Scripture Reading: Psa. 17; Psa. 18; Psa. 19; Psa. 20; Psa. 21
In this message we come to Psalms 17—21. We may say that these five psalms are five "birds of the same feather." The taste, the flavor, the spirit, and the attitude are all the same in these psalms.
In the previous message, we saw the lines, the principles, and the spirit of the Bible. The two lines of the Bible are the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the line of the tree of life. We saw that Cain was in the line of knowledge and that Abel was in the line of life. We can either be in the group of Cain or in the group of Abel.
In Psalm 1 there is not any hint that David was with Abel. In this psalm every aspect and every point indicate that David stayed with Cain in the line of knowledge. But there are also three stations in the first sixteen psalms in which David was with Abel in the line of life. These three stations are Psalm 2, Psalm 8, and Psalm 16. These psalms are extraordinary and great in unveiling the secret concerning the centrality and universality of Christ in God's economy. After the first sixteen psalms, we can see that David made some progress and improved in his concept.
In Psalms 17—21 David jumped out of the line of knowledge a number of times. David at least had a little taste in these psalms of the line of life. Psalms 22—24 are the fourth station of the line of life in the Psalms. These three psalms unveil Christ to us. Psalm 22 reveals Christ's death, Psalm 23 unveils Christ's shepherding in His resurrection, and Psalm 24 shows that Christ will be the overcoming and upcoming King in the age of restoration.
Psalms 17—21 show us David's concept concerning two things — concerning a man before God and concerning David's kingship before God. His concept was based upon the keeping of the law and the principle of good and evil. We can see this in light of the divine revelation in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament.
The divine revelation in the Bible is progressive. In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." In Philippians 1:21a Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ." These verses reveal a great step forward in the progression of the divine revelation. In the entire thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, we cannot find any word concerning Christ's living in us and our living Christ. David's concept in Psalm 1 was that the one who meditates in the law is blessed, but Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ." If we desire the blessing in Psalm 1, we are very primitive and backward. Our understanding of the divine revelation of the Bible must be progressive.
In the Old Testament, we cannot find all the mysterious expressions by Paul. This is because Paul's ministry was to complete the word of God, the mystery concerning Christ and the church (Col. 1:25-26). If Paul's fourteen Epistles were taken away from the Bible, we would not know God's economy (1 Tim. 1:4), the mystery of God, Christ (Col. 2:2), and the mystery of Christ, the church (Eph. 3:4; 5:32). There is no word in the Old Testament which says, "To me, to live is Christ." When we come to the Psalms, we must see them in the light of the full revelation of God's New Testament economy.
In Psalms 17—19 we see David's concept concerning a man before God.
Psalm 17 shows us the improvement of David's concept. David's concept improved from his righteousness (vv. 1-6) to God's wondrous lovingkindness and God's hiding him in the shadow of His wings (vv. 7-9).
In verse 3 David said, "You have tried me: You have found nothing./My thoughts do not pass through my mouth." David said that his thoughts did not pass through his mouth and that his prayer was not made with "lips of deceit" (v. 1). James, in the New Testament, said that the hardest thing for us to control is our mouth (James 3:1-12). But in Psalm 17, David told God that he had success in controlling his mouth. In verse 5 David said, "My steps have held fast to Your tracks;/My footsteps have not slipped." David said that he was still on God's track, like a locomotive which is still on the rails.
In verses 7-9 David's concept turned from his righteousness to God's wondrous lovingkindness and God's hiding him in the shadow of His wings. In verse 8 he prayed, "Guard me like the apple of Your eye;/In the shadow of Your wings hide me." David enjoyed the shadow of God's wings, and he even enjoyed being guarded like the apple of God's eye.
In the first six verses he was in his righteousness. He was boasting of his righteousness. James said that no one can control his mouth, but David said that God examined him and found nothing. In verses 7-9, however, he came out of his righteousness. He entered into God's eye and came under God's wings to enjoy the shadow. His boasting in his righteousness was in the line of the tree of knowledge, but God's eye and God's wings are in the line of the tree of life. This shows an improvement in David's concept.
Right after this, however, David turned his attention to his enemies. Verses 10-14 are his accusation of his enemies. After the mentioning of his enjoyment in God's eye and under God's wings, he could not forget his enemies. To accuse our enemies and to ask God to bring them down (v. 13a) is not a prayer according to God's economy. In God's economy, God tells us to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44).
At the end of Psalm 17, we can see David's improvement in the satisfaction with God's likeness (presence), yet he was still remaining in his righteousness before God (v. 15). How could David boast of his righteousness when he committed such a sinful act by taking Bathsheba and murdering her husband, Uriah? God forgave David of this great sin, but He did not forget what David did. First Kings 15:5 says that David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite. Much later, in the New Testament, the genealogy of Christ in the book of Matthew says, "David begot Solomon of her who had been the wife of Uriah" (1:6).
The Bible tells us that in the new covenant, God forgives our sins and does not remember them (Heb. 8:12). Why then did God record David's failure in the genealogy of Christ? This shows us that the Bible is not easy to understand. Psalm 51 shows that God forgave David, but in Matthew 1 God still mentioned Uriah, meaning that God did not forget. Uriah was a Hittite, a heathen. Matthew 1:6 says that David begot Solomon "of her who had been the wife of Uriah" to emphasize David's great sin, thus showing that Christ as the kingly Savior is related not only to the heathen but also to sinners.
In spite of David's great sin, he said in Psalm 17:15, "As for me, in righteousness will I look into Your face." He still remained in his righteousness before God, but at least in one sense, he was not in righteousness. James said, "Whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all" (James 2:10). We have seen previously that David, by his one transgression, directly broke the last five commandments because he murdered, committed adultery, stole, lied, and coveted (Exo. 20:13-17). David should have said that he would look into God's face because of God's mercy and lovingkindness. God's lovingkindness is versus David's righteousness. What is trustworthy — David's righteousness or God's lovingkindness? If God would examine us to the uttermost, how could we stand? We could not stand before God's face in our righteousness. We have to hide ourselves under the shadow of His wings.
In Psalm 17 we see David's human concept, but we also see the improvement of his concept. We see his improving from being "Cain-David" to being "Abel-David."
Psalm 18 is a psalm of David expressing his concept. The title of this psalm says that David talked to Jehovah with the words of this song after God delivered him from all his enemies and from Saul. This psalm is not merely a prayer or praise but a talk with God.
I would like to ask if we have had times to talk with the Lord. To talk means to open yourself up and release all your opinions. Have we ever had such a talk with the Lord Jesus? Psalm 18 is a human talk with the divine God. This is wonderful. Just to have the opportunity and the privilege to talk to God is a very great blessing. To talk with someone implies intimacy. We must be face to face, having eye contact with the one to whom we are talking. We need such an intimate, human talk with the divine God. In David's talk to God, he begins by saying, "I love You, O Jehovah, my strength" (v. 1). This is a very sweet talk.
Psalm 18 reveals the improvement of David's concept in his enjoyment of the saving God as his strength, his crag, his fortress, his Deliverer, his God, his rock, his shield, his salvation's horn, and his high tower in whom he took refuge (vv. 1-5). A crag is a steep, rugged rock. David said that Jehovah was his crag and his rock, in whom he took refuge. David loved Jehovah because Jehovah was so much to him. He enjoyed Jehovah as his saving God.
In verse 6, David realized that God heard his voice from His temple, not because of his righteousness. This is an improvement from David's relying on what he was and what he had to what God is and what God has.
Even though David realized that God heard his voice from His temple, he portrayed God not as in His temple but as in His fury and His terrifying majesty (vv. 7-15). This shows that David improved in his concept, but then he went back to his natural concept.
In verses 16-28 David turned to his righteousness and cleanness because of which God delivered him from his enemies. Do you believe that God delivered David from his enemies because of his righteousness and cleanness? David was wrong to think this. God is not good to us because of our righteousness. He is good to us because of His compassion. We need not only His mercy but also His far-reaching compassion to preserve us.
Anyhow, David recognized that God was the One who strengthened him, shielded him, supported him, and enabled him to war, who had made his feet like hinds' feet, and whose condescending gentleness had made him great (vv. 29-36). God is transcending, but God's gentleness is condescending. God is on the throne, but He shows us His gentleness by coming down to us. Thus, David testified that it was by such a God that he overtook his enemies and defeated those who hated him (vv. 27-42). This shows us again the mixture in David's concept.
Eventually, David praised God that God had rescued him from the strivings of the people and had made him the head of the nations, who served him, obeyed him, and came cringing to him; and he blessed God his rock and exalted the God of his salvation, who had exalted him above his enemies (vv. 43-49). On the one hand, we see much improvement in David's concept here. On the other hand, we see the mixture in his concept.
The conclusion of Psalm 18 is that God magnified salvation to David as God's king and executed lovingkindness to him as God's anointed and to his seed forever (v. 50). God's magnifying salvation to David was not just to save him but to save him for making him the king. He was not worthy by his righteousness to be God's anointed. But God anointed him because of His lovingkindness. Christ is the seed of David to inherit God's covenant made to David.
Psalm 19 is David's praise of the testimony of the speaking of the universe and his appraisal of the law leading him to a deeper seeking after perfection before Jehovah.
Verses 1-6 are David's praise concerning the speaking of the universe created by God. No doubt, in these verses, David was in the line of life. The entire universe speaks every day and even every moment. "The heavens declare the glory of God,/And the firmament proclaims the work of His hands" (v. 1). In verses 4b-5, the sun signifies Christ as a bridegroom and as a mighty man. We know that Christ is typified by the sun because David refers to the sun as a bridegroom. Christ is the Bridegroom with the bride. Christ's rising, as typified by the sun, is a circuit around the globe, and nothing is hidden from His heat (v. 6). The word circuit here indicates that the earth is round.
After David's praise concerning the speaking of the universe in verses 1-6, he highly appraises the law in verses 7-11. In verses 1-6, he was "Abel"; in verses 7-11, he was "Cain." We have to give David the credit in the line of life and the debit in the line of the knowledge of good and evil.
David's appraisal of the law was very high. Verse 7 says, "The law of Jehovah is perfect,/Restoring the soul;/The testimony of Jehovah is faithful,/Making the simple wise." The law of God is God's testimony (Exo. 31:18; 32:15). In verse 11 David said there is much reward in the keeping of God's commandments. This concept is not according to the divine concept of the New Testament economy of God.
David said in Psalm 1 that the one who delighted in the law would be like a tree planted beside streams of water (vv. 2-3). But in the Gospels, John the Baptist said, "Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not produce good fruit is cut down and cast into the fire" (Matt. 3:10). In Luke 13:6-9, the Lord told a parable indicating that God came in the Son to seek fruit from the Jewish people, who were likened to a fig tree. If they would not repent and produce fruit, they would be cut down. Israel was like a tree planted by the law as the waters, but God would cut them down if they did not repent and receive Christ. We have seen that the spirit of the Bible does not exalt the law. It only exalts Christ. In the whole Bible there is no other portion which uplifts the law as highly as Psalm 19:7-11.
After David's uplifting of the law, he offered a prayer to Jehovah as his rock and as his Redeemer (vv. 12-14). In verse 12 he asked God to deal with his secret faults. All of us have some secret faults which only we know. David also prayed to be kept from presumptuous sins (v. 13). To be presumptuous is to be too bold without consideration.
David prayed that he would be acceptable before Jehovah in his words outwardly and in his meditation inwardly (v. 14). Sometimes you may be acceptable outwardly just in your words, but what about your inward meditation? Such a prayer indicates that David was endeavoring to keep the law to such an extent that he would be dealt with in his secret faults, in his presumptuous sins, in the words of his mouth, and in the meditation of his heart. He wanted to be perfect and clean.
Whether or not David could arrive at such perfection is not the issue. Even if he could be perfect, would this make God happy? In considering this, we must take care of the entire principle of the Bible. The entire principle of the Bible tells us that God does not want anything from man. Regardless of how good it is, as long as it is human, God will put it aside. What God wants is not a good man, but a God-man. God's desire was to be incarnated as a man by the name of Jesus, to die on the cross, to be resurrected, and in resurrection to become a life-giving Spirit to indwell us, to live in us, and to live Himself out of us. When Christ lives through us, our conduct is not our goodness but Christ. "To me, to live is Christ." We have to interpret Psalm 19 in view of the entire principle of the Bible.
If David could have been a perfect person, he would have been highly exalted. But the Bible does not exalt anyone but Christ. Christ must have the preeminence in everything. This is why Paul said, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Gal. 2:20a). According to the divine concept, we can see that David was wrong. Abel was accepted by God, not because his secret faults and his presumptuous sins were dealt with, but because he realized that he was a sinner. He needed Christ to be his offering. He offered to God not what he was, but Christ. Thus, he was accepted in Christ. He was accepted by God, not in himself, in what he did, or in what he raised up, but altogether in Christ. At the end of Psalm 19, however, David was not in the line of Abel but in the line of Cain.
We may not have agreed with what Cain did in Genesis 4, but we surely have agreed with David's prayer at the end of Psalm 19. This is a very deep prayer. Over fifty years ago, I prayed David's prayer in Psalm 19 every morning over a long period of time. We can pray this prayer, but no one can attain the standard of this prayer. In verses 12-14, David prays, "Who can discern his errors?/Clear me of my secret faults./Keep Your servant from presumptuous sins;/Do not let them have dominion over me;/Then I will be blameless and cleared/Of great transgression./May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart/Be acceptable before You,/O Jehovah, my rock and my Redeemer." This prayer seems marvelous, but actually David was in the line of Cain here. Like Cain, he was trying his best to bring the produce of his harvest to God. In other words, he was bringing his doing, his working out, and his result to God, while putting Christ aside. In Psalm 51, however, David applied Christ to the uttermost because he realized that he had sinned greatly and that he needed Christ.
Psalms 20 and 21 reveal David's concept concerning his kingship before God.
Psalm 20 shows us David's blessing in his kingship. In verses 1-9, David blessed his people. According to the principle of the Bible, the greater blesses the lesser (Heb. 7:7).
David blessed his people with Jehovah's answering, exalting, help from the sanctuary, strengthening from Zion, remembering all their meal offerings, and accepting their burnt offering (vv. 1-3). This was so that Jehovah might give them their heart's desire and fulfill their every intention and that they might shout victoriously in His salvation and raise the banner in the name of their God (vv. 4-5). David had the assurance that Jehovah saves His anointed (King David) and will answer him from His holy heaven with the mighty salvation from His right hand (v. 6).
David continues by saying that we boast in the name of Jehovah our God instead of in chariots and in horses, and we, not our enemies, are risen and stand upright (vv. 7-8). The conclusion of his blessing is verse 9, which says, "Save, O Jehovah!/May the king answer us when we call." The king in this verse refers to David.
Most of David's blessing is all right, but we can still see that he was somewhat remaining in his old concept. Psalm 20, however, still shows us that David has improved and progressed in his concept beyond the three foregoing psalms. To bless is higher than to pray. A person who blesses people needs a higher status, a higher stature in life. No small children can bless others. A little girl cannot say to her father, "Daddy, I will bless you," but she can say, "Daddy, I will pray for you." Children can pray and do pray for their parents. But a child cannot bless his or her parents, because blessing requires some stature in life.
We must grow in life to arrive at the stature of being able to bless others. The fact that David could bless his people means that he had the stature in life. After Jacob became Israel and was in his old age, he went down to Egypt and blessed people. His hands were not working hands but blessing hands (Gen. 47:7, 10; 48:15, 20). The older you are, the more you can bless others. But being able to bless others needs not only age but also the stature in life. Blessing is also higher than thanking or praising. A little boy can praise God, but he cannot bless others.
David's blessing in Psalm 20 involved himself, God, and his people. This means that in Psalm 20, he is higher, deeper, and richer than in the previous psalms. David's concept concerning his kingship has improved from his righteousness to God's sanctuary, Mount Zion, the meal offerings and the burnt offering to God, God's mighty salvation, and God's name. His blessing does not say anything about his righteousness. If we stand on our righteousness, we may be able to pray, but we cannot bless. To bless others, we must stand on all that God is. We cannot bless people with our righteousness. We have to bless people with what God is and has.
In Psalm 21, David praises Jehovah for his kingship and speaks of God's furious dealing with his enemies. David praised Jehovah for his kingship through His strengthening, salvation, blessings, crowning, lengthening of life, great glory, splendor and honor, and lovingkindness (vv. 1-7). David did not mention his righteousness here. If we depend upon our righteousness, our kingship can never be built up. Endeavoring to keep the law makes us slaves, not kings. According to Galatians 4, all the children brought forth by the law are slaves (vv. 24-25). But the children brought forth by grace become kings. To depend upon God's lovingkindness builds up the kingship.
In verses 8-12, David spoke of God's furious dealing with David's enemies by devouring them and destroying their descendants. This is David's concept. For his kingship he depended upon God's lovingkindness. For his enemies, however, he applied God's furious dealing.
In verse 13 David blessed Jehovah that He may be exalted in His strength that David as the king with his people will sing and psalm His might. This verse shows us a man who not only blesses his people but also blesses God. As a king, he blessed his people. As the one anointed by God, he blessed the anointing God. The conclusion of Psalm 21 is very good.
We can see much improvement with David in these five psalms. He has been improving gradually from Psalm 17 to the end of Psalm 21. This leads us to Psalm 22 concerning Christ's death, Psalm 23 concerning Christ's shepherding in His resurrection, and Psalm 24 concerning Christ's reigning as the coming King.
