praising God according to His New Testament economy as seen in Benjamin, Judah, Zebulun, and Naphtali

Psalm 68 is a very poetic writing and at the same time it is very mysterious. In it you can see God’s move (He arises, He goes forth, His going forth, He moves, etc), God’s house, Christ’s processes and accomplishments, God being our enjoyment in His house, God taking care of His people, the women dividing the spoil and announcing the glad tidings, etc. Towards the end of the psalm there’s even more “mysterious writing” – four tribes of Israel are mentioned right after the psalmist says, “Bless God in the congregations, even Jehovah, o you who are of the fountain of Israel” (Psa. 68:26).

There are little Benjamin, who rules them…

In God’s elect praising God according to His economy we see a scenery in typology concerning God’s New Testament economy in the accomplishment of God’s redemption (for His salvation, by Christ), and in the spreading of the glad tidings of Christ’s accomplishment with the beautiful words of the gospel.

The little Benjamin – has two names, the first Ben-Oni (given to him by his mom as she was dying in childbirth, meaning, son of my sorrow) and the second Benjamin (given to him by his dad, Jacob, meaning, son of the right hand).

As Ben-Oni, Benjamin typifies Christ who is the Man of sorrows in His incarnation and human life on earth, and who accomplished God’s eternal redemption for His full salvation. Wow, what a rich meaning!

As Benjamin, he typifies Christ who is the Son of the right hand of God in His resurrection, victory, and ascension, who ministers in the heavens to carry out the application of God’s redemption for His salvation! Here we see Christ both in His incarnation (Benoni, the man of sorrows) and in His resurrection (Benjamin, the Son of God’s right hand).

the princes of Judah in their company

The tribe of Judah is the kingly tribe – from this tribe the kings and the rulers are coming – and it typifies Christ in His divinity. In His divinity, Christ is a lion with power and authority (He has the scepter) – Christ is the victory and the peace for God’s people. But here we see that the tribe of Judah accompanies the tribe of Benjamin – the ruling tribe and the warrior tribe!

These two form a group – in Benjamin we see the accomplishment of redemption, and in Judah, the application of redemption in Christ’s ascension.

The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali

This is another group composed of two tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. Zebulun was by the sea, and it typifies Christ as the haven, the shore (see Gen. 49:13) for those who preach the gospel – for their transportation and spreading in the preaching of God’s gospel.

The redemption has been made, the gospel has been accomplished, and now there’s the need for the spreading of the gospel! On the day of Pentecost, at least one hundred twenty gospel “ships,” all of whom were Galileans, set out to spread the gospel (Acts 1:8, 11; 2:2-41). Naphtali is “a hind let loose” (see Gen. 49:21, Psa. 22), giving beautiful words for the preaching of the gospel (Matt. 28:18-20).

On the one hand, Zebulun provides a way for the spreading of the gospel, and on the other hand, Naphtali is preaching the gospel as the good news everywhere. These two tribes at the time of the Lord Jesus were in Galilee (Matt. 4:12-17; Acts 1:11), where Christ started to speak the gospel when He was on earth.

These two tribes form a group in Psalm 68 mainly for the spreading and the propagating of the glad tidings of Christ’s redemption for God’s salvation. Wow – out of such a simple yet mysterious verse, with the help of the ministry of the age, you can see throughout the Bible what each tribe signifies, and you can draw this conclusion! So amazing…

The Spoil – Our Enjoyment – God’s Salvation – The Gospel

This Psalm is indeed mysterious, but today we saw that it speaks about “the spoil” (the Triune God as Christ’s spoil and all the processes Christ went through as the spoil), our enjoyment (we rest at home and divide the spoil, we just enjoy God as everything we need), God’s salvation (it has been accomplished by Christ as the man of sorrows and as the Man at God’s right hand), and the gospel (the redemption is applied to us, we are enabled and have a “shore” to go out and speak, and we are “a hind let loose” skipping over every problem/hill and speaking the beautiful words of the gospel).

Don’t you love the Lord, His Word, Psalm 68, and the ministry who opens up the Word?

[sharing inspired from the life-study of the Psalms message 28, as quoted in the Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (1) . Intro: Bless God in the congregations.]

Thank You Lord for such a mysterious psalm being opened up for us to enjoy, see, and even become! What a mystery – Christ’s processes and the entire Triune God has become the spoil for us to enjoy while we abide at home! Praise You Lord for Your salvation, which has been accomplished and settled. Now we are the ships loaded with the Triune God and setting out everywhere on earth to preach the gospel! Praise the Lord!