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IN DEEP WATER (Psalm 69)

The psalms, in so many ways, mirror real life.

For example, there is an ebb and flow to them. We move from psalms of prayer from desperate hearts to praising God, then back to dealing with enemies and to thanksgiving again. Isn’t that like life? It is not always the same.

This analogy is especially appropriate today as we come to Psalm 69.

Verses 1-2: “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.”

This psalm instructs us what to do in deep water. We all get into deep waters in life. Moses and the Israelites certainly did; so did Noah. They all saw the power of the Lord in those times.

Jonah’s disobedience took him to the depths of the sea, but he learned something there about the love and pity of God. The disciples found themselves in deep water in the middle of the night, but that is exactly where the Lord Jesus Christ came walking to them and saying, “Peace, be still.”

The testimony of the Apostle Paul in Acts 27 shows that he was in deep water more than once. In II Corinthians 11:26, he wrote about the “perils of waters.”

At some point, all of God’s people find themselves in deep water. But I am glad to tell you today that God does His deepest work in the deep waters.

Christ once said to the disciples in Luke 5:4, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” God provides great blessings and lessons in the deep areas of life, which you cannot find in the shallow end.

As a boy, I wanted desperately to learn to swim. I tried often and took lessons, but I learned to swim when I went down to the deep end of the pool and someone gave me a gentle nudge into the water.

Sometimes, you get to a point in life when your feet cannot touch the bottom, or in the words of the psalmist, “the waters are come in unto my soul.” You cannot stand, and you start to sink. That is the moment when you learn what to do in deep water.

We do not know what David was dealing with when he wrote Psalm 69. It could have been any of many things. However, the question for us today is what we do when we find ourselves in deep water.

Make sure your own heart is right with God.

Verse 5: “O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.” The first thing to do is confess any known sin, and ask the Lord to show you any sin you do not know about.

When you are in deep water, it is so easy to blame everyone else for your circumstances, but you must look at yourself first. Are you there because of something you have done? That is not always the case. Sometimes, it is because you are a Jonah; other times, you are a Job and cannot explain why things are happening to you. But always begin with the question, “Lord, is it I?”

Remember that others are watching.

Verses 6-7: “Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.”

This is interesting. Once he was sure there was nothing between him and God, he turned his attention to others around him. Instead of getting fixated on his problems, he began thinking about how others would view his God while he was in deep water.

We can get so consumed with the storms of life and our troubles that it is all we talk about. If we are not careful, we rob glory from God and give others the idea that He is not enough.

Notice the change from “my sake” in verse 6 to “thy sake” in verse 7. He brought you there to do something in your life, but be more concerned with His glory than your relief. Remember that someone else is watching.

Offer your prayer to God.

Verses 13-14: “But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.”

He turned his complaint into communion with God. It is all right to bring your trouble to someone. Just ensure it is the only One who can do something about it.

Do you see the progression? He looked to himself to make sure he was right with God; he looked to others to make sure he was leading someone else astray; and he ultimately looked to the Lord. This is the great need we all have.

If you look at his prayer, you see that he was more concerned with being in God’s mercy than being in deep mire. He got Heaven’s perspective on it. That is what prayer does.

I have marked in my Bible the phrase in verse 2, “I sink in deep mire.” He was literally in over his head, and it consumed him. But by verse 14, he said, “Deliver me out of the mire.” Only God can do that, and He only does it when we truly learn to pray.

Verse 15: “Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.” This is a picture of death. He said, “Lord, I don’t think I will make it unless You do something here.” That was when God began to work.

Verse 16: “Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.”

My friend, God’s mercy is greater than your trouble. God’s love is much deeper than the deep water you may find yourself in today. There is more mercy in Him than sin in us or trouble in our world.

Psalm 69 is a Messianic psalm. Indeed, some Bible teachers believe Christ may have quoted portions of it on the cross. It is a psalm of His humiliation and rejection that gives us a picture of Gethsemane when Jesus prayed while in deep water.

Yet the same God who brought Christ through His depths will carry you through yours. Beyond the deep water, there is a destination.

We have been concentrating on the first half of Psalm 69. If you start in verse 18 and go the rest of the way, it leads you far out of the deep water.

Verse 29: “… let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.”

Verse 35: “For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.”

In John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” Christian and Hopeful had to cross some deep water, but on the other side was a destination. The celestial city was waiting.

I want you to know that when you are in deep water, it is not the end. God will set you on the other shore soon, and when you get there and look back, you will give Him all the glory.

Make sure you are right with God, take note of others watching, and make your prayer to Him. In the ebb and flow of life, only God can deliver you through the deep water.