Psalms 69:9

His jealousy for the honour of God's house was like a consuming fire within him. Cp. Psalms 119:139; Psalms 39:3; Jeremiah 20:9. It is difficult to determine whether -thine house" means the Temple only, or as in Numbers 12:7; Hosea 8:1, bears the wider meaning of the land or the people of Israel. (1) In the former case the reference may be to the burning indignation which was stirred by the sight of abominations such as those which Ezekiel describes as polluting the Temple (ch. 8); and it is noteworthy that he particularly mentions "the image of jealousy which provoketh to jealousy," i.e. some image or symbol which was a direct challenge of the "jealous God" who could brook no rival, and which must have stirred the grief and indignation of His faithful servants. (2) In the latter case it is the general condition of the nation, the contrast between its calling to be a holy nation and the universal corruption prevalent, which stirs his deepest emotion. This alternative gains some support from Jeremiah's usage (Jeremiah 11:15; Jeremiah 12:7; Jeremiah 23:11).

The zeal of Christ for His Father's desecrated house recalled these words to the minds of His disciples (John 2:17: the reading of the true text follows the LXX (B), shall eat me up).

the reproaches&c. Better as R.V., the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. On the one hand their blasphemies against God wound and crush the spirit of His servant; and on the other hand they shew their contempt for God by their mockery of His servant. Such was Jeremiah's experience: his contemporaries mocked God's message, and mocked him for delivering it (ch. Psalms 6:10; Psalms 20:8): such too was the experience of Christ Himself, to whom St Paul applies these words in Romans 15:3.