“Save me, O God! . . . Because for Your sake I have borne reproach . . . I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children; because zeal for Your house has eaten me up [or, consumed, that is, destroyed me], and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me” (Psalm 69:1, 7-9).
Dear Praying Friends:
David penned these agonized lines at a time when, once again, the murderous anger of his enemies threatened to kill him. The New Testament often quotes or alludes to parts of this psalm and applies them to Christ (Matthew 27:34, 48; Mark 3:21; 15:23; Luke 18:19; 23:36; John 7:3-5; 15:25).
The Jewish religious leaders and their followers, whom he called “the world,” hated Jesus because, he said, “I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). In our day, Christians are often objects of wrath because we insist that clear biblical principles of sexuality and sexual conduct still apply.
When that happens, we can take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus felt the pain and grief of such rejection: “Reproach has broken my heart” (Psalm 69:20).
On the other hand, we must remember that only he was “hated without cause” (Psalm 69:4), because “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:9). Our sins, including offenses (both of commission and of omission) of which we are currently guilty, led to the terrible torture and rejection that Jesus willingly endured to save us from God’s righteous wrath and bring us into his presence, where we can say, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 5:1-11; 8:1, 15-16).
As our pastor reminded us yesterday, that gospel message is the primary reason that we can and should be thankful at all times, not just this Thursday.
Thank you for praying last week. God enabled me to finish the story on Pastor Ren (www.bdcconline.net) and continue writing on Hebrews and on Lit-sen Chang’s critique of Daoism. He also gave me good conversations with three Chinese friends and four prayer partners.
For your prayers (Pick two or three): Please ask God to
- Remind us to take all our sins and sorrows to Christ, our sympathetic Savior.
- Give us all “an attitude of gratitude” for all of God’s many gifts to us, and especially our salvation through Christ.
- Help all of us to use this Thanksgiving season to the glory of God and the good of others.
- Draw near to those who are facing rejection for their faithfulness to Christ and his Word, and especially Christians in China and other places with governments hostile to the gospel.
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).
Yours in his bounteous grace,
Wright