The Local Churches Typified in the Book of Psalms

The Temple and the House of God As Types of the Local Church

1. Dwelling in God’s House

In the following excerpt, Witness Lee, enumerates the reasons why God’s people desire to dwell in His house, a type of the local churches.

[The saints] desire to dwell in the house of God to behold His beauty, inquire in His temple, be hidden and protected in it, offer sacrifices of joy, and sing praises to Him: “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of shouts of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord” (Ps. 27:4-6). This is a prediction of the church life. We all must desire to dwell in the local churches to behold God’s beauty. We should offer sacrifices of shouts of joy (J. N. Darby’s translation).

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 61)

Based on Psalm 68, Witness Lee also gives a comforting word regarding the believers’ dwelling in God’s house, a type of the local church, as their family and their home.

This dwelling place is not only a habitation for God, but also for us. In verse 5 we read, “A father of the fatherless, and a protector of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.” In ancient times God’s habitation was the tabernacle, but today His habitation is the church. In one sense, we are all the fatherless; we are the widows. But in the local church God is our God. We enjoy God as the God of the helpless in His dwelling place. Verse 6 says, “God placeth the solitary in families and giveth the desolate a home to dwell in.” The local church on one hand is the family and on the other hand is our home. Before you came into the church, you were solitary because you had no family, and you were desolate because you had no home. Now in God’s dwelling place you have the family with the home. Verse 10: “Thy flock found a dwelling place in it (in the rain-watered land—v. 9): thou, O God, didst prepare it in thy goodness for the needy.” God’s dwelling place is for us, the needy ones.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 107)

2. Enjoying Christ in God’s House

Throughout the Psalms, the enjoyment of the Lord is closely related to His house, a type of the local church. Witness Lee presents a number of wonderful ways to enjoy Christ in the local church as presented in Psalm 36.

In God’s house the saints are under the shadow of God’s wings, enjoying His precious lovingkindness: “How precious is thy lovingkindness, O God!” (Ps. 36:7). In God’s house they are satisfied with the fatness of His house: “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house” (36:8). In the local churches we do have fatness. In God’s house the saints are drinking of the river of God’s pleasure: “Thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures” (36:8). In the local churches we are really drinking of divine pleasures. In God’s house the saints partake of the fountain of life: “For with thee is the fountain of life” (36:9). And in God’s house the saints see light in God’s light: “In thy light shall we see light” (36:9). Here we have the river of pleasures and the fountain of life; and here, where life is, there is always light, for the life is the light of men. All this is in the local churches.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 63)

Elsewhere, Witness Lee adds:

We have seen how Book II [Psalms 42-72] begins with the house. The Psalmist speaks of the house in the way of remembrance. He recalls how in the past he came to the house of God with a multitude, with the voice of joy and praise. It is after these Psalms on the house, then, that we come to Psalm 45, where we encounter a richer and deeper experience of Christ. As Christ is known by the saints in a deeper way, He becomes the saints’ sweeter experience in the local churches.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 82)

Main

God’s House

Zion

City of God

Bride

Practical Salvation

Built Up

Victory

Bibliography

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