Scripture Reading: Psa. 73
Ⅰ
In reading the Psalms, we need to be on the line of the tree of life, not on the line of the knowledge of good and evil—Gen. 2:9:
A
The two trees are two sources with two lines, two principles, and two ends.
B
The Bible was written according to these two trees; the entire divine revelation is a development of the notion of the two trees.
Ⅱ
Psalm 73 is on the sufferings of the seeking saints.
Ⅲ
Verses 2 through 16 record the sufferings and puzzles of the God-seeking psalmist:
A
The psalmist was nearly stumbled by the situation concerning the prosperity of the wicked—vv. 2-3.
B
The psalmist said that he had purified his heart in vain and that he had been plagued all day long—vv. 13-14.
C
If the psalmist had spoken to others about his situation, they would have been stumbled—v. 15.
D
The more the psalmist considered his situation, trying to understand it, the more he was troubled and perplexed—v. 16.
Ⅳ
Through the revelation given in the sanctuary of God, the psalmist obtained the solution to his troubling and perplexing situation—vv. 17-28:
A
The sanctuary of God is the place where we may obtain the revelation we need—Lev. 24:2-4; Dan. 2:17-23.
B
God's sanctuary is in our spirit and in the church—Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16.
C
We enter into the sanctuary of God by exercising our spirit and living in the church—1 Tim. 4:7; 3:15.
D
Once we are in the sanctuary—in the spirit and in the church—we receive another view, a particular perception—Psa. 73:17-20:
１
Certain secrets in the Bible were not made known to us until we came into the twofold sanctuary—our spirit as the personal sanctuary and the church as the corporate sanctuary.
２
God's way is made known in the sanctuary; when we exercise our spirit and live in the church, God's way becomes clear to us—77:13.
Ⅴ
Psalm 73:25-26 is the revelation given in the sanctuary of God to the suffering and seeking saints:
A
"Whom do I have in heaven but You? / And besides You there is nothing I desire on earth"—v. 25:
１
This verse reveals that God's pure seeker would have God as his only possession in heaven and his unique desire on earth:
ａ
God was the psalmist's unique goal; the psalmist did not care for anything except God and gaining Him.
ｂ
In this matter Paul was the same as the psalmist, counting all things as refuse in order to gain Christ—Phil. 3:8.
２
The psalmist was pure in heart—Psa. 73:1:
ａ
To be pure in heart is to have God as our one goal—Matt. 5:8.
ｂ
A pure heart is one that is set on nothing but God:
⑴
God Himself is the reality; anything other than God is vanity.
⑵
If we continue to seek something other than God, our heart is set on vanity.
⑶
Only a seeker with a pure heart can say that he has nothing but God and desires nothing besides God.
B
"My flesh and my heart fail, / But God is the rock of my heart and my portion forever"—Psa. 73:26:
１
The psalmist realized that God was working to deprive him of all material things that he might enjoy God in an absolute way:
ａ
Through the revelation given in the sanctuary, he learned why God does not allow the seeking saints to prosper as the worldly people do.
ｂ
God intends that nothing should distract us from the absolute enjoyment of Himself.
ｃ
God's intention with the seeking saints is to remove all material blessings and material enjoyments that they may find everything in God.
２
When the psalmist went into the sanctuary of God, he received the revelation that nothing in heaven or on earth can be his enjoyment but God Himself, and he took God as his all—the rock of his heart and his portion forever—Deut. 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31; Psa. 18:2, 31, 46; 31:2-3; 61:2; 62:2, 6-7; 71:3; 78:35; 89:26; 92:15; 94:22; 95:1; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 3:17a; Col. 1:12; Eph. 3:8.
Ⅵ
To care for the tree of life is to seek God, experience God, obtain God, and possess God as our all—Rev. 2:7b; Psa. 73:25-26.