In this message we come to Psalms 17—21. We may say that these five psalms are five "birds of the same feather." The taste, the flavor, the spirit, and the attitude are all the same in these psalms.
In the previous message, we saw the lines, the principles, and the spirit of the Bible. The two lines of the Bible are the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the line of the tree of life. We saw that Cain was in the line of knowledge and that Abel was in the line of life. We can either be in the group of Cain or in the group of Abel.
In Psalm 1 there is not any hint that David was with Abel. In this psalm every aspect and every point indicate that David stayed with Cain in the line of knowledge. But there are also three stations in the first sixteen psalms in which David was with Abel in the line of life. These three stations are Psalm 2, Psalm 8, and Psalm 16. These psalms are extraordinary and great in unveiling the secret concerning the centrality and universality of Christ in God's economy. After the first sixteen psalms, we can see that David made some progress and improved in his concept.
In Psalms 17—21 David jumped out of the line of knowledge a number of times. David at least had a little taste in these psalms of the line of life. Psalms 22—24 are the fourth station of the line of life in the Psalms. These three psalms unveil Christ to us. Psalm 22 reveals Christ's death, Psalm 23 unveils Christ's shepherding in His resurrection, and Psalm 24 shows that Christ will be the overcoming and upcoming King in the age of restoration.
Psalms 17—21 show us David's concept concerning two things—concerning a man before God and concerning David's kingship before God. His concept was based upon the keeping of the law and the principle of good and evil. We can see this in light of the divine revelation in the Bible, particularly in the New Testament.
The divine revelation in the Bible is progressive. In Galatians 2:20 Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." In Philippians 1:21a Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ." These verses reveal a great step forward in the progression of the divine revelation. In the entire thirty-nine books of the Old Testament, we cannot find any word concerning Christ's living in us and our living Christ. David's concept in Psalm 1 was that the one who meditates in the law is blessed, but Paul said, "For to me, to live is Christ." If we desire the blessing in Psalm 1, we are very primitive and backward. Our understanding of the divine revelation of the Bible must be progressive.
In the Old Testament, we cannot find all the mysterious expressions by Paul. This is because Paul's ministry was to complete the word of God, the mystery concerning Christ and the church (Col. 1:25-26). If Paul's fourteen Epistles were taken away from the Bible, we would not know God's economy (1 Tim. 1:4), the mystery of God, Christ (Col. 2:2), and the mystery of Christ, the church (Eph. 3:4; 5:32). There is no word in the Old Testament which says, "To me, to live is Christ." When we come to the Psalms, we must see them in the light of the full revelation of God's New Testament economy.