The Psalms are the word of Christ

[Boxjobox]

Psalm 110:1-2

1The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
2The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

The phrase "till I make your enemies your footstool" I think would be what is really "God's Economy". God raised up His anointed one, our Lord Jesus, and set him as head over all. Our Christian faith is that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, that he died for our sins, that God raised him from the dead, and gave his this highest honor of sitting at God's right hand, and that one day the Christ, Jesus will return. Of course, there is a lot more to the Christian faith, but I think this is the foundation- Its the foundation, the ground of the church from which all else is built up.

So what is this "till"? Paul addresses this in 1 Cor 15: 25-28

25For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

This does not bode well with a processed triune god phony concept of God's Economy. The theology WL sold had to discount the Psalms, and the saints singing and considering the Psalms because his LSM products did not align with the scripture.

[aron]

While talking someone frightened by the Coronavirus Pandemic, I told them, Watch Jesus... watch him, with fixation and utter intent. Don't look at anything else.

They replied, "I can't see him."

The issue is serious, pervasive, with real consequences. People are scared and alone, and they don't see Jesus. Their fear keeps them from seeing Jesus, and not seeing Jesus keeps them cut off from others, trapped in fear.

One passage of rescue is found in Hebrews 2. The author of Hebrews was likely not an original disciple, and had never met Jesus. “This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” ~Heb 2:3 (This suggests that the writer was not Paul, who strongly asserted that his revelation wasn’t second-hand, but direct [Gal 1:12].)

Now to the passage: “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” ~Heb 2:9

Notice that the author says “we see Jesus”. “We” means all of us, writer and readers, and "see" is in the present tense. How? How do we see Jesus? The answer is in found in the surrounding text, which copiously quotes Psalms and Prophets. We see Jesus in Psalms, temporarily lower than the angels, suffering. We see Jesus in Psalms, persecuted, we see him dying in agony for our sins. We see him resurrected. We see him crowned with glory and honour, at the Father's right hand. We see Jesus.

There are a number of books on this kind of seeing, both on Psalms' reception in the NT in general and in individual NT books. One of my favourites has been by Gert Steyn, a professor of NT studies in the University of Pretoria. “Psalms and Hebrews: Studies in Reception” T&T Clark, 2012.

When you see Jesus, everything changes. Everything.

"And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” Zech 12:10, cf John 19:37

“No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” John 3:13,14, cf Num 21:8 “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and mount it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live."

You have to see Jesus, to make it out of your current predicament Covid 19 or otherwise. That’s the way home to the Father in heaven. And it’s a way of peace. Once you see him, you have a peace that nothing can shake. Once you see (believe in), obey, and trust Jesus, no storm of life can shake you, no uncertainty or perilous circumstance can make your emotions jump. It’s the path of peace.

I’d like to conclude with two passages. Psalm 3 has David hiding in a cave, pursued by Saul and abandoned by his former associates. Verse 5 says, “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.” On this same regard, Jesus said, “I have the power to lay my life down, and the power to take it back up again. I have this authority because the Father gives it to me.” ~John 10:17,18

And Psalm 18:19 says, “He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.” Like with companion piece, and neighbor Psalm 16, the text of Psalm 18 shows us the resurrection of Jesus because of the Father’s approval. And we know that the NT repeatedly emphasizes the Father’s delight in the Son. “This is My Beloved, in whom I delight. Hear him”. The Father's delight, approval, and rescue (resurrection) are strongly pervasive themes in the NT, and are foreshadowed repeatedly in David's rescue, from Saul, from the Philistines, from Absalom's rebellion etc etc.

Many on this forum are former prisoners from the Witness Lee Mind Control Programme and Guanxi Network, aka the Lord’s Recovery, aka the Local Church, aka Living Stream Ministry and aka Bibles for America. While under its strong thought control, we were kept from seeing Jesus. No, we were told, that’s not Jesus, just David the sinner presenting his "fallen human concepts" in the Psalms. One regularly sees these phrases in the footnotes, along with "mixed sentiments" and such.

Instead of seeing Jesus we saw money going into the Daystar Motorhome Company, aka Phosphorous and Overseas Christian Stewards, which funneled wealth to the Lee family network and those of his immediate peers. Nobody knows exactly how much went to whom because those who know don’t talk. But we know where the money went – into the Lee Network. Instead of Jesus, we got “the Office”, a euphemism for another of Lee’s sons, who repeatedly abused people. We got terms like “God’s humble bondslave” as a term for someone who never took direction from anyone, did whatever he wanted, and whose inspirations were supposedly tantamount to “God’s move”. And we got phrases like “a martyr who was poured out as a fragrant sacrificial offering” for someone who was repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct, not only by the government but by his own home church (!) and who when confronted didn’t deny (!), even knowing that many would be stumbled in their Christian walk. See Lily Hsu’s published account as an example of what his confession did to the church. It seems people who knew of Watchman Nee first-hand and second-hand didn’t hold him in such high regard, as those more distantly removed in time and space.

Now, to me those are our two choices: see the world, or see Jesus. The two options are mutually exclusive. You can’t have the one and the other. It’s an either/or predicament: there’s only one Way home to the Father, and it’s Jesus.

And we see Jesus. See the below quote, for example, from Psalm 110. Please note that the "Jesus quotes" are not merely limited to Psalm 2, 8, 110, and a few others. One merely has to seek, as I tried to present in the quotes from Psalm 3 and 18 above.

Originally Posted by Boxjobox

Psalm 110:1-2

1The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
2The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion.
Rule in the midst of Your enemies!

The phrase "till I make your enemies your footstool" I think would be what is really "God's Economy". God raised up His anointed one, our Lord Jesus, and set him as head over all. Our Christian faith is that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, that he died for our sins, that God raised him from the dead, and gave his this highest honor of sitting at God's right hand, and that one day the Christ, Jesus will return. Of course, there is a lot more to the Christian faith, but I think this is the foundation- Its the foundation, the ground of the church from which all else is built up.

So what is this "till"? Paul addresses this in 1 Cor 15: 25-28

25For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. 27For “He has put all things under His feet.” But when He says “all things are put under Him,” it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. 28Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

This does not bode well with a processed triune god phony concept of God's Economy. The theology WL sold had to discount the Psalms, and the saints singing and considering the Psalms because his LSM products did not align with the scripture.

[Ohio]

Reading thru Psalms 88, it almost reads as the voice of the Messiah in Sheol 3 days and 3 nights.

• 3. My life is nigh unto Sheol
• 4. I am reckoned with those in the pit
• 5. Cast off among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave
• 6. You laid me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the deeps
• 7. Your wrath lies hard upon me ......

I looked at a bunch of commentaries, but none seemed to take this view, including the Life Studies.

Read it again with the thought that we are hearing the voice of Jesus from the grave. Pretty fascinating.

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by aron

One passage of rescue is found in Hebrews 2. The author of Hebrews was likely not an original disciple, and had never met Jesus. “This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” ~Heb 2:3 (This suggests that the writer was not Paul, who strongly asserted that his revelation wasn’t second-hand, but direct [Gal 1:12].)

I agree this passage is a great rescue in order to see Jesus.

Concerning the authorship of Hebrews, a couple comments here. I don't see how v.2.3 and the authorship by Paul are mutually exclusive. Paul could have direct revelation of Jesus Christ, and yet still have confirmation from those who "heard Him," i.e. the disciples who were with Jesus in the flesh. Gal 2.2 verifies this. Even after 14 years of salvation, Paul went to Jerusalem "privately to them of reputation laying before them the gospel he proclaimed" just to confirm that he was not "running in vain." Some of the details here are recorded in Acts 15.

Furthermore, the scholars' contentions against the authorship of Paul have to do with the actual Greek text of the book of Hebrews. Scholars also say the Greek text matches the writings of Luke but dismiss him readily as unqualified. (Philip Schaff said, "Hebrews is written in purer Greek than any book of the NT, except those portions of Luke where he is independent of prior documents.")

This apparently insurmountable quandary of authorship is easily explained by asserting that Paul wrote the rough draft outline, and Luke the polished text. Were not Paul and Luke constant companions? After Paul was sent to Felix in Caesarea under house arrest, he and Luke had much time and burden to corroborate on this book. Perhaps it was finished in Rome.

[aron]

I was reviewing, and came across this:

Originally Posted by Evangelical

1 Peter 3:10 does not match God's economy I think that's why.

WL had panned 1 Peter's quote of Psalm 34 and the question was, Why? This was the answer.

I used to say this, too. "Not God's economy". I'd left the LC physically, and was in another Christian meeting, and even if the speaking was 'inspired' and left the audience moved, not me. I'd seen "God's economy" and nothing else matched, even Peter quoting Psalm 34. But eventually I realized that WL's definition of "God's economy" had little scriptural basis, and other readings better aligned with "the whole Bible", or the whole textual corpus, as WL used to claim for support.

For example, what if Paul hadn't written, "To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. As I urged you on my departure to Macedonia, you should stay on at Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines or devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work [oikonomian Theou], which is by faith."

Imagine if Paul had instead written, "...rather than the stewardship of God's work [or, God's economy], which is God dispensing Himself into His chosen people". In that case, there'd be some basis, no? But Paul didn't write that.

Or if the Blended Pillars in Jerusalem had given Paul the right hand of fellowship, and said "Only, remember the poor" and Paul had exclaimed, "No! I'm not here for that! I'm here for God's economy!" Then we'd have some basis, no? But instead, he said that he was eager to do that very thing (Gal 2:10). Then in Acts 24:17, Paul said, "After many years, I returned to Jerusalem, bringing alms for my people". Paul didn't just say it, and teach it, he did it. He carried it out. And this activity matches Paul's repeated comments in I and II Corinthians and Romans, to set aside funds for the poor of Jerusalem.

In the gospels, Jesus taught, "Give to those who can't repay you in this age, and your reward will be great in heaven" (Luke 14:13-21). It seems then that there's more basis to say that this is God's economy, because Jesus repeatedly stressed this, it's what the Jerusalem leaders stressed to Paul, it's what Paul eagerly assented to, and it's what Paul both taught others and did himself.

And Paul enjoined the Gentile churches to participate. Romans 15:26 says, "For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord's people in Jerusalem." Do you suppose that the Apostle Paul taught the ones in Macedonia and Achaia and Rome and Corinth one thing, and then charged Timothy to teach something different to those in Ephesus? If God's economy is instead what Witness Lee said, then why isn't there NT textual support? No, it was an interpretive overlay produced by the 'revelation' of the 'seer'. It wasn't actually written down, defined, or presented, as such. Instead, you needed a revelation to see it. (You know, a hand is shaped like a glove, right?) And then, what actually was written down (both NT and OT) got panned, because, like 1 Peter quoting Psalm 34, that supposedly didn't "match God's economy", i.e. it didn't jibe with the home-brewed interpretive matrix.

When your interpretation causes you to dismiss the actual words of the Bible as the basis of your faith, preaching and practice, then perhaps you should instead drop the interpretation.

[aron]

Originally Posted by alwayscurious

How can we find what God has called us to do on this Earth? What is God's plan for us on an individual level? Is it just to be part of his eternal plan? What about the goals I have in my life, whether professional or personal? Is it not good to fulfill them to the best of my abilities? To strive for the peak? What am I not seeing? Should I not strive to be the best human I can possibly be? At the same time, expressing the virtues of Christ and loving God more and more? does anyone else share my frustration??

Reading this question on another thread, and get the frustration - it is the quintessential post-LC angst - but wanted to answer here, in a particular context. We do not know God, truly, or ourselves, but God know us, and this knowledge is complete. And in His knowledge, not ours, we find peace.

Psalm 139 O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

This shows an appreciation and awareness of God’s knowledge. The writer can't encompass God’s knowledge in full (v6) but is aware that God's knowledge encompasses the writer in full (vv 1-4). We don't know God, but we know that God knows us. ~Gal 4:9; cf 1 Cor 8:3

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

God controls all matter and space. There is nothing beyond God. No footstep of ours is beyond God’s grasp. No move escapes His will.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Time is in God’s hand. It is all in the ledger. “It is written”, said Jesus – it is definitively settled, even before we see it appear. We have free will – we can fight the ledger, ignore it. But it still exists. Everything in the ledger is true.

7 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Again, the scope of God’s thought is beyond our power to grasp. “Not a sparrow fall from the sky, but the Father knows it” said Jesus. “Every hair on your head is numbered.” Our job is not to know, as much as to appreciate that God knows. God knows all. Psalm 147:4 says, "He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name", and Isaiah 40:26 says "Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Three times the Psalms speak this phrase – “away from me!” (Psa 6, 119, 139) – and three times Jesus spoke it. One with the tempter, one with Peter, one with the sheep and the goats. Coincidence? People say, “In the NT we love, not hate” but Jesus brooked no compromise. He was obedient without fail.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Again the writer/speaker is open to the God who knows all. Jesus fulfilled the first three lines of this section, and thus becomes our Way everlasting. The rest of us are “in the grievous way” of v 24, but Jesus was the Obedient Lamb who redeems humanity. Because Jesus was not "in the grievous way" he becomes our Way. Both the Gospel of John and the Epistle to the Hebrews make this utterly plain to the attentive reader.

[OBW]

Psalm 139: 7-12
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

God controls all matter and space. There is nothing beyond God. No footstep of ours is beyond God’s grasp. No move escapes His will.

aron,

Not sure I see your comments about control and will as flowing from these verses. I see that no matter whether we are trying to avoid God or are in desperate situations, God is always there. But nothing (truly) about his control or his will. Whether we realize it or not, as those who believe and follow God, we are never separated from him even when we think we may be. And in our darkest moments — even if we try to hide from him — he IS still there and light is still available to us.

[aron]

Originally Posted by OBW

I see that no matter whether we are trying to avoid God or are in desperate situations, God is always there. But nothing (truly) about his control or his will.

Yes, perhaps it was an overstretch. The question that I was trying to address was, apart from the constant mental massaging of the LC, how to comprehend God's will for us, personally? My point was that our knowledge is bounded, God's is not, at least operationally. And our comings and goings, risings and fallings, even our uncertainties and discord, all fit within his order. He may not order our failures but his order is not threatened by them.

In my case, one day I got a simple message: "serve others". That was the way home. And from that day I haven't been blindly beating the air, but have had a message and a mission. It has sustained me and conveyed me from one day to the next. And almost daily, if not daily, do I see 5 loaves feed 2,000 hungry mouths. God does it. I am dull in perception but not so dull that I can't perceive the utter improbability of it all. Yet it consistently occurs.

As a bit of an aside, I note that James doesn't call himself an apostle, but rather the introduction says, "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ..." James' service to God and to the Lord Jesus Christ was to serve others. In this he fulfills the Great Commandment in its two parts, what he calls the "royal law" and "the perfect law of freedom" (1:25; 2:8; 2:12). It is just to love, and to love is to serve. When you see this, you understand, and are set free. When James speaks of 'works' this is the only particular work that is noted. To visit widows and orphans in their afflictions. Other than that, stay humble, stay on the bottom, keep your mouth from prattling on. (of course I'm guilty of failure at the last point and apologize to our tired and afflicted readers. Please forgive me, for taking so much effort to make so little sense)