Book 1 indicates that God's intention is to turn the seeking saints from the law to Christ that they may enjoy the house of God—the church. In Book 1 there are forty-one psalms. In Psalm 1 the psalmist appreciated the law to the uttermost, but in Psalm 27 he no longer appreciated the law. Instead, he appreciated dwelling in the house of God to behold God's lovliness. He desired to dwell in the house of Jehovah all the days of his life (v. 4). This is to enjoy God, not the law, in God's house. Then in Psalm 36 the psalmist declared that they would be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of God's house. In God's house they could drink the river of His pleasures. The psalmist also said that with God is the fountain of life and in His light we can see light (vv. 8-9). What a difference we can see between Psalm 1 and Psalms 27 and 36. Psalm 1 begins from the ground floor, the basement. But in Psalms 27 and 36 the psalmists have gone up to the "fifth floor." They came up from the basement. If we still highly appreciate Psalm 1, we are remaining in the basement. We need to come out of the basement in our appreciation to the higher level of the divine concept.
Book 2 indicates that the saints experience God and His house and city through the suffering, exalted, and reigning Christ.
Book 3 indicates that the saints, in their experiences, realize that the house and the city of God with all the enjoyments thereof can be preserved and maintained only with Christ properly appreciated and exalted by God's people.
Book 4 indicates that the saints, being joined to Christ, are one with God so that He can recover His title over the earth through Christ in His house and city. Psalm 90 is the first psalm of Book 4. The title of Psalm 90 says that it is a prayer of Moses, the man of God. In the first verse, Moses says, "Lord, You have been our dwelling place / In all generations." The one who wrote the law declared that God was his eternal dwelling place. I was shocked when I read this psalm for the first time and saw that it was written by Moses. According to our thought, Moses only knew how to give the law, the Ten Commandments.
When we read the Ten Commandments, do we feel that they bring us close to God? After reading these commandments, a number of Christians would say that they cannot make it since they break the commandments all the time. People lie frequently and spontaneously. Someone may call on the telephone and ask, "Is your father home?" Then the person would say that he is not home, even though his father is there reading the newspaper. People lie to one another all the time. The children lie to their parents. The husbands lie to their wives and vice versa. People also break the commandment concerning not coveting again and again. When we see others with possessions better than ours, we covet what they have. A person covets another person's expensive car. A young boy in school covets another boy's expensive pen. The commandments of the law are impossible for fallen man to keep. The law does not bring people close to God. However, the law does escort people to Christ. The law of God is the custodian and child-conductor of God's chosen people to bring them to Christ (Gal. 3:23-24).
When Moses, the one who wrote the Ten Commandments, became old, he declared, "O God, You are our dwelling place for eternity. I am not actually living on this earth. I am living in You. I am dwelling in You. You are my dwelling." This is the introductory word to Book 4 of the Psalms.
Book Five indicates that the house and the city of God become the praise, safety, and desire of the saints, and that Christ comes to reign over the whole earth through the house and the city of God—the church.
This is the content of the five books of the Psalms. We need to pick up all of these crucial points in this introductory word. Then we will be prepared and qualified to study the book of Psalms. We will be able to receive the real and genuine interpretation of all one hundred fifty psalms.
We need to see that, on the one hand, the book of Psalms was written according to the human concept, and on the other hand, it was written according to the divine concept. If we do not see this, our understanding will be natural, and the Psalms will be understood by us according to the human concept. In our understanding of the Psalms, we will not have anything of the divine concept. We all need to be brought into the divine concept of the unveiling God. We need to be turned from the law to Christ according to the divine concept.