Sharper Iron — The Psalter: The Solid Rock That Withstands the Flood

Rev. Caleb Adams, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bend, OR, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Psalm 69.

Through David’s afflictions, Psalm 69 gives a vivid description of Jesus’ suffering and death. Even though afflictions threaten to overwhelm him, David still cries out in trust to the LORD. Even though his enemies kick him while he’s down, David still trusts in the LORD to deliver him. He puts the matter of justice in the hands of the LORD and praises God for His coming deliverance. Psalm 69 points us to Christ as the One who suffered God’s wrath in our place to bring us eternal life and salvation.

Join Sharper Iron during the month of July to study several Psalms. In the Psalter, God speaks His Word to us and teaches us how to speak back to Him in prayer. Even in the great variety of the Psalms, each one points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen.

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund, where your investments help support the work of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Visit lcef.org.

Psalm 69

Save me, O God!
    For the waters have come up to my neck.^[a]
²I sink in deep mire,
    where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
    and the flood sweeps over me.
³I am weary with my crying out;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
    with waiting for my God.

⁴More in number than the hairs of my head
    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?
⁵O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

⁶Let 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.
⁷For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that dishonor has covered my face.
⁸I have become a stranger to my brothers,
    an alien to my mother’s sons.

⁹For zeal for your house has consumed me,
    and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
¹⁰When I wept and humbled^[b] my soul with fasting,
    it became my reproach.
¹¹When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.
¹²I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.

¹³But 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.
¹⁴Deliver me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
¹⁵Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.
¹⁷Hide not your face from your servant,
    for I am in distress; make haste to answer me.
¹⁸Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
    ransom me because of my enemies!

¹⁹You know my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to you.
²⁰Reproaches 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.
²¹They gave me poison for food,
    and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

²²Let their own table before them become a snare;
    and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.^[c]
²³Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
    and make their loins tremble continually.
²⁴Pour out your indignation upon them,
    and let your burning anger overtake them.
²⁵May their camp be a desolation;
    let no one dwell in their tents.
²⁶For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
    and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
²⁷Add to them punishment upon punishment;
    may they have no acquittal from you.^[d]
²⁸Let them be blotted out of the book of the living;
    let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

²⁹But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

³⁰I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
³¹This will please the Lord more than an ox
    or a bull with horns and hoofs.
³²When the humble see it they will be glad;
    you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
³³For the Lord hears the needy
    and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

³⁴Let heaven and earth praise him,
    the seas and everything that moves in them.
³⁵For 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.

Footnotes

Psalm 69:1 Or waters threaten my life
Psalm 69:10 Hebrew lacks and humbled
Psalm 69:22 Hebrew; a slight revocalization yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome) a snare, and retribution and a trap
Psalm 69:27 Hebrew may they not come into your righteousness

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).