Psalms 83. The tried faithful ones here call upon God to come in and save them, for there is a confederacy among the surrounding nations. God is called upon to act in judgment, to confound them and to put them to shame. “That men may know that Thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.” Two names of God are used here: Jehovah, the covenant name of Israel, and His millennial name of Most High, which He will take when He acts in power at that time.
Psalm 84. Here we have a longing for the dwelling place of Jehovah in His temple, His courts. It is faith looking and longing for the time when it may be their privilege to have access to those courts. He had been leading them through sorrow and trial that they might learn His ways, and have in their hearts His highways. They had been truly passing through the valley of Baca, the place of weeping, and faith had learned to make it a well spring, a place of blessing, which they had learned by owning His hand in it all. So consequently they can go from strength to strength, eventually appearing before Him in Zion. The nation as a whole had turned aside to the tents of wickedness in following the Antichrist.
Psalm 85. Faith now looks forward to the captivity of Jacob being brought back and their restoration complete, in that their iniquities are forgiven, their sins covered, and Jehovah’s wrath is turned away. They ask to be revived again, that they may rejoice in Him. The Spirit of God in the remnant warns the people not to turn again to folly, and that salvation is nigh to them that fear Him. It is all on the basis of mercy and truth being met together, and then truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look down from heaven. It is not according to the former things with them, when they took the place of obeying and doing all the words of the law. So here the Lord is to take the place of reigning, and righteousness shall go before Him.
Psalm 86. We have more exercises here, on the part of the remnant for their restoration to their place of privilege, because they are not yet in their place of blessing, which can only be reached when the Lord returns to set up His kingdom. They take the place of being a poor and needy people. They pray, “Give ear unto my prayer, and attend unto the voice of my supplications,” and then they desire to be taught His way, and to unite their hearts to fear His name.
Psalm 87. Zion, as we have seen, is the city of God’s choice for His dwelling place, in His temple; so we can see how it could be said that He loveth the gates of Zion, more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Then Egypt and Babylon are mentioned, former great nations of the earth; as well as Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia. They had their great men, and boasted of it. But Zion whose glory is yet to come is mentioned as looking for the time when He writeth up the people, when it is counted that this man (Christ) was born there. Here Zion stands for the whole nation, and they are then yet to own that their Messiah had truly come into their midst.
ML 02/12/1961