Psalm 69:6-11

“Lord, the Lord Almighty, may those who hope in You not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek You not be put to shame because of me.  For I endure scorn for Your sake, and shame covers my face.  I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; for zeal for Your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult You fall on me.  When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn; when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me.”  Psalm 69:6-11

David does not want anyone who is seeking God or who have their hopes in the Lord to be dismayed negatively by him or his actions in any way.  I believe he has a fear here that he may have hurt people’s spiritual desire for God and he is praying that no one is affected in a manner that would draw them away from God.  Let’s face a simple fact, we have a sin nature and we’re going to sin.  We may not want to; we may know it’s in there and we don’t want it to come out; but somewhere somehow there will be a sin and we will need forgiveness from God through Jesus our Savior.  But, how we react to our sin matters a great deal and shows a lot regarding our character.  I find that when someone has sinned greatly clues about their true spiritual condition can be gathered by watching what their priorities are regarding the people around them.  Do they put the people’s welfare who are affected by their sin ahead of themselves?  Is their heart broken because a single person might have to suffer because of who they are and what they’ve done?  Do they perform actions that do not help them first, but help everyone around them to recover faster?  Are they willing for the others who have been caught up in their storm to be lifted up ahead of them?  Are they willing to accept all the responsibility so that no cause is reflected upon those who have been hurt?  In essence, do they put others ahead of themselves?  Or, is everything someone else’s fault.  Is the sin justified as a result of an inability to cope with the actions of others?  Is everyone just getting their fair “shake” of what happened no fault of their own?  … There is a marked difference between a person whose heart is broken over their sin and wants to not hurt anyone’s relationship with God and a person who lets pieces fall where they fall. 

David is first concerned over the spiritual condition of others.  He follows that with being the object of scorn and an outcast to his own family, for God’s sake.  This could be because he is trying to do the right thing following his sin.  People are scorning him, making fun of his effort to reconcile with God.  After all, who is he to pursue God after such a great sin?  What a fool! … People still do this to this day.  It is human nature and that thinking is the natural man’s way of thinking.  But Godly thinking rejoices in the man who pursues God, especially after falling.  The hardest thing to do after a fall is be willing to get up and start running again.  The best thing we can do is encourage someone to get up and start running.  Hopefully they’ll encourage us when we are down. 

Not only do others scorn him but his own family treats him as an outsider.  They’ve rejected him.  His own brothers and sisters treat him as if he isn’t one.  Why? “For zeal for Your house consumes me”.  Out of the ashes of his sin comes a torrent of fire pursuing God.  Once he has seen his condition he pours his heart into finding God, being one with God, knowing more of God, and dwelling with God and he refuses to accept anything less than this.  He must have it!  This is the proper heart condition that all of us hope to have following a sin.   Yet, he is scorned for it and ostracized from his family.  Sorrowfully, many today experience similar situations.  When a family truly “judges” one who has sinned, they shun them.  Instead they should seek to confront and come alongside in encouragement to help someone seek God again. 

I find in this reading that we must be careful to know ourselves by reading our own dashboard.  We need to look at our “caring for others or caring for myself” dial and see if it’s running well.  We need to look at our “condemning others or encouraging others” dial and see what it reads.  We need to look at the “zeal for God” dial and see if it’s full.  It is important to know where we are in this context.  These readings let us know where we are in our following of the two great commandments.