Tuesday, May 8, 2007, Part 2

"Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children; because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me" (Psalm 69:6-9).

IDEA: Christ identifies with us if we are insulted for His sake.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize how closely we’re identified with Christ when we are put to shame for His sake.

Has there ever been a time in your life when you were insulted by someone who hated the fact that you were a Christian? Have you known that to happen to anyone else?

When people insult you because you’re a Christian, do you think they are insulting God?

I. When Christians are insulted or hurt because of their faith, the shame they may feel, God feels.

David’s enemies did not think they were insulting God, but David realized that the insults that fell on him, fell on Christ.

II. In Romans 15:2-4, Paul applies this passage in Psalm 69 to Jesus:

“Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.’ For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

Paul applies this section of Psalm 69 to caring about other Christians at some cost to ourselves, and he says that what we experience, Jesus experienced when He was on earth.

Paul explains what he meant in verse 4: "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope."

What David said, and Paul repeated in Romans, gives us endurance and encouragement and hope.