Psalm 69:21

Exhausted after not getting one wink of sleep the night before, having had a crown of thorns pressed into His brow, Jesus was weary and undoubtedly showed it upon His face. For we read in Matthew 27:34, "They gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall."

This was also prophesied in Psalm 69:21 where David spoke of his own persecution. There we read, "They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink'.'  These words are versified in our Psalter thus (PRC Psalter):

    They gave me gall for my food,
    And taunting words they spake;
    They gave me vinegar to drink
    My burning thirst to slake.

Outwardly to onlookers this might have seemed an act of mercy to a thirsty one; but the contents of the cup spoke of hatred and base cruelty. That gall and that vinegar revealed how bitter the hearts of those who gave them were toward God's Son, and thus toward God.

However, let it be borne in mind that Jesus had to taste far greater bitterness than all the men in the world could produce. Yes, He must suffer the hatred of man. That too is part of the punishment He must suffer for our sins. But this is only a small part of the punishment. All the bitterness of hell must be endured and brought to an end. And all that bitterness He must not refuse and spit out after tasting it. He must and did drink the full vial of God's wrath.

But because He did drink every drop of that bitterness, we will taste God's love and mercy. We will drink of the water of life, because God has through Christ and His cross prepared for us the fountain of everlasting life that will never run dry.

Though we in this life will know the bitterness in men's hearts that makes peace on earth impossible for man to realize, we will have peace on earth, because we already have peace with God, and soon will enter a world that has no gall or vinegar, but has joys and blessings to taste and enjoy without end.

Read: Matthew 27:29-38 
Psalter versification: #185:7

Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism
 

Song for Meditation: Psalter #187
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Deuteronomy 9 ; Deuteronomy 10:1-22 
Luke 8:4-21 
Psalm 69:19-36 
Proverbs 12:2-3 
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Quote for Reflection:

"For inasmuch as it (baptism) is given for the arousing, nourishing, and confirming of our faith, it is to be received as from the hand of the Author himself. We ought to deem it certain and proved that it is he who speaks to us through the sign; that it is he who purifies and washes away sins and wipes out the remembrance of them; that it is he who makes us sharers in his death, who deprives Satan of his rule, who weakens the power of our lust; indeed, that it is he who comes unto a unity with us so that, having put on Christ, we may be acknowledged God’s children." — John Calvin, The Institutes

Psalm 41:9 
 

To have enemies who openly oppose is one thing; but it is quite another thing to have enemies with a false front. Satan as such an enemy approached Eve in paradise, thus also through Judas Iscariot he approached Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, and today attacks us through crafty, deceitful enemies.

We sing of that in our versification with these words (PRC Psalter):

    Yea, he who was my chosen friend,
    In whom I put my trust,
    Who ate my bread, now turns in wrath
    To crush me in the dust.

Or as David wrote it in Psalm 41:9, "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."

Anger can easily arise in our souls when we read of the deceitfulness of Judas, when he betrayed Jesus with a kiss (Matthew 26:49). But the question is, "Are you angry with the devil? Do you loathe him, or consider him your friend?''

It is easy to be angry with Judas and stop right there. Satan who moved and used Judas seems like such a mystical being. We talk about him, and may even with the mouth condemn his works. Yet, do you see him as a person, and hate him as an enemy of Christ? Is he your friend or your foe?

The sad reality is that we are so often pleased with him and consider him as our friend. We like the things into which he leads us. Is he not the one who so often makes life enjoyable for us?

But remember that what he did to Jesus through Judas he is continually doing to us, and lifts his heel against us. He uses men who pose as Christians and lovers of Christ seemingly concerned with our spiritual well-being. Through them he comes with such crafty, subtle false doctrines. Is not the world full of doctrines, while only one is what God says?

Remember then Gethsemane and the treachery of Judas. Be on your guard and keep in mind that from the beginning Satan's approach and attack is deceitful. But remember too, that God used him to bring His Son to the cross for our salvation. Satan cannot win. God's counsel stands.

Read: Matthew 26:47-57 
Psalter versification: #113:8

Daily  Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #381
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Deuteronomy 7 ; Deuteronomy 8:1-20 
Luke 7:36-50 ; Luke 8:1-3 
Psalm 69:1-18 
Proverbs 12:1 
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Quote for Reflection:

"Paradise the first was an earthly picture of the heavenly paradise, the new and eternal kingdom of God in Christ. The first Adam was a picture of the second Adam: Christ, the head of the new, united creation. The midst of the garden is an image of God’s communion with man. The river is an image of the flow of life from God in Christ eternally to his people. The tree of life is a picture of the heavenly tree of life" ~ Homer C. Hoeksema (Unfolding Covenant History, vol. 1, pp. 113-114).

Psalm 69:1,2

We can understand Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane, and that His sweat fell as great drops of blood to the ground (Luke 22:44), when we realize that He stood at the top of the stairway leading down to hell; and He saw what He would have to suffer on His cross for our sins.

This is also expressed in Psalm 69:1, 2, where David, as the type of Christ, writes, "Save me O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me."

No wonder then that He prayed for another way to save us than this way of suffering God's holy wrath. His love for God made it so hard for Him to be cut off from God's fellowship that we can understand the versification (PRC Psalter):

    Save me, O God, because the floods
    Come in upon my soul.
    I sink in depths where none can stand
    Deep waters o'er me roll.

What agony He must suffer for us in His soul! Those floods of waters are the awful, holy wrath of God against sin. Jesus sees already that He will suffer that which will make Him cry out, "My God, why hath Thou forsaken Me?"

Even the anticipation of being forsaken of God was intense agony for Him. It was what God would take away from Him and not what men would do to Him that gave Him so much agony. He would not enjoy God's love, but be cut off from His fellowship.

But what does heaven mean for you and me? Is it merely being cut off from physical aches and pains, bodily miseries? Could fellowship with God, living with Him in His house of many mansions, seeing Him smile down upon us in His love be lacking, and we would still call it heaven?

When you pray, "Save me, O God," be sure that you are seeking joy for your soul, the joy Jesus spoke of when He said to the penitent thief, "Today shaft thou be with Me in paradise.''  The joy of being with Christ is heaven. To be cast away from God is the agony of Gethsemane.

Read: Psalm 69 
Psalter versification: #184:1

Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #237
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Deuteronomy 5 ; Deuteronomy 6 
Luke 7:11-35 
Psalm 68:19-35 
Proverbs 11:29-31 
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Quote for Reflection:

Heeding Counsel: “The ungodly are ever ready to “counsel” the believer, seeming to be very solicitous of his welfare. They will warn him against being too strict and extreme, advising him to be broadminded and to “make the best of both worlds.” But the policy of the “ungodly”— i.e., of those who leave God out of their lives, who have not His “fear” before their eyes—is regulated by self-will and self-pleasing, and is dominated by what they call “common sense.” Alas, how many professing Christians regulate their lives by the advice and suggestions of ungodly friends and relatives: heeding such “counsel” in their business career, their social life, the furnishing and decorating of their homes, their dress and diet, the choice of school or vocation for their children.”   --Arthur W. Pink

Psalm 98:1,2

In our natural life it is so much easier to learn a new song than to learn an equal number of lines that do not have rhyme and rhythm. Yet to sing, as the psalmist exhorts us in Psalm 98:1, 2, with these words, "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He hath done marvelous things; His right hand, and His holy arm hath gotten Him the victory. The Lord hath made known His salvation: His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the heathen," is a most difficult thing to do. Note carefully that we are exhorted to sing of salvation and of God's righteousness.

Indeed, to sing this with the lips is not difficult. But to sing it with the heart and unto God is something else. Those two facts must be borne in mind. We must sing, with the heart and unto God, of the salvation we have in the righteousness of Christ, Who is God's holy arm.

This song is not new in that it has different music and has in it new thoughts that have not been sung before by others. God's work is unchangeably what He promised the day we fell with Adam into sin. Salvation is one sure work God's people have known since Adam and Eve heard it. But to sing of salvation with the heart is something new to him whose songs, as he is by nature, express the lust of his flesh, the lust of his eye, and the pride of life.

And even though we may know all about that salvation and righteousness of God, singing it to Him is not only difficult but, as we are by nature, impossible. We must be born again by His right hand to —

    Sing a new song to Jehovah
    For the wonders He hath wrought;
    His right hand and arm most holy
    Triumph to His cause have brought.
    In His love and tender mercy
    He hath made salvation known,
    In the sight of every nation
    He His righteousness hath shown. (PRC Psalter)

Be honest with yourself.  What is it you like to listen to over your radio, off the tapes and records which you buy? What songs rise up in your mind and do you sing at work and in the home? Is it Christ and what He did for us to bring us the righteousness of God? Do you sing of His cross?

Read: Psalm 96     
Psalter versification: #261:1

Daily Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism 

Song for Meditation: Psalter #188/89
Why not sing along??

Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
Deuteronomy 4:1-49 
Luke 6:39-49 ; Luke 7:1-10 
Psalm 68:1-18 
Proverbs 11:28 
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Quote for Reflection:

"God has given us this Gospel not merely for the purpose of securing to us life hereafter, but of making sure of this life even now.  It is a true and sure Gospel; so that he who believes it is made sure of being saved.  If it could not make us sure, it would make us miserable; for to be told of such a salvation and such a glory, yet kept in doubt as to whether they are to be ours or not, must render us truly wretched.  What a poor Gospel it must be, which leaves the man who believes it still in doubt as to whether he is a child of God, an unpardoned or a pardoned sinner! Till we have found forgiveness, we cannot be happy; we cannot serve God gladly or lovingly; but must be in sore bondage and gloom…The Bible gives no quarter to unbelief or doubting.  It does not call it humility.  It does not teach us to think better of ourselves for doubting.  It does not countenance uncertainty or darkness."   --Horatius Bonar, “The Everlasting Righteousness,” pub. 1874