Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
When the Lord was kissed in Gethsemane, He considered that to be Judas kicking Him in the face.
And look at all the beloved brothers in the Recovery who were betrayed and thrown under the bus by Witness Lee, so that he could protect his "boys." Max Rapoport and Sandee were betrayed because Max took a stand for righteousness and confronted Philip for molesting that sister. Jesus was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver by his close friend.
Jesus says, "Blessed are those who suffer ..."
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Psalm 1 refers to the "way of the righteous", which we know is the way of the cross, and says that you will be blessed, that you will be like a tree planted by the water, and that you will prosper.
Psalm 2 presents the resurrected Christ as the King on God's holy hill and the one Kings must kiss. And it says that all those that put their trust in Him are blessed.
Psalm 3-7 were written when David fled from Absalom. This was his experience of being betrayed, similar to the Lord's experience when Judas betrayed him. This takes us into the experience of someone who has put their trust in the Lord taking the way of the cross.
Witness Lee objected that the prayer that the Lord would smite his enemies is contrary to the NT verse that we are to "love" our enemies and those that persecute us.
"Psalms 3—7 were composed according to David's concepts of a godly life. In these psalms David asked God to deal with his adversaries and be a shield around him, his glory and the One who lifted up his head (Psa. 3:1-3, 6-8). Does asking God to deal with his adversaries correspond with the New Testament teaching? Surely, it is against the New Testament teaching. The New Testament teaches us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35; Rom. 12:20)." (Chapter 4 section 3 of the Life Study of the Psalms).
Yet the NT also refers to Christ on the cross as defeating sin, Satan, death and the world. These are our enemies. These are they that "say of my soul, There is no help for him in God" (Ps 3:2). These are they that "turn my glory into shame", "love vanity", and "seek after lying" (Ps 4:2). Wickedness and evil (Ps. 5:4) surely refer to Satan and sin. The "foolish" and "workers of iniquity" (Ps. 5:5) surely refer to the world and those who receive the wages of sin, which is death. The "LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man" (Ps. 5:6) should refer to both Satan and the false prophet, Judas. "In death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks" (Ps 6:5) should refer to the crucifixion. "Let all mine enemies be ashamed" (Ps 6:10) should be a reference to Colossians where it says that all of Christ's enemies were put to shame on the Cross. "Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just" (Ps 7:9) should refer to the cross of Christ where the wicked came to an end and where God's established salvation by faith. "Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate." (Ps. 7:14-15). I would think this would refer to the false prophet, Judas.