^24b “May Your burning anger overtake them … ^28a “May they be blotted out of the book of life.”

Many theologians see in this psalm a description not just of David but of the ultimate innocent sufferer, Jesus Christ. Dishonored, He bore the reproach of all against Himself (vs. 7). We read, “I have become estranged from my brother …” (vs. 8) and “The zeal for Your house has consumed me and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me” (vs. 9, which is applied to Jesus in John 2:17, Rom. 15:3). And we might more readily see the denunciation of Christ’s crucifiers as more amenable for the enormity of their sin against Him.

We do see a likeness to what Jesus experienced. When He was at the height of suffering on the cross, He quoted Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me” (Matt. 27:46). Our present psalm gives us added depth to this expression:

Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; according to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me, and do not hide Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress; answer me quickly … Reproach has broken my heart and I am so sick. And I looked for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave me gall for my food …” (Ps. 69:16-17, 20-21).

 In seeing this Messianic projection onto Christ, we must not miss the present reality of David’s experience and the feeling that we all have when being repressed by those “evil doers” who are acting out the wicked desires of their heart. Psychoanalysts may strive to understand the back story of their seemingly unjust treatment of us and to not judge them too harshly, but the fact of the matter stands: God allows David, as well as us, to express our feelings and desires for vindication and justice. After all, we are trusting God will show Himself in that way. If He does not, we can understandably be confused and disheartened by the injustice in the world and against ourselves. By the inclusion of this psalm in the canon of Scripture, God is telling us that He accepts our desire that He would bring holy and righteous judgment.

So, David launches into his diatribe against those set on destroying him, asking God to destroy them instead: “Pour out Your indignation on them, and may Your burning anger overtake them” (vs. 24). There is no sense in which God rebukes David for asking for this, no suggestion that God is thinking, “David I can understand how you feel; when you calm down you should instead ask for their forgiveness and salvation.” While Jesus on the cross did say, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing,” there is a time and place where God will say, “Begone, I never knew you,” to those who continue in their unrighteous unbelief to their death. We dishonor God when we wish it would not be that way. As the NT writer succinctly states, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27)—that is a good thing; God will finally bring justice. His love does not nullify His righteous and holy judgment. As Abraham confessed, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Gen. 18:25b). He is a just God, and what He does is right. We should be glad this is true.

In this vein, David continues, they “add iniquity to their iniquity,” and therefore, he asks God, “May they be blotted out of the book of life, and may they not be recorded with the righteous” (vss. 27-28). David is siding with God’s righteous judgment, that which He fully intends to do for those who continue unremittingly in their sin.

David, on his part, finishes his prayer to God with an expression of loyalty (vss. 29-36). Even while being “afflicted and in pain” (vs. 29a), he trusts in God for his personal security (“set me securely on high” vs. 29b). Thus, he applies himself to praising the Lord. Who could do this without a sure knowledge and confidence that God will make things right in the end and exact righteous judgment—that He will make good on His promises? For David and the people of Israel, that meant a future in the land promised to Abraham and the patriarchs, the land of Israel (vs. 35-36). For us, the promise translates into a confidence that when Jesus Christ returns, He will take us home to what is figuratively described as His Father’s mansion (John 14:1-4). At that time, the goats (unbelievers) will be separated from the sheep (believers):

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats …” (Matt. 25:31–32)

“Then He will also say to those on His left [the goats], ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels…” (Matt. 25:41)

“These [the goats] will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matt. 25:46)

On the one hand, these are sobering thoughts, particularly when we may have loved ones who reject Christ to their graves. We must remember they were God’s loved ones as well—even more so than ours, for God loved them so much He gave His only son to die in their place if only they would repent and turn to Him in faith. It is the God of love who extended to them an eternal forgiveness which they rejected. Again, we rest with Abraham and say, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly?”

On the other hand, the separation of unbelievers from true believers in Christ should excite us because God will make good on His promise of acting justly. All will see that He is a just God who will finally vindicate those who staked their eternity on trusting Him. We can, therefore, say with David,

I will praise the name of God with song, and magnify Him with thanksgiving” (vs.30). Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them” (vs. 34).