The Psalms are the word of Christ

[OBW]

And you know my constant drumbeat. Let each passage say what it says, and let others say what they say. Both can be correct, but not necessarily as the result of the passage in front of us at the moment.

And that is why I generally dismiss what Lee taught. He sometimes pointed to what was there, but also to what was not there. And the only way to make that point true is to find other verses. Since he did not, I can only question the validity of what he said. And it was usually the part that was missing the evidence that he was trying to get across.

I realize that was not your intent. What you said was true, just because we have seen it stated elsewhere. Lee, not so much.

[JJ]

I was at a “Training” on Colossians, I think, when Witness Lee belittled some sisters for singing a song that included “His loving kindness endures forever”. He told them they should be singing a song that used New Testament words and was about Gods Economy (His favorite topic).

At the time, being a babe in the Lord, I didn’t have the discernment to question what he said.

Now, many years later, and hopefully more mature in Christ, I’ve come to really appreciate “His loving kindness endures forever” and of course we should sing that.

Here is a link to Psalm 118 that starts with those words https://biblehub.com/nas/psalms/118.htm

I think this is a great Psalm, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the Lord, who I call on when in distress, and He delivers me. He has become my salvation. Better to trust the Lord than to trust in man. The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, this is marvelous in our eyes. Hosanna, do save, Oh Lord. Blessed is He who comes in the name of YVWH, Jesus, YVWH savior!

Matthew 1 tells the origin of Jesus and ends with why Joseph gave him that name. Relevant reading during this season. Jesus, the king, of kings.

[aron]

Originally Posted by aron

My point is simple - there's a pattern of reception in the NT, and WL breaks that pattern.

Over on the “God’s economy” thread, I’d been discussing my issues with Witness Lee misusing the NT text, and misreading the OT whilst fabricating and supporting his interpretations of Paul. But I felt to bring my further remarks here, as it’s more specific to this topic. I wanted to expand how I came to this view.

I was at home, singing Psalm 3 from the KJV. It had a nice melody that forced me to stretch my voice, and I used to rehearse the tune. I got to, “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me” and I fell to the floor as if struck by a solid blow. I couldn’t sing. I couldn't see. I slowly raised up, began again, and again I was put down. The third time I tried, and the same thing happened again. I lay there for some time after the third try, slowly got up, and stopped singing. I later considered the text and was thunderstruck: I could actually seem to hear Jesus' voice in my consciousness: “I have the power to lay my life down, and the power to take it up again.” It was the Lord!

When I shared the verse in a meeting, as an example of a revelation of a type or figure of Christ, the LC Elder wouldn’t hear it. He just clammed up, stared straight ahead, rigid. I slowly began to sense what I was up against here. He couldn’t deny the close textual parallel, but since WL hadn’t expounded it, he couldn’t affirm it either. So he froze, and the meeting with him. Silent, still, quite awkward. Very uncomfortable.

Later, the same thing happened when singing Psalm 18 in the NIV text. “He rescued me because He delighted in me” – I could hear the voice from heaven, saying to Peter and James and John, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I delight, hear him.” I never sensed the import of the Father’s delight in His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, until Psalm 18, then I couldn’t deny that it was an absolute show-stopper. Then it said, “The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me” and I knew it was the clean hands of the Lord. There are none other.

(On a related topic, as an example of scholarship with a careful and thorough examination of the NT reception of Psalm, see the book edited by Human, D. J., & Steyn, G. J. Psalms and Hebrews: Studies in reception. 2010, Bloomsbury Publishing. The Epistle to the Hebrews cited Psalms 19 times without implying it was fallen concepts or vain striving by a failed law-keeper.)

[aron]

Originally Posted by Evangelical

Aron and others do not like us dividing scripture by human vs divine concepts, because they must believe that all Scripture as in every jot and tittle speaks about Christ regardless of what it actually says. This is more of a mechanical view of divine inspiration because it suggests that the words on the page are the divinely inspired Scripture. This view can sometimes place an emphasis on error-free translations, versions, and using the absolutely best and most correct manuscripts. "KJV-onlyists" and others fall into this category.

Others on the other hand may not see a problem with dividing Scripture if they think that only parts which can inspire them about Christ are divinely inspired. This is an "organic view" of divine inspiration - whatever the Scripture says, regardless of whether it contains translation errors or not, the Spirit will provide the correct understanding.

What's interesting about this statement is that it says that I believe that "every jot and tittle speaks about Christ regardless of what it actually says." In fact, on one of the first posts on this thread, I said that Psalm 51's sinful protagonist David bemoaning his transgressions doesn't speak about Christ at all. So, Evangelical's word is painting an overly broad brush.

What I said, rather, was that the NT repeatedly speaks of the Psalms as "the word of Christ", and nowhere does it refer to Psalms as "fallen human concepts", so we should be careful to follow the pattern set by NT reception, within the limits of human reason, of course. I was thinking of this recently, and the attempts to cover up WL like seen by Evangelical above, and others with their make-believe characterizations. I was reading Psalm 5, verses 1-3 (KJV) and this came up:

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Following the NT pattern of reception, i. e., Psalm 40:7 & Heb 10:9; Psalm 16 & Acts 2; Psalm 22:25 & Hebrews 2:12, the first person here is Christ, and the second is the Father. By reading the Psalms, you get to see the relation of the Son on earth with the Father in heaven. We know that God doesn't hear sinners, but Jesus wasn't a sinner. So when he prayed, "Hearken unto the voice of my cry", the Father did hearken.

My point is, that as a Christian, I see the Lamb of God, and hear his voice. My consciousness isn't self-aware but Christ aware. Through Christ I can see the Father. Paul said, "It is no longer I but Christ" and the Psalms are a vehicle to experience this. It isn't mere doctrine, "I have been crucified so reckon myself dead" but rather that my consciousness has been displaced by his. In Psalm 5, the "I" isn't Aron the Christian believer but Christ the Son of God. That's what I see Paul saying, which bookends with his idea of the Psalms as the words of Christ: the "I" is not Paul (or David) the fallen sinner trying to please God, rather the "I" is Christ pleasing God. "The Father delights in me, because I always do His will". The words of the Psalms were the framework, and Jesus inhabited them. No one else could. But as we appreciate Jesus, we are vicariously drawn to Jesus' appreciation of the Father.

The error of Lee was that he often created a false dichotomy, giving the choice of either "fallen human concepts" or "NT believers enjoying the Processed Triune God", but he didn't see Jesus the Nazarene praying to the Father in heaven. But look how often the NT showed us this very thing?