THE SPLENDOR OF CONSECRATION
Verse 3: “Thy people are voluntary offerings in the day of thy power.” The day of His power is to come. In a sense it has not yet come, but in a spiritual sense we are now in the day of Christ’s power. As long as we are in the local churches, we are in the day of His power. This is the day when all His people are voluntary offerings. We all need to offer ourselves as voluntary offerings. Young lives offered in this way are exceedingly precious. Are you a voluntary offering? Do you mean it?
We have another very significant phrase in verse 3: “in the splendor of consecration.” (The “beauties of holiness” as in the King James Version should be translated “in the splendor of consecration.”) When we consecrate ourselves voluntarily to the Lord, it is a kind of beauty, a splendor. In a recent conference in Los Angeles, the Spirit moved mightily among us, and so many stood to offer themselves in consecration to Christ and the church. We had the sense then of the splendor of consecration.
The poetry in this Psalm is marvelous. Verse 3: “Out of the womb of the morning shall come to thee the dew of thy youth.” “Youth” here refers to young men. This means that all the young people who come to the Lord are just like the dew in the morning. Out of the womb of the morning, young men will come as the dew to Christ. It is so refreshing to Him. Praise the Lord that so many young people today are coming to Christ as the dew of the morning. What a privilege they have in offering themselves to become the refreshing dew to Him! Whether we are old or young does not depend upon our physical age, but upon our spiritual condition. I have been to many places and have seen numerous “old” young people and numerous “young” old people. We love to see so many “young” old folks in our midst. I am among these young men as the dew to Christ out of the womb of the morning. I am not of the womb of the night. We all need to be the voluntary offerings as a refreshing element to the Lord.
CHRIST IS PRIEST, JUDGE, AND VlCTOR
Verse 4: “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” Christ is not only appointed to be the King, but also ordained as the Priest. He is the King-priest: the King to rule over the nations, and the Priest according to the order of Melchizedek to care for us. To understand fully the meaning of the order of Melchizedek, we must read Hebrews, chapters five, six, and seven.
Verse 5: “The Lord at thy right hand shall smite through kings in the day of his anger.” The “Lord” here is not Jehovah, as in verses 1 and 4, but “Adonai,” which means simply “the Lord.” It is not God who is mentioned here, but Christ. Christ, at God’s right hand, shall smite through kings in the day of His anger. This day will come.
Verse 6: “He shall judge among the nations, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall smite through the chief head over a broad land.” (See Psalm 2:10, 12; Daniel 2:44; Rev. 17:12-14; 19:11-21. All these verses show the fulfillment of all these things.) He will smite through kings and His enemies in His anger, and He will judge among the nations. This will happen both at His coming back and at the end of His thousand year reign.
Verse 7: “He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.” This means, as in verse 3, that Christ also needs refreshing. He needs both the dew in the morning and the fresh water in the way. “Therefore shall he lift up the head.” What is this water of the brook from which Christ drinks? Do not forget that this is poetry. According to the context of the entire Psalm, the brook mentioned here must be the saints. While Christ is on His way, while He is fighting through to defeat His enemies, He needs refreshment; He needs a living fountain. He is our living water, and we are His drink. He is our refreshment, and we are His refreshment. We are the dew to Him in the morning, and we are the brook to Him in the daytime, while He is on His way to fight with the enemy. I do believe deeply within my spirit that this is right. Christ is riding on and riding through triumphantly. And on His way, He needs you, He needs me, He needs all of us as a kind of refreshment to Him. We are the dew and the refreshing water to Christ, so that He may lift up His head. Are you willing to be as the dew and as the brook?
(Christ and the Church Revealed and Typified in the Psalms, Chapter 19, by Witness Lee)
