[0:00] turn with me to Psalm chapter 69. I want to explain to you what's going on in the Psalm, and I want to prepare you for some extremely harsh language that you're about to hear that's going to be uttered from the mouth of the Lord Jesus. So when a Psalm or any passage of scripture is written, there are two things that go on. One, this is David's Psalm, and so very likely you can read this story, and David was mistreated, and he writes all the horrible story about how he was mistreated, and then the second section, David's going to be like, God, kill them. I want them wiped out. I want you to not let them go to heaven. I want you to go after my enemies, and then he says, and thank you for when you get me back to my kingdom, and I get to be there, but we find that this is a messianic Psalm. In other words, we know this Psalm refers to Jesus because there's so many things in the New Testament, so many times that it was quoted in the New Testament.
[1:05] In John 15, I showed you this a couple of weeks ago, it said that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me without a cause, and that's Psalm 69 being quoted in John chapter 15, and then in John chapter 2 and verse 17, Jesus uses this and says, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. That's straight out of this Psalm, and in Psalm 69 21, it says that they gave me vinegar to drink, and we know that was talking about the cross. We didn't do this verse the last time, but in Acts chapter 1 and 2, when they're replacing Judas as the fallen apostle, they quote this Psalm again, verse 25, let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. So this is both.
[2:02] David would have written it thinking he was talking about himself, but when you get the New Testament, you find the Holy Spirit saying, yeah, he's talking about David, but it has direct application, and it was written about Jesus. And so if you have your Bible, you maybe have marked this earlier, but down to verse 21, we find horrible suffering, and we find Jesus as he paid the price for us on the cross of Calvary. I'll give you a few verses about that in just a minute. It may be the most clear, greatest expression of suffering of Calvary anywhere in one passage of Scripture written right there in that first part. In verse 22, that's down through 21. In verse 22, down through verse 28, it's the second section. And in that section of the Psalm, if the first 21 verses are about Jesus, which I think if you were here a couple of weeks ago, you've kind of got that pretty clearly. And Jesus is not dead. He arose from the dead, and he is alive. And you know what he's going to say in these verses? If you reject what I did on Calvary, then I want you to go to hell.
[3:18] You can't get harsher than that. He's going to say curses on them. And now these next verses are like some of the harshest curses in the whole Bible, all in one section of Scripture. Right after he suffers, there's this harsh set of curses, and we're going to go through them one by one. And then the last part is he's going to be lifted by the Father to be reigning and set on high and to enjoy what God has done through him. I really believe that you're seeing the cross of Calvary in verses 1 through 21. You're seeing the tribulation period in verses 22 through 28. And you're seeing the millennial kingdom in those last verses. So we're going to go through that if you would. Go with me if you would back. Let's just review a little bit. Chapter 69 in verse 3, we see Jesus suffering in this psalm. I am, verse 3, I am weary of my crying. My throat is dried. Mine eyes fail while I wait for my
[4:25] God. Verse 7, I'm just giving you a few of them for the sake of time. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach and shame has covered my face. Verse 20, reproach has broken my heart. I am full of heaviness and I look for some to take pity, but there was none. And for comforters, but I found none.
[4:54] I want to remind you about verses 1 through 21. He was made sin for us. Whenever you read the Bible, you need to read and understand clearly that Jesus never sinned. Jesus had, there was no reason for him to be crucified. You need to understand that it wasn't cruel and malicious Jews or ugly Romans who put him on the cross, but he purposely chose to die. He said in John chapter 10, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down of myself. Jesus came to die and God made him sin. While he was on that cross, he was on that cross, as you saw in Isaiah 53 verse 4 and following, you know what happens to him while he's on that cross? He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows and we saw him stricken and smitten. God hit him, struck him for our transgressions. He was afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. It was his stripes that healed us and all of our iniquity was laid on him. Here's your wild verse in Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 10. The Bible says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him.
[6:28] Can't get much clearer than that. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. What a chapter. Psalm 69 verses 1 through 21.
[6:53] Jesus is on that cross. He's dying and he expresses the pain and the suffering and the shame. But that same Jesus rose from the dead. It doesn't end in verse 21 with him dying.
[7:11] I lived among a popular religion in Peru where Jesus hung on the cross. Everywhere you went, there would be a picture of a great big picture of Mary or a big statue of Mary and she would be so blessed and so happy. And over here, there'd be a picture of a little weak and wounded Jesus still on the cross or dying or beaten on the way to the cross. Or over here would be a full lifestyle, life-size casket made out of glass and a statue of Jesus as he lay in that dead and beaten.
[7:46] But that's not the story of the Bible. The story of the Bible is he died on the cross and he was buried. But three days later, he arose. The story of the Bible is not only did he die for us, not only was he buried for us, not only did he rise again for us, but he is the judge of all mankind.
[8:08] He did not just go away. He did not just die. He was not just forgotten. He will rule on his kingdom on this earth and throughout heaven. And before that, he will judge all of mankind.
[8:22] So go with me to what I think may be a clear picture of the tribulation period, but all together, it's very obvious. The next set of verses are horrendous verses.
[8:34] There are verses about God being angry that you would, not you, that some would choose to not believe in him, that some would mock his death on the cross, that some would think that serving the God of heaven is a waste.
[8:58] Jesus calls on God in this next section to judge those that reject him. That's Israel, his people. That's others that have not been saved.
[9:13] Obviously, Israel will be severely judged. In John chapter one, he came to his own Israel and they received him not. They wouldn't take Jesus. His own people rejected him.
[9:29] And so there will come a time of tribulation on the earth when it'll be horrible. Go with me, if you would, to Psalm 69 and verse 22. Whenever you think about it, the cross is the greatest provision of love we've ever seen.
[9:45] This cruel and horrible place of punishment and suffering and death and shame becomes everything for us because we know that what happened on that cross brought our salvation. Amen?
[10:00] And so that cross that ought to be a horrendously ugly thing becomes a beautiful thing for us. It was meant for our welfare. It was meant that Jesus would die so I wouldn't have to die.
[10:14] It was meant that God would do something so I wouldn't have to go to hell. Look in verse 22. Let their table become a snare before them.
[10:27] And that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap. You know what the center of your house is? You know what the center of our lives is?
[10:37] You ever notice how much we eat? You know, they joke about how Baptists can't have a meeting without eating. But I notice you can't have a day without eating, without going to church.
[10:48] You know, we like, we got three meals a day. Some of us only eat one meal a day. We just start in the morning and don't stop till night. Amen. But he said, hey, you know what should have been sweet for you?
[10:59] You know that place of fellowship where you sit in your house? You know that place where you sit around together and you're laughing and talking and eating and enjoying yourselves? I want that to become a snare to them, a trap to them.
[11:13] He said, and that which should have been for their welfare, their blessing. I want it to become a trap. That verse is quoted in Romans chapter 11 and verse 9.
[11:24] So we know it's talking about Israel. In Romans 11, 9, the Bible says, So see, what happened is the nation of Israel should have accepted Jesus.
[11:42] They should have believed he was the Messiah. They should have trusted what he had to say. They should have taken his message and taken it to the world. But they didn't do that. And now this table, the center of fellowship is going to be a trap.
[11:54] God made peace with man through the blood of the cross. But the Jews rejected that as a nation. And many of much of mankind has. Jesus goes to the heart of it.
[12:07] You don't trust me. Even the family won't have the fellowship and the friendship it ought to have. It'll be destroyed. Well, you need to understand. And I want you to mark some verses down.
[12:18] But in Malachi chapter 2 and verse 2, this is what the Bible is going to say. But listen to this. If you reject the light, eventually that will bring total darkness.
[12:31] If you reject light, you will eventually be in total darkness. Those Jewish people said, no, no, no. Your friends may be hearing the gospel and saying, no, no, no.
[12:46] I won't accept. But the Bible says in Malachi 2, 2, if you will not hear, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, says the Lord of hosts, I will send a curse upon you.
[13:02] I will curse your blessings. Listen to the God of heaven. Listen to him and receive what he has to say. And lay it to heart or you will be under a curse.
[13:16] He's talking to the nation of Israel, but he's also talking to all of our family. He's talking to all of our friends. I think so quickly we're like, oh, that's okay.
[13:27] They don't believe exactly like us, but they're good people. No, if you reject Jesus, the curse is on you. I'm not talking to you.
[13:38] I know you haven't rejected it, but sometimes I think we soften it and we act like if they don't exactly believe like us, it's okay. In chapter 69 and verse 23, the Bible says that eyes that watch suffering and rejected it will bring blindness.
[13:57] Let their eyes be darkened that they see not. Make their loins continually to shake. Do you understand what happened? They stood there as a nation and they watched Jesus crucified.
[14:12] And they knew John the Baptist had announced that when Jesus showed up, he said, behold, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. That was clear telling to everybody all through your history.
[14:24] Ever since the book of Exodus, you've been sacrificing lambs and those lambs been washing away your sin temporarily. But there will one day come a lamb, the lamb, and that lamb will die on a cross and you rejected him.
[14:40] Let your eyes be darkened. In 2 Corinthians 3, 14, the Bible says their minds were blinded. Many of your friends may have blinded eyes.
[14:51] They choose not to believe, but horrible fear and consequences will come. They close their eyes until he no longer allows them to see.
[15:04] Your family and your friends say, no, no, no. And I'm about to get to even worse verses, but they will not be saved.
[15:18] Psalm 69, 24. This is a picture of what happens in Revelation chapter 6 and verse 19. Verse chapter 6 through chapter 19.
[15:29] You remember they even have bowls and they pour them out on the earth. It's just like this verse. The Bible says, pour out thine indignation upon them. Let thy wrathful anger take hold on them.
[15:43] The Lord dies on a cross. We read suffering after suffering. We have all of it. And I think the whole room was the dead and quietest it's ever been when I preached here.
[15:54] We were there. We heard him suffering. We heard his cries. And we went home going, wow, what a Savior. But the world looks at that and mocks him.
[16:06] And our lost family members mock him. And everybody spits on him and acts like it's not true. They do it in a nice way. Their religion lets them do it. Their goodness lets them do it.
[16:18] Their morality lets them do it. But they turn from Jesus. And he says, quote, pour out thine indignation.
[16:33] Pour out your anger. Pour out your being mad. And then he says, is this like redundant, wrathful anger?
[16:44] You can't reject Jesus. God has put up with unbelief and mocking long enough.
[16:57] There will come a time when there will be no more opportunities to be saved. Sin and rebellion always have consequences.
[17:09] I'm afraid we may not pray for our loved ones. I'm afraid we may be like, well, they're good people.
[17:20] They don't agree with us, but they're good people. God wouldn't hold them responsible. God wouldn't judge them. God knows I love them and they're good people. God knows I love them. God knows I love them. In Psalm 69 and verse 25, there's a picture of Judas and the Antichrist.
[17:37] It says, it's quoted in Acts, let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their tents. The one who stands so against God loses everything.
[17:49] Those who follow the ways of the Antichrist or of Judas will find themselves alone, desolate, having lost it all.
[18:04] And Satan moves now, but will soon make his biggest move when he sets up that Antichrist. In Psalm 69 and verse 26, get the picture of a wicked, lost, God-rejected people adding suffering to what Jesus is already going through.
[18:20] Verse 26, for they persecuted him whom thou hast smitten. And they talked to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
[18:32] Jesus died intentionally as a consequence of our sin. But while he's dying, he is being smitten of God and stricken of God.
[18:43] And people walked around laughing at him on the cross. In the Bible, the Bible said they shook their head and they threw curses in his lips. They gambled over his clothes at the foot of the cross.
[18:56] They mocked Jesus. They persecuted him whom God is smiting. Jesus died intentionally.
[19:08] But they stand against any and all who will trust Jesus. They mock those of us who do believe in Jesus. They talk to the grief of those who've also suffered with Christ.
[19:19] Jews, his own, who should have been with Christ, they rejected him. So verse 27. Thank the Lord we're getting close to the end of these curses.
[19:30] Verse 27. He said, add iniquity unto their iniquity and let them not come unto thy righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous.
[19:46] Go back to verse 27 with me. Do you know what happens when we get saved, don't you? He subtracts iniquity and adds righteousness. Amen. He looks down and says, you deserve hell.
[19:59] Give me that sin. I'll take it to the cross of Calvary. Here's my righteousness. Let me give it to you. But you mock me. I will add sin to your sin.
[20:11] You don't mock the one who died for you. You don't mock the one who gave his life for you. Then he says, God, they've mocked me.
[20:23] So don't even let them come to the righteousness. Look at the verse. We're just reading Bible. I feel like you may be a little upset with me, but I'm just reading Bible. Let them not come unto thy righteousness.
[20:37] They continually mock Jesus and Jesus or the Holy Spirit, whoever said that, don't let them even get right. Horrible. You want to know how horrible?
[20:51] Verse 28. Blot them out of the living. Kill them and don't write them in the book of life. Look at it. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living.
[21:04] The census that we take every 10 years got the book of the living. He said, but you take them out of that book, but don't you put them in the other book. There comes a point when there is no turning back.
[21:21] In Romans chapter 1 and verse 24, God gave them up to uncleanness. He gave them up. Who changed, verse 24, who changed the truth of God into a lie.
[21:35] Do you understand what ends up happening when they consistently and constantly and continually reject Jesus? There comes a day when God says, all right, that's it with you. That's it with you.
[21:50] Oh, we need to pray for our families. Oh, we need to pray for our friends. All sins will be added and more. He came to take away sin.
[22:00] The Bible says in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 15, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast in the lake of fire.
[22:12] I think this is probably a fairly accurate picture. We had a lot of time we could go over it of Revelation 6 through 19 when God is going to come on the earth.
[22:26] And it's going to be what's called the tribulation and the great tribulation period. And the wrath of God will be poured out. 21 different things are going to happen on the earth that is going to destroy people.
[22:38] Way over half the population of the world will be dead. If you think you've got a pandemic, there is no way we could even understand. Over half the world will be dead and he will have them cursing him and he will be killing them.
[22:52] And they'll even be trying to find a place to hide. And some of them will be said, God, I just want to die. And he won't let them die. Read the book of Revelation. See, you can't preach the grace without the other part of the truth.
[23:08] The grace of God got me and you out of that. Say amen right there. And we're on our way to heaven. Now the tone changes. Thank the Lord. Can you be with me?
[23:20] He's on the cross. Oh God, I'm hurting. Oh God, I'm suffering. And then he's off the cross and he's risen. And he said, those who reject me and what I just did, punish them.
[23:37] By the way, in the book of Proverbs chapter one, he says, the day will come when they call on wisdom and wisdom will laugh at them in the day of their calamity.
[23:47] But now we move, I think, to the millennial kingdom and the setting up of his kingdom. Go with me if you would to chapter 69 and verse 29. Jesus had humbled himself.
[23:58] He had suffered horrendous death. But now he asked the Father, hey, put me back up on high where I belong. Look if you would at verse 29. I am poor and sorrowful.
[24:10] I'm afflicted and hurt. Let thy salvation, oh God, set me. You know, he humbled himself and became a man. And he humbled himself and was born in a stable.
[24:23] And he humbled himself. He lived among humans for 30 years. And he humbled himself for three more years as he allowed men to talk bad about him and to his face. And he humbled himself more when he died on a cross.
[24:36] And he humbled himself. And he humbled himself. And then he was dead. And he was buried. And he rose again. And when he arose, he says, they won't accept my sacrifice.
[24:51] No salvation for them. If they won't accept my sacrifice, no salvation for them. I hope you do understand there is no praying somebody out of purgatory.
[25:04] I hope you understand there's no giving money or doing anything. If they die without Christ, it's forever. But now he says, all right, I did it.
[25:17] Job well done. I'm ready to go home. Read with me if you would. We'll go down to verse 30. He had suffered. He had died. He is now risen. And he is seated at the right hand of the Father.
[25:29] And he will soon take his throne in the millennial kingdom and in the heavenly kingdom to follow. Verse 30. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
[25:42] That ought to be my heart. It ought to be like glory to God. You are wonderful. You saved me. You rescued me. You gave me eternal life. I thank you. In Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2, the verse says, He was the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[26:09] He was the author of our salvation. Jesus didn't die because somebody else did it. Jesus wrote a plan and said, Father, if I take their pain, if I take that, let's save them.
[26:20] And God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. And salvation was done for us. Amen. Jesus was the author. But he didn't just write a plan. He lived the plan. He died on the cross and he paid the sin debt.
[26:33] And when he went to the cross, he endured it. He endured it. That means it was hard. That means it hurt. And he despised the shame.
[26:44] But today, he is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Salvation has been accomplished. Suffering is over. He's at the right hand of the Father.
[26:56] And Jesus is the one who gave the offering that made the difference. The sacrifice that pleases God. I think verse 31 may not make too much sense to you, but you're Bible people, so I think it will for you.
[27:08] But many people read it and might not get it. In verse 31, the Bible says, You've got to remember, they've got roughly 4,000 years, 3,000 something years.
[27:27] They've been making sacrifices. 2,000 years at least. They've been making sacrifices. They've been offering bullocks and lambs and rams and goats. And they've been offering all of these.
[27:37] When you get the book of Hebrews, you know what he's going to say? Jesus is better. Jesus is superior. He is the offering that God wanted. It was all about Jesus.
[27:49] Amen. The Bible says there, it says, It pleased the Lord better than an ox. The Bible says in Hebrews 9, 22. And almost, ever all you Hebrews know this, he would say, Almost all things are by the law purged of blood.
[28:05] Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. But Jesus is better. Verse 23, it says, It was therefore necessary that the pattern of things in heaven should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
[28:25] Better than a bull. Better than a lamb. Better than a ram. Better than a goat. Jesus. Verse 24, For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the truth, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
[28:45] That high priest took that lamb, and when he walked in with that lamb and that sacrifice, and he sacrificed, he took that blood, and he walked into that holy place to make redemption for them. That was a beautiful thing.
[28:57] That was a good thing. But there was something better. Jesus went in with his own blood and paid our debt and cleared things up for us. Verse 24.
[29:07] Verse 25, Often the priest came in. Verse 26, But now at once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[29:22] John 1 29, Behold, the lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. Verse 27, Once men will die, but after this the judgment.
[29:36] But Christ was offered to bear the sins of many. And to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
[29:48] You know what happened, don't you? He died. It was horrible. It was horrible. All that happened to him. Him hollering, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
[30:02] Him standing there, hanging there on a cross, naked and beaten, his body torn to where he could hardly be recognized as a human. And people walking around and mocking him and laughing at him.
[30:13] But he was doing that to pay my sin debt. He was doing that to pay your sin debt. And that's what makes us happy. Can I get an amen right there?
[30:24] Read the next verse if you would in verse 32. The humble, that's us, we'll see it and we'll be glad. And your heart shall live that seek God for God hears the poor and takes care of his prisoners.
[30:46] We have salvation because of what Jesus did. So we took 21 verses to stop and look at that cross. And we saw him hurting and suffering a couple of weeks ago.
[30:59] We saw the blood drain out of his body. And we saw him as he quoted, he made seven declarations from the cross. And we saw him give up his body, give up his spirit, the hands of the Lord.
[31:10] We saw him do it all. And he didn't do any of it for himself. He didn't do any of it to get right with God. He didn't do any of it to pay for his sins. He was taking care of me, taking care of you.
[31:22] Then he died and was buried and rose again. And he said, now if they won't accept that, if they won't accept what I did on the cross of Calvary, they can go to hell.
[31:35] If they will spurn what I did, they will hold on to their good works and their religion and not think about Jesus and what he did. In verse 34, God has big plans yet for the nation of Israel.
[31:55] God said, do you see what Jesus is doing on the cross? He said, let the heaven and the earth praise him and let all the fish of the sea praise him. Did you read that? I read that verse.
[32:06] I thought that's the funniest thing. I had to see my grandkids watching some cartoon with fish singing and praising and jumping around. And the Bible says that the Lord said, boy, just let everything, let the heavens praise him.
[32:18] Let the earth praise him. Let the fish in the sea, the things in the sea, let them praise him. Everything that moves. And then he says, God will save Zion, the city of Jerusalem.
[32:32] He will build the cities of Judah and his children, Israel will come back and they will inherit it. So here's your story. Jesus came and they rejected him and they died.
[32:48] Jesus is about to bring harsh punishment on the nation of Israel. It's really already been going on, but it's really going to be bad in the tribulation period. But out of that tribulation period, some of them, many of them will trust Christ and he will set up a kingdom and he will get all the promises that God had for him and he will rebuild Jerusalem and he'll rebuild the cities of Judah and he will do all the great promises he gave in the Old Testament.
[33:13] He's a good God who keeps his word. I think there are two or three things that you need to take away. Number one, this isn't something you believe and other people can believe other things.
[33:30] If you're a Bible believer, Jesus said, I'm the way and the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father but by me.
[33:46] And yet we have family members and we have quit praying for them. We've quit sharing the gospel. We've quit inviting them. We've quit doing anything to get the gospel to them.
[33:57] We don't want to offend them. We don't want to hurt them. And hell is just that side of death. That quick. And this psalm is terrible.
[34:10] It's like the most beautiful picture of the pain and suffering of Calvary and then horrendous curses on those who won't accept. Don't let somebody try to convince you that everybody's going to be okay.
[34:30] They're not. You can't be okay without acknowledging your sin and trusting Jesus. Nobody goes to heaven by church membership.
[34:44] Nobody goes to heaven by being baptized. Nobody goes to heaven by being a good person. Nobody goes. Jesus died like that and there's no way you can say, well, my good works are so good I didn't need that.
[35:00] Or that wasn't quite good enough I'm adding to it. You don't add to that. It's Jesus plus and minus nothing. There might be somebody in this room you've never trusted Christ.
[35:14] Lord, help me. You have heard maybe the meanest message I've ever preached in this church. Don't leave without Jesus.
[35:26] Trust Him. And family members, we need to be praying for our families. We need to be sharing the gospel. You need to know that the second they die they wake up somewhere forever.
[35:44] We always want to figure out a way to make them all go to heaven. We grasp at straws. I think when they were two they trusted Jesus. I know they lived like the devil the rest of their life. I know they never went to church, never read a Bible, never talked about Jesus.
[35:57] We do everything we can. Let's be honest. We need to feel the responsibility of sharing the gospel message with them. Would you bow your heads and pray with me please?
[36:11] Father in heaven I ask you to work. I ask you to move in this service. God, I pray that the lost would trust you and go to heaven when they die.
[36:24] Oh, I pray you touch hearts and save people today. God, please save somebody. There's a friend here and they've been coming but they've not trusted you.
[36:37] God, don't let them go home without you. Please. And God, we've all got family members and friends that don't know you and we have become unthinking, not worried, not prayerful.
[36:55] Today we probably ought to be. Oh, God, help us to care and share the truth, the gospel with friends, family, co-workers.
[37:07] Help us, God. We know too much. Help us to share the truth.