David's Concepts concerning a Godly Life in Comparison with His Inspired Praise of the Excellency of Christ (2)

0:00We praise the Lord for thy great plan that we Thy dwelling place may be. Welcome to Life Study of the Bible with Witnessly, a program provided by Living Stream Ministry and featuring the Ministry of Watchmen Knee and Witnessly. These two were faithful slaves of the Lord during their entire Christian lives and have become patterns to us of ones that counted all things lost on a count of Christ. Witnessly completed his most comprehensive work called the Life Study of the Bible just before going to be with the Lord in 1997. This program combined short excerpts from his original speaking, along with some of our own comments and fellowship. And as always, we'd like to hear from you with your thoughts or answer any questions that might arise while you're listening. We'll repeat this contact information at the end of the program, but if you have a pen right now, jot down our toll free number, which is Triple Eight Life Study.

1:05888-543-3788, or you can reach us by email to radioatlsm.org. Now, let's join today's program. The psalmist David had a particular perspective or point of view when he wrote the eighth psalm. After being intensely occupied with his own desperate, messy situation in Psalms 3 through 7, his gaze turns to the heavens, and his language in this psalm becomes equally heavenly. When I see the heavens he writes in verse 3, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained. Well, at this point, David utters one of the great lines in all of scripture. What is mortal man that you remember him and the son of man that you visit him? This is aligned so central to God's eternal plan that Paul quotes it in the New Testament. Bob Danker has joined us as we fellowship over this point and others in this delightful, heavenly, and high psalm number eight. Good to have you, Bob.

2:13Good to be back, Chris. This is one of the highest psalms of all the 150 psalms. As you said, Chris, in the preceding four or five psalms, David was quite occupied with his own situation, which was not very positive. It was not a peaceful situation. He was under attack. He was being harassed. Then eventually he gets to a point in psalm eight where he looks up from the earth, which is a messy situation. He looks up to the heavens and he sees the stars and he sees the orderly situation in the heavens. He looks up from the disorderly situation on the earth to the orderly situation in the heavens. Then he utters, as you say, these words which are eventually leads him into a revelation of Christ, which is why we love the psalms. The psalms are so lovable because throughout these psalms we can see Christ.

3:16Whenever we see Christ, we get encouraged. We get uplifted out of our messy, earthly situation into a heavenly vision and heavenly atmosphere. He witnessesly will allude Bob to all the situation. Here's David, as you said, it's now the nighttime, obviously. In the night, some of our most reflective moments take place. I couldn't help but think back as a young man how many times you would gaze there at the stars on a clear night. You can't see the mess around you because of the darkness. Somewhat conceals or hides the messy situation on the earth and your view gets transported. At that moment you have a realization of things eternal. It's hard to get during the new hour, I would say, on the five freeway. David utters these words, I doubt at the time he had any idea how significant ultimately they would turn out to be about God remembering man and visiting even the Son of Man. A lot of implied here is we'll see today, isn't there?

4:16That's right, Chris. We want to continue the speaking of David in this psalm as we go to the first portion today. Verse 5 continues, you have made him a little lower than angels and have crowned him with glory and honor. For you have caused him to rule over the works of your hands, you have put all things under his feet. Here's what this leave of the first portion. Verse 5, you have made him somewhat lower than angels. These were him here actually refers to the man Jesus. To make Jesus lower than angels, that is incarnation with his human living. In his flesh, in the sins of being in the flesh, he is somewhat lower than angels. But anyhow, this sentence here indicates Christ's incarnation and his human living.

5:17After his human living, he got resurrected. In his resurrection, he got glorified. Then after his resurrection, he went to Heavens. In his ascension, he got honored. Here, crowned with glory and honor. In the case, two steps. His resurrection and his ascension. Before his resurrection and ascension, there should have been the death of Christ. Without death, how could he be resurrected? No death, no resurrection. No resurrection, no ascension. You have to say, no incarnation, no death. It's just incarnation still not sufficient to quantify him, to die. He has to live for that many years. So here, all these steps incarnation, human living for certain time years,

6:18and death, resurrection, and ascension are all in place here. Not only so, for verse 6. You have caused him to rule over the works of your hands. What is this? This is in the kingdom. You have put all things under his feet. All sheep and oxen, as well as the bees of the field, the birds of Heaven, and the face of the sea, I tell you. These does not only indicate the kingdom in which Christ will rule all the created things. But it also indicates the time of restoration in the Mininus. So, we all have to realize such a sure hymn comprises Christ's incarnation, Christ's human living, Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, Christ ascension,

7:24Christ being crammed to be the Lord, to be the king of kings. You see, to be the unique Lord of the entire universe. This is Psalm 8. Bob, this phrase that you have made him a little lower than the angels. That implies a lot, and he enumerates the steps here of Christ's work into and through humanity and culminating in his death, resurrection, ascension. Ultimately, he's being glorified and uplifted to the highest place. But I like the way it connects to the next verse, the son of man that you visit him. How does visit fit with these wonderful steps he's outlined? Yes, David was so impressed that God not only remembered man, but he visited man. That means God comes to be with man. And we know that eventually in the Bible, this word is fulfilled in a wonderful way,

8:26a way that is more wonderful than we could even imagine, and that is that God himself was incarnated to be a man. So God visited man first of all by becoming a man, by becoming a man of flesh, and living among men, not just for a few days or a few months, but for more than 33 and a half years. God visited humanity by becoming a man himself, but he didn't stop there. We know that after his human living, he went to the cross to accomplish God's all-inclusive redemption, to die, to shed his blood, to wash away our sins, to redeem us, and to redeem actually the entire creation. So this was another step in God's visiting man. He visited man by dying on the cross, and then after that he resurrected.

9:26And so David wrote after he became a little lower than the angels through incarnation. He was crowned with glory and honor, and we know glory refers to the Lord's resurrection, because it was in resurrection that he was glorified. And honor is something related to position. So it was in his ascension that the crucified and resurrected God, man, Jesus, was uplifted and was placed in the highest position in the universe. He was honored by being made the Lord of all and the Christ of God, the King of kings. And there he is now, at the right hand of God, sitting with God on his throne, ruling over the universe, yet we don't see this yet. This is not so visible, the Lord's ruling, but one day it will become visible, because this one, who was incarnated, crucified, resurrected, ascended, will come again.

10:27And it's in the thousand years of the millennium that he will be the ruler of the entire universe and everything on the earth, and everything will be under his feet, and then the whole earth will be in a very positive and orderly situation, as prophesied in the Book of Isaiah and so forth, concerning that period of time called the millennium, which will be the age of the kingdom or the age of restoration. Bob, I mentioned in the introduction today that this verse, this portion in Psalms is later quoted in the New Testament, we believe by Paul in Hebrews. It's also alluded to in Genesis earlier in the Bible in the very first book, in chapter 1, verses 26 through 28, that God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them have dominion. And then, as I mentioned, we see it in Hebrews, but one has solemnly testified somewhere saying, what is man that you bring him to mind or the son of man that you care for him?

11:29You have made him a little inferior to the angels you have crowned him with glory and honor, and have set him over the works of your hands. So we see the same thought in three specific portions of Scripture, and we'll see in this coming portion that they line up very significantly with three conditions of mankind. Here's what I'll sleep with our next section. The son is in this son. He's trying to bear to bring heaven down and to bring earth up to join with the heavens. He knew the heavens, heaven spread, full of stars. That's wonderful. How about man? You may say, how about a man? Pitiful. You are wrong. Man is not pitiful. Man was pitiful in Adam. A man is pitiful in the fallen situation, but today, man in Christ is not pitiful, and this man is wonderful.

12:30This portion of the Word in Psalm 8, first say it was written in Genesis 1 already. In Genesis 1, man was commissioned with the authority to rule over all the created things. Now, in some way, it repeats that. Then in Hebrew 2, this Word is coded there. So you have three stages, created, fallen, and redeemed. In Genesis 1, man was created. In Psalm 8, man is fallen, and in Hebrew 2, man is redeemed. And with this redeemed man, there's no pity. It's marvelous. Firstly, this redeemed man is joined to Jesus. He joins Himself with us.

13:31First, now in Hebrew 2, we got joined with Him, an organic union between Him and us. So we are such a man, such a man, wonderful or not. Wonderful. Man is the central object of God. In His creation, for the accomplishment of His economy, to fulfill His heart's desire, man is the center. Very meaningful. Don't forget Genesis 1, Psalm 8, and in Hebrew 2. And these two portions covers the three stages of man. Bob, this is to me so marvelous. It demonstrates Genesis 1 is before the fall. That's man in creation, here in Psalm 8. That's in the midst of the fall. David aptly demonstrates with his failures. Then, of course, as we see it in Hebrew, this is after redemption.

14:34But in all three stages, we see God's purpose has never altered, never changed. Has it regardless of man's condition? That's a very good point, Chris. That is a very significant thing. You know, God created man as Genesis 1 points out to us in His image so that man could be the expression of God. And then He gave man the dominion to rule over everything. And even in Genesis 1, it enumerates the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the animals on the earth, and so forth. You know, God intended that man would rule and have dominion. But something tragic happened. We all know, right? Man fell through Satan's seducing. Man was seduced into a terrible fall. And the whole situation with mankind became degraded and very, very disorderly on this earth. Instead of everything being in a proper order under man's rule,

15:34man being God's representative to rule for God, man and all the situation in the whole universe became a little bit chaotic, actually quite chaotic. So what happened to God's purpose? If we look at fallen man, we think, oh, pitiful. Right. I mean, poor God. He has a plan. He had a purpose. He had a heart's desire, but something happened. But then the psalmist in Psalm 8 brings up this matter again in a wonderful way. In the midst of a messy situation, he looks up into the heavens and sees the orderly situation of the stars and how bright the heavens are. And then he utters these words. He gets this inspiration to revisit this matter of God's purpose for man. That shows that, as you said, Chris, God never changed his purpose. And God can never be defeated, even though man fell. And the situation with man was much beneath what God intended.

16:36Still, God's purpose never changes. So David here saw God remembers man and God visits man. God comes to be a man. Eventually, he redeems man. Eventually, he's resurrected to become the life-giving spirit. And then he enters into man to be one with man, to join himself with man and to join man with him. This is the revelation of the Bible, especially the New Testament. And then when Paul got to the book of Hebrews, he wrote that book, he mentions this matter again after Christ had accomplished redemption. So here we have man in these three stages. First in God's creation, then in man's fall, and then in Christ's redemption. And man is brought back through the redemption of Christ to the original plan and purpose of God. What a tremendous Psalm. We have God in the stages of his journey to accomplish his eternal purpose. We have man in the stages of his creation, fall, and redemption.

17:36And the net result is this Psalm really gives us a picture of God's eternal economy, doesn't it? It really does. And it shows that God is ultimately successful in his purpose with man. Clearly alluded to Bob in this Psalm, particularly verse 6, as we read, is God's kingdom on the earth. We're going to hear witnessly touch that in this last portion. Pick diverse here from Isaiah, talking about that period to come, the kingdom when it's manifested on the earth. The wolf in the lamb will feed as one. This is Isaiah 65, 25. And the lion will eat straw like the ox, and the dust will be the serpent's food. They will not harm nor destroy, and all my holy mountain says Jehovah. That day's coming, Bob. It certainly is. It's being worked out right now through his economy. Here's witnessly for our last portion. Today, nothing is subject and nurse. Even the mosquitoes, they still come to defeat you.

18:39So nothing is today a nurse. Because the outer has been fully destroyed by a man's fall. But there will be a time. The time of restoration, everything will be in a good outer. Isaiah 11 and 65 tell us everything will be nice there. Mosquitoes, fleas will all be by way. Why? Because of Christ's redemption. The earth now is full of the Excellency of Christ. Now, the earth is not a messiah. Now, the earth is an excellent earth, because the Excellency of the name of Christ fills all the earth. I say again, what is the goal of this song?

19:40The goal is to join the earth to the heaven. And to bring down the heaven to the earth, making this to one. If you are victorious, overcoming every day, today with you, the earth is joined to the heaven. And the heaven is done to the earth, and the two are one. But with the unbelieving ones, with the defeated Christians, my goodness, the heaven is far away. And the earth is dark, messy. This is why they need all kinds of amusement. They need all kinds of pleasures. But we don't need it. We only need one thing, Christ and the church. When we live Christ and live in the church life, heaven and earth are one. Our heaven is always here.

20:42Hottest here, the excellent name of Jesus. And in the coming age, in the Mininum, we enjoy God's salvation to the othermost. I do believe when we get there, everyone of us is neither a babe or a circle. Everyone may be so fresh, so young, so living, and so full of strength to pray the Lord, to express God's consummate work in His redemption. Yeah, Bob, this psalm begins so marvelously. Oh, Jehovah, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. And he states so clearly here, so wonderfully, the goal of this psalm is to join the earth to the heavens and bring the heavens to the earth. Marvelous, isn't it? Very marvelous, Chris. Of course, we have seen this will be the situation in the millennial kingdom when the name of Christ will be excellent.

21:48In every place on this earth. Today, the name of Christ is not excellent everywhere, but there is a place in which the name of Christ is excellent. And that is in the genuine church life. Today, in the church, we do enjoy a foretaste of the coming kingdom. Here we have the name of Christ, excellent among all the brothers and sisters. We enjoy Christ in His incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and His being the life-giving spirit. In the church life, when we are in this enjoyment of Christ, the situation among us is quite orderly. It is no longer messy. It is quite orderly and quite pleasant. Of course, in the world, we read the newspapers, we can read of the disorderly situation in the world today. Everywhere, there is disorder, fighting all kinds of disorderly things going on.

22:52But in the church life where we enjoy Christ, where the earth and the heavens have been joined. Where God and man have been joined to be one, and they live together as one, we have quite an orderly situation. But this is only a foretaste, and we will have the full taste when the Lord comes again in the millennium, if we are faithful to Him to enjoy the church life today. That will usher in the kingdom with the restoration. And this millennial kingdom, Bob, a kind of a reward to the overcoming believers. Of course, all the believers enter into the eternal portion in the New Jerusalem, the New Heaven, the New Earth following the age of the kingdom. But as we've touched many times in other programs, this coming kingdom age of a thousand years, really a blessing and a reward to God's faithful ones. Absolutely, Chris, and we certainly want to be a part of that. Well, we have had a wonderful foretaste today in this Psalm number 8, one of the early high peaks. We will come to some others later on, we are going to now go back into Psalms 9 through 14.

23:57We sort of drop back down into the earthly view, the messy view, David, into stress once again. But don't worry, it's only temporary, he'd come back out again on another mountain before too long. So, Bob, always welcome whenever you're able to join us for these Psalms, the fellowship is wonderful, isn't it? I certainly enjoy it, Chris. We hope you'll contact us so that you can get the printed life-study messages at the life-study of the Psalms. It's a treasure. It's an absolute treasure. If you'd like to call us, we'll tell you how you can get it. It's 1-888-life-study. 888-543-3788. For Bob Dan Krem, Chris Wilde. Thank you for listening today. The path of our Christian Kingdom. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. We're Lord, we give ourselves to think. We see the sin to the point that we'll have to live in.

25:03Thank you for listening to Life Study of the Bible with witness Lee brought to you by living stream ministry. Witness Lee spent seven decades in the twentieth century speaking Christ, first in Asia, and then North America eventually all over the world. The culmination of those seventy years of ministry was his life study of the Bible, an exhaustive exposition of the entire scriptures. This unique commentary focuses on how Christ can be life-demand in an experiential and practical way. These programs encapsulate witness Lee speaking in just twenty-six minutes, but to get the complete riches, visit lifestudy.com. From there you can read all of the life study messages in their entirety or download any of our more than seventeen hundred audio programs at no cost. Then that website is lifestudy.com. Thanks for listening.