The Local Churches Typified in the Book of Psalms

Additional Quotes about the Local Church by Witness Lee and Watchman Nee

[Psalm 92]

“But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of the wild ox: I shall be mingled with fresh oil” (v. 10). So many dear ones who have come into the local churches have experienced their horn being exalted. Before we came to dwell in the churches, we were indeed low and frequently defeated; but when we came into God’s dwelling place, we sensed that our horn was exalted over our enemies. Formerly, we were afraid of this and afraid of that, but after we came into the local churches, we said, “Hallelujah, our horns have been exalted!” We felt then that we were mingled with fresh oil—not only anointed with oil, but mingled with it. The word for “anointed” in verse 10 (King James Version) is the same as that in Leviticus 2:4 for “mingled”— “unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil.” In God’s house, dwelling in God as our habitation, we have a daily sense of such a mingling with fresh oil. Do you have this kind of feeling? Day by day I sense something so fresh, not just as water, but as oil, being mingled with me. Sometimes people ask how I could be so fresh. It is because I am being daily mingled with fresh oil.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 168-169)

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)

We enjoy the house so much now and we are praising, but after this we enjoy something of Christ in a much deeper way. In Psalm 45, Christ, being known by the saints more deeply, becomes the saints’ sweeter experience in the local churches, and it is realized that His reign will be over all the earth through His believers, and He will be praised by all the peoples. None of those six Psalms of Christ—Psalms 2, 8, 16, 22, 23 and 24—can compare with Psalm 45. It is so deep, so high, so sweet, so intimate, so precious, and so tender. I do not have words to describe how good Psalm 45 is. Listen to the opening verse: “My heart is bubbling over with a good matter.” (See margin, King James Version.) The meaning of the original verse is that there is something boiling or bubbling up within me. There is something burning within me; I am set on fire with a good matter. What is this good matter? We could fill an entire book with the description of this good matter from this Psalm and yet not exhaust it.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 66-67)

In Psalms 42, 43, and 44 we have the appreciation of the house. Now in the house the saints experience Christ in a deeper way. Hence, following Psalms 42 to 44, we have Psalm 45. Everything concerning Christ here is deeper in our experience. We do not have adequate utterance; we can only indicate a little.

The first section of Psalm 45 is praise to Christ as the King. He is a King who is so precious to His people, yet One who is so mighty, so awe-inspiring to His enemies. He is riding on, He is riding back, and He is riding into His kingdom. And all of His doings are full of the fragrance of His death and resurrection. He is really worthy of our praise. We must fill all the local churches with praises to Him; then we will make Him glad.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 70-71)

In Psalm 63 we see a further aspect of the saints’ enjoyment of the house: They looked upon God in his sanctuary to see his power and his glory. “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is” (v. 1). This experience is similar to that of a dear brother who has been in the church, but who is now out of it. He is in a dry and thirsty place without water; so he is longing for satisfaction. He is longing for that which is mentioned in verse 2, “to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary.” Perhaps you are in the local church now, and you sense that it is good, but you do not sense how wonderfully good it is. If, however, you are cut off from the local church and brought to a place where there is no church, at that time you will pray the words of the Psalmist in these verses. You will long to be where you have been in the past; you will thirst for God and yearn to see His power and glory as you have looked upon Him in the sanctuary. The sanctuary is not a dry and thirsty place; the house of God is not a place without water. In the sanctuary there is a river. Once you have looked upon the Lord in the sanctuary, once you have drunk of the river of God in the sanctuary and then are brought away to a dry place, at that time you will realize the difference. How grateful we all should be to be in the local church, where we may enjoy Him in the sanctuary. What enjoyment this is! Both these verses and our experience prove that the local churches arc the places with water, places where we may look upon the Lord and see the power and glory of God.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 95-96)

Main

God’s House

Zion

City of God

Bride

Practical Salvation

Built Up

Victory

Bibliography

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