Psalm 69:22–28
Last time we looked at the imagery of the cup of God’s wrath. Jesus knew it was His to drink from as He endured the cross. God’s wrath was being poured out on His Son because of our sins.
Our Lord is praying while on the cross. The first half of the Psalm we have covered already is His prayer to the Father to save Him from death. Also, Jesus prayed for the salvation of all who would come to Him by faith…He prayed for His own.
Psalm 69:13–15 (ESV)
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.
Now, our Lord’s prayer turns away from Him and His people to His enemies. Just as surely as His prayer for salvation will be answered, so too will this prayer also be answered.
Pouring the Cup of God’s Wrath by Prayer (69:22:28)
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.
As we examine this prayer against God’s enemies, we will see clearly that this is what Jesus endured on the cross, God’s wrath for others which brought His people salvation, He is asking God to pour this same cup upon His enemies not for salvation but for damnation.
This prayer will also be answered by the Father.
The reality we must face and come to grips with is this is really Jesus praying the Lord’s Prayer…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is Jesus praying for God’s will to be done and the cup of wrath poured out upon His enemies
Scholars call these covenant curses that will be poured out upon all God’s enemies for all time.
What is the difference between God’s people and God’s enemies? God is the difference. He has set His love upon them, Jesus prays for God’s people and prays against God’s enemies.
What we should notice is that this is the same cup Jesus drank of. He prays that God’s enemies would be cursed in the same way He was as He hung on the cross. So, we see that God’s enemies will experience His wrath for their own sin because they have not believed in the name of the Son of God.
Jesus prays…
Psalm 69:21–22 (ESV)
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.
Psalm 69:3 (ESV)
3 I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
Psalm 69:23 (ESV)
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
Jesus’ body trembled on the cross…He prays their loins would tremble.
God’s wrath overtook Jesus so too He prays that they would experience God’s anger and wrath.
Psalm 69:24 (ESV)
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
What Jesus endured for salvation; they will endure for damnation. This is God’s will for all who will not come to Christ by faith. Whether Jesus bore our sin or we bear our own sin, both options fall within the boundary of God’s will.
As terrible as this prayer is, it is a good prayer. It is a prayer of Jesus…Your will be done. It is a perfect prayer.
What’s also interesting and we should note is that Jesus leaves out some things…
Nothing about the flood overtaking them that overtook Him. The reason is that the flood represented the sins of His people. Jesus paid for sins not His and it was a flood to Him. They will pay for their own sin.
He does not pray that they would be hated without cause. Our Lord experienced that while His enemies were hated and will be hated with cause.
It is also a prayer that within it comes the pouring out of the Cup of wrath. What Jesus prays for the Father will do.
This prayer and its answer also allow us to be set free from seeking retribution or vengeance when we are sinned against…
Deuteronomy 32:35 (ESV)
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and their doom comes swiftly.’
Paul builds on this text and interprets it for us who are under the New Covenant…
Romans 12:19–21 (ESV)
19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The point is that God’s wrath will be right and it will be exacted in perfection toward His enemies. It will be right so we don’t have to take vengeance on anyone who sins against us because if they remain unsaved/God’s enemies He will take vengeance for us.
For those who want to question the prayer of imprecation and its use in the NT, I want us to look at a few places where it is quoted by NT writers…
Luke applies this prayer to Judas…
Judas was an unrepentant, unbelieving, covenant breaker…
Acts 1:20 (ESV)
20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
“ ‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;
and
“ ‘Let another take his office.’
The first quote comes directly from Jesus’ prayer in Psalm 69:25
The second from Psalm 109:8
God took vengeance upon Judas. None of the disciples had to because they were freed from vengeance because God promised to take care of it. Judas’ fate is the fate of all unbelievers. Why? Jesus prayed for it. God the Father will grant all of His Son’s requests.
Romans 11:1-10…
Galatians 3:13 (ESV)
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Romans 10:13 (ESV)
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
One more passage…
2 Thessalonians 1:5–10 (ESV)
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— 6 since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
Romans 3:21–26 (ESV)
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
The prayer of imprecation reminds us how vitally important it is that Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath for all who come to Him by faith.
For all who don’t, they will experience God’s wrath as His enemy because the Father always answers the Son’s prayers.
Will you come to Christ by Faith?
Resources Used:
War Psalms of the Prince of Peace by James Adams especially pages 138-140
Psalms by George Horne
Psalms by Samuel Pierce
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