Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
July 18, 2023 - Tuesday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 69:3, 14, 30-31, 33-34
I am sunk in the abysmal swamp
where there is no foothold;
I have reached the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me.
But I pray to you, O LORD,
for the time of your favor, O God!
In your great kindness answer me
with your constant help.
R. Turn to the Lord in your need, and you will live.
But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your saving help, O God, protect me;
I will praise the name of God in song,
and I will glorify him with thanksgiving.
"See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, may your hearts revive!
For the LORD hears the poor,
and his own who are in bonds he spurns not."
Psalm 69 together with Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 carries the same theme: the suffering of an innocent person. He did not do anything wrong and yet he is pursued by his enemies and became the talk of the town and an object of drunkards' songs (see Ps 69:3; 13). And although the psalmist acknowledged his folly and wrongdoings (see Ps 69:6), he ascribes his sufferings to his faithfulness to God. So why is it that those who try to live in obedience to God’s will experience so many trials in the world?
Psalm 69 is often quoted in the New Testament. For example, the words “zeal for your house consumes me” (Ps 69:10) are used to explain the cleansing of the temple by Jesus in the Gospel of John (see John 2:17). Saint Paul in the letter to the Romans quotes from our psalm the phrase: “the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me” (Ps 69:10; see Rom 15:3). The apostle applies them to the sufferings of Jesus Christ. There is also an allusion to this psalm in the Passion story when Jesus was given the sour wine to drink just before his death (Ps 69:22; see Mark 15:36; John 19:29).
Neither Psalm 22 nor Psalm 69 give us the answer to why the righteous people have to suffer in this world at the hands of the wicked. On the other hand, the anonymous prophet who is behind the fourth song of the suffering servant of God in the book of Isaiah (see Is 52:13-53:12) indicates that it is vicarious suffering. The suffering servant bore the iniquity of others and by doing so he would be able to save the sinners. This is an incredible idea that we seldom consider in our discussion about suffering.
The Jewish tradition holds on to a belief that in each generation 36 righteous people sustain the world. Moreover, most of them are unknown and live an ordinary lifestyle that often includes suffering. Christianity identified the suffering servant of God from the book of Isaiah with Jesus. Saint Paul explains that “for our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Thus, it is Jesus, the only righteous one who sustains the world in existence. But as the followers of Christ, we participate in his death. Saint Paul also speaks about his suffering as vicarious ones for the sake of the Church in Colossae (see Col 1:14).
It is not easy to bear insults and sufferings for the sake of God but no suffering lasts forever. Both Psalms 22 and 69 invite us to bring our suffering and pain in prayer to the Lord and put our trust in him. “For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not” (Ps 69:34). The Gospel of Jesus Christ did not end with his death but with his resurrection. In his suffering and pain, Jesus turned to the Father who could save him from death and he was not disappointed (see Heb. 5:7). And so let us do the same. Let us turn to the Father through Jesus Christ and we shall live.