Scripture Reading: Psa. 107; Psa. 108; Psa. 109; Psa. 110
The Psalms is a very hard book for us to read because in our reading of it we can easily be seduced to care for things such as godliness and comfort. Christians read the Psalms mainly for godliness and comfort. They appreciate this book because, in their view, it teaches them how to be godly and it offers them comfort concerning the sufferings in human life. We all need comfort, and in the Psalms there are many verses that are words of divine comfort. This may be the reason that Bible societies often print the New Testament together with the Psalms. In our reading of the Psalms, it is difficult for us to stay away from the godliness and the comfort that we see in this book. This was my situation when I was young. I wanted to be godly, but I did not know how to be godly. I wanted to be comforted, but I did know where to find comfort. Thus, I passed through the experience of regarding the Psalms as a book concerned with godliness and comfort.
If we read the Psalms in the way of seeking godliness and comfort, our reading of this book will not consummate in hallelujahs. Can you tell me of anyone who read the Psalms for godliness and comfort whose reading consummated in hallelujahs? I doubt that there has ever been such a person. The Psalms consummates in hallelujahs because this is a book with the highest revelation concerning Christ. In Luke 24:44 the Lord Jesus said, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me must be fulfilled."
We should not think that the Psalms is a book of godliness or a book of comfort. Yes, there are many verses in the Psalms concerning godliness, and there are many verses through which we may find comfort. But we should not seek godliness and comfort apart from Christ. Without Christ we cannot have genuine godliness, and without Christ there is no real comfort. If we care only for godliness and comfort but not for Christ, we will have nothing. But if we have Christ, even though we do not think about godliness and comfort, we will enjoy godliness and we will participate in much comfort. I can testify that whenever I care for Christ, I am filled with godliness, holiness, comfort, and happiness.
There are two ways to study the Bible: the natural, human way and the divine, spiritual way. To study the Psalms in the natural way is to gain godliness and comfort. To study the Psalms in the spiritual way is to gain Christ with the house, that is, the church, and with the city, that is, the kingdom, to bring in the restoration to the whole earth.
The Bible is not mainly for godliness or comfort. Rather, the Bible teaches us that Christ is the centrality of God's eternal economy to produce the church, first as God's house and then as God's kingdom, issuing in the millennial kingdom with full restoration for all the creation, which will consummate in the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem. Have you ever thought that the Psalms is a book not mainly on godliness and comfort but on Christ with the house of God and the city of God leading to the restoration of the universe during the millennium and ushering us into the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem? In our reading of the Psalms, our preoccupation with godliness and comfort should be replaced with Christ.
The Psalms were composed not only by David but by a number of different writers, including Moses and some of the sons of Korah. Eventually, the one hundred fifty psalms were arranged in their present order. I believe that this arrangement was made after the time of Malachi, approximately 400 B.C. The sequence of this arrangement is very meaningful. For example, it surely is significant that immediately after Psalm 1, which is on the Law, we have Psalm 2, which is on Christ, the Son of God and His anointed One.
It is not a simple matter to see how the psalms may be put into groups. In the foregoing message we considered the group consisting of Psalms 102 through 106. We have seen that Psalm 102 unveils Christ as the key that turns the earth to the Lord and that Psalms 103 through 106 are a narration of God's history in His forgiving our sins, in His greatness in the creation of the universe and its fullness, in His dealing with Abraham and his descendants according to His covenant, and in His dealing with Israel in the wilderness and in the promised land. In this message we will consider another group of psalms — Psalms 107 through 110. In Psalm 107 there is a change of tone, and in Psalm 110 there is the highest revelation of Christ. Here the revelation of Christ reaches the peak. I believe that it was Martin Luther who said that Psalm 110 is the highest among all the psalms.
In the preceding psalms Christ is revealed in many different aspects. In a forthcoming message we will see that in Psalm 118 we have a further revelation of Christ, an unveiling of Christ as the cornerstone (v. 22) for the building of God. As the cornerstone, Christ joins the two walls, one wall being the Jewish believers and the other, the Gentile believers. Christ is therefore the One who joins the Jews and the Gentiles for the building of God's house. Christ is the cornerstone for God's building, and God's building is the church today as God's house and God's kingdom, and ultimately God's building is a new city, the New Jerusalem.
As we will see, Christ is unveiled also in Psalm 119. We may think that this psalm is on the law, but it is actually on the testimony of God and the word of God. According to the Bible as a whole, the testimony of God is Christ, and the word of God is also Christ. Christ's being the testimony of God depends on His first being the cornerstone. If He were not the cornerstone, He could not be the adequate, qualified testimony, or witness, of God. If we consider Psalms 118 and 119 together, we will see that Christ is both the cornerstone and the testimony of God.
As we come to Psalms 107 through 110, we need to realize that the last psalm in this group, Psalm 110, is on Christ in the highest way. However, in order to have the highest revelation of Christ in Psalm 110, we need the three psalms that come immediately before it. Let us now go on to consider Psalms 107 through 110 one by one.
Psalm 107 is on God's care and deliverance of His redeemed in Christ. No doubt, God takes care of us every day, always delivering us, rescuing us, and saving us. When some hear this, they may say that this is comfort. Yes, it is comfort, but it is the divine comfort in Christ. When we speak of the comfort in this psalm, we have to say that this is the comfort in Christ. Then we will say, "Hallelujah!" However, if we speak of divine comfort without seeing that this comfort is in Christ, we will not say, "Hallelujah." Christ is the One who induces us to speak hallelujahs and to praise the Lord not for comfort, care, or deliverance but for Christ, in whom we are.
"Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good,/For His lovingkindness is forever./Let the redeemed of Jehovah say so,/Whom He redeemed from the hand of the adversary,/And gathered out of the lands,/From the east and from the west, /From the north and from the south" (vv. 1-3). The word "redeemed" in verse 2 implies Christ, for He is our Redeemer and even our redemption. This gives us the ground to say that the comfort in this psalm is in Christ. In Christ we enjoy God's care and deliverance, which imply His rescue and saving every day.
Furthermore, the gathering out of the lands, from the east, west, north, and south, mentioned in verse 2 corresponds to Revelation 5:9, which speaks of those purchased for God by Christ's blood "out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation." In this matter we once again use the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament.
Psalm 107:4-9 speaks of God's care and deliverance of the wanderers. Such ones "wandered in the wilderness, on the desert way;/They found no city of habitation./Hungry and thirsty,/Their soul fainted within them" (vv. 4-5). This was our situation before we were saved. We were homeless and famished; we were without a habitation and without food. Then God took care of us and delivered us, providing us food and a lodging place. Hallelujah, in the church we are at home, and we are fed every day! Our testimony is that "He satisfies the thirsty soul,/And the famished soul He fills with good" (v. 9).
Verses 10 through 16 tell us of God's care and deliverance of the prisoners in darkness and the shadow of death. Before we were saved we not only were wanderers — we were also prisoners. According to Acts 26:18, the Lord Jesus sent Paul to turn the Gentiles "from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God." This is to bring people out of their imprisonment. Because of God's care for us in Christ, we have been delivered from our imprisonment. We have been set free.
In Psalm 107:17-22 we see God's care and deliverance of the ones sick because of their way of transgression. Verse 17 says, "Some were fools, because of their way of transgression; /And because of their iniquities, they were afflicted." But Jehovah "sent forth His word and healed them" (v. 20a). This reminds us of the case of the centurion who said to the Lord Jesus, "Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed" (Matt. 8:8). His servant was healed at the word of the Lord.
Psalm 107:23-32 covers the matter of God's care and deliverance of the seafarers. We all are seafarers traveling on a human sea that is full of waves and storms, but here also we experience God's care and deliverance.
The last section of this psalm, verses 33 through 43, is concerned with God's adjusting of the environment to deal with the wicked and haughty ones and to take care of the needy ones. Verses 33 and 34 tell us that God turns rivers into a wilderness, springs of water into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt flat. This is God's dealing with the wicked. However, verses 35 and 36 say, "He turns a wilderness into a pool of water,/And a dry land into springs of water. /And He makes the hungry dwell there,/That they may prepare a city of habitation." This is God's taking care of the needy ones.
Psalm 107 shows us that we, the redeemed in Christ, are under God's care and deliverance. Now we need to see that God's care and deliverance both require that Christ be sitting in His ascension at the right hand of God, as revealed in Psalm 110. Today we can enjoy God's care, and we can be delivered by Him from so many things because Christ is sitting there at God's right hand. Actually, because Christ is our High Priest in the heavens praying for us, this care is His care for us and this deliverance is His deliverance of us. His praying for us means that He is taking care of us, delivering us, and rescuing us.
If we did not have Psalm 110, Psalm 107 would be empty. Do you want the care and deliverance described in Psalm 107? You can have this only in Christ, by Christ, and with Christ. Where is Christ today? Christ is no longer in the manger or on the cross — He is at the right hand of God in heaven. As the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedec, He is praying for us there. We have a word regarding this in Hebrews 5 through 7. Thus, because of Psalm 110, we have Psalm 107.
In Psalm 108 we see God's victory in Christ over the enemies.
Verses 1 through 5 are a quotation from 57:7-11. Verse 4 unveils God's lovingkindness and truth: "Your lovingkindness is higher than the heavens,/And Your truth reaches to the sky."
Verses 6 through 13, a quotation from Psalm 60:5-12, portray God's victory in Christ over the enemies. In describing this victory, these verses say that God will divide Shechem, that He will measure out the Valley of Succoth, that Gilead and Manasseh are His, that Ephraim is the helmet for His head, that Judah is His scepter, that Moab is His washbowl, that upon Edom He will cast His sandal, and that over Philistia He will shout. All this shows us God's victory in Christ.
Psalm 109 is a wonderful psalm. Because it is a psalm on Christ, those who read the Psalms in a natural way find it hard to understand. Written to describe the sufferings of David, Psalm 109 is a prayer offered by David about his sufferings. David here is a type of Christ, and David's sufferings typify Christ's sufferings.
Verse 8 says, "May his days be few;/May another take his office." In Acts 1:20 this verse is quoted and applied to Judas, who betrayed Christ. This quotation of verse 8 indicates that Psalm 109 is on Christ and that the sufferings described in this psalm signify the sufferings of Christ in His flesh.
David's prayer concerning his sufferings typifies Christ's prayer. The prayer in Psalm 109 is answered in the next psalm, Psalm 110. Since Psalm 110 is the answer to the prayer of David as a type of Christ in Psalm 109, Psalm 110 should be considered an answer to Christ's prayer. Hebrews 5:7 says that Christ, in the days of His flesh, "offered up both petitions and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save Him out of death." God answered this prayer not only through resurrection but also in ascension. Psalm 110 unveils Christ in His ascension. Psalms 107 through 109, therefore, usher us into Psalm 110.
Although Psalm 110 is one of the shortest of the psalms, it is the highest revelation of Christ.
"Jehovah declares to My Lord,/Sit at My right hand" (v. 1a). This word, which concerns Christ in His ascension (Heb. 1:3b), has been quoted directly more than twenty times in the New Testament and has been quoted indirectly approximately another twenty times. Again and again the New Testament refers to this word concerning Christ in His ascension.
The highest place in the universe is the right hand of God. Let us use as an illustration the desire of a child to be in his mother's arms, at her bosom. You may offer a child the best seat in a palace, but he will not care to be in that place if his mother is not there. The child might say, "I don't want to be in that place — I want to be in the arms of my mother." To the child, the best place, the highest place, is in his mother's arms, at her bosom. In like manner, Christ's ascension is not merely a matter of His being in a place but of His being in a person, the Father. In His ascension Christ entered into the Father's being and sat down there.
This word about Christ's sitting at the right hand of God implies Christ's kingship. In the New Testament we are told that in His ascension Christ has been made by God the Lord, the Christ, the Leader of the entire universe, and the Savior (Acts 2:36; 5:31; 10:36). This concerns Christ's kingship.
According to Psalm 110:1, Christ is sitting at God's right hand until God makes Christ's enemies His footstool. At home you may have an excellent seat, but you may not have a footstool. Likewise, Christ is on the throne, but He is still in need of a footstool. Thus, God is endeavoring to subdue all of Christ's enemies and to make them His footstool. Our fighting today is for the subduing of Christ's enemies.
"Jehovah will send forth/The scepter of Your strength from Zion:/Rule in the midst of Your enemies" (v. 2). Zion here is not the Zion on earth but the Zion in the heavens, as mentioned in Hebrews 12 and Revelation 14. Hebrews 12:22 says that we have "come forward to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." Revelation 14:1-5 shows us that the living overcomers will be raptured to Zion in the heavens. From this heavenly Zion God will send out the scepter of Christ's power to rule over all the nations. The word "enemies" in Psalm 110:2 refers to the nations. Today the nations are His enemies. For example, in their way of dealing with Israel, the Arab nations are the enemies of Christ.
"Your people will offer themselves willingly/In the days of Your forces/In the splendor of their consecration" (v. 3a). Literally, the Hebrew words translated "offer themselves willingly" mean "be freewill offerings." Instead of the word "forces," some translations render the Hebrew word as "army" or "war." These different renderings all indicate that some kind of fighting is raging on. Today is still a time of fighting because Christ still does not have a footstool. Hence, this ministry is engaged in a constant struggle. We stand against and annul every kind of improper ground concerning the church, whether Catholic or Protestant, and this causes opposition and fighting.
In verse 3 we are told that in the day of His forces, or army, Christ's people will offer themselves willingly "in the splendor of their consecration." Do you realize that in the eyes of the Lord our willing consecration, our offering ourselves to Him, is a kind of splendor? Although the church has become degraded, throughout the centuries there has been a line of those who have offered themselves willingly to the Lord in the splendor, the beauty, of their consecration. Giving up everything on earth, thousands have offered themselves freely to Christ, and with this offering there was the splendor of consecration. John Nelson Darby was such a person. Darby lived to be eighty-four years of age and, because of his love for Christ, he never married. One day, in his old age, he was staying alone in a hotel and he said, "Lord Jesus, I still love You." No doubt, Darby was a freewill offering to the Lord in the splendor of consecration.
Instead of the word "splendor" some versions use the word "adornment." The splendor of consecration is an adornment. We need to be adorned by offering ourselves willingly to the Lord. If we do this, we will be beautified with a divine, heavenly splendor.
"Your young men will be to You/Like the dew from the womb of the morning" (v. 3b). This indicates that, on the one hand, Christ likes to see the splendor of our consecration; on the other hand, He desires the dew that comes from the womb of the morning. Christ enjoys seeing the splendor of those who offer themselves to Him as freewill offerings, but, even more important, He still needs some dew to water Him. Even Christ needs the watering. He needs us to be the dew that waters Him.
According to the poetry here, this dew comes from "the womb of the morning." We need to enter into this womb to be conceived as the dew with which to water Christ. I believe that this involves the morning watch. If we do not rise up early in the morning, we will miss the opportunity to enter into the womb of the morning to be made dew for Christ's watering. Instead of being watered, He will be dry and we also will be dry. I hope that we all, especially the young people, will see that here Christ likens Himself to a plant that needs the mild, soft, gentle dew. May we respond to Him by saying, "Lord Jesus, I want to be the dew conceived and produced by the womb of the morning for You to be watered."
"Jehovah has sworn/And He will not change:/You are a Priest forever/According to the order of Melchizedek" (v. 4; Heb. 5:6, 10). The Hebrew word translated "change" here may also be rendered "repent." Christ is not only the King with power and authority, as indicated in verse 2; He is also the High Priest, as revealed in verse 4. Today we need Christ not only as our King but also as our Priest to pray for us and to take care of our case before God.
Christ's ministry is of two sections. The first section was His ministry on earth, and the second section is His ministry in the heavens. In His earthly ministry He did many things. Now, having completed the first section of His ministry, Christ in His ascension is carrying out the second, the heavenly, section of His ministry. This includes both His kingship and His priesthood. As the King He has the scepter signifying power and authority to rule over the earth and to manage our affairs, and as the High Priest He is praying for us and taking care of our case.
"The Lord is at Your right hand;/He will shatter kings in the day of His anger./He will execute judgment among the nations;/He will fill the place with corpses;/He will shatter the head/Over a great land" (Psa. 110:5-6). The words "great land" refer to the entire earth, the whole globe. Here we see that Christ, who is the Lord, the Master (Adonai), and who is at God's right hand, will shatter kings in the day of His anger at His coming back and will execute judgment among the nations (2:9, 12; Dan. 2:44; Rev. 2:26-27). This indicates that Christ will be the greatest Victor, overcoming all the nations, shattering the kings and the head of the enemies, and executing judgment upon all who oppose Him. In addition to being the King and the Priest, Christ is the Warrior to be the greatest Victor. According to Revelation 19, in His coming back He will be the fighting One. However, He will not fight alone against Antichrist and his armies from the nations. Rather, He will come with His bride, a composition of all His overcomers, as His army, and with her He will fight against Antichrist and his armies.
"He will drink from the brook by the way;/Therefore He will lift up His head" (Psa. 110:7). While Christ is fighting, He will be thirsty. Needing some water to drink, He will drink from "the brook by the way." This brook is the overcomers. Those who offer themselves in the splendor of consecration are the dew of the morning to water Christ, and the overcomers are the brook to quench His thirst. As Christ is taking the lead to fight through to the end, He will need water to drink, and this water will be the overcomers. I believe that this interpretation is correct because it fits in with the New Testament teaching.
When Christ drinks from the brook, "He will lift up His head." This means that He will be victorious. To lower our head is a sign of defeat, but to lift up our head is a sign of victory, of triumph. Those who lift up their head are the ones who overcome all the enemies.
To the enemies Christ is the Victor, but to us He is a Drinker. We may say to Him, "Hallelujah! Lord Jesus, You are the Victor." But He may say to us, "Yes, I am the Victor, but to you I would like to be the Drinker." In this psalm we see Christ as the King, the Priest, the Warrior, the Victor, and the Drinker. Christ overcomes the enemies, and He drinks from the overcomers, from the brook by the way.
