Or will they?
If those at the foot of the cross, or even the disciples on the road to Emmaus had bothered
to finish reading Psalm 69 they would have known that all was not lost. You see… even as
Christ’s “Save Me O God” is going unanswered, Christ is saving Zion. Even as Christ is
abandoned, he is securing intimate communion with His people forever. And yes, even as
Christ is dying with life quenching wine on his lips he is turning the tables on his enemies.
Oh what foolishness that kind of vindication seems to most of us. This is not the
vindication that the world esteems. This is not a power play. What a weak fool to think that
dying makes everything right.
But that’s just it. Adam sinned. Israel sinned. The whole world revolted in rebellion. The
seed of the serpent seeks to destroy the seed of the woman. This cosmic rebellion,
encapsulated in Israel’s disobedience, is at the heart of the turning of the tables. The
covenant had been broken and Christ is dying as a covenant breaker. Even as Christ is
suffering the curses raining down from a jealous God whose covenant has been broken,
Christ is becoming a New Covenant and providing the ratification of the New Covenant
with his blood. As Christ dies, Christ reverses the fortunes of His people and gives those
who are covenant breakers the New Covenantal blessings instead.
But then there is also this dire reality. Luke, in writing Acts, cites Psalm 69 in providing
details of the death of Judas, the one who was an enemy of Christ, one who persecuted the
Anointed One. As the one most directly responsible for securing the death of the Messiah,
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! - 17
Text: Psalm 69

Judas becomes representative of those who hate Jesus. Indeed the tables were turned on
Judas. In dying as if he hated God, Christ turns tables on those who hate Him and His
people. The covenant curses have fallen on Christ. Christ subjected himself to the curses as
a covenant-breaker, became God’s enemy and experienced the judgment of God’s
enemies. But in taking the curses and dying the death of the damned, Christ secured the the
damnation of those who are the enemies of his people. Even as Christ’s heel is being
bruised, the head of the serpent is being crushed in the ultimate turning of the tables.
The Righteous Sufferer dies. But before the Psalm is over, the Righteous Sufferer lives,
dwelling among his people. Hearts revive in the last part of the passage because the King
has been revived. Having turned the table on his enemies, having been consumed by his
passion for God’s dwelling presence with His people, having died in shame and
humiliation, having died the death due both his people and his enemies, the Anointed One
Himself has been revived and exalted to Save His people and become their dwelling place.
Yes, there was a death, but in the end, there is a resurrection. In the resurrection, the
turning of the tables is complete. Having eaten of the poisoned food and drunk of the bitter
wine, Christ is raised from the dead in vindication of God’s name and the purchase of a
people. The Righteous Sufferer of Psalm 69 dies in order to be “set on high”.
And what joy awaits the Righteous Sufferer and his people. “Save Me O God” has become
“Christ has saved Zion”. He Himself is the people’s “house”, the new temple of God. He
himself becomes the people’s possession. He himself becomes His people’s inheritance.
The salvation of the Righteous sufferer was lost so that in the end salvation would be
found for those who love Jesus’ name.

Conclusion:
What are your thoughts when life is its darkest? When your life is narrowed in focus down
to a single yet cataclysmic crisis, what is it that governs your thoughts about the
circumstances in which you find yourself? What are your thoughts about Jesus? What do
you believe to be true about the One who died for you? When we as a body are faced with
disappointment or even attack, what governs our thoughts? What do we believe to be true
about the One who died for us, regenerated us, and gathered us together? We will be
tempted to blame God. We will be tempted to question God. We will be tempted to
wonder, “where is the justice”? When we have false accusations thrown our way, when we
suffer because we are Christians, we will be tempted to wonder, “where is our
vindication”? When the world is in catastrophic upheaval, we will be tempted to wonder,
“where is the hope”? O Jesus, Save Us! Our hope must be in the One who already has
saved for himself a people by becoming a reproach for those people. This morning Mark
made this comment: “it often takes a moment of crisis to bring us to our lowest point
before we will seek out Christ”. When we have those moments of crisis, our hope, our
faith, and our belief is in the one who had the ultimate moment of crisis and redeemed for
himself a people.
Are we looking for vindication in all of the wrong places? Are we looking to turn the
tables on those we don’t like… never mind if they aren’t necessarily God’s enemies? Are
we always looking to gain the upper hand, hoping to turn the tables ourselves? Are we
drowning in a sea of doubt? Does all seem lost? Do we feel abandoned? Ashamed?
Humiliated? Are our lives in crisis? Even if we were to never say it… do we as a people
get a smug satisfaction when someone we don’t like “gets theirs”? Worse, do we wring our
hands in anxiousness wondering why those who hate God and oppose us and make life
miserable because we are Christians are *not* “getting theirs”?
 Title: Save us, O Turner of tables! - 18
Text: Psalm 69

We need to come to the pages of Psalm 69. Even as life like a flood threatens to carry us
away, let us come gaze at the One who died as a Righteous Sufferer on our behalf. Even as
we long for vindication, let us come gaze at the one who will some day fully and
completely turn the tables on his enemies and exalt and vindicate his people. Even as we
feel shame and humiliation, let us come gaze at a Savior who suffered the shame and
humiliation we so richly deserved, dying the death as if he had been blotted out of the
Book of Life, in order to secure for us a place that very volume. Even as we feel as though
we are drowning in sorrows, let us come to Psalm 69 and gaze at the Man of Sorrows who
fed on poisoned food and drank the bitter wine so that we could taste of the Bread of Life
and drink of the Living Water. In the midst of our mess, Save Us, O Turner of tables!

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