Not Religious Enough

Psalm 69:1-7

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be sung to the tune “Lilies.”

1Save me, O God,

for the floodwaters are up to my neck.

2Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire;

I can’t find a foothold to stand on.

I am in deep water,

and the floods overwhelm me.

3I am exhausted from crying for help;

my throat is parched and dry.

My eyes are swollen with weeping,

waiting for my God to help me.

4Those who hate me without cause

are more numerous than the hairs on my head.

These enemies who seek to destroy me

are doing so without cause.

They attack me with lies,

demanding that I give back what I didn’t steal.

5O God, you know how foolish I am;

my sins cannot be hidden from you.

6Don’t let those who trust in you stumble because of me,

O Sovereign LORD Almighty.

Don’t let me cause them to be humiliated,

O God of Israel.

7For I am mocked and shamed for your sake;

humiliation is written all over my face.

It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it. Jeremiah was told to prophesy that the Babylonians would conquer Jerusalem. Everyone else seemed sure that the holy city would be spared, but Jeremiah kept bringing bad news. To silence him, his enemies lowered him into a muddy cistern. As the prophet sank into the mire, surely these words from Psalm 69 would have been running through his head.

Jeremiah never really wanted to be a prophet; he was just obeying God. The religious leaders told him he was dead wrong—God certainly wouldn’t let foreigners overrun his Temple! Where was Jeremiah’s faith? Jeremiah had to wonder that himself sometimes, worrying that he was getting it wrong, just as David fretted in verses 5 and 6. But he kept doggedly “calling ‘em as he saw ‘em.”

Jesus was in a similar situation, attacked by the religious leaders of his day. We don’t usually think of it this way, but Jesus was crucified because he wasn’t religious enough—at least not in the eyes of the Pharisees and scribes. He was seen as a Sabbath breaker, a Temple defamer, and ultimately a blasphemer.

Pleasing others should never be our primary concern. If we keep our focus on pleasing God, we may get criticism from others who misunderstand us—just as David, Jeremiah, and Jesus did—but we will have the approval of God.

On the light of God’s own presence

O’er his ransomed people shed,

Chasing far the gloom and terror,

Brightening all the path we tread.

BERNHARDT SEVERIN INGEMANN

Psalm at a Glance

In this psalm David is, of course, speaking of his own experiences, but it is also a messianic psalm that speaks of the passion and resurrection of our Lord. Keep both perspectives in mind as you read it.

Notable Quotable

“Closeness to God sometimes means alienation from men.”

EUGENE PETERSON