Reproach: Respite and Revival

“Save me, O God!
    For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
    where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
    and the flood sweeps over me.
I am weary with my crying out;
    my throat is parched.
My eyes grow dim
    with waiting for my God.

More… are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
    those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
    must I now restore?
O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me..;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me…
For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach…

Zeal for your house has consumed me,
    and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting,
    it became my reproach…

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord…
    In the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
Deliver me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
    according to your abundant mercy, turn to me…
Make haste to answer me.
Draw near to my soul, redeem me!..

You know my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor…
Reproaches have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair…

I will praise the name of God with a song;
    I will magnify him with thanksgiving…
You who seek God, let your hearts revive.” Psalm 69:1-7,9-10,13-20,30,32b

Reproach: An expression of rebuke, disapproval, or disappointment; a cause or occasion of blame, shame, discredit, or disgrace.

David’s lament gives a view into his heart after God’s. Afflicted by hatred and false accusation, he humbly asks God to expose sin and folly, and not to allow others to be ashamed or dishonored because of him. He then prophetically acknowledges that his zeal for God has brought him reproach likened to that of Christ’s. In pain and despair, he cries for mercy. His prayer, tied desperately and securely to God’s love, is an anguished yet hopeful identification with the Man of Sorrows. (1 Samuel 13:14; Psalm 22:6; Isaiah 53:3-8; Acts 13:22)

There are many situations and incidences that can lead us to anguish. Since the fall, sufferings give particular opportunity for us to identify with Christ. It’s healthy to consider the reproaches we suffer and understand their source. Are they due to blatant sin? Then confess and repent. Do they result from righteous identification with Christ? Then be glad. Every reproach we endure is a chance to know the Him better and to make Him known. (Philippians 3:10-12; 1 Peter 2:20-22; 3:14-17; 4:12-14)

When we suffer for being Christ’s, how will we lift high His cross? Would we honestly pour out our hearts to Him and make sure we have no cause for shame? When will we begin to thank Him for sharing HIs reproach, and rejoice in what it is effecting in us and others? (James 1:2-4)

Lord, teach me to count it all joy to suffer the reproach You so willingly suffered for me.