They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
The verse pictures David sunk in sorrow and weeping yet mocked for his tears, spoken against by the rulers and teachers who sat in judgment at the gate and turned into a mocking song by drunkards, showing that even a righteous man may bear scorn from the lowest company. The gate was the place of judging, trading and teaching where the city's business was done. The psalm is prophetic of Jesus and sets forth the scorn and opposition He endured when the sins of the world rested upon Him in His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion, even to being accused before the high priest and before Pilate. Its burden belongs first to David and finally to Christ, so that what was literally true of David is literally true of Christ, though not every line of the psalm transfers to Him, while those who held it otherwise taught that it is simply David's own record which others may parallel but which predicts nothing specially of Jesus. God's children may pray its prayers in distress with assurance of being heard and share in the triumph Jesus won, bearing the same reproach for His sake with meekness and rejoicing when evil is falsely spoken against them and they are made a byword even among the base.
Words and Setting
The city gate was a public place where magistrates gave judgment, markets were conducted, and teaching was both given and received, and it was there that Lot likely instructed his neighbors and raised his protest against the unrighteousness of the city. The condition described is one of sinking in deep sorrow and trembling in fear, yet even while weeping the sufferer is still reproached, with falling tears themselves turned into a subject of mockery.
It is David who is spoken against by those sitting in the gate and who is made the song of the drunkards, which shows that even a righteous person may be mocked, made a subject of ridicule, and made to suffer scorn and indignity from drunkards and people of low standing. In this he took upon himself the reproaches of those who reproach God, consumed by zeal for the Lord's house.
Prophecy of Christ
The psalm is prophetic of Jesus and describes the experience through which He passed, so the sitting in the gate speaking against and the becoming the song of drunkards reflect the scorn and opposition He endured. That reproach belongs to His experience when the sins of the world rested upon Him, as part of the prophecy of His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion. In it David foresaw Christ's inner experience of suffering and struggle with the enemy, giving a glimpse of what Christ felt in His trials and showing why He can help those who are tempted.
The verse foretells Christ being spoken against at judgment, accused before the high priest in Israel's highest tribunal and then before Pilate to confirm the sentence, while its image of being made a song by drunkards stands without further unfolding. The burden relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, giving a double application, since portions of Psalm 22 and Psalm 69, including verses 9 and 21, are quoted in the New Testament as fulfilled in Him. Yet not every verse transfers to Christ, since applying Psalm 69:5 to Him would make Him a sinner. For a prophecy can apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, and this verse literally applies to Christ being spoken against and made the song of drunkards, as the New Testament expressly states, while other parts of Psalm 69 belong to its immediate context and do not describe Christ as a sinner.
The psalm stands with Psalms 109 and 137 among the psalms charged with vindictive revenge dissonant with a benevolent heart, but the objection is really against the sin-hating God who drowned the world, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, extirpated the Canaanites, and thunders curses against sinners. Its cursing sentiments are not personal revenge but are typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and are predictive. On another understanding the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's experience and does not refer specially to Jesus, applying to Him no more than to anyone else today whose history runs tangent to David's in points such as being hated without a cause, being spoken against by those who sit in the gate, and becoming the song of drunkards. Such use from parallel individual history, in which David spoken against by those sitting in the gate and made the song of drunkards takes upon himself the reproaches of those who reproach God with zeal for the Lord's house eating him up, is an appropriated quotation, not fulfillment of prediction in the same sense.
Believers Share Reproach
The prayers of the psalm belong also to God's children in distress, who may pray them with assurance of being heard, and the triumph won by Jesus belongs to them as well. Faithful believers share the reproach of their Master, taken up in hostile talk and mocked and made a byword even in low and drunken company. They are made a laughingstock to neighbors and counted as filth and refuse through false evil spoken against them for Christ's sake, which by God's grace they can bear and in which they may truly rejoice.
Reproach may fall even from drunkards and persons of low standing, coming in sudden and contemptuous attacks upon those who suffer for godliness. Such suffering is to be answered with meekness and quietness and self-control rather than with anger or retaliation. A Christian whose history runs parallel to David's may take those same reproaches upon himself as David did, spoken against by those sitting in judgment and made the song of drunkards while bearing the reproaches of those who reproach God with zeal for His house. Such taking up of the words is an appropriated quotation from parallel individual history, not a fulfillment of prediction in the same sense.
The verse pictures David sunk in sorrow and weeping yet mocked for his tears, spoken against by the rulers and teachers who sat in judgment at the gate and turned into a mocking song by drunkards, showing that even a righteous man may bear scorn from the lowest company. The gate was the place of judging, trading and teaching where the city's business was done. The psalm is prophetic of Jesus and sets forth the scorn and opposition He endured when the sins of the world rested upon Him in His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion, even to being accused before the high priest and before Pilate. Its burden belongs first to David and finally to Christ, so that what was literally true of David is literally true of Christ, though not every line of the psalm transfers to Him, while those who held it otherwise taught that it is simply David's own record which others may parallel but which predicts nothing specially of Jesus. God's children may pray its prayers in distress with assurance of being heard and share in the triumph Jesus won, bearing the same reproach for His sake with meekness and rejoicing when evil is falsely spoken against them and they are made a byword even among the base.
Words and Setting
The city gate was a public place where magistrates gave judgment, markets were conducted, and teaching was both given and received, and it was there that Lot likely instructed his neighbors and raised his protest against the unrighteousness of the city. The condition described is one of sinking in deep sorrow and trembling in fear, yet even while weeping the sufferer is still reproached, with falling tears themselves turned into a subject of mockery.
It is David who is spoken against by those sitting in the gate and who is made the song of the drunkards, which shows that even a righteous person may be mocked, made a subject of ridicule, and made to suffer scorn and indignity from drunkards and people of low standing. In this he took upon himself the reproaches of those who reproach God, consumed by zeal for the Lord's house.
Prophecy of Christ
The psalm is prophetic of Jesus and describes the experience through which He passed, so the sitting in the gate speaking against and the becoming the song of drunkards reflect the scorn and opposition He endured. That reproach belongs to His experience when the sins of the world rested upon Him, as part of the prophecy of His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion. In it David foresaw Christ's inner experience of suffering and struggle with the enemy, giving a glimpse of what Christ felt in His trials and showing why He can help those who are tempted.
The verse foretells Christ being spoken against at judgment, accused before the high priest in Israel's highest tribunal and then before Pilate to confirm the sentence, while its image of being made a song by drunkards stands without further unfolding. The burden relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, giving a double application, since portions of Psalm 22 and Psalm 69, including verses 9 and 21, are quoted in the New Testament as fulfilled in Him. Yet not every verse transfers to Christ, since applying Psalm 69:5 to Him would make Him a sinner. For a prophecy can apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, and this verse literally applies to Christ being spoken against and made the song of drunkards, as the New Testament expressly states, while other parts of Psalm 69 belong to its immediate context and do not describe Christ as a sinner.
The psalm stands with Psalms 109 and 137 among the psalms charged with vindictive revenge dissonant with a benevolent heart, but the objection is really against the sin-hating God who drowned the world, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by fire, extirpated the Canaanites, and thunders curses against sinners. Its cursing sentiments are not personal revenge but are typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and are predictive. On another understanding the psalm is not a prediction but a simple record of David's experience and does not refer specially to Jesus, applying to Him no more than to anyone else today whose history runs tangent to David's in points such as being hated without a cause, being spoken against by those who sit in the gate, and becoming the song of drunkards. Such use from parallel individual history, in which David spoken against by those sitting in the gate and made the song of drunkards takes upon himself the reproaches of those who reproach God with zeal for the Lord's house eating him up, is an appropriated quotation, not fulfillment of prediction in the same sense.
Believers Share Reproach
The prayers of the psalm belong also to God's children in distress, who may pray them with assurance of being heard, and the triumph won by Jesus belongs to them as well. Faithful believers share the reproach of their Master, taken up in hostile talk and mocked and made a byword even in low and drunken company. They are made a laughingstock to neighbors and counted as filth and refuse through false evil spoken against them for Christ's sake, which by God's grace they can bear and in which they may truly rejoice.
Reproach may fall even from drunkards and persons of low standing, coming in sudden and contemptuous attacks upon those who suffer for godliness. Such suffering is to be answered with meekness and quietness and self-control rather than with anger or retaliation. A Christian whose history runs parallel to David's may take those same reproaches upon himself as David did, spoken against by those sitting in judgment and made the song of drunkards while bearing the reproaches of those who reproach God with zeal for His house. Such taking up of the words is an appropriated quotation from parallel individual history, not a fulfillment of prediction in the same sense.