Living Stream Ministry

IV. THE SEEKING OF HEMAN, A SON OF KORAH,
FOR HIS RELEASE FROM SUFFERINGS

In Psalm 88 we have the seeking of Heman, a son of Korah, for his release from sufferings. In verses 14 through 17 the psalmist says, "Why, O Jehovah, have You rejected my soul?/Why do You hide Your face from me?/I have been afflicted and about to die since my youth;/I bear Your terrors; I am overwhelmed./Your fierce wrath has gone over me;/Your terrors have cut me off./They surrounded me like water all day long;/They altogether encompassed me." Like Heman, many Christians today are suffering ones, and to them nothing is more important than release from their suffering.

V. THE INTENTION OF GOD FOR CHRIST,
HIS ANOINTED, TO POSSESS THE ENTIRE EARTH

Psalm 89, especially verses 3-4, 19-29, and 34-37, unveils the intention of God for Christ, His Anointed, to possess the entire earth. Like Psalm 88, this psalm is the prayer of a saint, but in contrast to the prayer in Psalm 88 for release from suffering, the prayer in Psalm 89 is concerned with Christ, the unique One. God cares for this One, the One who was born in Zion, not for our sufferings.

The unique One in God’s record in Psalm 87 has become God’s anointed One, God’s Holy One, God’s mighty One, in Psalm 89. He has become the Firstborn and "the highest of the kings of the earth" (v. 27). His throne will be like the sun before God; it will be established forever like the moon (vv. 36-37). God will establish His seed forever and "His throne as the days of heaven" (v. 29). God will extend the territory of this unique One so that He will possess the entire earth, setting "His hand on the sea/And His right hand on the rivers" (v. 25). I believe that the sea refers to the Mediterranean Sea, the center of the populated earth. The word "rivers" indicates that all the earth will belong to Christ. All the parts of the earth are signified by their rivers, such as Egypt by the Nile and Babylon by the Euphrates. That Christ’s territory will be extended to all the rivers indicates that Christ will possess all the parts of the earth and that He will therefore possess the whole earth.

Psalm 89 is a lengthy psalm revealing that God cares for nothing other than Christ as the unique Possessor of the whole earth. We, however, regard certain spiritual things—restoration, personal salvation, release from suffering—as very positive. But if we neglect Christ, we will suffer a great loss. Our seeking and our praying will not touch God’s heart because God’s heart is for Christ with Zion, in which are many saints and which is for the house of God and the city of God for Christ to possess the whole earth.

God’s desire is for this Christ who was born in Zion with so many saints for God’s house and God’s city so that Christ might gain the whole earth. This is God’s economy. God does not care for restoration, salvation, and release from suffering as we do. God does not care for our kind of restoration or for the kind of salvation that we seek for ourselves. God saves people for His economy. God saves people for His Christ, for His Zion, and for His house and His city in order that one day He might gain the entire earth through Christ with His overcomers. God is for this.

(Life-Study of Psalms, Chapter 34, by Witness Lee)