A Prayer from the Cross: Psalm 109:1-5

For the past several podcast episodes, we’ve been looking at prophecies and connection points between Jesus’ ministry and the Old Testament, and specifically related to Jesus’ path towards the cross. While our focus for this year of podcasting has been on prophecy and Old Testament connections to Jesus’ ministry, there are a surprising number of connection points related to Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, trial, and ultimate crucifixion.

For this episode, we will look back to the first few verses of a psalm to discover foreshadowing of the surprising and unlikely event that would happen when Jesus and the soldiers arrive at the place where Jesus would be crucified.

Our Old Testament passage and psalm is Psalm 109, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible translation. Starting in verse 1, David, the psalm writer, opens by saying:

¹ O God of my praise,
Do not be silent!
² For they have opened the wicked and deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
³ They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me without cause.
⁴ In return for my love they act as my accusers;
But I am in prayer.
⁵ Thus they have repaid me evil for good
And hatred for my love.

While someone familiar with the gospels could easily see how the opening to this psalm in many ways describes Jesus’ entire ministry and the hostility He faced from all the religious leaders, one detail found at the transition into Jesus time on the cross holds special significance with this psalm. The phrase in this psalm that draws our attention to this is the second phrase in verse 4. Verse 4 has two phrases: “In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.”

With this verse in mind, let’s jump into the gospels and Jesus’ life on the morning He was crucified. After a long journey through the streets of Jerusalem to outside the city walls, Luke, chapter 23, starting in verse 33 describes the scene for us:

³³ When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!”

During the opening details of the scene that morning, while the soldiers are nailing Jesus to the cross, and hoisting the cross up for all to see, Jesus’ focus is fixed on prayer and forgiveness. If God the Father were ever to lose control of His emotions and strike a portion of humanity dead, I suspect that the soldiers involved with this crucifixion, and the religious leaders who masterminded it, would be at the top of the list.

Part of me wonders what might have happened if Jesus had not prayed asking God the Father to forgive them. If forgiveness had not been specifically asked for, would these soldiers be held directly responsible by God for Jesus’ death, even though they were just following orders in a chain of command that extended beyond each individual?

Another thought I have while reading this prayer is that Jesus is referring to a greater number of people than what we might realize on first glance. While the context of this passage points to the soldiers and all those who were hostile towards Jesus in that generation being the reason Jesus faced the cross, the bigger picture is that Jesus faced the cross because sin had spread universally through the human race. Because of one man, Adam, choosing his wife over God’s only rule, sin infected the human race. While I have no idea what would have happened if Adam had chosen to reject the offer of fruit, because Adam chose to eat the fruit, sin became normalized throughout humanity. This means that sin affecting our lives is completely outside of our control, and one could say it is the fault of our earliest ancestors.

However, God decided that instead of abandoning us, He would create an escape route through love and forgiveness. This love and forgiveness is exactly in line with God’s character, but there was a small problem that also had to be dealt with relating to God’s character.

Prior to sin entering the human race, one angel decided to accuse God of not being just or fair. While the specific details of this accusation are not fully known, there is a charge against God that He cannot be just, fair, loving, and compassionate at the same time – especially when sin is involved. The loving nature of God would be inclined to forgive and offer grace to the sinner, while the just, fair, and objective nature of God would require that the sinner face judgment.

From the very origins of earth, humanity has been a battleground in the conflict over good versus evil and the ultimate character of God. For most of earth’s history, most outside observers likely would conclude that God was losing this battle.

However, Jesus came to do more than set the record straight. Jesus came to blend God’s character together, allowing for justice and grace. Jesus unified God’s character by being divine and taking the punishment for sin on Himself. This way, the accusation that God is not fair or just is satisfied, because punishment was given for sin. Jesus also solved the accusation that said God could not equally be loving and compassionate because the only reason for Him to face death for someone else is because of love and compassion. By facing death, Jesus defeated Satan’s impossible looking challenge against God’s character by both proving God was willing to punish sin while also extending grace towards those who had sinned.

Jesus’ prayer, which was foreshadowed in the psalms of David, paint a picture of God’s love for sinners. Jesus’ prayer for forgiveness extends outwards from the immediate soldiers who actively nailed Him to the cross to the whole human race that had been infected by sin, and this prayer of forgiveness is answerable because Jesus accepted the penalty for all the sins of humanity on Himself.

One man, Adam, caused sin to enter humanity, and one Man, Jesus, paid the penalty for this sin, opening the way for God to extend grace for all who are willing to accept it. This is the great news of the gospel, and it is the great news tucked within the darkest point of human history.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open by challenging you, intentionally seek God first in your life and accept the payment Jesus paid on your behalf for the sins in your life. Choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus as a way to say thank you for everything He has done for you – and especially for the salvation He has provided through His death on the cross.

Also, continue to grow your relationship with God by praying and studying the Bible for yourself. Through prayer and Bible study, discover a God who loves you more than you might realize, and a God who is passionately interested in redeeming you from sin and inviting you into eternity.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or say no to where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!