Psalms to Constitute the Overcomer
Brother Witness Lee said that one of the requirements for the Lord to come back is a great revival in which many saints live the life of the God-man Jesus. (Rev. 19:7)
Where do we see the God-man living in the Bible? In the gospels there is the perfect model, the life of Jesus, impossible to imitate completely. In the epistles we see a little of the life of Paul, the apostle, but we all are not apostles. I especially love Acts 27, where we see Paul as a prisoner on a shipwreck-bound ship. Here Paul is not a great apostle, but a normal Christian, bringing everyone on the ship before the Lord and practically caring for them. We can be the same at our jobs and in our neighborhoods.
The most details of the God-man living through imperfect men is in the Psalms. The more I enjoy the Psalms, the more I see the Lord's life on earth was one with the Psalms.
Brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee also said that, in order for the Lord to return, a part of the church must fulfill Ephesians chapter 4, especially 4:12-16: the whole Body of Christ functioning to build up the Body. Ephesians 4 begins with Paul begging us to walk worthily of the Lord in all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love. This is a prerequisite to the realize the rest of Ephesians 4.
But how can you be lowly and meek? The details are in the Psalms. If you are a religiously proud person like me, then getting the Psalms into you by memorizing and singing them will deal with your pride. The Psalms are full of lowliness, meekness, thankfulness, judgment, and the appreciation of mercy. We need to be balanced. Memorize the high revelation of the New Testament, such as Ephesians, Hebrews, John 14-16, and also memorize the Psalms. I am over 50 now, and it is harder for me to memorize verses than before, and those that I memorize now I don't retain. I am glad that when I was young I memorized a lot of the New Testament. Now that I am older, it is a joy to memorize the Psalms because I can sing them.
In the last days before His return, the Lord is calling us to be different from the rest of the church in a positive way to overcome to follow the Lord in everything. (Rev. 2:7,11,17, 26: 3:5, 12, 21; 12:11; 14:4; 21:7 ) The Psalms give us details how to overcome all kinds of problems by trusting in the Lord. (Psalm 37:1-5). There are even 55 Psalms which are written "to the overcomer", (i.e. Psalms 4-6). (The Hebrew word, which KJV translates as "for the Chief Musician" means "for the overcomer" or "for the end". Jubilee 2000 Bible and Wycliffe translate this word as "overcomer" in the Psalms' title. )
Finally, here is a verse that the Lord gave me when some brothers from Detroit and I were giving a very small conference on Psalms 25, 27 & 37 in Metcalfe, Ontario, Canada:
Zec 12:8 In that day will Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that stumbleth among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David as God, as the Angel of Jehovah before them.
When the Lord returns with the raptured overcoming saints (Rev. 17:14; 19:14; Zech. 14:5) to defend the Jewish people from the nations, he that stumbles among these overcomers, that is each overcomer individually, will be like David, the main author of the Psalms. They stumble, but they stumble as David stumbled, not covering it up, but confessing the failure to the Lord and going on. They overcame the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony (Rev12:11). And the overcomers together corporately will be called the "the house of David" (Hebrews 3:6), and will be just like their Leader, Christ. How shall the overcomers become like David if they are not living out the Psalms? (Note: There are 2 houses of David in Zech. 12-13. One is the physical Jewish descendants of David as in 12:10, and the other is the spiritual brothers of Christ, the house of Christ, Who is of the house of David, and is the greater David. (Isa 9:7; 16:5; Jer. 23:5; 30:9; 33:15; Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:24-25; Hos. 3:5). I hope to be able to write up my thoughts on Zech 12-14 in the near future.)
Based on the Psalm headings in MT, LXX, DSS and NT references, David wrote 97 out of 150 psalms: 2-41, 43, 51-65, 67-72, 86, 91, 93-96, 98-99, 101, 103-104, 108-110, 122-124, 131, 133, 138-145.
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