Scripture Reading: Psa. 9; Psa. 10; Psa. 11; Psa. 12; Psa. 13; Psa. 14
We have seen that the arrangement of the Psalms was under God's sovereignty. Psalm 1 is apparently an excellent initiation, but actually it is a very negative initiation. Then Psalm 2 comes in to annul what was exalted in Psalm 1. In Psalms 3 through 7, we again see David's human concept. Then Psalm 8 declares, "O Jehovah our Lord,/How excellent is Your name/In all the earth!" This psalm is David's inspired praise of the excellency of Christ. After Psalm 8, Psalms 9—15 go down again to the human concept. Then the revelation goes up to Psalm 16, where we see Christ as the God-man in His human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Psalms 17—21 are down from the level of Psalm 16, but they are not as far down as Psalms 3—7 and 9—15.
Psalms 22—24 rise up to show us Christ once again. Psalm 22:1 says, "My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" This was what Christ cried out on the cross (Matt. 27:46). Then in Psalm 23 the resurrected Christ becomes our Shepherd (v. 1), and this shepherding One in Psalm 24 becomes our King (vv. 8-10). In 1969 we had a conference on the Psalms, and these messages are in the book entitled Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms. In this book there is a diagram of the spiritual level of Psalms 1—21 (p. 40). This diagram, reprinted on the following page, gives us a view of the way the Psalms were written.
In the following message, we will cover Psalms 15 and 16. Psalm 15:1 asks us, "O Jehovah, who may sojourn in Your tent?/Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?" David's answer is — the one who is perfect according to the law (vv. 2-5). But in the whole universe there is only one person who is perfect according to the law — Jesus Christ. There is no one else. Everyone else has broken the law. We have seen that David exalted the law so highly, but by his failure regarding Uriah, he broke the last five commandments (Exo. 20:13-17). He murdered, he committed adultery, he stole by robbing another of his wife, he lied to Uriah, and he coveted Uriah's wife (2 Sam. 11).
The last five commandments prohibiting killing, fornication, stealing, lying, and coveting were given by God with the requirement that man would have the human virtues to express the divine attributes. If there were no killing, fornication, stealing, lying, or coveting in the human race, the kingdom of the heavens would really be on this earth. Today the newspapers, however, report all the evil things that take place on earth day by day. The earth is filled with murder, fornication, stealing, lying, and coveting.
No one is perfect according to the law. Paul said in the New Testament that no flesh can be justified by God based upon man's keeping of the law (Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16). The only One who can and did keep the law is the One unveiled in Psalm 16. This One is the very God who became a man and lived a human life (vv. 1-8). In His human life, He kept the law perfectly. He lived a life full of human virtues expressing the divine attributes. Then He died (vv. 9-10) and was resurrected (vv. 10-11a). Now He is in ascension at the right hand of God (v. 11b & c). This is the One who can sojourn in God's tabernacle and dwell with God on His holy mountain. We will see more concerning Psalms 15 and 16 in the following message.
In this message we want to cover Psalms 9—14. In Psalm 9 we see David's concept concerning God's judgment on David's enemies among the nations. David mentioned clearly that he had many enemies among the nations. Today all of the Arab countries are enemies of Israel. It is regrettable that Israel has not yet turned to God, but the Bible tells us that although Israel has been re-formed as a nation, they will not turn to God until Christ returns (Zech. 12:10). Today Israel, just like David, is surrounded by enemies. In addition to the enemies surrounding David, he had the adversaries from within, even from his house, from his family. His son Absalom became the leading adversary.
In Psalms 10—14 David speaks of man's condition before God. It is hard to find another portion in the Bible which presents us a complete picture of man's condition as in these psalms. When Paul preached the gospel in Romans, he quoted from this portion of the Word (Rom. 3:10-12, 14).
David's concept in these psalms is according to the law given by God alongside the central line of His economy. God has an economy, and in God's economy there is a central line. This central line is Christ to be enlarged to have a counterpart, that is, His church. Thus, Christ and the church are the central line of God's economy. But David's concept in Psalms 9—14 was not along this line. David's concept was according to the law, a subsidiary line that goes along with the central line. The law is not the central line. The law is a side line going along with the central line.
David's concept in these psalms is also based upon the principle of good and evil — the principle of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9). These psalms show that David was full of the knowledge of good and evil. I would even say that in these psalms David himself was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now I would like us to consider what kind of "tree" we are. We all should be able to declare that we are the tree of life. We should not be those who minister good and evil to others. Instead we should always minister Christ as life. Since I began to minister in the United States in 1962, all of my messages have been in the principle of the tree of life.
Psalm 9 reveals David's concept concerning God's judgment on David's enemies among all the nations.
David said that God sits upon the throne as the King to judge the world in righteousness and with equity (Psa. 9:4, 7-8). We may feel that this word is good, but we need to consider it in the light of the New Testament. In the New Testament, we are told that Christ is the King, even the Ruler of all the kings (Rev. 1:5; 19:16), sitting on the throne not to judge but to save. Today we have a saving King. Acts 5:31 says that God uplifted Christ to His right hand that He may be the Leader and the Savior. David's thought is that his God is the King on the throne to judge — not to save the world in mercy and grace but to judge the world in righteousness and with equity. With equity simply means with justice. The whole world is neither righteous nor just, so David had a good concept that the One who is sitting on the throne judges in righteousness and with justice. But this concept is according to the law and according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
David said that God has rebuked the nations, destroyed the wicked, and uprooted their cities (Psa. 9:5-6).
David also said that God upheld his right and his cause and destroyed his enemies (Psa. 9:3-4a). This means that God was not good to the world, but God was very good to David. David's thought was that his Judge in the heavens upheld his cause and destroyed his enemies. This is not according to the divine concept of the New Testament.
For this, David gave thanks to God and told out all God's wonders and praises (Psa. 9:1, 14a). Wonders are wonderful doings, and praises here mean virtues. Because David thought that God upheld his right and his cause, destroying all his enemies, he had to thank God and tell out all of His wonderful doings and virtues.
David said that God is a high refuge for the oppressed, not forsaking His seekers, remembering the slain, and not forgetting the cry of the afflicted (Psa. 9:9, 10b, 12). If God remembers the slain, David should not have forgotten Uriah, the one slain by him according to his conspiracy.
David advised others to put their trust in God, sing psalms to Him, declare His deeds among the peoples, and exult in God's salvation (Psa. 9:10-11, 14). In a sense, what David wrote in Psalms 9—14 is neither according to the Old or the New Testament. This is David's "testament."
David said that the nations have sunk in the pit that they made; their own foot is caught in the net that they hid; the wicked have been snared in their own work; and all the nations who forget God will be turned back to Sheol (Psa. 9:15-17). It seems these ones were in Sheol, Hades, already. Now David prayed that God would send them back and not let them out of Sheol. What kind of prayer is this? Is this the New Testament? This is again David's "testament."
David also said that the needy will not always be forgotten by God, nor will the hope of the afflicted perish forever (Psa. 9:18).
David asked God to look on his affliction and not let mortal man prevail, but let the nations know that they are mortal (Psa. 9:13a, 19, 20b). It was as if David said, "God, You have to tell the nations that they are mortal men. Since they are mortal, they cannot prevail against me because I am under Your care; so look on my affliction." But what about David's sins? His wife at that time was actually the wife of the one whom he murdered. One thousand years later, when Matthew wrote the genealogy of Christ, he said, "David begot Solomon of her who had been the wife of Uriah" (1:6). David, a man after the heart of God (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22), did right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of his life except for this one evil (1 Kings 15:5).
Psalms 10—14 show us David's concept concerning man's condition before God.
David challenged God, saying, "Why, O Jehovah, do You stand far off?/Why do You hide Yourself in times of distress?" (10:1). David prayed, but God did not answer absolutely according to what he prayed, so that bothered him. It was as if David asked God, "Why do You hide Yourself when I need You in times of distress? It seems that the more I cry out to You, the more You disappear."
In Psalm 10:2-11 David describes the wicked man's sin against people and arrogance toward God. The wicked man thinks there is no God, so he can do whatever he likes (v. 4). Verses 2-11 describe the condition of man. Actually, David is accusing all of mankind in these verses.
Psalm 10:12-15 is David's request of God. After he presented the condition of man, he asked God to come to judge the wicked.
Psalm 10:14b and 16-18 are David's praise to God. The contents of this praise, however, are altogether negative. He said, "Jehovah is King forever and ever;/The nations have perished from His land" (v. 16). He did not praise God for the nations being saved by God's grace, but for the nations perishing. According to the revelation of the New Testament, God is not like this.
In Psalm 11 David said that God is in His holy temple, His throne is in heaven, and His eyes discern the righteous man and the wicked man. Verse 6 says that Jehovah "will rain down snares upon the wicked;/Fire and brimstone and a scorching wind will be the portion of their cup." If this were the case, the earth would already have been destroyed. There would be no possibility for billions of human beings to live on this earth. Verse 7 says, "For Jehovah is righteous; He loves righteous deeds./The upright man will behold His face." David said this, but he himself was not righteous. Actually, he was in darkness without any sensation about himself. He was not qualified to say this because he murdered a man and robbed that man of his wife.
In Psalm 12 we see David's request and Jehovah's willingness to deal with the wicked in their tongue and lips. In verse 2a David said, "Each man speaks falsehood with his neighbor." But David was no different; he also spoke falsehood. As a whole, his concept was altogether based upon and entangled with the law and with good and evil.
Psalm 13 shows that David took counsel with God that he might overcome his enemy. In today's New Testament age, could we go to God and ask Him to put down our enemies, the ones that hate us? We cannot do this because the New Testament tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44; Rom. 12:14, 20). In Psalm 13:3, David said, "Consider and answer me, O Jehovah my God;/ Brighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death." David was afraid that he would die while he was sleeping. He was afraid of sleeping a sleep of death.
In Psalm 14 we see David's concept concerning God's dealing with the corrupt fool and His salvation to His people. Verse 3 says, "Everyone has turned aside;/They are together perverse. / There is none who does good;/There is not even one." This word is quoted by Paul in Romans 3:12. The last verse of Psalm 14 is a good prophecy concerning the return of Israel from captivity — "O that the salvation of Israel might come forth from Zion!/When Jehovah turns the captivity of His people,/Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice."
Psalms 9—14 show us a man who was supposedly very godly, yet his thought, his concept, was altogether wrapped up with the law and with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These psalms are David's thought regarding his welfare. In principle, these six psalms are the same as Psalms 3—7. Nothing in them is related to God's economy, to God's interest, to God's kingdom, or to God's plan. But everything is concerning David's personal benefit, personal interest, personal safety, and personal peace. Do you think this should be a model to us? Surely it should not. We have to stay in the line of the tree of life, the line covered in Psalms 2 and 8.
I believe that such a study of the Word, according to the principles of the divine revelation, will help all of us to understand the Holy Bible. The Holy Bible is the writing of God. When we read it, we should not understand it according to our way or our concept. A person may be very scholarly and learned and yet receive nothing of the divine revelation from the Bible. This is because he understands the Bible, interprets it, appreciates it, and teaches it according to his natural understanding.
In the Lord's recovery among us in the past seventy years, since Brother Watchman Nee's time, the proper interpretation of the Bible has always been preserved in the principles of the Bible. People may criticize us, but no one can accuse us of saying anything against the principles of the Word. This is why I am happy to have this life-study to show us the difference between Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 and the difference between Psalms 3—7 and Psalm 8. Now we have considered Psalms 9—14. Based upon what we have seen according to the principles of the Bible, there is not any point in these six psalms that is up to the standard of the divine revelation.
Today in the New Testament principle, God does have a throne, and He is really sitting on the throne. But the throne today is called the throne of grace (Heb. 4:16). Furthermore, from eternity past to eternity future, God's intention is to love the world. John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life." The world in John 3:16 denotes the fallen human race. God loved the fallen human race, so He gave His only begotten Son to come to die for us that we should not perish but have eternal life through our believing into Him. The basic principle of the New Testament is that God loves fallen mankind. If this were not so, none of us could have been saved. We all have been saved based upon the principle that God loves the human race. Even though we, the human race, are fallen and have become the world, God loves us.
Therefore, God's throne today is not a throne of the King of authority. His throne today is the throne of a loving Savior. This throne of authority has become today the throne of grace. Every day and even every moment, we can come to approach this throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help (Heb. 4:16). This is today's dispensation of grace established by God. The Old Testament is the dispensation of the law, but even the Old Testament speaks of God's mercy. In Hosea 6:6 God said, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice." The Lord Jesus quoted this word in Matthew 9:13. God loves mercy because He is a God of mercy, a God of compassions. God desires to see people favored with His mercy, not judged by His being righteous. This is a principle in the Bible. When we interpret or teach the Bible, we need to take care of the governing principles.
