Singing Psalm 69 you find your sweet spot
Updated: Jul 21
After expressing many of the ways that he has done wrong and has been wronged and rejected, David points the way for you to find your sweet spot between honestly crying out in grief and fully expecting that the Lord will reward you with mercy.
“But as for me, I lift my prayer to you, Lord;
Accept it in the time that pleases You, LORD. In the abundance of Your lovingkindness,
Respond, O God, with Your salvation true.” ~ Psalm 69:13
He doesn’t make his requests with a demanding or bitter spirit nor with a hopeless or fatalistic ‘throwing up of his hands’ as though his requests were hoisted up only to ricochet down from the ceiling. He counts on the Lord’s loving kindness and puts all his eggs in the Lord’s basket. He trusts the Lord to provide the sweet spot, to answer how and when he thinks best, giving the infinite, sovereign, triune God the credit he deserves.
Singing Psalm 69, the Lord will help you, as you bring requests to him, to bring them humbly yet believing in both his ability and his willingness to answer them best, trusting his power, love, and wisdom that surpasses yours by infinite orders of magnitude. He will help you not forget that he is making his home with you and in you presently and to remember as you wait, that he is waiting to be gracious to you. And if he answers in ways that are different from the way you ask, he will help you trust his ways over yours.
Singing Psalm 69 you find your sweet spot daily
Find your sweet spot around your daily bread
It may indeed be better for your body if you eat mostly vegetables. But when staunchly used as a platform against those who choose to eat some meat (the issue of whether or not the meat was sacrificed to idols or is an idol itself is not taken into account here) for some, all benefits of vegetables go out the window along with reason. They dig in their heels – fight for their right – for their liberty to do as they please. And then there are forceful attempts by meat lovers to steer those who want to eat anything but meat. Because of the way it’s communicated, there can be an all out war over what food to eat.
Find your sweet spot in planning under God’s direction and to his glory. He made your belly. He made food. Lay out all the possibilities and uncertainties before him. You can trust him to help you sort out what it should taste like for you.
Find your sweet spot around your daily finances
Most wars are over power or money or both. One group has a fear of being overtaken as the top dog. They are willing then to rape, pillage, and plunder to secure what they view as their superior position. This end they think justifies their means. Yet James tells us to pity the wealthy who in God’s economy are actually poor, and to uplift the poor who in God’s eyes are rich.
In your ultimate altered state, when faith becomes sight, what will it look like? The oppressed will be free, the proud opposed, the humble exalted, and the folly of the worldly wise exposed. What is upside down now will be made right-side up.
Ask him. What do you give? What do you save? What do you purchase? How are you to be content without becoming complacent? The Lord will help you find your sweet spot by giving you a heart of generosity, meekness, and discernment.
Find your sweet spot around your daily stress relief
You get the sense when singing Psalm 69 that David leaves it all out on the table spread for the Lord. He leaves nothing that is disturbing to his heart to himself but unloads all his burdens of heart before his Lord and helper in every area. Perhaps what it means to be someone after God’s own heart isn’t to have a perfect heart but to literally go after God’s heart!
You also get the sense that it is a must to oppose the enemy. As Tolkien’s Sam despised Gollum and as Lewis’s Ransom destroyed the Un-man, is it right to want to destroy the evil one and his works. Of course, we must do it with the Lord, for we are no match for the enemy without him. As David credits the Lord with his defeat of Goliath, he composes and sings from a dependent, humble, pleading, confident heart.
The psalms, love songs that God used men to write so that we could connect to him emotionally, the enemy has used to cause division among God’s people. The enemy pounced on the opportunity as he sought to use the psalms as a source of contention. Some see it as a legalistic tool that others use in “one-upmanship” rather than an oasis for all to draw near to the Lord and away from the enemy.
If you asked any God-fearing person if they esteemed God’s word more than the writings of man, they would wholeheartedly say yes. Yes, that is except, for some, when it comes to psalms and hymns. So many hymns are spot on. Though not the inerrant and inspired word of God, all are to be applauded for putting a desire to convey a love for God into song for his praise and glory and to teach others of him.
Because of the enemy, it is not surprising that this has become an all out cold war in some circles.
If someone chooses to sing only psalms in corporate worship because he believes it honors the Lord to sing only his words back to him in that setting, he ought not to be looked upon as though he considers himself better than those who choose to sing all songs in worship.
Those who sing only psalms ought not think themselves better than those who sing all or vice versa. One person’s conscience allows them to sing all while another’s is limited. Many do respect one another’s choices in what they sing. Those who do not ought to ask the Lord to help them accept the brother who differs but is not sinning.
Since everyone needs to connect emotionally with the triune God, he gave the psalms for singing, the vulnerable, worshipful posture that angels assume. You can make psalm-singing a part of your emotional connection with God every day and not reserve it as something you do only in worship services on the Lord’s Day.
The hymn “He Leadeth Me” was inspired by Psalm 23 and is a delightful hymn to sing as you are led each day by the good shepherd, the Lord Jesus.
In the Trinity Psalter Hymnal, the 4th verse of hymn “Glory Be to Jesus” (Number 348):
“Abel’s blood for vengeance
Pleaded to the skies;
But the blood of Jesus
For our pardon cries.”
Abel wasn’t vengeful but the Lord avenged his blood by shedding his own in mercy. This, the devil cannot stand.
Verse 5 is now:
“Oft as earth exulting
Wafts it’s praise on high,
angel hosts rejoicing
make their glad reply.”
The verse 5 that used to be was for some reason omitted:
“Oft as it is sprinkled
On our guilty hearts
Satan in confusion
Terror-struck departs.”
You can sing the old verse 5 too, not afraid of the imprecatory psalms or verses like this one that violently oppose Satan, the enemy, and the spiritual forces of evil, however and within whomever they play out their evil. Some, like Tolkien’s Orcs, the minions of Sauron, are bent on evil. God is not, and therefore you are not to be a respecter of persons. No matter how high up the persons might be in politics or in any arena on the right or on the left, you will find many wolves in sheep’s clothing waiting to mislead you every day.
You can trust the Lord to help you find your sweet spot in the things you do each day, each week, each month, each year and how often you do them.
What distresses you? You can ask him about what to eat, what to wear, what to sing, how to give, how to clean, how to listen, what to listen to, what to say, what to think, how to feel, how to rest and work in that rest, and from whom, how, and when to get advice, and for timely, apt words to share.
Singing Psalm 69 you find your sweet spot interpersonally
The enemy considers no area off limits causing damage in even the most personal of interpersonal relations. There are people of every age who have been violated and victimized, forced or coerced into heterosexual and/or homosexual activity unplanned and against their will. The enemy even incites some to turn from victim to perpetrator.
Both can feel guilt and shame. Believe the Lord will reward you for seeking him. He is full of mercy and healing. Your cry will never fall on deaf ears with him. He will help you make it right with whomever you have hurt, offended, or oppressed and show mercy to you. He will comfort you when you have been hurt, offended, or oppressed and heal you. Jesus asks the Father on your behalf. His blood pierced the veil that separates. Your requests don’t bounce off the ceiling but reach his ears and his heart.
Others choose sex outside of the way God appointed it to be between one man and one woman in marriage, are proud of it, and fight tooth and nail for the right to continue it.
What ought to have been a means for God to show mercy, the enemy has turned into an all out war that has so clouded the minds of many, that they are not sure that they actually came to be a human being who is fearfully and wonderfully crafted, knit together by the triune God in their mother’s womb of the male or female variety through the process of conception, gestation, and birth.
This uncertainty over what God has clearly created has caused damage to many minds and bodies and has been used to justify the murder of hundreds of millions of lives. This is not surprising since the enemy thrives on death. To him, the more deaths the better.
But he is not satisfied merely with death. He rages to greatly oppress and create fellow oppressors of the living on the way to it.
From one man, in his glorious diversity, God made every nation of men in his image. The enemy has us classifying, categorizing, and cementing a pecking order pitting one ethnic group/skin and eye color/hair type/body type (including height, weight, and muscle mass) over or against another as if there is a superiority to having one look (how boring if we all looked exactly alike) over another.
Opportunities are offered to those deemed superior while leaving others out. Those “left out” groups are sometimes given a head start with programs designed to level the playing field in order to live and have enough. Those who have made terms with the world in a way that suits them might like the playing field uneven and might even balk and fight to be on top, and on and on it goes.
You find your sweet spot when you live by faith in what God did when he made every nation from one man. You don’t live by sight alone but see with new eyes the heart of a person within his or her outward appearance. You seek openings to befriend those who have a different look than you. You don’t buy in to the status quo of how society judges people making distinctions with evil thoughts.
What can you do if you have become a judge making distinctions with evil thoughts as James warns against? Listen to the stories of those in one or more of the “left out” groups. Ask questions to pull up alongside them. You will not only welcome ways to level the playing field but will look for opportunities to bring it about.
There is strife over life and death matters as well as matters of preference: whether or not to homeschool, to vaccinate, to fluoridate, to apply human solutions for what ails us and which ones, you name it. You can probably think of many more sources of interpersonal contention that exist out there.
The enemy even divides us in our desire to help others. A particular subsection of people with a particular subsection of needs often hones in as if God’s grace and mercy somehow apply differently to them. You find your sweet spot when you make room for those who struggle outside of imposed parameters or who battle in a myriad of ways both inside and outside of those manufactured lines of demarcation.
Wisdom is needed to guard against using specialization as an unnecessary fence to exclude others. You find your sweet spot when you ask for wisdom to engage with and understand those outside of your comfortable group.
The enemy’s approach is not novel. He takes whatever is good, twists it in our minds, and moves us from order to disorder, from harmony to chaos, from gratitude to bitterness, from unity in diversity to factions, favoritism, partiality, and thoughts of the supremacy of one position over another, glorying in division — from life to death.
The Lord is the ultimate wall remover and bridge builder and will help you do the same by loving both your neighbor and the truth when you might disagree or be at odds with others.
More even than this, he is constructing a house that all who love his name will possess, inheriting a home to dwell in with him not made with human hands that will stand forever.
You find your sweet spot by being one who confides in and worships God and collaborates considerately with others. You fight fiercely and only with the enemy as he seeks to expand his territory within you and all around you.
Remember the Lord is with you in the siege and the enemy’s reign is short.
Ask the Lord to guide you, to help you hold onto him in all your choices, letting go of whatever is not beneficial, and never giving up hope remembering that he will undo everything that is sad and wrong and restore all things, the things he did not steal, making all things joyful and right in time. Lay it all out before the Lord as David did to find your sweet spot, to live well in the time and space between the already and the not yet.
Singing Psalm 69 you find your sweet spot emotionally
For all the confusion, division, violating, deceptions, distortions, misclassifications, rejections, bitterness, estrangements, sickness, ingratitude, wars, self-consumption, suicides, murders, and deaths the enemy causes, let him often hear you sing of Jesus.
Let the enemy hear of the one that gave him a deadly dose of his own medicine through the shedding of his blood as you sing “Glory Be to Jesus” — all seven verses. Let him hear of the one with whom singing Psalm 69 helps you connect, the one who carries you so that, with God, you never again need be on the outside looking in. You find your sweet spot making your home with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as the triune God makes his home with you.
Being hated without reason while at the same time sinking in the flood of guilt, confiding that the Lord knows his folly and not wanting to conceal it, David cries out asking that none of those who trust in or seek the Lord would be ashamed or disgraced because of him.
What do you fear? Over what do you feel shame or disgrace? No matter what you have thought, said, or done in the past that you are now ashamed of, God is your confidante.
Ever been talked about behind your back? Felt like a laughingstock? There is no area of life, big or small, personal or corporate, that is off limits with him. His grace and mercy reach you for the asking.
You find your sweet spot when you know you are loved, even when you fail, both because of and despite who you are. Only then can you venture out into unknown territory without fear. God’s perfect love drives out fear in this way. Invite him to see every part of you – past, present, and future. Even when you hide from him, he sees you. Don’t make hiding from the Lord your practice. Don’t go it on your own.
As the Lord has richly provided for all your needs giving you everything you need for life and godliness, may singing Psalm 69 and the following hymn, “Be Still My Soul” help you find your sweet spot in the triune God, the salve for all your wounds as you wait for him:
“Be still, my soul; the Lord is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; your best, your heav’nly friend
through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
“Be still, my soul; your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past;
your hope, your confidence, let nothing shake;
all now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
his voice who ruled them while he lived below.
“Be still, my soul; when dearest friends depart
and all is darkened in the vale of tears,
then you will better know his love, his heart,
who comes to soothe your sorrows and your fears.
Be still, my soul; your Jesus can repay
from his own fullness all he takes away.
“Be still, my soul; the hour is hast’ning on
when we shall be forever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still my soul; when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.”
“Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” ~ 2 Corinthians 2:10-11
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.” ~ Isaiah 43:2
“LORD, answer me, for good is Your love;
And in Your great compassion, turn unto me.” ~ Psalm 69:16
September 12-16, 2022
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Heart ♥️ reflection
March 4, 2025
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” ~ Hebrews 13:15-16
Question: If I was created to love God most, how is it that I don’t fight harder to keep him as my first love?
Heart reflection: The Lord wants you to love others and enjoy the life he has given you. As with most things, what starts out as pleasing to God often morphs and twists in your heart and steals your primary affection and allegiance from him. If you aren’t careful to protect his place in your heart, your enemy works behind the scenes to erode your friendship with him. Slowly, steadily, imperceptibly, it turns from most important to inconsequential. When you order your life with the Lord having your heart first, you love others better and more than you would if they were first in your heart. That’s Jesus’ perfect law and order of things which is well worth fighting for.
“The meek will see and then be glad;
Those seeking God revive!…
They and their children there will live,
Their own possession claim.
The ones inheriting the land,
Are those who love His name.” ~ Psalm 69:32-36
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The Psalms—Q&A
“Like a stubborn heifer,
Israel is stubborn;
can the LORD now feed them
like a lamb in a broad pasture?” ~ Hosea 4:16
How does the Lord Jesus leading me to sing Psalm 69 help me grow in my affection for God and in my connection with others?
“My eyes fail while I wait on God for aid.” ~ Psalm 69:3b
“And David says,
‘Let their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
and bend their backs forever.’” ~ Romans 11:9-10
[quoted from Psalm 69:22, 23]
“And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.” ~ Romans 11:23
It’s not that our God, the great King of kings, needs to be over all things for some lack or insecurity in himself as we see worldly leaders often indict themselves. It’s that if he were not over all things, the universe would fall apart. Since he alone created it, he alone knows how it works. The universe could not stand if there were equal and opposing kings over it. God is other and has no equal, and will by necessity destroy his enemies. We were all his enemies. God could have left us dead in our sins without hope and started over with a new universe, with new creatures once humans rebelled against his authority. He chose instead to make humans new creatures on the inside bringing a great number from spiritual death to life after his very own son Jesus who pleased the Father in every way as the first born from the dead. He took every sin from each one of his people, put each to death when he died, and when he rose, those that trust and follow him have the sure hope of following him through death to life that never ends. You can be at home with him starting now and into eternity.
“What shall I do with you, O Ephraim?
What shall I do with you, O Judah?
Your love is like a morning cloud,
like the dew that goes early away.” ~ Hosea 6:4
How does God address unrequited love? Who wants to be loved under coercion? Is that even possible? I don’t think it is. But even if it somehow were possible, it would be most undesirable.
God gives each one of his people a new heart which genuinely moves them to do whatever they can to help others know this incredibly kind and compassionate King who thought to rescue anyone who would come to him, not coerced but gladly, for that rescue. He created us for friendship, primarily with him.
“The ones inheriting the land,
Are those who love His name.” ~ Psalm 69:36
His people are as willing as Jesus, the one we follow and strive to imitate. But what about in the face of suffering? What does it mean in daily life to endure the cross and scorn the shame, looking to Jesus?
When you want to make sense of your suffering, ruling out what are not the purposes of suffering will illuminate your center for joy in the midst of it. The purpose of suffering is not to display God’s displeasure with you, it's not to provide opportunities to practice denial or to minimize your suffering by unfavorably comparing it with that of others, and it’s definitely not to learn a formulaic antidote to suffering by forcing praise and gratitude with your lips while your heart remains untouched. No, the purpose of suffering is to move you to seek growth in trusting God and maturity in character.*
If I primarily look at God as something to be used, to reach with prescribed steps and words by rote, I miss the sweet spot. It’s your affection for God that supplies the fuel you need to wholeheartedly obey him and desire to do what is right by him. Your affection for God is your sweet spot. You acknowledge the depth of your sins alongside the greater depth of his forgiveness, compassion, and love. Only Jesus extends mercy and grace washing you with his own blood, thus making you secure in his love.
Are you seeking your sweet spot to connect with others?
To find your connect-with-others sweet spot: First receive this gift yourself. Then be willing and available to share this best of news. Rest in Jesus with a trust that is supernatural, knowing that he will complete every good work he began in each one with his perfect timing. It’s not up to you or me. It’s not in our control. Therefore, you are free to love God and others. He’s the one who transforms hearts of stony pride into hearts of humble flesh and brings what is dead to life using the sometimes winding and often surprising journey sovereignly marked by his hand for each one of his own.
“But as for me, I lift my prayer to You, LORD;
Accept it in the time that pleases You.
In the abundance of Your lovingkindness,
Respond, O God, with Your salvation true.” ~ Psalm 69:13
Ask Job, a blameless man whose intense suffering for a long time touched every aspect of his life: How did having to wait for God’s deliverance teach you to trust him?
“LORD, answer me, for good is Your love;
And in Your great compassion, turn unto me.” ~ Psalm 69:16
“The meek will see and then be glad;
Those seeking God revive!” ~ Psalm 69:32
*see Side By Side by Ed Welch, Have Compassion during Trouble and Pray during Trouble, pp. 101-121, esp. pp. 108 and 118
Engage and grow together!
“Iron sharpens iron,
and one man sharpens another.” ~ Proverbs 27:17
July 24, 2026
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