They that hate Me without a cause are more than the hairs of Mine head: they that would destroy Me, being Mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away Psalm 69:4 KJV
Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore. Psalm 69:4 NASB
When was “then?” The Psalm gives us some insight into the background of the hearts of men at Calvary. The Lord restored what He was not responsible for taking away when …
His Enemies were Many
They are described here as being more than the hairs of His head. The multitude included the leaders of the nation politically. Linked with them were the spiritual advisers – the high priests of the day. They had persuaded the common people so that the multitude of the Jews cried out for His death. The din of the combined chorus of all those who were against Him stands in contrast to the few who owned Him or confessed to His innocence. He did not perform His work when the majority were longing for salvation, but when the multitude was His enemy.
They were Malicious
They hated Him without a cause. Of course, what this meant was that there was no cause in Him for their hatred. He had done only that which brought them blessing. Had He been received, the blessings for the nation would have been abundant and liberating. There was no cause in Him; the cause lay within them. The holiness of Christ drew forth the depths of evil in the human heart. The love of Christ only served to reveal the hatred of the human heart. The selflessness of Christ showed how selfish and self-centered we are. The beauty of Christ revealed the ugliness of human nature. So entrenched is sin in our natures that the only response we could find to all He was, is one of malicious intent.
They were Mighty
Those who were His enemies were mighty. On the one hand, they had the power of Rome at their disposal. All the might of the Roman system was brought to bear on the Lord Jesus as He endured the wrongful verdict of guilt. The Jewish leaders had managed to manipulate Pilate into a corner and “force” his hand to use his authority and power to put Christ on a cross. All the might of the Roman government impaled Him to the tree.
But beyond the might of Rome, there were other powers at work. “This is your hour and the power of darkness” (Luke 22:53). Men 
were given a free hand to do with the Lord Jesus as they wished. Here was the opportunity for the human heart to express what it thought of God. But that human heart was energized by another power. Here was Satan’s attempt to strike a blow against God. No doubt He energized fallen man to unleash every form of blasphemy and temptation in that hour. All the power of hell was arrayed against Christ at Calvary; all the armaments of evil were deployed and employed against Him.
They were Malevolent
The desire of Satan and men was to destroy Him. They were His enemies wrongfully in the sense of it was the “contradiction of sinners” against themselves (Heb 12:3). All the evil of the human heart combined with all the stored-up enmity of Satan was present and sought to destroy Christ and God at Calvary.
It was “then,” at this darkest hour of human history, at the moment when the flood tide of human sin reached its high-water mark, it was then that He restored what He took not away!
Consider:
Trace some of the other “when” and “then” statements in the Gospels.