Life-Study of Psalms, by Witness Lee

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III. THE DESIRE OF GOD FOR ZION WITH CHRIST

Whereas Psalm 85 is on the seeking of the sons of Korah for restoration and Psalm 86 is on the seeking of David for salvation, Psalm 87 is on the desire of God for Zion with Christ. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, Zion always implies God’s house and God’s city. "Zion" is a poetic title of the church in the universal sense and also in the local sense (Heb. 12:22; Gal. 4:26). Therefore, Zion signifies the church universally and locally. The heavenly Zion is the final resting place of the overcomers (Rev. 14:1).

Psalm 87 firstly refers to Zion’s foundation, which is called "His [God’s] foundation" (v. 1). This divine foundation, typifying Christ as God’s unique foundation for the building up of His house, the church (1 Cor. 3:11), is built in the "holy mountains," which typify the local churches. Jerusalem was built on these holy mountains, and among these mountains the highest peak is the one on which Zion was built, which typifies the church.

Psalm 87:2 says, "Jehovah loves the gates of Zion/More than all the dwellings of Jacob." The gates are for coming in and going out, signifying fellowship. The fact that the New Jerusalem will have twelve gates indicates that God’s holy city will be full of fellowship.

Recently, for the sake of fellowship among the churches, the Lord has led us to practice the clustering and the blending. However, some saints care only for the jurisdiction of their local church, and they do not want anyone to come to them and touch anything related to their local church. This means that they close the gate. In Brother Nee’s words, they make their local church a "native church" and a "small empire." This is not Zion, for Zion has many gates for fellowship.

Psalm 87 unveils Christ with all the saints to be God’s house for God’s city and for God to gain the whole earth. Verses 5 and 6 say, "Of Zion it will be said,/This one and that one were born in her,/And the Most High Himself will establish her./Jehovah will count/When He records the peoples:/This One was born there." The word about "this one" and "that one" being born in Zion indicates that Zion is full of saints. Verse 6 tells us that "this One"—Christ, the unique One—was born there. Christ Himself and all the saints were born in Zion.

In addition to those born in Zion, Psalm 87 speaks of people born in five other places: Rahab, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Cush. "Rahab" is a poetic title given to Egypt. In the Bible Egypt stands for a place rich in resources, a place where it is easy for one to make a living and where it is possible for one to make a fortune for his enjoyment. When there was a famine in Canaan and people were short of food, they went down to Egypt, a land of riches signifying today’s world.

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