Psalm 69: Spiritual Snap-Shots of Calvary 1. Christ Crucified Psalm 69:1-2

Text: “And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, they gave Him (Christ Jesus) vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink.  And they Crucified Him, and parted His garments casting lots (gambling): that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted My garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.  And sitting down they watched Him there.”

Matthew 27:33-36.

Good morning, remembering Christian!  Not for you a light look at Scriptures concerning the cruel Crucifixion of our Beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ.  No!  You have taken the time and exercised the deepest thoughts on what exactly your Saviour and mine suffered on that Cross to make the full and God-accepted Atonement Sacrifice for our vile and disgusting sins.

“See from His head, His hands, His feet – sorrow and love flow mingled down.  Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a Crown…Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”  (Isaac Watts, 1674-1748)

“And when He (Christ Jesus) had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is My Body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me.  After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped saying, This cup is the New Testament in My Blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.”         (1 Corinth.11:23-34)

Christ’s whole Body was beaten, bruised, and marred before He even arrived at Golgotha’s Hill – and all that for you and for me.  This was the terrible cost God’s Holiness demanded in order to forgive us, ‘His people’, our inherited and committed catalogue of vile sin.

Christ’s sinless and Holy Blood was willingly shed by Him, to make the Atonement Sacrifice for you, dear Reader, and for Hell-deserving sinners such as me.  To make at one, (At-one-ment) sinful mankind and a Holy Lord God.

“For He (God the Father) hath made Him (God the Son), to be sin for us (Hell-deserving sinners like you and I), Who knew no sin (Christ was and is sinless); that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”        (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he/she is a new creature: old things are passed (or passing) away; behold (look, and fully understand), all things are become (or are becoming) new.  And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (the Gospel); to wit (that is to say) that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the Word of reconciliation.  Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray in in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”  (2 Corinth 5:17-20)

“This has usually been regarded as a Messianic Psalm.  No portion of the Old Testament Scriptures is more frequently quoted in the New, with the exception of Psalm 22.”  (J.J. Stewart Perowne, 1823-1904)

One close look at the scene at Calvary, should be more than enough to melt the hearts of the vilest, hardest sinners, and draw elect souls to the Lord Jesus Christ.  (Acts 4:12)

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”  (Isaiah 45:22)

The scene at Calvary on Christ’s Crucifixion Day, and the cries He uttered while nailed to that cursed Tree, are vital to a full understanding of what was done that day for to free sinners from our sin, and redeem us for Eternity.

Verse 1. “Save me, O God. “He saved others; Himself He cannot save.”  With strong cryings and tears, He offered up prayers and supplications unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared.  Thus David had prayed, and here his Son and Lord utters the same cry.  It is remarkable that such a scene of woe should be presented to us immediately after the jubilant ascension hymn of the last Psalm, but this only shows how interwoven are the glories and the sorrows of our ever-blessed Redeemer.” (C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, page 298)

Verse 1.  “Save me, O God.”  This cry of Christ from the Cross of Crucifixion, is the exact same cry that our Father in Heaven desires to hear from us, His elect souls, when once He, through God the Spirit, quickens our spirit from being dead spirits to be living spirits in Christ Jesus.  It is the same cry of Peter when sinking in the waters, after walking briefly with Jesus on top of them.  It is a cry of the regenerated human heart which is always answered with a sure answer of deliverance from God.

“But when he (Peter) saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord save me.  And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:26-32)

“Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”  (Jeremiah 33:3)

All God’s wrath against the sins of those whom He had chosen in Eternity to save, God’s elect, was unleashed upon our beloved Saviour, Jesus Christ, as he hung there on that cruel Cross at Calvary.  Sin had to be punished.  Divine justice had to be served.  A Scapegoat had to be provided, upon which our vile sins had to be laid.  The sinless Lamb of God, God the Father’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, had to be slain, if the Sacrifice demanded by God’s Law was ever to be acceptably made.  Christ bore the full penalty of all our sins.

“Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.  Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow…”  (Jesus Paid it All, by Elvina M. Hall, 1865)

The Lord Jesus Christ hung upon that cruel Cross willingly, shed His sinless Blood, graciously, and laid down His life lovingly – for your sins and for mine.   One renewed look at Christ’s Crucifixion scene should make our born-again hearts melt with love for Him.

Verse 2. “I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing.  As Hell-bound sinners, we come to a place where there is indeed, no standing, no earthly hope; no Eternal security.  Then it is that we are blessed with a more serious look at Christ on Calvary’s Cross, suffering and dying for our vile sins – it is then that we fully repent, turn from all our sins; cry out for God’s forgiveness, and we are immediately SAVED to serve Him - Christ Crucified for us.

Thought: “There is life for a look at the Crucified One, there is life at this moment for thee; Then look, sinner, look unto Him and be saved, Unto Him who was nailed to the tree.”  (Amelia Matilda Hull, 1812 – 1884)