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1 Let God arise; let His enemies be scattered; / And let those who hate Him flee before Him.
2 As smoke is driven away, You will drive them away; / As wax melts before fire, / The wicked will perish before God.
3 But the righteous will rejoice; they will exult before God / And be glad with rejoicing.
4 Sing to God; sing psalms to His name; / Triumph in Him who rides through the deserts — / For Jah is His name — and exult before Him.
5 A Father to the orphans and a Judge for the widows / Is God in His holy habitation.
6 God causes the solitary to dwell in a household; / He brings the prisoners forth into prosperity; / But the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 O God, when You went forth before Your people, / When You marched through the desert, Selah
8 The earth trembled, the heavens also dripped, / At the presence of God; / Sinai there quaked / At the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You shed forth bountiful rain, O God; / You confirmed Your inheritance when it languished.
10 Your living flock dwelt in the land; / In Your goodness You provided for the poor, O God.
11 The Lord gives the command; / The women who bear the glad tidings are a great host.
12 The kings of the armies flee. / They flee! / And she who abides at home / Divides the spoil.
13 Though you lie among the sheepfolds, / There are dove wings covered with silver, / And its pinions, with greenish-yellow gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered / The kings in the land, / It snowed on Zalmon.
15 O mighty mountain, O mountain of Bashan, / O many-peaked mountain, O mountain of Bashan:
16 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.
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, / Thousands upon thousands; / The Lord is among them, / As at Sinai, in the sanctuary.
18 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.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who day by day loads us with good; / God is our salvation. Selah
20 God is to us / A God of deliverance, / And with Jehovah the Lord / Are the goings forth even from death.
21 Indeed God will smash / The head of His enemies, / The hairy crown / Of him who goes about in his guiltiness.
22 The Lord said, I will bring them again from Bashan; / I will bring them again from the depths of the sea,
23 That you may bathe your foot in blood, / That the tongue of your dogs may have their portion from the enemies.
24 They have seen Your goings, O God, / The goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary:
25 Singers go before; players after; / In the midst of virgins sounding the tambourines.
26 Bless God in the congregations, / Even Jehovah, O you who are of the fountain of Israel.
27 There are little Benjamin, who rules them, / And the princes of Judah in their company, / The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 Your God has commanded your strength; / Strengthen, O God, that which You have done for us.
29 Because of Your temple at Jerusalem, / Kings will bring a gift to You.
30 Rebuke the animals of the reeds, / The herd of the bulls among the calves of the peoples, / Trampling on those who lust after silver; / Scatter the peoples who take delight in war.
31 Nobles will come out of Egypt; / Cush will quickly stretch out its hands to God.
32 O kingdoms of the earth, / Sing to God, / Sing psalms to the Lord, Selah
33 To Him who rides upon the ancient heaven of heavens. / Behold, He utters His voice, a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe strength to God; / His excellence is over Israel, / And His strength is in the skies.
35 You are awesome, O God, from Your sanctuaries. / The God of Israel, He gives strength and power to the people. / Blessed be God!
In these days so many books, so many chapters, so many verses of the Bible have been opened up to us. This opening of the Word includes Psalm 68. For many years I have been seeking to understand this psalm, but not until recent days has the whole psalm been opened. This psalm is rich in praise out of the experiences of Christ, and that is how we must meet.
We have seen first that whenever we come together for a meeting of the church, we must praise. A psalm is the first item mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:26. Second, we have seen that praising is something established by the Lord out of the mouths of babes and sucklings through His incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, glorification, and enthronement. The more we know and participate in these five steps of Christ, the more praises we will have to offer to Him. We need all these steps so that the Lord’s praises may be fully and richly established out of our mouths. Why is the praising in our meetings so poor? We do have a heart to praise and a burden in our spirit to praise, yet we do not have the content in our praise; we do not know adequately for what to praise; we do not have the utterance. Why? Because we have too little experience of these five steps of Christ.
The third point in this matter of praising is that Christ sings praises in the church. In the following chapter we will come back to that point. Here in this chapter we need to see something as an insertion into the praises of Christ to the Father in the church. If we do not have this insertion, it is rather difficult to see more regarding the Lord’s singing of the hymns of praise in the church.
Let us look first at a few verses in Revelation.
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice out of heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harp-singers playing on their harps. And they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been purchased from the earth. These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He may go. These were purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. (14:1-4)
Notice it says that they sang a new song, and no one could learn that song. Why? Praises have been established by the Lord out of the mouths of babes and sucklings: even the little babes can praise. Why then does it say here that no one could learn that song? The answer is that no one can learn it without experience. There are some praises which require experience. Look at the moon and the stars — how majestic and lovely they are! Look at the trees, the flowers, and the birds — how pleasant! For this kind of praise, we need no experience. But for these one hundred and forty-four thousand to praise Christ in a special way, they must have the proper and particular experiences of Christ. If we lack these experiences, we can never praise the Lord to such a degree. We all can praise Him in a general way, in a religious way, in a natural way; but if we would praise Him in a special and deeper way, we need some experience of Him. Our praises are limited by our experiences of Christ. How much, how deeply, or how highly we have experienced Christ will be the measure of our praise. Our praises can never exceed our experiences of Christ. If our experiences of Him have not reached a certain stage, when others sing praises so highly and deeply, we cannot follow; we cannot learn. Not until our experiences of Christ have reached that extent can we also sing that new song. This is the foundation for the message of this chapter.
Now before we turn to Psalm 68, let us consider briefly another psalm, Psalm 19. The first part of this psalm speaks marvelously of creation — the heavens and the sun. The second part, beginning with verse 7, speaks about the law. This is really good. I do not think I need to say anything concerning this psalm — everyone can understand it. But do you understand Psalm 68? Now compare these two psalms. Do you see the difference? Psalm 19 is certainly good, but the praises there are just according to nature and according to the law. I would not say it is a natural and religious praise, but it is not so deep and so rich as Psalm 68. We Christians have always been appreciating Psalm 19 so much. I have no intention to depreciate it. I only ask you to compare it with Psalm 68. There is a real progress in the praises in the Psalms; we must go on from Psalm 19 with its praises according to nature and the law to Psalm 68 with praises according to the experiences of Christ.
Let me in a simple way point out the main points in this psalm. First of all, we have the victory in the battle over the enemies: “Let God arise; let His enemies be scattered” (v. 1). This is not just the battle but the victory in the battle. The battle is over, and now we have the victory. This is a triumphant psalm, a psalm with triumph and victory.
The second main point of this psalm is the dwelling place of God on earth — “that Jehovah God may dwell among them” (v. 18). Several times we see the thought of the dwelling place of God, the habitation of God, the sanctuary, the holy place. “A Father to the orphans and a Judge for the widows / Is God in His holy habitation” (v. 5). The victory in the battle, the victory won by Christ, is for the building up of God’s habitation even today on this earth. On the earth usurped by Satan, among a rebellious people, God could accomplish such a marvelous thing as building up a habitation. Do you think that in a city so sinful as Los Angeles God could have a habitation, a local church? Yet it is here! In such a pit of corruption there is a holy habitation built up by God. God could say to Satan, “Regardless of how much you have corrupted the people, I can still build My holy habitation, even in Los Angeles, the city of Hollywood!” It is glorious! Los Angeles is famous for new cults: all the strange things, all the far-out things, all the evil things of the earth, make their nest here. But in such a place God has built up the local church as His habitation. Is not this a real victory? If the Lord had never won the victory, how could He accomplish this? To my realization, the city of Los Angeles, which takes the lead in evil throughout the world, is the best place for a testimony for the Lord. In the midst of the most corrupt, the most evil, the most sinful place, God could have a holy sanctuary. The victory of Christ is for the habitation of God on this earth, in this last age, among a rebellious and corrupted people.
But not only does God need a habitation — we also need a home. So in this psalm we have words such as home and a household, etc. “God causes the solitary to dwell in a household” (v. 6). Thus, we have these two aspects of the second main point: God’s habitation and our home. We must realize that God’s habitation is our home, and our home must be His habitation. This dwelling place is a mutual habitation: God dwells in us, and we dwell in God. This is our home; this is the local church. The victory of Christ is for this — for the building up of God’s habitation and the securing of our home.
Hallelujah! Now there is no need for God to isolate Himself in the heavens; there is no need for us to call upon Him long distance. Now we can speak with Him as children with their Father at home; we can speak with Him face to face in the local church. He is at home here; He has established His habitation here. Formerly, it is true, God was on this earth, but He was wandering on this earth. You remember how Jacob, when he was fleeing from his brother, was homeless and wandering. One night he had a dream, a dream about the house of God. That dream signifies not only that he was homeless but that God also was homeless. As long as we have no home on this earth, God also is homeless. But, praise the Lord, today we have a home, God has a home, and we are at home with our Father. So many, when they come into the local church, exclaim, “I am home; I am home!” In the local church we simply feel that we are home.
In this psalm we do not have the word enjoyment, but we do have the fact. In the habitation which God has built up by the victory of His dear Son Jesus Christ, God is everything to us. In His habitation God is a Father to the orphans and a Judge to the widows. In His habitation He daily loads us with good. All the fullness of the Godhead is in the church for our enjoyment.
Not only do we enjoy all that God is to us, but we enjoy the spoils of Christ’s victory — “She who abides at home / Divides the spoil” (v. 12). What are the spoils? They are the “dove wings covered with silver, / And its pinions, with greenish-yellow gold” (v. 13). The dove is the Spirit, and wings in the Bible signify flying power. “Those who wait on Jehovah will renew their strength; / They will mount up with wings like eagles” (Isa. 40:31). O the wings of a dove! This is the spiritual strength, the spiritual power, the power in the Holy Spirit, and the power in our spirit. The wings are covered with silver — this means that they are strengthened with the redemption of the Son, the all-inclusive death of Christ. They are also covered with greenish-yellow gold — this means that they are strengthened by the nature of God, the life of God, the fullness of the Godhead. The more we enjoy the spoils of the Lord’s victory, the more we will mount up with these two wings, empowered with the cross and all that God is.
O the enjoyment in the local church! We were desolate, but not now: God has given the desolate a home to dwell in. We were fatherless, we were orphans, but not now; we were widows, but not now. Now we are home; God is our Father; God is our Judge. We were in the parched land, we were in the prison, but not now. Now we are in prosperity, now we are in the place of plentiful rain. Now at home with the family we are enjoying all the goodness of the Father. Day by day He loads us with good. O what enjoyment is expressed in this psalm and experienced in the local church!
The first point is the victory of Christ, the second point is the building up of God’s habitation on this earth, and the third point is the enjoyment of God in Christ with all the spoils of His victory in the local church. Psalm 68 is so deep; it is so full of Christ; it has so much concerning God’s habitation and God as everything to us for our enjoyment.
Now we come to the last main point in this psalm, the matter of praise. O what praise! There is no natural or religious praise in this psalm. Sometimes when you go out with your family to the sea or the mountains, you look at the heavens, the sea, the mountains, the flowers, or the birds, and say, “Lord, how we praise You for all these wonderful and beautiful things!” This is natural praise. Sometimes at the day’s end you call your children together and say, “Let us praise and thank the Lord for all His blessings. He has been so kind: He has given us health and kept us from any accident. O Father, how good You are to us!” This is religious praise. We cannot find anything natural or religious in the praises of Psalm 68. All the praises in this psalm are exceedingly deep in the experiences of Christ. My burden here is just this: we must have a thorough, a radical, a one hundred and eighty degree revolution in our praises. We must learn to praise according to Psalm 68. Our praises must match the element and standard of Psalm 68.
First, we must praise God for Christ’s victory. Verse 4 says, “Sing to God, sing psalms to His name; / Triumph in Him who rides through the deserts [or, upon the storm clouds].” Regardless of the storm, regardless of the cloud, God is riding upon them. The storm becomes His throne; the cloud becomes His seat; God is sitting upon them. So we must triumph in Him; we must sing triumphantly and praise His victory.
In verse 18 there is a tremendous praise: “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.” Christ has ascended. Hallelujah! How did He ascend? By leading captive a train of vanquished foes. All the enemies have been vanquished; all the enemies have been captured. He ascended to the heavens with a celebration of His victory, a celebrating procession of many foes. He defeated Satan. He defeated all the demons and evil spirits. He defeated all the rebellious people, including you. Have you ever said to Satan, “You are a defeated foe; you have been defeated on the cross!” Oh, if we have ever seen the victory won by Christ on the cross, we will say, “Satan is just a defeated foe!”
Christ ascended to the heavens in triumphant victory, and there as man and for man He received gifts from the Father and passed them on to His Body. For what purpose? For the building up of the dwelling place of God. He received gifts in man and for man so that God may dwell with them. Paul quoted this verse in Ephesians 4 and said that He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as shepherds and teachers. He also gave all the members — every member is a gift to the Body. The two shoulders may be the apostle John and the apostle Peter — these are the great gifts to the Body. Other gifts are also quite useful and beautiful, like our two eyes. Besides these we have lesser gifts like our little fingers, which at times are so comforting and useful. Do you realize how precious and useful you are? Christ needs you, and the Body needs you. Even the little members are gifts received from the Father, by Christ, in man, for the church, and given to the church for the building up of God’s dwelling place on this earth.
How did the Father give the gifts to the Son and the Son give the gifts to the church? It is not simply that gifts are given and we receive them — there is much more to it than that. God gives the divine life with the divine nature to His Son Christ; God gives His Holy Spirit to His Son Christ; and God gave all those chosen before the foundation of the world, all the chosen rebels, including you, to His Son Christ. Christ received all this. Then Christ put the divine life into the rebels, Christ put the divine nature into the rebels, and Christ filled these rebels with the Holy Spirit. In so doing, the rebels were transformed into gifts. Saul of Tarsus was such a person, a rebel; but God the Father gave Saul of Tarsus to His Son Christ. We did not observe this, but Christ did — He saw it and said, “Thank You, Father, for such a rebel.” That rebel was kicking Jesus, and Christ in the heavens said, “That is enough, Saul; that is enough!” Then the divine life, the divine nature, and the Holy Spirit were put into him. He was reborn, he was converted and transformed, and after a certain time, Saul became Paul; the rebel became an apostle. Such a gift was then given to the church. We were all rebels, but we have all been chosen. One day the Father gave these miserable rebels to His Son, and one by one the Son put the divine nature into them, regenerated them, transformed them, filled them with the Holy Spirit, and gave them all as gifts to the Body so that the church might be built as the habitation of God on this earth. Hallelujah!
How we need to praise and praise and praise out of such a verse as Psalm 68:18.
Notice verse 11: “The Lord gives the command; / The women who bear the glad tidings are a great host.” The Lord gives the news; the women bear the glad tidings. The men are the strong ones; the women are the weaker vessels (1 Pet. 3:7). In appearance you may be a man, in name you may be a man, but in reality we are all women; we are all weaker ones. All the bearers of the glad tidings are not the strong but the weak. To accomplish a work, you need strong ones, but to bear the glad tidings you do not need strong ones. We all must bear the glad tidings. We cannot do anything, but we can bear the glad tidings — we can tell people that Christ is Victor, that Christ has ascended and led captive a train of vanquished foes! Hallelujah! We cannot send Christ to the heavens, but we can bear the glad tidings. I am utterly weak; in reality I am just a woman — but I can do something, I can bear the glad tidings. Psalm 68:17 says, “The kings of the armies flee. / They flee!” These are the tidings. The enemy is defeated!
Now notice who it is that divides the spoil: “She who abides at home...” (v. 12). Not the men but the women; not by toiling, laboring, or fighting, but by abiding at home. There is no need for us to toil and fight the battle; the battle is over, the victory is already won. We only need come and divide the spoil. Today in the local church, in God’s home, we are simply dividing the spoil day by day. On one hand, we are bearing the tidings, and on the other hand, we are dividing the spoil. Though we are lying among the sheepfolds (v. 13), yet we are dividing the spoils of Christ’s victory. You may say that those who lie among the sheepfolds are rather indolent. Yes, but when they get the spoils, the wings of the dove, they will no longer lie among the sheepfolds; they will fly; they will be transcendent.
Whenever you see the victory of Christ, you enjoy the spoils of His victory. Then what is the result? You are strengthened with the wings of a dove, covered with silver and gold. Whenever you share the spoils of Christ’s victory, some of the spoils are poured on you. You will have the spiritual strength of the Spirit with all the value of Christ’s death and the fullness of God’s divine life poured upon you. Oh, what wings you will have! What power there is in those wings, not to walk but to fly. The more you enjoy the Lord’s victory, the more you will pick up all the enemies. You will say, “Aha Satan, aha flesh, the world, and lusts — you are all under my feet!”
O brothers and sisters, what a basis and content for our praise! When we experience all these things, what an outflowing of praise there will be — not natural or religious praise but praise full of the experience of Christ. Could we put all these things into our experiences? You may say that you have a little experience of this kind, but do not know how to utter it. I agree with you — we are not accustomed to this kind of praise. We are so used to natural and religious praises. We are so accustomed simply to praise and thank the Lord that He loves us and that He died on the cross for us — all the time it is like this. There is certainly nothing wrong with this kind of praise, but it is so religious. We need something new, something deeper. First we must experience all these things: we must experience the victory of Christ over all His enemies; we must share and partake of the spoils of Christ’s victory; we must have the experience of the wings of the dove covered with silver and gold. Then, when we learn how to utter all these experiences, we will praise Christ not in a religious way but in a new way out of the riches of experience.
Now let us go on to verse 24: “They have seen Your goings, O God, / The goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.” By the accomplishments of verse 18, by the gifts received by the ascended One and given by Him to the Body, the habitation of God has been built up. So in verse 24 the enemies, the defeated foes, see the goings of God in the sanctuary. In the habitation God moves; in the habitation you can see the goings of God.
Then in verse 25 we have the praising procession: “Singers go before; players after; / In the midst of virgins sounding the tambourines.” This procession is made up mainly of virgins, the weaker ones. Psalm 8 deals with praise out of the mouths of babes and sucklings; Psalm 68 also deals with praise, but this time by widows, by women, by virgins. In Matthew 14 we are told that the Lord fed five thousand men, apart from women and children. The women and children are not reckoned. They are not worthy to be reckoned, but they are worthy to praise. To obtain His praises, God does not need the strong ones, the reckoned ones; He needs the unreckoned, the women and the children. If we brothers are not women, we are not qualified. For the praises of God in the church, we do not have brothers — we are all women with the little ones. For praising the Lord, there is no need for us to be strong. Just the weak ones — the babes, the sucklings, the women, and the virgins — can praise. We are worthy for nothing, but we are worthy for praising. We do not know how to perform, but we know how to praise. All the women must learn how to bear the glad tidings, how to enjoy, and how to praise.
The singers precede and the players follow, all of them in the midst of virgins sounding the tambourines. This is a virgin procession, not a male procession. If we are fighting, we all must be men, but now we are learning to praise, not on the battlefield but at home in the local church. Here there is no fighting, but praising by enjoying. We enjoy Him and then we praise Him.
Now we come to the praise of verse 27, a verse so full of meaning: “There are little Benjamin, who rules them, / And the princes of Judah in their company, / The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.” We must learn to praise the Lord not just for His victory but for all that He Himself is. Praise is a psalm, and psalms are a kind of poetry. In the writings of poetry, figures of speech are used; so in this verse we have figures — Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun, and Naphtali. These are not plain words; these are figures. There are twelve tribes in Israel, but only four of them are mentioned here. Why did the psalmist select just these four? It is quite interesting. Today, with the enlightenment of the New Testament, we can see the entire history of Christ in these four figures.
Regarding Benjamin, we must read Genesis 35:18: “As her soul was in departing (for she died), she called his name Ben-oni [the son of my sorrow]; but his father called him Benjamin [the son of the right hand].” We have these two titles, these two names, ascribed to Benjamin — the son of sorrow, and the son of the right hand. The whole human history of Christ is the story of these two names. When He was incarnated, He was incarnated to be a man of sorrows. Isaiah 53 tells us that while Christ was on this earth, He was “a man of sorrows” (v. 3). The son of sorrow signifies Christ’s incarnation and human living on this earth. By His incarnation and by all His human living, He suffered every kind of trial and hardship — He was really the Son of sorrow. But He died and was resurrected, and by His death and resurrection He was made the Son at the right hand of God. Just by this little name of Benjamin, we can see the incarnated Christ, the Christ who lived on this earth, who died on the cross, who was resurrected, and who ascended to the heavens as the Son at the right hand of God.
But Benjamin is something more. In the prophecy of Jacob concerning Benjamin in Genesis 49:27, we read, “Benjamin is...devouring the prey / And in the evening dividing the spoil.” Benjamin was predicted to be such a warrior. The Lord while He was here on earth as the Son of sorrow was in a sense very bold in fighting. He was kind to the miserable human beings, but He was exceedingly bold to His enemies. He was a Warrior on this earth: He fought the battle and devoured the prey; He won the victory on the cross and got all the spoils. This is why He became in His ascension the Son of the right hand of God. Benjamin signifies all the life of Christ in His humanity and in His victory.
Following Benjamin we have Judah. In the Bible Benjamin always goes with Judah. When the people of Israel were divided, only Benjamin stood with Judah as the southern nation. In some cases Benjamin fought the battle with Judah. They were always together.
In Genesis 49:8-10 Jacob predicted the following: “Judah, your brothers will praise you; / Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; / Your father’s sons will bow down before you. / Judah is a young lion; / From the prey, my son, you have gone up. / He couches, he stretches out like a lion,... / The scepter will not depart from Judah, / Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, / Until Shiloh comes, / And to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” In Revelation 5:5 the Lord is referred to as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Thus, the greatest sign of Judah is that of the conquering Lion. This conquering Lion was worshipped in the heavens according to Revelation 5 and not only worshipped but enthroned and crowned with authority. The scepter signifies royal authority. He is the King of kings. After His ascension Christ was worshipped as the conquering Lion and enthroned with royal authority as the King of kings. He is in that position today. What about the future? In the future He will be Shiloh, the maker of peace. This refers to His second coming: He is coming as Shiloh to bring peace to the entire earth.
Just with these two names we have the history of Christ from His incarnation to His second coming. Benjamin signifies Christ from His incarnation to His ascension, including all the victory He has gained. Judah signifies Christ from His ascension, His enthronement and glorification to His coming back. This is all for our praise; we must learn to praise in the meetings about all these things. We need many little Benjamins; we need many Judahs in our praises in the meetings. Where are they? In all our meetings we must learn to praise with a high standard, to praise God with little Benjamin and with Judah and their company.
Then what about Zebulun and Naphtali? It is indeed interesting. The Bible always puts Benjamin together with Judah, and the Bible also puts Zebulun together with Naphtali. Let us look again at Jacob’s prophecy regarding the tribes of Israel. Concerning Zebulun, he said, “Zebulun will dwell at the shore of the sea, / And he will be a shore for ships” (Gen. 49:13). In other words, Zebulun will be a seaport, a harbor for ships. What is the meaning of this? This signifies transportation, communication — the preaching, the spreading. The local church is a shore of ships.
Concerning Naphtali, Jacob prophesied in this way: “Naphtali is a hind let loose; / He gives beautiful words” (v. 21). Psalm 18:33 shows that the hind is one who runs exceedingly fast. Naphtali is a released hind — this is the speed for preaching. With Naphtali there are also the beautiful words. Matthew 4 tells us that when the Lord Jesus came, He began His preaching from Galilee. In the day of the Lord Jesus Galilee was formed of these very tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew 4:15 says, “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.” Even the Lord Himself, in a sense, was a Galilean. Moreover, all the first group of disciples who preached the gospel, according to Acts 1:11, were called “men of Galilee.” What is the meaning of this? When we put all these things together, they signify that this Christ who was incarnated, who lived on this earth, who died and was resurrected, who ascended and was enthroned, who is the Conqueror and the King of kings, and who is coming again as Shiloh, is being propagated to the uttermost parts of the earth. This very Christ is now being preached and spread swiftly all over the earth with beautiful words. He is a Christ in propagation, a Christ to be spread to the uttermost. Oh, what a Christ we have! This is the Christ in poetry. This poetry is so simple; yet when we get into it, we see the profound significance held by these few words.
What is the Holy Spirit indicating to us now? In the praises of the church there should be the element of Benjamin, the element of Judah, and the element of Zebulun and Naphtali. We have to praise God with all these elements. In our praising procession we need Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun, and Naphtali. In the deeper praises offered to God, there must be the real experience of Christ as Benjamin, the real experience of Christ as Judah, and the real experience of Christ as Zebulun and Naphtali. This is the way we must praise in the church. Forget about yourself, your sickness, your healing, and all the material blessings you have received. Look at Christ with all the elements of Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun, and Naphtali. This praise is much higher in standard than that of Psalm 19.
At the end of Psalm 68 God rebukes His enemies from His temple (vv. 29-30). In verses 21, 22, and 23, God says that He will smash the head of His enemies and bring them again from the depths of the Red Sea so that we may bathe our foot in their blood. Not only may we share this victory, but even our dogs may partake of it. Oh, what a victory! Today in the church He has already won the victory. We must enjoy it. If we do not believe He has defeated the Egyptian army and buried them in the depths of the sea, He will bring them again to us and let us crush them to demonstrate His victory. This is poetry for our experience and praise.
Oh, may the Lord revolutionize our praises! May He give our praises the content of such a psalm as this — praises for such a glorious victory and praises for such a glorious Christ in all His person and accomplishments. Then we will have a proper meeting.
