A Prayer from a Pit

by Bill Boyd

On a visit to Jerusalem, I was taken to a church that was built over the traditional house of Caiaphas. In the lower parts of that church, there is a cistern. An ancient tradition says that this cistern is where Jesus was kept the night before his crucifixion. We went down into the pit, and for some, it was an emotional experience. While it is possible that Jesus was lowered into a pit, the scriptures say nothing of this.

• Joseph was thrown into a pit where there was no water (Genesis 37:24). His brothers later confessed, “We saw the anguish of his soul, when he sought us, we would not hear” (Genesis 42:21).
• Jeremiah was cast into a pit and sunk in the mire. He was rescued by an Old Testament Ethiopian eunuch who drew him out with “old cast clouts and rotten rags” (Jeremiah 38:6-13).

David sang of being in a pit:

• “I am counted with them that go down into a pit” (Psalms 88:4);
• “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay” (Psalms 40:2);
• I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me… 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. Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me” (Psalms 69:2, 14-15).

The 69th Psalms is David’s prayer from a spiritual pit. With humility and trust, he laid his case before God: “I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried… because for thy sake I have born reproach… they that sit in the gate speak against me” (Psalms 69:1-12). He appealed to God’s mercy for deliverance: “Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily” (Psalms 69:13-20). When it came to his enemies, he appealed to God's justice: “Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them… Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous” (Psalm 69:20-28). This psalm begins in a pit with tears, but it ends in heaven with rejoicing: “I will praise the name of God with song… The humble shall see this, and be glad… Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein” (Psalms 69:29-36).

The New Testament makes extensive use of this psalm and applies it to Jesus. In John 2:17, when the disciples remembered how it was written, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up,” they were remembering Psalms 69:9. In John 15:25, when Jesus said, “But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause,” he was speaking of Psalms 69:4. In Matthew 27:34 and John 19:28, when they lifted vinegar and gall to the mouth of Jesus as he was dying on the cross, the scripture that was fulfilled was Psalms 69:21. When Peter spoke of Judas in Acts 1:20 and said, “It is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take,” he was referring to Psalms 69:25. In Romans 11:9-190, as Paul was justifying God’s rejection of the Jews who had rejected the gospel, Paul wrote, “David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always.” David had said this in Psalms 69:22-23.

David’s pit was not real; it was spiritual. We, too, can find ourselves in spiritual pits of despair, distress, and discouragement. Like Bunyan’s pilgrim, there are times when we may have to slog through a “slew of despond.” In those times, we can turn to scripture and prayer; there we will find strength to endure. As Jesus passed through his trials, he could relate to the difficulties David faced. Likewise, Jesus can relate to the trials we face. “In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted... For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16).

The 69th Psalm teaches us how to pray from a pit.