Main Thought:
We may identify with this prayer, but consider this psalm first as the prayer of Jesus Christ. It was indeed zeal for His Father’s house that brought the reproach of the Jews and our sins and shame that He fell on Him.
Psalm 69:1-9
Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
More 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?
O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
Let 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.
For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
For zeal for your house has consumed me,
and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
Prayer
Thanks to You, friend of our souls, because You did bear our sins in Your own body on the tree, that by Your stripes we might be healed. Let Your cross be our comfort, and strengthen our faith to confess Your name upon earth, never to be ashamed of You or of Your Word. Amen.