The Local Churches Typified in the Book of Psalms

God’s Salvation to His People Being Practical in the Local Church

Throughout the Psalms the house of God, the city of God, and Zion—all symbols of the local church—are closely related to the salvation, deliverance, and shelter of God’s people. While Christ is our unique Savior, many times Christ saves us and supplies us practically through the church and in the church. Below, Witness Lee points out a number of practical, daily experiences of salvation among God’s people in the local churches.

Furthermore, the salvation of God’s people comes out of the local churches. Psalm 53:6, “Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!” It is in the local churches that we are saved from so many things. We are saved from our worldliness, from our temper, from our selves, from our old background, from religion, from empty teachings and dead letters and from so many other things.

…Moreover, the saints long to abide in God’s tabernacle forever and enjoy the shelter of God’s wings (Ps. 61:4). When we abide in the house of God, we are sheltered beneath God’s wings. What an enjoyment this is! God is like a great hen, and we are like little chicks abiding under His wings. We are sheltered by His wings, and we are also sheltered by His house. We are doubly sheltered. How safe it is! How sweet it is! I do believe many of you have this feeling when you are in the local church.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 95)

Moreover, according to Psalm 46, God Himself is His people’s refuge, strength, and help in the local church, typified by the city of God. Witness Lee remarks:

“God is our refuge and strength, a very ready help in trouble” (v. 1). Where is God our refuge, our strength, and a very ready help in trouble? In the city! God is all this to us in the city. Verses 2 and 3 then tell us something as a background for the city. “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river.”

…Then verse 5 says, “God is in the midst of her”—in the midst of the enlarged church. “She shall not be moved.” The earth will be moved and the mountains will be carried away, but the city will never be moved. Why? Because the immovable God is within her. God is immovable; so she is immovable. “God shall help her at the dawn of the morning.” If we are in the local church, we are in the morning; if we are outside the local church, we are simply in the night. In the church there is always the dawn of the morning, and when you are in the morning, God is your help. “God shall help her at the dawn of the morning,” after the night of trial.

(Witness Lee, Christ and the Church, 83-84)

Witness Lee shows us in Psalm 46 that God, as our refuge, strength and help in trouble, can be found in the midst of the church. While we do experience salvation and supply directly from God, many times God provides help and salvation to us in the context of the practical local church life. This was certainly the experience of the apostle Paul, who experienced salvation both through the prayers of the local church in Philippi and through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19).

Main

God’s House

Zion

City of God

Bride

Practical Salvation

Built Up

Victory

Bibliography

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