Daily Devotions
Psalms
Psalm 69:12b "I am the song of the drunkards..."
Day 305 – Psalm 69
“I am the song of the drunkards…” Psalm 69:12b
TOTALLY MISJUDGED
The psalmist David recalled a time when he felt totally misunderstood and misjudged.
“When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
I also made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
Those who sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.”
Psalm 69:10-12
1. “I wept and chastened my soul with fasting”
a) This is the practice of Israel on the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27, 29).
b) When David extended this practice to other occasions, his enemies reproached him.
2. “I also made sackcloth my garment”
a) This is done when bereavement is suffered in the family.
b) This may also be done in empathy with especially loved ones.
c) But this gesture of David caused him to be a byword.
i) They could have called him a fanatic.
ii) They could have questioned his sincerity.
iii) They could have said he was grandstanding and insincere.
3. “Those who sit in the gate spoke against me”
a) These were the leading business people in the country.
b) Elders of the country were often found sitting in the gate.
c) These leaders spoke against David.
4. A song of the drunkards
The drunkards of course do not know better. Nevertheless they took up a song against David!