Interpretation and exegesis of Psalm 69 - Hans-Joachim Kraus

from PSALMS 60 - 150 (Fortress Press, 1993):
Psalm 69 is the song of a "servant of Yahweh" (verse 17) who suffers for God's sake (verse 7) and who bears disgrace on account of his zeal for the temple (verses 9 and following).  He bears suffering in innocence.  His enemies and accusers cannot carry a case against him, for God himself has struck him (verse 26; Isaiah 53:4 and 10).  Here lies the mystery of this servant of God; while he in innocence (verse 4) is struck by God and incomprehensibility is visited by great distress as a zealot for God's affairs, his slanderous enemies oppress him with religious fanaticism.  They resist the thought of his suffering's being of divine origin and ridicule the servant's (E-B-E-N) zealous desire to be of service.  This very suffering, forsaken, and despised servant of God in an exemplary and testimonial way is representative of all who look for Yahweh's help.  With him and in him the trust and hope of other people are at stake (verse 6).  His rescue becomes proof of the salvific reality of God and produces confidence and refreshment.  If we note these unique statements of Psalm 69, which far transcend all individual application, we can immediately understand that the original Christian church saw the activity and suffering of Jesus Christ foretold in the OT Psalm.
After the cleansing of the temple, the disciples remember Psalm 69:9 (John 2:17).  In his innocent suffering  the statement of Psalm 69:4 is fulfilled (John 15:25).  To the Crucified the "poisonous nourishment of comfort" (Psalm 69:21) is offered (Matthew 27:34 / Mark 15:36 / Luke 23:36 / John 19:29).  Even in the fate of Judas, Acts 1:20 sees the fulfillment of Ps. 69:25.  From the NT perspective, only through the suffering of Jesus as the servant of God has the mystery of the message of Psalm 69 has been revealed.  For Christians, the essential content of this psalm will henceforth be accessible in no other way.  The fulfillment "fills" the kerygma of this OT psalm that transcends all individualism; it enters the inexhaustible profundity of the expressions of suffering of a song which, in its powerful proclamation, stands beside Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 and Psalm 118. (pages 64 - 65).