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But anyway, let's turn our attention to Psalm 69, because there is a lot to go through here today. And if we look at verse number two, it says, I sink in deep mire, I sink in deep mire. The title of the sermon this morning is Sinking in Deep Mire, Sinking in Deep Mire. Look at verse number 14, deliver me out of the mire, deliver me out of the mire. Okay, now, very interesting, you can see that, you know, there's this feeling of being not only sinking in like a muddy place, but also one of the ways that David and then the Lord Jesus Christ describes the suffering is being drowned under water. Okay, now, when you look at verse number two, it's clear that this is David speaking, verse number two says, I sink in deep mire. And if you have an introduction to your Psalm, you'll notice that it says the Psalm of David. But the reason we know that this is David speaking these words in verse number two, is if you look at verse number five, he says, Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee. So of course, this is a man speaking, because he's a sinner, he says, Lord, you see my sins, you see that I'm a sinful creature. This is David speaking. But then when you look at verse number 14, again, deliver me out of the mire, you say, well, that's David, and I suppose to some extent it is. But really, Psalm 69 is about the suffering of Jesus Christ. These are the words of Christ. And the reason we know that verse number nine is about Christ, is if you look at verse number, sorry, verse number five, if you look at verse number nine, it says, for the zeal of thine house have eaten me up. The zeal of thine house have eaten me up. So well, hold on, why can't David? Well, David is saying those words in many ways. But these are the words of Christ, because if you can quickly keep your finger, then come with me to John chapter two, come with me to John chapter two, verse number 15, John chapter two, and verse number 15, please, John chapter two, verse number 15, we are going to look at many of the passages, John will be one of those books that we do look at when we go through this Psalm. But John chapter two, verse number 15, we have the story early in Christ's ministry, this happened twice in his ministry, okay, early in his ministry, he goes to the temple, the house of God. And you know that he chases away those that are making profit, those that are buying and selling, he chases away the merchants with a cord, with a whip. He does that later in his ministry as well, that this happens twice. And this is the early part of his ministry, John chapter two, verse number 15, it says, and when he had made a scourge of small cords, that's a whip, he drove them all out the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changes money, and overthrew the tables. It's not a picture that he comments to think of Christ with a whip, right, to open up the pens, and letting the animals run, he lifts the tables, he moves them, and it all starts to fall off, you know, all the money goes on the floor. I mean, the Lord's upset about this, in verse number 16, it says, and said unto them, that so doves, take these things hence, make not my father's house, and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house have eaten me up. That's from Psalm 69. So we know that's speaking about Christ. And so we have David in Deep Mire, we have the Lord saying, Lord, you know, asking his father to be delivered out of Deep Mire, and so I want you to see that as we read for the Psalm, yes, it starts with the words of David, but then we quickly transition to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And by the way, just you're still there in John chapter 15, verse number 16, he said unto them, that so doves, take these things hence, or from here, make not my father's house, and house of merchandise. Reverend, New Life Baptist Church is the house of the Lord as well. This is not a house of merchandise. There is no buying and selling happening here. Okay, you're not going to have to, you're not going to pay $2 to hear my sermons if you missed it. They're free. It's free. You go online, you know, and listen to it for free. Okay, if you want a hymnal, I've still got some, not many left, I've still got some hymnals for free. Okay, we don't sell anything in the house of God, because this is not a house of merchandise. All right, now I don't want to get sidetracked in that. Come back with me to Psalm 69. Psalm 69, verse number one, let's start with verse number one. Psalm 69, verse number one. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in unto my soul. Okay, so David is speaking poetically. Now, just very quickly, David is a poet. Okay, David is a singer. David is creative. The book of Psalms is an amazing work of art. Okay, now many times when even singers today, when people that are creative, and they express themselves, they do so with very poetic and expressive language. And look, there's nothing wrong with taking the Bible literally. But you need to understand that when it comes to the book of Psalms, there's a lot of creative, poetic, expressive language. Okay. And the reason I say this is because sometimes people show me something in the book of Psalms. Well, look what it says, they're taking it literally. And like, but brother, read the whole Psalm, you know, it's all creative language. You know, the poet is expressing many things in this sense. He says, Look, it's like waters have come into my soul. He goes, Look, I feel like I'm drowning. You know, David is drowning in problems. And we have a look at this David is drowning in persecution in issues of life. He says in verse number two, I sink in deep mire. So it's like his feet are in quicksand or in mud, and he can't get out. You know, he's struggling in this trouble. He goes, where there is no standing. I can't even stand. It's so unsettled where I am. I come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. Now, do you think, can we just take this literally, that David is in the middle of the sea or something? No, the waters have just overcome him. He's stuck in mud, and he's just drowning there, as it, no, no, obviously, this is expressive poetic language. He's saying, I feel like I'm drowning in problems. And I can't get out of this. I'm stuck in my arm. And again, I just say, brethren, you need to learn how to differentiate between what is literal and what is poetic or what is expressive language. Okay, David's not lying to us. Okay, he's not lying. He's not like, it didn't really happen. But he's saying that he's drowning. No, no, it's expressive language. And you need to get used to this in the Bible. You know, this is, you know, I find it interesting because I wasn't, I'm not a, I'm not this poetic, creative person. I really am not, you know. And I remember, like, even when I was in high school, and we would do, we would read Shakespeare. And I was like, in all this language, I didn't understand what is being said there. But I kind of get the concept. I'm not that kind of person. But David certainly is. There's nothing wrong with being that kind of person. And you need to understand, hey, when is it literal? And when is it poetic? Okay, and you know, when it comes to the books, there are books of poetry, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, you have to get used to, you know, this expressive language and not take everything so literally, or you're going to end up in false doctrines. Okay, I mean, I tell you now, David was not drowning, he'd be dead by now. Okay, this is he's talking about problems. It feels like a flood upon him. He says in verse number three, I'm weary of my crying, my throat is dried, mine eyes fail, while I wait for my God. So he's been weeping, he's all these problems just cause him to weep and cry, so much so that there's no moisture. I mean, his tears have have run dry, and there's no moisture in his body from all the weeping that he's done, even his throat's dry. And he says, mine eyes fail. So he's waiting for God, he's waiting for God to come through. And he goes, I'm just I'm waiting. I just I kind of fall asleep. I just I can't, you know, Lord, when are you going to come through and it's not happening. It's just so tired, his eyes fade, it just starts to drift off. You know, he's overwhelmed with problems. And what is it the problems that we see of David verse number four, it says, they that hate me. So you can see he's been persecuted by people that hate him. They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head. He goes, I have so many haters without cause. I've done, I've done them no wrong. But there are so many that more than the hairs of mine head, that they would destroy me, be mine enemies wrongfully. So they're enemies, but they shouldn't be enemies, because they're enemies wrongfully. They've misunderstood or they've been deceived and they they hate me. I've done nothing wrong to them. He says, they are mighty, they're mighty. I mean, I don't know what situation exactly. I mean, we know when you read David's life, he had many enemies, even within his own family. But he says there are so many, they're so mighty. Now, this is what's interesting. We start to see the transition already start to develop as we keep going through this Psalm and through this verse. But I want you to think about yourself in this position. I want you to think, are you the David, are you David in this situation? When you have people persecuting you, hating you without a cause, how would you respond to it? Where they say you've done wrong to us. And David says, no, I haven't. I'm innocent. I've done you no wrong. But notice how this verse ends in verse number four. Then I restored that which I took not away. He goes, you know what? I'm trying to make peace with people. He says, I didn't take this away, whatever that is. You know, they're claiming I've taken something away from them. They're claiming I've been a thief. Whether that's possessions, whether that's a position, I don't know exactly what that is. But David goes, you know what? I just restored that which I took not away. You know what? I just took the blame. I just tried to make peace. I tried to restore to them even when I did nothing wrong to them. I'm not the one that did this, but he's trying to work it out with his enemies. Is that you? Are you willing to take the blame for something you've not done? It's very hard for the pride to do that. I learned on the job to do that. I learned on the job sometimes it's just easier to just take the blame even when I didn't do it. And I'll be like, yes, boss. Yep, you're right. I stuffed up. Let me fix it. I messed up. I've taken blame for others when I know others are to blame. And sometimes I've taken blame for my subordinates where they've done something wrong and there's been a complaint and I'm like, you know what? Blame me. I'll train them better. It's actually quite refreshing sometimes to do that. And this is where you start to understand the transition to our Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus took the blame. Jesus took it. Jesus came to restore us unto God. And instead of us taking the blame for our sins, Jesus said, you know what? I'll take that blame for you. And this is a challenge. It's not easy. You think I was easy for Jesus? It's not easy for us. And the blame Jesus took was much greater than any blame you can take incorrectly. I just want you to notice David's heart. You know what? You hate me that much. I'm just going to try to make peace with you guys even if I'm not to blame. You know what? Jesus Christ came and took our blame. I can't believe it. You know, took all of our blame, took all of our sins, took all our suffering. So you start to see this transition and the parallels with Jesus Christ. But we're still talking about David because he says in verse number five, Oh God, thou knowest my foolishness and my sins are not hid from thee. So even though in verse number four, David's not to blame for this particular situation, he's not so prideful to think, well, I'm without sin. Even when he's done what is right, he says, God, you know, I'm foolish. You know, I'm a sinner. Like, Lord, even though I've done nothing wrong in this situation, I am still a sinful creature. And he's, he's, he's humble enough to admit that. Okay. Now you could say, well, maybe these are still the words of Christ and you could make that argument. If you can, actually, I'll just read it to you. In Isaiah 53 verse 11, it says about Christ's suffering, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. So the father will see the travail or the challenges of Jesus' soul and shall be satisfied. It says by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. So these could be the words of Christ, but though it's not so much his sins, but the sins of all mankind put upon him and him suffering for that and God the father being satisfied by that transaction of Christ taking the blame wrongfully for us. Then verse number six. Now, once we hit verse number six, we're definitely now talking about Christ. Okay. Because it says, and I want you to think about this as the words of Christ. Now, not long ago, our church has gone through the book of John. All right. Now, what was Jesus' greatest concern at the Lord's supper? Okay. We have chapters and chapters and chapters of his sermon following the Lord's supper. He was always concerned for his disciples. He knew that when the shepherd gets smitten, the sheep are going to be scattered. You know, he was concerned about them. Okay. And I want you to think about that in light of what we read here, because we know this is now going to speak about Christ in the mire, i.e. suffering for us. Okay. Taking on our sins upon himself. And he says these words to the father, verse number six, let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Look, once Christ got arrested, beaten, crucified, you know the disciples, well Peter at least, was ashamed. You know, Peter denied Christ three times. But even at the Passover, Christ is praying to the father that he would encourage the disciples during that difficult time. He says, let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. He says, Lord, can you please sustain those that love you, those that seek you, even when I'm going through this difficulty and suffering? Lord, can you make sure that they're doing well, that they remain faithful? It was a difficult time for his disciples when Christ was arrested. He goes, verse number seven, because for thy sake, so for God's sake, I have borne reproach, shame have covered my face. Shame have covered my face. Come with me to John chapter 17, keep a finger there in Psalm 69. While you're turning to John 17, I'm going to read to you from Isaiah 50, verse number six, and I'll just show you how this is speaking of Christ. In Isaiah 56, he says, I gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Christ did not hide his face from shame. Look, he was willing to suffer the shame of our sins upon himself. You know, he was willing to show his face to be beaten, to have the crown of thorns put upon his head. You know, he went through that suffering, the embarrassment, the shame of all that for you and I. And he says, in verse, what we saw in Isaiah 69, he did it for his father. He did it to please his father. But going back to Christ praying for his disciples, look at John 17, verse 11, John 17, verse number 11. And just a reminder, this is at the Passover, shortly before his death. He says, and now he's praying to the father, and now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world. And I come to thee, holy father, keep through thine own name, those whom thou has given me, that they may be one as we are. Lord, can you keep them father? As I go to be with you, can you please keep them? Then he says in verse number 12, while I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. So the only one that was lost, the only one that was, you know, away from the faith as it were, was of course Judas Iscariot, the son of perdition. But he says, Lord, while I've been on the earth world, I've kept them, I've sustained them. But now he's about to be crucified. He's going to be arrested, crucified. He says, Father, can you please keep them sustained? Can you please keep them? Can you keep them encouraged, Lord? And of course, you can read that in your own time, but he's speaking about the ultimate. He's going to come back from the grave, come back from the dead. But I want you to notice that we get, Psalm 69 helps us flesh out further things that we read about Christ's life when he walked this earth. Come back with me to Psalm 69, Psalm 69, verse number eight. Psalm 69, verse number eight. Christ says, I have become a stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother's children. An alien is just another way of saying stranger. Okay. He's an alien from the family. He's rejected by the family. We know this is about Christ because in John 7, 5, it says, for neither did his brethren believe in him. Okay. His own family, his own brothers and sisters had a hard time accepting Christ as the Messiah. And so, you know, he's doing all these acts. He's living righteously. He's doing these miracles. He's got this following and they're having a hard time believing in him. Say why? Well, this Psalm kind of gives us the answer because it says in verse number nine, for or because for the zeal of thine house have eaten me up and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. It says why? We see why verse number eight. Why did his own brothers have a hard time accepting him? Because we know that when the zeal of thine house have eaten me up, he went out early in his ministry, turning the tables, running off the merchants. Look, this would have been, you know, if you're related to Jesus and you're seeing this happen, like, it's like, brother, what are you doing? Like, what? You know, I guess I would have been somewhat embarrassing for the brothers and sisters and they just, they couldn't go on this journey with Christ early in his ministry. Thank God later on they get, they do believe on Christ and they get saved. But for Christ, he was rejected even by his own family. Hard to, hard to understand really, but, you know, again, Christ has come to set us an example and some of you are going to be rejected by your own family just because you've got a zeal for God's house. Just because you've got an excitement for church. You might be rejected by your family. But again, you know, that's sad. That's so sad. But Christ went through that too. Christ set us an example. Back to Psalm 69 verse number, I'll just, the end part of verse number nine, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee. The word reproached kind of means disapproval. So Jesus being to the Father, the reproaches of them that reproached thee. So there are people, there are Jews, I know that in Christ walked the earth, there were Jews that did not approve of the God of the Bible. They did not like the God of the Bible. It says, I've fallen upon me. So because they did not like you God, they don't like me. And you'll find in life, the reason people don't like you without a cause is just because they don't like God. And then they know you love God. They know you love church. They know you love your Bible. They know you just want to serve God faithfully. You're not doing anything to hurt people. But because some people just hate God, they're going to hate his children by default. So Jesus says, look, I'm suffering the hatred, the disapproval that you receive, Father. Now, if you can hold your finger there, this gets repeated, this, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. This gets repeated in Romans 15. So come with me to Romans 15. Come with me to Romans 15. Like, it's so clear that Psalm 69 is about Jesus because there are so many New Testament references about Jesus from this Psalm. Okay. There are many. Romans 15. And let's look at verse number three to begin with there. Romans 15 verse number three. For even Christ pleased not himself. So when Christ came to this earth, he's not selfish. He's not coming to see what can I get out of this? He did not come to please himself. But as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon or fell on me. So you see that's from Psalm 69. Okay. So we know that this is, again, speaking of Christ. What does that mean? Okay. So of course, if he wanted to come to the earth to please himself, he would not have done his mission. Like, he would not have walked in the ways of his Father. But he goes, look, it's not about pleasing himself. He's coming to please his Heavenly Father. It's his Father that sent him to this earth to take the hatred and the reproaches and the sins of the world upon himself. He followed through. He went to please his Father. But let's understand why this is found in Romans 15. Let's start with verse number one. It says, we then, so now we're talking about ourselves, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, look, and not to please ourselves. So just like Jesus came to this earth not to please himself, we ought not to live a life where we just are able to please ourselves, but to please others, right? If someone has infirmities, if someone is weak, if someone in church is struggling, we should come alongside. It's not about us. It's about them. How can we encourage them? How can we do something nice for them? Okay. And so that's the teaching. Okay, let's keep going to verse number two. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good through edification. You know where your heart should be this morning? I'm going to please my neighbour. I'm going to please my brother and sister in the church. How can I edify them? I hope you come to church and you are pleased. I hope so. But hey, your question ought to be, how can I please others? How can I edify others? What can I do to serve this body of Christ that we can all be edified together? And then verse number three, for even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell upon me. And whatsoever things were written a full time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. I love verse number four, but whatsoever things were written a full time. What's he writing about? Psalm 69. It's written for who? Oh, the Jews only. That's just for the Jews. No, no, no. It says there. Written for our learning. Paul is writing to the Romans. That's pretty far from the Jews, right? That's the Roman Empire. He says, look, to the believers of that empire. Look, Psalm 69 was written for us. So we can learn how Christ not pleased himself, we ought not to please ourselves either. We ought to be looking out for the needs of others. Okay. Jesus looked out for the needs of you and of me. All right. That's why he came and died for us. Back to Psalm 69. Psalm 69 verse number 10. Psalm 69 and verse number 10. Now I have no reason to believe these verses are not about Christ, but I just can't give you the timeframe of where this took place. But verse number 10, when I wept, I chastened my soul with fasting that was to my reproach. Now we know that Christ fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before he began his ministry. He did that in the wilderness, fasting. This appears to be another time that Christ fasted. Now look, Christ's ministry was three years long and we have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that captures the highlights. But we know in the book of John that there's just not enough space. There's not enough books that would contain everything that Christ did. And so I believe, I can't prove this from the New Testament, but I believe because we are seeing the words of Christ, that Christ must have fasted some other time. And verse number 11, it says, I made sackcloth also my garments and became a proverb to them. So it might be at some point in his ministry, Christ was fasting. He was in sackcloth and ashes. Okay. Verse number 12, they that sit in the gates speak against me and I was a song of the drunkards. So people are just mocking Christ, laughing at him. All right. But verse number 13, but as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. So we see, when we look at verses 10 to 13, we see that Christ spent time in prayer and fasting. Okay. In acceptable time, O God, in the multitude of thy mercy, hear me in the truth of thy salvation. Now I was thinking about this a bit. I was thinking like, at what point could Christ have been fasting and praying and in sackcloth? Because we don't read about that in the New Testament. We don't have that specific story recorded for us. But then I was reminded, there was a time you may recall where there was a man who was possessed by devils and the disciples came and they tried to heal that man. They tried to cast out that devil, but they could not. And then Jesus comes along and he casts out the devil and Christ says these words in Matthew 17, 21. He says, howbeit this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting. So the only way this devil could have been taken out of this man is by prayer and fasting. Now I used to read that and go, well, I mean, he's Jesus, he's God, of course. He doesn't have to pray and fast. He's got the power of the devils anyway. But now in light of Psalm 69, I come to say, hold on, maybe Christ was praying and fasting. This is probably what he was doing. Like setting the example once again, not that he had to do it, but again, he came to set an example. There are so many things that Christ did that he did not have to do. Okay. Cause he's God. But you need to remember he came as a man. He had the limitations of a man to set us an example that we ought to follow in his steps. So I feel just by comparing these two passages, I'm not going to be dogmatic on this if you differ with me, I don't think it's a big deal, but it seems as though Christ did pray and fast, knowing full well there was coming a time when he would have to cast this devil out of this man. Back to Psalm 69, please. Psalm 69 verse number 14. Verse number 14. So we know these are the words of Christ. Deliver me out of the mire and let me not sink. Let me be delivered from them that hate me and out of the deep waters. Now again, did Jesus drown in water? Was he taken out to sea and thrown overboard or something? No. In fact, Jesus could walk on water. Okay. But this is again, now Jesus is using the words of David. Remember, it's the Holy Ghost that moved men. Okay. To write these words. And the suffering of Christ to him was like he was drowning. Okay. And not just drowning by the hatred and the persecution of those that hated him, but he was drowning in our sins. Like, think about that. Just consider your problems, your tribulations, your sins, and how difficult it is for you sometimes to find your footing and be able to move forward and be positive in mind. And then what if you took everybody's problems though? Like I wouldn't trade my problems for your problems. And I don't think we'd trade them. Look, you might think it's, no, it's not. If you had my problems, you'll be happy with your problems. And if I had your problems, I'd be happy with my problems. And we all have problems, don't we? And sometimes it's hard. But what if you carried everybody's problems? Everybody's sin. Everybody's like, it's impossible for man. Okay. And yeah, it would feel like you're just drowning. It would feel like you have the waters over your head, the pressure of being deep in water, right? It's just too much as it were to carry. And so Christ is using these words, this poetic language. He says in verse 15, Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. So again, Christ is speaking to his Father. Look, his suffering was not some easy process. We know that when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was seeking another way. Right? But then he says, not my will, but thy will be done. You know, and so he's praying, Lord, can you not allow me to suffer and to be overwhelmed and for the deep to swallow me up? But it did overwhelm the Lord. It did. He took it all though. He was defeated as it were, you know, when he went to the cross, and all of man's sin was put upon him, and he died the death. And if that's where he remained, well, he would still be in our sins. We praise God for his resurrection. And his victory, you know, his ultimate victory over death, over sin, over hell, over the curse, all of it, victorious, showing that he has the power to resurrect himself to life. But it wasn't easy for him. Have you ever felt like you've been drowning? Have you ever? One of the reasons I don't like water much is because when I was a kid, I was drowned. You know, sometimes when you have that event, like you just don't want to be near the waters. It's not a nice feeling, you know, where you're like, can I make myself up? Can I, can I lift myself out of this? I'm swallowing water right now. You know, and you just don't know, am I going to make it? You know, and the Lord's just saying these words in such a poetic way. And I mean, what he suffered, we just, we just can't comprehend. I'll give you some ideas of his suffering here. If you can come with me to Matthew chapter eight, because there is something that it took me a long time to sort of grasp when it came to the suffering of Christ. Because we often think about the suffering of the body. And of course, that's fine, you know, the whipping, the beating, the crucifixion. And we often associate Christ suffering for us at the time that he got arrested and everything. Things started going horrible for him in that sense. But when you read Isaiah 53 verse number six, Isaiah, I'll read to you from Isaiah 53. You look at Matthew eight, you go to Matthew eight. I'm going to read to you from Isaiah 53 verse number six. It says, All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. The iniquity of us all. I know that, Pastor. Christ took my iniquities or my sins upon himself. I know that. Yes, we understand that to some extent. Okay. But it really, I really started to understand Matthew chapter eight, you know, that it's not that he just paid for the sin, which he did. But he paid for the consequences of the sins. Okay. Now, Matthew eight illustrates this to us. And this is well before his crucifixion. This is well before he was arrested. This is a time when Christ is healing the sick. In Matthew eight, 16, Matthew eight, 16, it says, When there even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils. And he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick. So go, well, of course, we know that, you know, he's God, he's able to heal all that were sick. And sometimes we read that and we think, okay, they were sick. Now they're no longer sick. The sickness is gone. Well, it's gone in that person. It's gone from that person that Christ healed. But the sickness is not really gone. Look at the next verse. It says, verse 17, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, which is what I read to you from Isaiah, Thain himself took our infirmities, what are infirmities? Sicknesses, and bare our sicknesses. What are infirmities and sicknesses? It's a consequence of the fall. It's the consequences of our sinful nature. Our bodies are falling apart. We have infirmities. Right now, most of my kids have cold, right? Some people suffer from chronic issues. When Christ came and he healed a man, it's not like though that sickness just disappeared and no longer existed. No, Jesus took it on his body. He bare out, not just our iniquities, but our infirmities, our sickness. So think about all the people that Christ, think of the 10 lepers. Christ heals all 10 lepers. What happened to the leprosy? It's on his body. He's bearing it long before he's even crucified. To understand Christ suffering, it cannot be understood. It just can't be appreciated. On this side of eternity, at least, it's not just he paid for sins, but all of the consequences of sins, all of our infirmities. I know there are many people in our church that suffer from chronic issues. So how do I get through this, pastor? Christ bore it on his body. Your physical health issues, your mental health issues, everything to do with the curse of sin was put on Christ. So you say, God, it's too much for me to bear. Jesus already bore it for you already. Say, I can't go to God and pray, God, take this away. Christ knows. He had it on his body. He knows. He knows what you're suffering with. He knows how you're hurting. Right? And so what I'm trying to say is, his suffering started long. Right. Like there's no suffering that you can have where God does not understand it. Christ felt it on his body. And he took the blame. He took the blame. Have you ever had someone take the blame for you? Have you ever been so foolish when you've done wrong and you just did not admit to it and someone else took the blame and you let them take the blame and then you know, man, what a horrible person I am to allow that person to suffer because of my mistakes. He took it all, Christ did. All of it. He was punished by his Father. And all our sicknesses, the things we complain about, God, why did you give me this sickness? Christ carried his sickness. You just got to learn how to rely on him. He loves you. He knows. He knows your suffering. He knows your limitations. He knows the pain, the hurt. You know, what a great God we serve, you know. And sorry, Psalm 69. Verse number 16. You know, he's suffering so much. He says to his father, hide not thy face from my servant, for I am in trouble. Hear me speedily, draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it. Deliver me because of mine enemies. You know, he's hopeful for deliverance. He's saying, father, don't hide your face from me. But the father did hide his face from him. And when Christ said, my God, my God, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The father had to turn his face from his son. His son's like, don't do it, Lord. It's too much. But the only way that Christ would have to suffer for us is by having God the Father turn away from his son, for his son to become sin for us, for him to carry our sins upon himself. But what I like about verse number 18, he says at the end of it, deliver me because of mine enemies. Christ is hopeful for deliverance. Christ is hopeful for deliverance. And of course, we know it happens, the resurrection. We know he's delivered, right? And we know right now on the right hand of the father, he reigns supreme in heaven. He's glorified. His name is above every name. And his name, Jesus, is by which we are saved. Verse number 19, there has known my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. Mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach have broken my heart. I am full of heaviness. And I looked for some to take pity. But there was none. And for comforters, but I found none. Because I'm looking for someone to just be kind to me as I'm suffering. We know this is about the cross because verse number 21, they gave me also gold for my meat. And in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. You know, that's a new test. That's when Christ was on the cross. I'll read it to you quickly. Matthew 27, verse 33. And when they would come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull, they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gold. And when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. So we know that he's speaking these words as he's on the cross. So he's looking for comforters. He's looking for someone that would be kind to him. Because there's no one there. They're all mocking me. Even the two thieves on the cross before the one thief got saved, he was mocking Christ. The Roman soldiers are crucifying him. They're laughing at him. They're mocking at him. Christ is just looking for just a friend somewhere. Again, don't forget, he had the limitations of a man. You need to remember that. Okay, he still felt these things. He felt the rejection. Verse number 22. Now, if I keep reading, this really opens my eyes as I was going through this and thinking about it. It really made me see things in different lights. Because he says, he's talking about those that are, he's on the cross. Those that have put him, now look, we all put him on the cross to some extent. He died for our sins. He went on the cross for us. But there are two groups in particular that put him on the cross. The unbelieving Jews and the Romans. I mean, the Romans at the end of the day, they're just following orders, okay, from Pilate. But those that know what they're doing are the Jews. They're the ones that have falsely accused him, all right. Like David said at the beginning, I've done no wrong. Well, Christ has done no wrong, but people hated him. They wanted him dead. So as he's on the cross, I want you to think about these prayers that he's saying to his father. And it might blow your mind. Okay, verse number 22. He's praying to his father. God, can you take vengeance on these people? Can you make them fall in a trap? Look at the next words. And make their loins continually to shake. Saying, God, can you blind their eyes? Not physically, obviously spiritually. Now, I'm going to quickly read to you. In fact, you can turn there with me. Keep your finger there. Come with me to Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verse 15. Matthew 13, verse number 15. Matthew 13, verse number 15. What is the significance of having your eyes darkened? We know that Christ came and he opened the eyes of the blind. Isn't that what he did? Not just physically, but also spiritually. But now he's asking God the Father, as he's on the cross, can you blind them? The opposite. Matthew 13, verse 15. These are the words of Christ. These are the words of Christ. Look at this. What's he saying? I don't want them to open their eyes. I don't want them to understand with their hearts. Because in order to be saved, you have to believe your hearts. Because I don't want these people to believe that I should heal them. I don't want to heal these people anymore. I don't want to save these people anymore. But then he says in verse number 16 to his disciples. But blessed are your eyes for they see and for your ears for they hear. Some people don't understand this doctrine. It's the reprobate doctrine. You know what Jesus Christ is saying to his Father while he's on the cross? This is to the Father. Can you make them reprobate? Can you make them blind? And go, Pastor, I've never heard this before. These words are in the Bible. If you look, very quick summary. There are some people on this earth that are so excessively wicked, such haters of God, where God says enough. I'm done with you. I offered you salvation. Jesus paid for all of your sins. It's always been a free gift. But you reject me. You reject my son over and over again. I'm done with you. You've got no chance. You say, Pastor, this doesn't gel with what I've understood about Christ. Look at verse, go back to Psalm 69. Look at verse number 24. Christ is saying, pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Now the reason a lot of people have a hard time with this, and I want you to take hold of that and come with me to Luke 23. Come with me to Luke 23, verse number 33. Luke 23, verse number 33. You say, I have a hard time accepting that Jesus Christ said these words on the cross, as he's been crucified, as people are mocking him. Because in Luke 23, 33, well, let's read 34 first. Luke 23, 34, then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. So well, that's the Jesus that I know. This seemed contradictive to me, Pastor. He's asking the Father to forgive them. But then in Psalm 69, he's asking, can you pour out your wrath upon them? Can you take out vengeance upon them? Can you make them reprobate? I'll show you soon that Jesus Christ is exactly asking that. How do we reconcile these passages? Well, look at Luke 23 and verse number 33. Well, actually, let's read verse number 34 one more time. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them. What you want to understand when you read the Bible is who are the them? Who is it that Christ is asking the Father to forgive? So let's go back to verse number 33. And when they, so the them are the they, when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, let's stop there for a moment. Who led Christ to Calvary? It was the Roman soldiers, was it not? They crucified him. It says there, sorry, lost my spot there. Oh yeah, where they crucified him. Who crucified Jesus? The Roman soldiers, okay? And the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them. So what is the direct context of the them? It's the Roman soldiers that are crucifying him. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. Who parted his raiment and cast lots? The Roman soldiers. So when you understand, Father, forgive them, he's speaking about the Roman soldiers. They're just carrying out orders. They're just doing what Pilate said. Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. But the unbelieving Jews that falsely accused him, that demanded his crucifixion, they know what they're doing. You need to understand, Christ is not asking the pilots to forgive them. Psalm 69 tells me he's praying for their damnation. And he said, Pastor, I still don't. Okay, let's keep going. Go back to Psalm 69. Psalm 69 and verse number 25. Psalm 69 verse number 25. Let their habitation be desolate and let none dwell in their tents. Jesus asking, Lord, can you, their habitation, their household, you make them unable to have a family and friends around them. Can you let none dwell in their tents? Like, as it were, like, like, don't let them even procreate. Like, don't, like, shut their wound. Don't let them have family. Don't let them have children. Verse number 26, For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. They persecute him, so they're persecuting Jesus, whom thou, Father, have smitten. Did the Father smite his Son? Yes. Quickly, I read to you, Isaiah 53 verse 4, Surely he have borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. Okay, so he's saying, look, Lord, can you smite, yeah, like when he's praying these words, he's praying for those that are, again, mocking him, those that are persecuting Christ. Verse number 27, this is interesting, Add iniquity unto their iniquity. Can you make them more sinful, God? Can you add more to their punishments? Look, Christ came to die for our iniquities. In fact, Isaiah 53 verse 5 says, But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed, the stripes of the whipping. Look, he was bruised for our iniquities. But he says now about these people, Add iniquity unto their iniquity. Christ is saying, look, I'm not interested anymore in their iniquity being taken off them. Can you add what they're doing to me as their iniquity? Look, and let them not come into thy righteousness. How do we get saved? By our own righteousness? No, by Christ's righteousness, by God's righteousness. He's saying don't let them come into your righteousness, God. These people are damned. Jesus is damning these people as they're walking the earth, as they're mocking him, as they're falsely accusing him, these unbelieving Jews. And again, I'm not going to lump every unbelieving Jew. I'm sure there are some people that just came to the party, they're showing up, they're just being carried with the mass hysteria around Christ. But those that know full well what they're doing, these are rabid, they're damned. Christ doesn't want to save them anymore. I'm over it. Look at verse 28. This is so clear now, if you still don't believe me, verse number 28. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous. He says, God take out their names, blot out their names out of the book of the living. Or as we know about in the book of Revelation, the book of life. Revelation 20-15 says, And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So when Jesus says to his father, blot out their names out of the book, what is it saying? Lord, I want them to suffer in the lake of fire forever and ever. Does that sound like the Jesus you know? It's the Jesus of the Bible. I'm not making this up. I'm reading to you. You can see it for yourself. I can't believe Jesus. Look, this is why our church, look, I'm glad our church is growing, but we're never going to be a 5,000 member church. Because if I was preaching this at Hillsong right now, you know half the church would leave. You know, you know they'll leave. But look, we come to church to hear God's word. Whether you like it or not, we need to know the truth. Jesus is asking God, can you make them reprobate? I don't want to save them anymore. I'm done with them. Take their names out of the book of life. Don't let them see, blind their eyes. I don't know how you, I don't know how people reject the reprobate doctrine. I don't know. I know it's uncomfortable to think about it. Just, you know, at some point in your life, you've got to say, Lord, even if I'm uncomfortable, I just want to know your truth, Lord. Just make me comfortable, Lord. Make me comfortable in your word. So I don't reject it. So I don't feel like this is, the words of the Lord are pure words, pure. This is purity. It's not wicked. It's pure. It's perfect. These are the words of God. Verse number 29, Psalm 69, 29. But I am poor and sorrowful. Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I believe again, speaking of his resurrection, salvation from death there, he's going to be lifted up, resurrected and ascended to heaven on high. Verse number 30, I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that have horns or hoofs. Now look, notice that. Praising God with song, of course, singing about what Christ has done for us, pleases God more better than the offerings of the Old Testament, the ox and the bullocks, the blood sacrifices. When we come and sing praise to our Lord, that pleases God more. And the reason this is brought up is because we know that Christ's sacrifice replaced those procedures of the Old Testament. Okay, so when we sing of Christ crucified, we sing of Christ's pain for our sins, that's much better, right? The shed blood of his son than what the animals did in the Old Testament. Some people think that the Old Testament animals covered your sins until Christ came. No, the Old Testament sacrifices never could do such a thing. It was just a picture of what Christ would do. Very quickly, I know we're getting low on time, but Hebrews 10 four, I'll read it to you. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Those Old Testament practices never took anyone's sins away. It's not possible. Verse number five, wherefore when he cometh into the world, when Christ came into the world, he saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body has thou prepared me. Because Lord, my body is going to be the sacrifice. Not these animals anymore. That never took away sin. And then it says in verse number six, in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, thou has no pleasure. I think it's valuable to know that when we sing praises, that's better in God's ears than the sacrifices. So think about that. It pleases God when we sing of him, when we sing of his son, when we sing of his son's sacrifice, this pleases our God. Verse number 33, for the Lord heareth the poor and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moveth therein. So now we just end the Psalm in praise, worshiping God, praising God. For God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and have it in possession. Now when it says for God will save Zion, again, right now I've heard on the news, Israel's at war with the Palestinians. I've got sense of video, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, because they'll look at these verses, God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah. But what did we see earlier when we're going for this Psalm? When we looked at Romans, that these things were written up full time for our Romans, Gentiles, for our learning. So when it says there, and will be cities that they may dwell there and have it in possession, these are the people that Christ saves. These are the Christ people, those that believe in Christ. Are you looking forward to living in earthly Jerusalem? Is that the Zion you're looking forward to? Do you think this is the Zion that God is speaking about here? Earthly Jerusalem. Look at verse number 36. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it. And they that love his name shall dwell therein. Did Jesus come and die on the cross so we can just live and dwell in earthly Jerusalem in Zion? Earthly Zion. You guys, I've read this passage not long ago in other sermons. I can't remember, but very quickly. Hebrews 12, 22. But ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. Look, God has saved us. We're going to live in Zion. We're going to live in heavenly Jerusalem. That's why Christ came to die for us. Not to free earthly Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem is a picture of the bondwoman. You may recall that. It's a picture of hindrance. But the picture of the free was the child of the promise. I'm going on a tangent here. But those of you that are in Christ Jesus have received those promises. And the Zion that we're looking forward to is heavenly Jerusalem. And hey, that heavenly Jerusalem descends from heaven when God creates a new heaven and new earth. That is our dwelling place for all eternity. And that's why Christ came so we can be with God for all eternity in his presence. The title for the sermon was Sinking in Deep Mire. David's sinking. Jesus was sinking. Maybe you're sinking today. Maybe you're sinking this morning. Maybe you're saying, Pastor, my problems are just overwhelming me. There's too much. I guess the key takeaway, Jesus knows. Jesus knows what you're suffering. He doesn't just know of it. He's experienced it. He's carried it. He bore it. You know, sometimes you're going for a problem and someone says to you, I know what you're going through. Well, not really. But Jesus knows. Like he really knows what you're going through. And this is why we can always go to God in our times of problems and say, Lord, I'm deep. I'm sinking deep. I'm overflowed with waters of problems of this world. Lord, can you deliver me? You know what? Christ was delivered. He rose from the dead. And God promises you, you also will be delivered from your problems. Just need to rest on him. Rest on him. All right, brother, let's pray.