Let Us Rise With Him; Ps 69, 86 & 131

May the mumbling commence!

Jesus is risen!  (He is risen, indeed!)  May all of you have a blessed Resurrection Sunday.  In honor of the glorious day that we especially set aside to celebrate our risen Lord (We should celebrate the resurrection every day of our lives!), I will focus on some portions of Psalms 69 and 86 that particularly ring out to me when I think of the passion of Christ.  

The first passage that I will look at is from Psalm 69:7-9 –

            For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. 

I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons; 

for zeal for your house consumes me,

            and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

How can anyone read this passage without thinking of the insults hurled upon Jesus as he hung on the cross?  Every time I fall short of the purpose that God has made me for, I join these people in hurling insults at my Lord and Savior.  And what is at the heart of the purpose that God has for all people? 

Read this passage from Psalm 69:30-33 –

I will praise God's name in song

            and glorify him with thanksgiving. 

This will please the Lord more than an ox,

more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. 

The poor will see and be glad –

            you who seek God, may your hearts live! 

The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.  

We were born to praise, glorify, and honor the Lord with thanksgiving.  God will be more pleased with us if we worship Him truly than if we fall short and need to offer sacrifices or lean upon the greatest and most perfect sacrifice of all – Jesus. 

And proclamation is part of this purpose for all lives.  Through the message of Jesus that we bring, the poor will see and be glad.  The message will lead people to seek God and live.  God is out there.  God is listening.  God can set anyone free.  So if you are not, seek God today with all your heart – like David who wrote this Psalm.  

Now, I turn to another passage from Psalm 69, verses 19-21 –

You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;

            all my enemies are before you. 

Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless;

I looked for sympathy, but there was none,

for comforters, but I found none. 

They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

Again, how can we read these words on Resurrection Sunday and not think of Jesus on the cross?  The wanton blood thirst of humanity had brought Jesus to the agonizingly slow death on the cross.  Jesus’ heart must have been broken by the utter rejection.  There was no sympathy or comfort from the people.  The soldiers, indeed, put vinegar in the sponge that they offered Jesus to slake his thirst.  

Let us not be proud.  Let out hearts be content (as the brief Psalm 131 implores us).  Let us cry out to God like David in Psalm 86:11-15 –

Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. 

I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;

            I will glorify your name forever. 

For great is your love toward me;

            you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. 

The arrogant are attacking me, O God;

            a band of ruthless men seeks my life –

men without regard for you. 

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out