Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
To bear insult and disgrace for God's sake out of loyalty to Him, with the heart filled with bitter shame amid weeping, deep sorrow and trembling fear, is the plain sense of the verse. David in this experience foreshadows Christ as the greater David, and the words are a prophecy fulfilled when Jesus bore reproach and shame in His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion because the sins of the world rested upon Him for our sake. Its application to Him is selective and partial, so that Psalm 69:9 and Psalm 69:21 were fulfilled in Him while Psalm 69:5 cannot be applied to Him, since it would make Him a sinner. His triumph through that reproach and shame is a triumph His children may share and know as their own. That sharing means suffering shame for standing for His truth and holding to the seventh-day Sabbath against opposition, trial and condemnation, which is fellowship with Christ in bearing a portion of the same burden that bowed down the Man of sorrow, though those who held otherwise taught it is not a prediction about Jesus but simply David's own experience applying to Him only as it applies to anyone whose history runs parallel to David's.
Reproach Borne for God
For God's sake the speaker bears reproach and has shame covering his face out of devotion to God. That shame is bitter and fills the aching heart, endured while sinking in deep sorrow and trembling fear. It comes amid weeping, with reproach and mockery added to falling tears.
The reproach includes being forsaken by those who bear a brother's name yet fail to fulfill a brother's part. It is becoming a stranger to brethren and an alien to a mother's children.
The reproach is bound up with zeal for God's cause, so that the reproaches falling on the speaker are reproaches against God himself. The verse stands in one of the cursing psalms together with Psalm 109 and Psalm 137 that are charged with vindictive revenge. The psalm presents the sin-hating God who punishes sin, and its hard sayings are typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and predictive, declaring God's retributive providence and justice.
Prophecy of Christ's Suffering
Psalm 69 portrays David as a foreshadowing of Christ, as the greater David whose petitions and experiences point to events in Jesus' life, and this verse belongs to that depiction of the king whose words prefigure the coming Saviour. It is prophetic of Christ bearing reproach and having shame cover His face for God's sake, fulfilled in His earthly life in connection with His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion. His triumph through that reproach and shame is a triumph His children may share.
He bore that reproach and shame because the sins of the world rested upon Him for our sake. The verse opens the inner experience of His suffering and struggle with the enemy, showing that He suffered when tempted and is therefore able to help those who are tempted.
The burden of the psalm relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, and its application to Christ is selective and partial. It may apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, with verses such as Psalm 69:9 and Psalm 69:21 fulfilled in Christ while Psalm 69:5 cannot be applied to Christ because it would make Him a sinner. Use of one text of such a prophecy in an accommodated sense does not require the whole prophecy to be accommodated, nor does literal fulfillment of one part require the whole to be literal.
The language about disgrace suffered for God's sake may also be taken upon oneself by any Christian as well as by David when individual histories run parallel. Such appropriated quotation is different from fulfillment of prediction, though both may be called fulfillment of Scripture in different senses. By contrast, those who held otherwise taught that the verse is not a prediction about Jesus but a simple record of David's own experience, applying to Jesus only in the same way it applies to anyone in the present day whose history runs tangent to David's at certain points, such as being hated without a cause.
Believers Sharing His Reproach
The psalm is prophetic of Christ and describes the experience He passed through, bearing reproach and shame for God's sake, and His triumph through that experience is a triumph His children may share, so that they can know His triumph is theirs.
For God's sake means for the sake of standing for His truth and holding to the seventh-day Sabbath which God made and blessed and sanctified, even against bitter opposition and church trial and censure and condemnation by fellow Christians. That suffering means being ranked with thieves and murderers and wrongdoers for believing the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, being hedged in with no one to plead the cause, weeping over hatred of what God blessed, and having tears and sorrow turned into further reproach and mockery. It also means becoming a stranger and alien to brethren and mother's children, with shame covering the face as a heavy heart and bitter weeping.
This shame is fellowship with Christ, bearing a portion of the same burden and reproach that bowed down the Man of sorrow, the Man of sorrows. It is comfort in going forth without the camp bearing His reproach.
To bear insult and disgrace for God's sake out of loyalty to Him, with the heart filled with bitter shame amid weeping, deep sorrow and trembling fear, is the plain sense of the verse. David in this experience foreshadows Christ as the greater David, and the words are a prophecy fulfilled when Jesus bore reproach and shame in His betrayal, condemnation and crucifixion because the sins of the world rested upon Him for our sake. Its application to Him is selective and partial, so that Psalm 69:9 and Psalm 69:21 were fulfilled in Him while Psalm 69:5 cannot be applied to Him, since it would make Him a sinner. His triumph through that reproach and shame is a triumph His children may share and know as their own. That sharing means suffering shame for standing for His truth and holding to the seventh-day Sabbath against opposition, trial and condemnation, which is fellowship with Christ in bearing a portion of the same burden that bowed down the Man of sorrow, though those who held otherwise taught it is not a prediction about Jesus but simply David's own experience applying to Him only as it applies to anyone whose history runs parallel to David's.
Reproach Borne for God
For God's sake the speaker bears reproach and has shame covering his face out of devotion to God. That shame is bitter and fills the aching heart, endured while sinking in deep sorrow and trembling fear. It comes amid weeping, with reproach and mockery added to falling tears.
The reproach includes being forsaken by those who bear a brother's name yet fail to fulfill a brother's part. It is becoming a stranger to brethren and an alien to a mother's children.
The reproach is bound up with zeal for God's cause, so that the reproaches falling on the speaker are reproaches against God himself. The verse stands in one of the cursing psalms together with Psalm 109 and Psalm 137 that are charged with vindictive revenge. The psalm presents the sin-hating God who punishes sin, and its hard sayings are typical of tribulation upon the enemies of the church and predictive, declaring God's retributive providence and justice.
Prophecy of Christ's Suffering
Psalm 69 portrays David as a foreshadowing of Christ, as the greater David whose petitions and experiences point to events in Jesus' life, and this verse belongs to that depiction of the king whose words prefigure the coming Saviour. It is prophetic of Christ bearing reproach and having shame cover His face for God's sake, fulfilled in His earthly life in connection with His betrayal, condemnation, and crucifixion. His triumph through that reproach and shame is a triumph His children may share.
He bore that reproach and shame because the sins of the world rested upon Him for our sake. The verse opens the inner experience of His suffering and struggle with the enemy, showing that He suffered when tempted and is therefore able to help those who are tempted.
The burden of the psalm relates primarily to David and finally and antitypically to Christ, and its application to Christ is selective and partial. It may apply partly to what is immediately before the reader and partly to what is remote, with verses such as Psalm 69:9 and Psalm 69:21 fulfilled in Christ while Psalm 69:5 cannot be applied to Christ because it would make Him a sinner. Use of one text of such a prophecy in an accommodated sense does not require the whole prophecy to be accommodated, nor does literal fulfillment of one part require the whole to be literal.
The language about disgrace suffered for God's sake may also be taken upon oneself by any Christian as well as by David when individual histories run parallel. Such appropriated quotation is different from fulfillment of prediction, though both may be called fulfillment of Scripture in different senses. By contrast, those who held otherwise taught that the verse is not a prediction about Jesus but a simple record of David's own experience, applying to Jesus only in the same way it applies to anyone in the present day whose history runs tangent to David's at certain points, such as being hated without a cause.
Believers Sharing His Reproach
The psalm is prophetic of Christ and describes the experience He passed through, bearing reproach and shame for God's sake, and His triumph through that experience is a triumph His children may share, so that they can know His triumph is theirs.
For God's sake means for the sake of standing for His truth and holding to the seventh-day Sabbath which God made and blessed and sanctified, even against bitter opposition and church trial and censure and condemnation by fellow Christians. That suffering means being ranked with thieves and murderers and wrongdoers for believing the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, being hedged in with no one to plead the cause, weeping over hatred of what God blessed, and having tears and sorrow turned into further reproach and mockery. It also means becoming a stranger and alien to brethren and mother's children, with shame covering the face as a heavy heart and bitter weeping.
This shame is fellowship with Christ, bearing a portion of the same burden and reproach that bowed down the Man of sorrow, the Man of sorrows. It is comfort in going forth without the camp bearing His reproach.