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Scripture Reading: Psa. 68:1, 4-6, 9-13, 15-32, 35
Now we come to the highest peak of all the psalms, Psalm 68.
When I was a young Christian, I was always afraid to come to this psalm, because I simply could not comprehend its meaning. Immediately after I was saved, I was encouraged to memorize Psalm 1. It was very easy for me to understand this one. After a number of years in the Word of God, I learned to summarize passages and divide the Word into paragraphs and sections. That came easily. But when I encountered Psalm 68, I could not summarize it; neither could I divide it into sections. Most of the time I passed over it and neglected it. It was too difficult for me. Nevertheless, though I neglected it, the Lord could not forget it. Praise the Lord, now we are in Psalm 68. I have always been so happy in recent months to stay in this psalm. I am not afraid of it anymore. I love Psalm 68. I would testify that today I am on top of this psalm; I am on the peak.
We will see that in this psalm we have first Christ, second the house, third the city, Jerusalem, and fourth the earth. But we do not have the law. The law has been left behind; the law has been dropped. When we come to the highest peak of all the psalms, we only have Christ in the house within the city for the whole earth. These are the four key words of Psalm 68 — Christ, the house, the city, and the earth. If we would understand this psalm, and indeed all the psalms, we must understand these four words. The whole book of the Psalms is found in miniature in Psalm 68. By now we have already laid the foundation for this psalm. Before we have come to the peak, we have already glimpsed it. We have seen Christ, we have seen the house, we have seen the city, and we have seen the earth. We have such a foundation. Now it is easy for us to understand Psalm 68.
We may briefly define this psalm by saying that it tells us how, in God’s move on the earth, Christ ascended to the heavens and as a man received gifts from God for the building of God’s dwelling place. The building up of God’s house is for the expansion of the city, and the expansion of the city is for Christ’s reigning over the entire earth. Christ has conquered all His enemies, He has won the victory, He has led captive a train of vanquished foes, He has ascended and been exalted to the highest place in the universe, and He has received gifts for building up the house of God. This house is for the city, and the city is for the whole earth. Now you have Psalm 68. Without these points, though you may read this psalm one hundred times, you will never comprehend it. But we must look into these matters in further detail. We may say that this psalm presents us with nine major points.
To properly understand Psalm 68, we must be acquainted with the background of its composition. It is God’s moving on this earth in His tabernacle. In ancient times God moved on this earth among the people of Israel. He moved with them from Egypt to the wilderness and into the good land. His moving was not in the heavens but on this earth. He rode through the wilderness, through the desert, not through the skies. All God’s moving at that time was related to the tabernacle, within which was the Ark. The tabernacle in typology signifies God’s dwelling place, and the Ark represents Christ. Hence, God was moving on the earth in and through His dwelling place with Christ as the center. We must be clear concerning these three points: (1) God is moving on the earth, (2) God’s move is in and with the tabernacle, and (3) God’s move is with Christ as the center in the tabernacle. Psalm 68 was written with this background. It is an exact portrayal of the situation with God’s move on the earth today. God is moving on this earth, He is moving in and through His church, and He is moving with Christ as the center of the church.
Verse 1 says, “Let God arise; let His enemies be scattered; / And let those who hate Him flee before Him.” This is a quotation of Numbers 10:35: “When the Ark set out, Moses said, Rise up, O Jehovah, and let Your enemies be scattered; / And let those who hate You flee before You.” Psalm 68:1 was the word spoken by Moses. When God set out to move with the Ark, Moses said, “Rise up, O Jehovah.” Now Moses’ word is quoted by David: “Let God arise.” Hence, we see that the background of this psalm is the move of God in His tabernacle with the Ark.
The move of God on this earth is not only the background of Psalm 68 but also the first thought. In addition to verse 1, there are other verses which speak most expressively of God’s move. Verse 4 says, “Triumph in Him who rides through the deserts,” not, as in the King James Version, “him that rideth upon the heavens.” He is not riding through the skies but through the wilderness, through the deserts of this earth. The entire earth today is a desert, a wilderness; yet God is riding through and moving on. Do not be disappointed; triumph in Him, in Him who is riding through the deserts. The deserts mean nothing to Him; He is riding through them. Have you seen this? “Jah is His name — and exult before Him.” Verses 7 and 8 continue the thought of God’s move: “O God...You went forth before Your people, / ...You marched through the desert, Selah.” The first point of this psalm is that God is moving on this earth.
This psalm begins with the moving of God and continues with the victory which Christ has gained. All God’s enemies have been defeated. When God moves with the tabernacle and with the Ark, the enemies will always be vanquished. Wherever He goes, He always wins the victory; wherever He moves, He conquers. He has never been defeated.
Many times in reading the Old Testament we are impressed only with the failures of God’s people, the children of Israel. But we must read their history in Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy from a different perspective. We must see that whenever in God’s move He confronted the enemy, the enemy was defeated. Not once was God ever defeated by His enemies. As long as God’s people had the tabernacle of God with the Ark as its center, they were victorious. They may fail, but God could never be defeated.
Have you ever found a single instance in the Bible of God being defeated? God has never been defeated. This is the main concept of this psalm. God is moving, and with His move is constant victory. Oh, if we are in God’s house with Christ as the center, we can never be defeated! We may sometimes delay God a little, just as the children of Israel delayed Him for forty years in the wilderness, but what do forty years mean to God? If a thousand years are but one day in God’s eyes, forty years are only equivalent to about fifty-five minutes. According to divine reckoning, the children of Israel delayed God about fifty-five minutes. Actually, with God there is no concept of time; time is something with which we are concerned. To God yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all the same. In a human sense God has been delayed many times, but He has never been defeated. To Him, a delay in time means nothing. He is moving on, and wherever He goes, He defeats the enemy. Regardless of how poor the situation of the church may be, we should not be distracted. We must look at the glory of God’s move and His eternal victory. “Let His enemies be scattered; / And let those who hate Him flee before Him” (v. 1). “The Lord gives the command;... / The kings of the armies flee. / They flee!” (vv. 11-12). “The Almighty scattered / The kings in the land” (v. 14). “You have led captive those taken captive” (v. 18). “God will smash / The head of His enemies” (v. 21). God’s victory is the second point of this psalm.
Verse 11 says, “The Lord gives the command; / The women who bear the glad tidings are a great host.” We are all just a group of women, a host of females, bearing the glad tidings. We are not so strong and able; we are not, in a sense, the warriors of battle; we are the women publishers. We just bear the glad tidings. And what are the glad tidings? Verse 12 says, “The kings of the armies flee. / They flee!” These are the glad tidings — the victory of Christ, the defeat of the enemy. I could testify that when I was in the denominations, I was continually sighing, groaning, and begging, “O Lord, merciful Lord, have mercy on me.” The meetings of the group with which I met were filled with this kind of cry. I never heard praising or rejoicing. I never heard a song like, “Victory, victory, Hallelujah!” In these days in the local churches I am forever hearing, “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah!” All the enemies flee! They flee! They flee!
The bearers of the glad tidings are women, and those who divide the spoil are also women. The women abide at home; they do not go out to fight. Yet they divide the spoil. I have never gone out to the battle; I am just a woman, abiding at home, enjoying the victory and dividing the spoil. We should all do the same. Praise the Lord, we are qualified, we are entitled to divide the spoil. All the meetings in the local churches are just the dividing of the spoil. What are the spoils? Verse 13 tells us, “There are dove wings covered with silver, / And its pinions, with greenish-yellow gold.” The dove is the Spirit, and the wings are the soaring power; so the spoils are the soaring power of the Spirit. These wings are covered with silver, covered with Christ in His redemption. Its pinions are covered with greenish-yellow gold, God’s divine nature. This is the spoil — the Triune God. We have the Spirit as the dove, Christ the Son as the silver, and God the Father as the gold. All three persons of the Godhead together constitute the spoil. The spoil is our strength as two wings, not to walk or to run but to fly and to soar. When you come to the local church and join in the Hallelujahs, you are enjoying the spoil. Eventually, after every meeting, you will have the sense that you are soaring. We do have wings, and we are on the wings of the dove. Our spoil is the Triune God as our soaring strength, and all the spoil issues from the victory of Christ.
The third point in this psalm is Christ’s ascension. Verse 18 says, “You have ascended on high; You have led captive those taken captive.” Without Ephesians 4:8-11 we would not know what verse 18 means. But by this New Testament passage we see that it refers to the ascension of Christ. Christ has ascended on high, and the implication of His ascension is that all His enemies have been defeated. Before He ascended, He vanquished every foe, including the last enemy, death. He conquered death. From our human point of view, Jesus was put to death by human hands, but from the heavenly viewpoint, it was He Himself who walked into death. He simply took a little walk. He walked into death willingly in order to manifest His life power. He stayed there for three days, and He conquered death. Death did all it could to retain Him, but death could not hold its prey (Acts 2:24). He walked into death, and He walked out of death. He walked right through death, and He conquered it. Before dealing with death, He had already conquered everything else. Death was the last enemy. His emergence from death means that every foe, including death itself, has been vanquished. So He ascended triumphantly, and He led a train of vanquished foes. All the enemies defeated by Him were the captives in this train, including Satan, and including you and me. The train is a procession, celebrating His victory. Praise the Lord! Today we can tell Satan that he is defeated and we are defeated too; but, Hallelujah, we can also tell him that we are victorious in and with Christ’s victory, and he can never be victorious. This is a real praise. We must learn to praise the Lord in this way. How pitiful is the praise of many Christians! It is something like this: “O Lord, we praise You that for the entire year we have not had one car accident.” The praise of others has improved a little, and they say, “Lord, You are the Victor over my temper.” But, brothers and sisters, we must see something much higher than this. Christ has ascended, and He has led captive a train of vanquished foes. You were there, not just your little temper. Forget about having no car accidents, forget about conquering your temper. Hallelujah! Christ has ascended on high! And He has led a train of vanquished foes! While He ascended into the heavens, He made such a show, such an exhibition, in His triumphant procession before the entire universe. He has defeated Satan and all the rebellious angels. Satan and his host must flee! He has defeated all the rebellious people, including you and me. He has led a procession of all these defeated foes as a praise to celebrate His victory. After showing them to the entire universe, He has, in a sense, shown them to His Father and said, “Look at the enemy and all his followers who were conquered and defeated by Me!”
Now we have the issue of Christ’s ascension. It is that many of these defeated foes have been given as gifts by the Father to Christ for His Body. These gifts, which are mentioned in Ephesians 4, are persons, not functions or abilities. “He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers” (v. 11) — these are the gifts. Men such as Paul, Peter, and John are the gifts. It is as if, when Christ ascended to the Father with the train of vanquished foes, He said, “Father, look at these foes defeated by Me.” Then the Father replied, “All right, let Me take some of those foes, let Me take Saul of Tarsus, and this one in Los Angeles, and that one in Houston. I will give them to You as gifts for Your Body. They were defeated by You, and now I will give them to You as gifts.” And He did.
Saul of Tarsus is a good example — he was a real foe of Christ. But the ascended and exalted Christ came to visit him one day. He had become exceedingly violent in persecuting Jesus, but when the Lord cast one look upon him, he fell to the ground. I do not believe the Ascended One used His hand, but that He merely looked at him. Saul was smitten to the earth, and he heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, what are you doing? Why are you persecuting Me?” Saul replied, “Lord, who are You? I have been persecuting people on this earth; I have never persecuted the heavenly Lord.” The Lord said, “I am Jesus. You thought you were persecuting James, John, Peter, and Stephen, but you did not know that you were persecuting Me.” Do you know what happened? The ascended One captured Saul. Saul at that moment became a captive, and he repented and said, “What shall I do, Lord?” On that day the resurrected Christ got into him, and this foe, this vanquished foe, became a captive with the resurrected Christ in him as his life. It was through this resurrected One that this captured foe was made a gift, even one of the greatest apostles. In this way the Lord Jesus received gifts among men. He captures people as the ascended One, and He regenerates them as the resurrected One. It is by His resurrection life that He turns the captured foes into useful gifts. It was in this way that the Father, speaking of Paul, said to the Son, “I give this little one to You as a gift, and You must give this little one to the church as a gift.” Saul was later called Paul, which means “the little one.” Saul became a Paul. The foe of Christ eventually became a gift given by the Father to Christ and given by Christ to His Body.
Look at that captive Saul of Tarsus. How changed he was! Read his history; see how he was changing all the time. He was transformed from such a persecuting foe to such a useful apostle. He was a real gift to the Body, and Christ the Head received him as a gift in this way.
So many of us can testify of the same experience. Before we were saved, we were the foes of Christ, but one day the ascended One looked upon us. Many times when I have considered how the Lord captured me and transformed me from a foe to one who serves Him, I fall down and worship. I have nothing to say; all I can do is praise Him. I deserve nothing. Nothing was done by me; everything was done by Him. Oh, Hallelujah!
The Lord is transforming so many foes into gifts for His Body, and He is doing it so that the Lord God might dwell among them. “You have ascended on high; You have led captive those taken captive; / You have received gifts among men, / Even the rebellious ones also, / That Jehovah God may dwell among them.” I think that today we are much more qualified to speak this verse than the psalmist in ancient times. We are in the church, the house of God; we are in the dwelling place where God dwells through the ascended Christ. We are the vanquished foes who are being made into gifts for the building of God’s house. We are in the reality.
The first point in Psalm 68 concerns God’s move on this earth. The second is His victory in Christ; where God moves, God wins the victory. Following this, the third point, the ascension of Christ, issues in the fourth point, the gifts for the building. Fifth, a dwelling place is built up for God by the gifts. God moves, God wins the victory in Christ over all the enemies, Christ ascends, Christ receives all the gifts, and then the house of God is built. Praise the Lord, now God has a house to dwell in, a dwelling place on this earth among men, even among the rebellious.
This dwelling place is not only a habitation for God but also for us. In verse 5 we read, “A Father to the orphans and a Judge for the widows / Is God in His holy habitation.” In ancient times God’s habitation was the tabernacle, but today His habitation is the church. In one sense, we are all orphans and widows. But in the local church God is our God. We enjoy God as the God of the helpless in His dwelling place. Verse 6 says, “God causes the solitary to dwell in a household.” The local church on one hand is the family and on the other hand is our home. Before we came into the church, we were solitary because we had no family, and we were desolate because we had no home. Now in God’s dwelling place we have the family with the home. Verse 10 says, “Your living flock dwelt in the land [in the rain-watered land — v. 9]; / In Your goodness You provided for the poor, O God.” God’s dwelling place is for us, the needy ones.
Verses 15 and 16 say, “O mighty mountain, O mountain of Bashan, / O many-peaked mountain, O mountain of Bashan: / Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountains, / At the mountain on which God desires to dwell? / Indeed Jehovah will dwell there forever.” Mount Bashan is a mighty mountain, a mount in the heathen land east of Jordan. Mount Zion is the mountain on which God desires to dwell, and the other mountains, or rather the many-peaked mountains, look upon the mountain of God with envy. We have experienced this. Some of the denominations, the many-peaked mountains, are envious of the local churches. Many times they would say, “Why do the local churches get the blessing?” It is because God dwells in Zion — that is the only reason. God desires to dwell in the local churches, and all the blessing comes from His presence. Indeed, the Lord will dwell here forever. He has a dwelling place here on this earth in the local churches! “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, / Thousands upon thousands; / The Lord is among them, / As at Sinai, in the sanctuary” (v. 17). Hallelujah!
After God’s dwelling place is built, we have the enjoyment in God’s house of all that God is, all that God does, and all that God can do. This is the sixth point in this psalm. After verse 18 concerning God’s dwelling, we have such rich enjoyment in verses 19 and 20: “Blessed be the Lord, who day by day loads us with good; / God is our salvation. Selah / God is to us / A God of deliverance, / And with Jehovah the Lord / Are the goings forth even from death.” In the house, in the church, in the sanctuary, God day by day loads us with good; hence, we enjoy His goods; we enjoy His salvation, His deliverance, and His goings forth even from death. The going forth from death is a real deliverance. If we could go forth from death, we could go forth from the enemy. Everyone knows that whenever death comes to visit, there is no escape. This is really so. But we Christians may say today that whenever we are confronted with death, we can go forth from death. What a deliverance! We enjoy God; we experience God as our deliverance, as our going forth from death.
Moreover, in the house of God we enjoy His glorious victory. “Indeed God will smash / The head of His enemies / ...The Lord said, I will bring them again from Bashan; / I will bring [His enemies] again from the depths of the [Red] sea, / That you may bathe your foot in blood, / That the tongue of your dogs may have their portion from the enemies” (vv. 21-23). God has defeated all His enemies: Bashan has been defeated by Him, the Egyptians have been drowned by Him in the Red Sea. All His foes are vanquished. Today there is no need for Him to repeat His victory. Today, in the local churches, in the sanctuary, we may apply His victory. In these three verses it is as if the Lord said, “If you do not believe that all My enemies have been defeated, I will demonstrate My victory to you. I will bring Pharaoh and his hosts from the depths of the Red Sea and demonstrate their defeat again.” Before the house was built up, it was time for the Lord to defeat His enemies. But since the house has been built, there is no need for the Lord to repeat His victory. We only need to apply His victory.
After I was saved, I heard many messages and read many books which told how to be a victorious Christian. These messages and books indicated that I had many enemies: the world is my enemy; my self is my enemy; my temper, my hatred, and all my problems are my enemies. Then these messages and books indicated many wonderful ways to overcome these enemies. Some said that I must pray much; others said that I must pray with fasting; still others exhorted me to pray with fasting and without sleep. But none of these ways worked. Then I was told that Christ was crucified on the cross, and all the enemies including myself were crucified there too; now I must reckon upon this. I tell you, I tried to reckon for a long time, but I never succeeded. I filled many notebooks with these ways and methods of being an overcoming Christian. One day I threw them all away. There were so many good instructions, concepts, teachings, and suggestions, and I greatly appreciated them. But one day I began to realize that by coming into the local church and staying in the local church, every problem is solved and every enemy is overcome. It was so wonderful; I cannot tell you how wonderful it was! When I stayed in the local church, the world was gone, my temper was gone, and my problems disappeared. I am speaking from actual experience; I have been learning this for over thirty years. I have tried many methods and ways. I searched the Bible to find the will of God. Eventually, that did not work, and I found nothing. But when I came into the local church and stayed there, the will of God was spontaneously made clear. I tried to solve my problems as an individual again and again but could never overcome. When I stayed in the local church, however, all the enemies fled. I had no intention of defeating them; they all fled. From my experience I can boldly testify and declare that the best way to solve your problems, to overcome your enemies, to know the Lord’s will, and to obtain the Lord’s blessing is simply to stay in the local church and praise the Lord. Just do it. Just try it. This one kind of medicine heals all kinds of diseases.
In the early years of my ministry I had many points to pass on to others. A sister came to me thirty-five years ago and asked how she could overcome her temper. I replied, “Sister, first, you must do this; second, you must do that; third...fourth...fifth...sixth...” This went on until there were twelve points. Then I ended, “Go home and practice all these twelve points, and you will overcome your temper.” It was a hard job! About ten years later, others came with the same question. The number of points was then reduced to about six. Then after a few years, the points were reduced further to three. Today I will give you not twelve points, not six, not three, but only one: just come into the local church, stay in the local church, and praise the Lord. All your problems will be solved spontaneously. Believe me.
I cannot tell you what kind of revelation this is to me. I would tell the entire universe that I have the secret. It is so prevailingly, tremendously effective. Come to the local church and praise the Lord. Hallelujah, Hallelujah! For all your problems, the best way to pray to the Lord is to come to the local church and praise the Lord. In God’s dwelling place, in the local church, the Lord does not supply us little by little. He loads us with good; He applies His victory over all our enemies.
In the years 1939 and 1940 Brother Watchman Nee saw the Body of Christ with great clarity. I have mentioned how he released some messages on this matter, telling us definitely that spiritual warfare is not an individual matter but a matter of the Body. If you as an individual attempt to defeat the enemy, you will to a great extent be defeated by him. You must realize that the battle has already been won. There is no need for you to fight it. If you simply place yourself in the Body in a practical way and remain in the Body, the victory is yours.
We were raised up by the Lord in 1920. Before 1940 we never had a large number for baptism. There may have been thirty-seven or thirty-eight at one baptism — that was all. The number was always small, because before 1940 we always preached the gospel in an individual way. The Lord had not yet revealed the way of preaching the gospel as a church, the whole church preaching together. In 1940 we began, and in January we had more than one hundred baptized at once. In February another hundred were baptized, and in March another hundred. We had seen that the effective way to preach the gospel was not as individuals but as the church. If you attempt to convince your friends as an individual, it is rather difficult; but if you ask some brothers to help you bring your unbelieving friend to the gathering, there will be no need for you to preach. He will be saved — you will see. When you bring all the problems to the church, they are spontaneously solved. Do not keep your friends in your hands in an individual way; bring them into the church. In the church God loads us with good; in the church He applies His victory.
Are you sorrowful? Then what should you do? Yes, come to the church meetings. Do not attempt to encourage yourself and overcome your problems. Bring all your sorrows to the local church, and tell the enemy Satan to go with you to the meeting. If your wife is angry, just tell her, “Dear, let us go to the church.” Do not try to solve your problems in your home and then come to the church. You will be frustrated. Tell all the enemies and all the problems, “Come with me to the meeting.” I have had many experiences like this. As soon as I have come into the entrance of the meeting hall, the enemies and problems have fled. They followed me to the meeting, but when I entered the meeting, they turned and left. I have learned how to save much time in reading books. Coming to one meeting is better than reading ten books. Hallelujah!
Now we are ready to praise. Now it is our turn. We enjoy all that God is, all that God does and all that He can do; so we just praise Him. We have nothing to do today but praise Him: “Hallelujah for the enjoyment! Hallelujah for God loading us with good, for the victory, and for the application of the victory.” We have brought all the problems to the meetings, and they have disappeared; so we just praise. “They have seen Your goings, O God, / The goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary” (v. 24). Who has seen His goings? They, the enemies, the problems. They have seen His goings in the sanctuary. This is real praise. Sometimes I have actually praised the Lord in this way: “Lord, all my enemies have followed me to the entrance of the meeting hall, and when I came in, they all ran away. They have seen Your goings in the local church.”
Verse 25 says, “Singers go before; players after; / In the midst of virgins sounding the tambourines.” This is poetry, and it tells us that all the singers and players are women. The women bear the glad tidings of victory, the women abide at home and divide the spoil, and now the women praise. Unless you are a woman, you cannot praise. But, spiritually speaking, we are all women. There is no need for us to fight. The fighting is not ours but His. We are the enjoying and praising women. In the entire universe there is just one man — that is Christ. He is the One who works; He is the One who fights and who has already won the battle; He is the One who does everything. We are simply those who enjoy His victory, those who praise. Fighting is not our business; praising is our business. We are the singers; we are the players; we are the praisers. Have you seen this? To understand these verses we must take them in a poetic way.
Now we come to the main part of the praise in this psalm: “Bless God in the congregations, / Even Jehovah, O you who are of [Jacob] the fountain of Israel. / There are little Benjamin, who rules them, / And the princes of Judah in their company, / The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali” (vv. 26-27). It is indeed interesting. There are twelve tribes altogether among the children of Israel, but only four are mentioned here. Why these four? In the Bible Benjamin and Judah always go together; likewise, Zebulun and Naphtali are put together, especially in Matthew 4. The choice of these four tribes in this verse is full of significance.
Benjamin signifies Christ as the man of sorrows, who has become the man at the right hand. His name Ben-oni, which means “son of my affliction,” speaks of His incarnation and His human life on this earth, and His name Benjamin, which means “son of the right hand” (Gen. 35:18), refers to His resurrection, His victory, and His ascension. Christ was the little Benjamin. Benjamin was the youngest and smallest of the twelve tribes, but the tribe of Benjamin was exceedingly strong and bold in fighting (49:27). Benjamin is a warrior tribe, and this tribe always goes together with the kingly tribe, Judah. Judah signifies Christ as the Victor, the lion, with the power and the scepter; and the One who will return as the King of peace, that is, as Shiloh (vv. 8-10). Both Benjamin and Judah represent Christ: from His incarnation to His ascension, He is Benjamin; from His reigning with divine authority to His return as the King of peace, He is Judah. By incarnation Christ became the Son of sorrow; He fought the battle, devoured the foes, divided the spoils, and gained the victory (v. 27). Then He ascended to the heavens and became the Son of the right hand of God. He has the scepter, the authority, and now all His brothers praise Him. He is worthy! From Genesis 49 we must go to Revelation 5, where we see the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the One who is worthy of our worship, our praises. He is the Victor, He has the power and the authority, He will come back as the peaceful One, and we, His brothers, will worship and praise Him. This is our Christ, represented by Benjamin and Judah.
This Christ is also Zebulun and Naphtali. These two tribes signify a shore for ships and a hind let loose. They speak of beautiful words being given and preached and of the men of Galilee (Gen. 49:13, 21; Matt. 4:12-17; Acts 1:11). The shore for ships is for transportation, and it signifies the Christ who is being spread throughout the entire earth. The hind let loose is one who is released, one who runs with speed. Beautiful words are the praises, the preaching, and the propagation of Christ. This is what occupied the men of Galilee. Christ is the real Zebulun and the real Naphtali. He is being spread, praised, and preached all over the earth today. He is a hind let loose.
The first two names, Benjamin and Judah, signify what Christ is: He was the Son of sorrow, who died on the cross, won the victory, ascended, devoured the prey, divided the spoil, and is now the Son of the right hand of God; He is also the Lion, the Victor, the One who has authority over all things, and who will come back as the peaceful One. The last two names, Zebulun and Naphtali, signify the Christ who is being spread and propagated all over the earth. When we praise the Lord, we must praise Him for all that He is, and we must also praise Him for His spreading throughout the earth. He is little Benjamin with Judah, and He is Zebulun with Naphtali. We have to praise Him in this way.
Next we need to pray that God will strengthen that which He has done for us out of the church. “Your God has commanded your strength; / Strengthen, O God, that which You have done for us. / Because of Your temple at Jerusalem” (Psa. 68:28-29). God has done everything, and all has been accomplished; what we need today is the strengthening. God has put Satan to death already. We do not need God to repeat this act, but we do need Him to strengthen us. God has put our self, our old man, on the cross already — God has done this, and He need not reenact it. However, we need God to strengthen this experience within us. The Bible tells us that we have ascended with Christ to the heavens — God has done this already. Today what we need is the strengthening of this experience within us. This strengthening is in the temple. It is in the local church that God does everything to strengthen what He has done for us. We must pray, “O God, strengthen what You have done for us because of Your temple!” We do not need a repetition, but we do need a strengthening. We need God to make all that He has done for us so real to us, out of His church, out of His dwelling place.
I cannot tell you how much strengthening of God I have enjoyed since being in the local church. In the house of God there is the strengthening of God Himself. We must stand upon this verse. God has done everything for us, and now He would strengthen all that He has done for us out of His house.
Then in verse 29 we read, “Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, / Kings will bring a gift to You.” Now we encounter not only the temple but also Jerusalem; not only the house but also the city. We must understand this in a poetic way. When we experience the strengthening of God in the local church, the church is transformed from a house to a city. The temple becomes Jerusalem. The house is surrounded, protected, and safeguarded by the walls of the city. Then, because we are so victorious, so overcoming, so transcendent, we have the sense that all the kings of the earth will bring a gift to the Lord. Revelation 21:24 corroborates this word: “The kings of the earth bring their glory into it [the city].” I wish to add a further word here in the way of interpretation: If you are so victorious in the local churches, many gifts will be brought in through you. What gifts? Many souls, many persons, will be released and brought by you into the local churches as gifts to the Lord.
Psalm 68:29 and 30 say, “Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, / Kings will bring a gift to You. / Rebuke the animals of the reeds [in Egypt], / The herd of the bulls [the leaders], among the calves of the peoples, / Trampling on those who lust after silver; / Scatter the peoples who take delight in war.” From the house in the city, God rebukes the enemy. There is no need for God to fight the battle any longer; He simply rebukes His foes. He does it from the temple in the city, from the local church safeguarded by His strengthening. When God has a church which is not only a temple or a house but also a city, a kingdom with His authority and majesty, He is able to rebuke His enemies and subdue all the nations. The local church as a city is the steppingstone for the Lord to recover the entire earth.
Verses 31 and 32 say, “Nobles will come out of Egypt; / Cush will quickly stretch out its hands to God. / O kingdoms of the earth, / Sing to God, / Sing psalms to the Lord, Selah.” These two verses indicate how the whole earth will be gained by the Lord. Through the city the Lord recovers the earth. “You are awesome, O God, from Your sanctuaries [today we may say that He is awesome out of the local churches]; / The God of Israel, He gives strength and power to the people. / Blessed be God!” (v. 35).
These are the nine main points of Psalm 68: God’s move on this earth, His victory in Christ over all His enemies, Christ’s ascension after His victory, Christ’s receiving and giving of gifts, the building up of the house of God by the gifts, the enjoyment of God in the house as everything to us, loading us with good and applying His victory over all situations, our praises issuing from our enjoyment, the enlarging of the church from the house to the city, and eventually the recovery of the earth through the city. It is marvelous! This is the climax of all the psalms.
