Scripture Reading: Psa. 68:1-18
Ⅰ
Psalm 68 reveals God's move on the earth:
A
God's move began after the rearing up of the tabernacle with the ark, signifying Christ incarnated to be the dwelling place of God on the earth with Himself as the center for God's move in His economy—v. 1; John 1:14a; Num. 9:15a.
B
God's move in the tabernacle with the ark from Mount Sinai (Psa.68:8b, 17b) through the wilderness (vv. 4b, 7b) to Mount Zion (v. 16) was a type of His move in Christ from the incarnation to the ascension—John 1:17; Eph. 4:8-10.
C
God is still moving on this earth in and through the church, and He is moving with Christ as the center of the church—1 Tim. 3:15-16; Psa. 68:4, 7.
D
God's move in man is to deify man, making man the same as He is in life and in nature but not in the Godhead—1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:10, 6, 11.
Ⅱ
Psalm 68 reveals God's victory in Christ as the center, typified by the ark:
A
"Let God arise; let His enemies be scattered; / And let those who hate Him flee before Him"—wherever the ark, a type of Christ, went, the victory was won—v. 1; Num. 10:35.
B
"The kings of the armies flee. / They flee!"—these kings, who were defeated and scattered, typify Satan and the rulers, the rebellious angels—Psa. 68:12a, 14; Eph. 6:12.
C
"The Lord gives the command; / The women who bear the glad tidings are a great host"—these women of Israel signify the weak ones who publish the gospel—Psa. 68:11.
D
"She who abides at home divides the spoil"—the spoil signifies all the gains of the accomplishment, consummation, attainment, and obtainment of Christ as the reapings of the victory of His death, resurrection, and ascension—v. 12b.
E
"Though you lie among the sheepfolds"—lying among the sheepfolds signifies resting in God's provision and care for His elect—v. 13a.
F
"There are dove wings covered with silver, / And its pinions, with greenish yellow gold"—this verse reveals four items among the spoil—v. 13b:
１
The dove wings signify the moving power of the Spirit.
２
Silver signifies Christ in His redemption for our justification, which is indicated by the color white, the color of approval.
３
Pinions (the feathers at the end of a bird's wings giving it the strength to fly and soar) signify the flying and soaring power of the Spirit—cf. Isa. 40:31.
４
The greenish, yellow glittering gold with which the pinions are covered signifies God's nature glittering in the divine life and glory—2 Pet. 1:4; cf. John 4:24; 1 John 4:8; 1:5.
５
The contents of the above four items, as Christ's spoil in His victory for the enjoyment of God's elect, are actually the Triune God with all the items of His complete, full, and all-inclusive salvation—cf. Rom. 5:10, 17, 21.
６
God's elect enjoy all the above items as their portion in Christ and announce them to others as the glad tidings—Psa. 68:11.
Ⅲ
Psalm 68 reveals Christ's ascension:
A
"You have ascended on high"—this refers to the highest peak in the universe—v. 18a; Eph. 4:8a; cf. Isa. 14:13.
B
"You have led captive those taken captive"—v. 18b:
１
"Those taken captive" refers to the redeemed saints, who were taken captive by Satan and imprisoned before being saved by Christ's death and resurrection.
２
Christ defeated Satan and captured his captives (including us); then like a general leading His captives, Christ in His ascension to the heavens led us to the Father—cf. 2 Cor. 2:12-14.
３
The Amplified New Testament renders "He led captive those taken captive" in Ephesians 4:8 as "He led a train of vanquished foes"; in Christ's ascension there was a procession of these vanquished foes, led as captives from a war, for the celebration of Christ's victory.
Ⅳ
Psalm 68 reveals Christ's receiving the gifts:
A
"You have received gifts among men, / Even the rebellious ones also"—we have been captured by Christ, presented by Christ to the Father, and then given to Christ by the Father as gifts—v. 18b.
B
The gifts received by Christ have become the gifted believers, whom He gave to His Body for its building up—Eph. 4:7-12.
Ⅴ
Psalm 68 reveals the building up of the dwelling place of God:
A
"That Jehovah God may dwell among them"—the gifts as the gifted persons, the believers in Christ, are built together to be the dwelling place for God; this dwelling place signifies the church, the Body of Christ—v. 18b; Eph. 4:11-12.
B
"A Father to the orphans and a Judge for the widows / Is God in His holy habitation. / God causes the solitary to dwell in a household; / He brings the prisoners forth into prosperity"—God's dwelling place is also the habitation of the believers (the needy, the solitary, and the bound ones)—Psa. 68:5-6a; Eph. 2:22.
C
The "mountain on which God desires to dwell" (Psa. 68:15-16) is Mount Zion, the highest peak in the universe—cf. Rev. 14:1.