One time when Jesus healed a blind man, the man said, “I see men as trees walking.” (Mark 8:24) This statement always puzzled me. Why was it recorded in Scripture? What did it mean? Until now I thought it merely meant that his vision was cloudy, that he could not yet clearly see natural things. Now I believe that it represented an opening of the blind man’s spiritual vision and concerns a work that God wants to do in all of us, and he wants to do it NOW. Consider the context.

Mark 8 begins with Jesus miraculously feeding four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. After they all ate to their satisfaction the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. Immediately following this miracle the Pharisees demanded Jesus to perform some type of sign for them. This deeply troubled Jesus. Hadn’t he just done something quite amazing by multiplying a few loaves and fish into enough food to fill thousands? Even his disciples did not really understand what such a miracle meant and so, when they forgot to bring enough bread to eat, they fretted and feared when Jesus told them to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” (Mark 8:15) They thought Jesus referred to their failure to bring leavened bread to eat. Jesus knew their thoughts and said,

“Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?¹⁸ Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember?¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” ²¹ And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:17-21)

Here Jesus lays bare the problem with all of us. Our hearts remain hardened by our lusts and the deceitfulness of sin. We have eyes to see natural things, but we fail to see spiritual things. We have ears to hear natural sounds, but we fail to hear the whispering wind of the Spirit. We have minds which remember many things, but we fail to remember the spiritual truths and the miracles which God has already done in our lives. And so live for our fleshly lusts and we fear and we fret when we forget something or our circumstances don’t look too bright or feel just right. So, Jesus then reminds them (as he reminds us now) of his miracles concerning bread and asks them (us), “Do you not yet understand?” He knows they don’t and so, by the Holy Spirit, Mark then records another miracle with a blind man. Why now? Because Jesus’ own disciples were still blind to the spiritual truth he taught and represented, just as many of his disciples even today remain blind to the truths revealed throughout the Bible. Here is the story which follows:

²² And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. ²³ And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.”²⁵ Then Jesus^[c] laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” (Mark 8:22-26)

When we come to Jesus we are as this blind man. We can see nothing. We are as babes just come from the womb with eyes open, but not yet able to fix them upon anything or understand anything. When we believe in Jesus we allow ourselves to be touched by him; we allow him to pour living water (spit) into our eyes. The question then becomes, do we now see anything? That is, do we see anything for ourselves, or do we just mimic and parrot what our teachers tell us?

This story of the blind man sets forth a two-fold work in believers. When we first believe in Jesus we receive the earnest of the Holy Spirit which is the power to become a son of God. See John 1:12. But, we do not yet see everything clearly. Instead, says Paul, we see through a glass darkly. Our spiritual perception remains dim during this season of our faith for now we see “darkly,” not “clearly.” But we, like Mark’s blind man, should at the very least see what looks like trees, walking. This means that we should be cognizant of and recognize God’s trees who walk in the earth these days. These are the men and women among us, and hopefully we ourselves, who bear the righteous fruit God requires of his plants. Consider the following verses:

Blessed is the man^[a]
    who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
    nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
² but his delight is in the law^[b] of the Lord,
    and on his law he meditates day and night.

Yes, it is we, we who were born blind to God and filled with a sinful nature, who need God (Jesus) to spit (pour living water) into our spiritual eyes so that we can begin to see his ways. And as we learn to see we will begin to observe men (God’s servants) as trees walking, producing the fruit of righteousness that our LORD requires.  And when we faithfully do that, then Jesus will touch us a second time, will heal us completely by giving us glorified, immortal bodies, and then, and only then, shall we indeed see clearly!

In Psalm 17 David distinguishes the righteous, of whom he counts himself, from the wicked. He calls himself “just,” declares that God has tried and tested him during the night, and that God found nothing in him to condemn. Can we say the same thing about ourselves?

I have heard men teach that when David wrote Psalm 17 he was immature and thus considered himself just and righteous even though he really wasn’t. His later actions with Bathsheba and his psalms of repentance prove their thesis they say. But, I say that when David was a mere boy, before he had even written any of the pslams we know today, God declared that he had found David to be a man after his own heart. This is why he commanded Samuel to anoint David as future king while Saul still ruled Israel. God knew David’s heart and knew that the intents of his heart differed from King Saul’s. Psalm 17 tells us something about those differences.  Here David declares how he follows after God.

First, he says, “I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.” (Ps. 17:3) Have you and I purposed the same thing in our hearts? When we are alone and something makes us mad, do we curse? If we do, do we immediately repent? If we are “out with the guys” do we join in their crude talk and coarse jesting? James says,

3 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ² For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,^[a] and set on fire by hell.^[b] 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers,^[c] these things ought not to be so.¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. (James 3:1-12, ESV)

Second, David says, “With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.” (Ps. 17:4) Just consider men’s works today, his movies, his music, his video games, his violence, and his wars. Do we avoid these things or do we take part in them? Do we sit down with our husbands, our wives, and our children to watch and participate in these things? John says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15)

Third, David proclaims, “My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.” (Ps. 17:5) Do we walk in God’s paths, or do we walk in our own ways? Jesus said, “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Have we found and understood the narrowness of this path, or do we simply go the way of all flesh and indulge in all the sinful behaviors that even the unbelievers do?

David here, in three simple principles, explains the life of God’s overcomer, of he who would become a “son of God.” Such a one can only be satisfied, can only be fulfilled, when he puts on his glorified body, a body which can and will actually behold the face of God! And this is why David ends this psalm by saying, “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”

King David wrote most of the Psalms. In the Scriptures David portrays both the providing Father and the obedient Son, so he can be said to be a type of God the Father and a type of Christ the Son. He was a man of blood having fought many battles and killed many men. Jesus also was a man of blood having shed his blood for the sins of many. David provided all the materials for the building of the House of God, whose house we are. Solomon, David’s son and third king of Israel, built God’s natural house, the first temple. Solomon, being a carnal man, represents or typifies the overcomers, carnal men who have determined to follow and obey God and who will one day be glorified as living stones within God’s house.

The New Testament quotes many of David’s words, including verses 8 and 10 of this psalm, because they prophesied future events and both natural and spiritual realities. In this psalm we see David as the obedient son who trusts in his Father, takes refuge in him, and knows that the has no source or provision outside of him.

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”

Next, David distinguishes “the excellent ones,” God’s overcomers who have remained faithful through a lifetime of trials from those who seek the ways of the world and the “gods” who fuel the lusts of those ways.

A song of ascents.

Our ascent to throne of God ends with our glorification, the time when God clothes us with new immortal and sinless bodies. Then we will be able to behold his face and see him as he is. Then we can dwell with everlasting burnings because we ourselves will have become as a fire that purges all things unclean. When that occurs we will burst forth in spontaneous praise blessing our God, the LORD Jesus Christ, and his eternal Father!

Yes, we will join the heavenly host and sing,

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

A Song of Ascents.

1 Remember, O Lord, in David’s favor,
all the hardships he endured,
2 how he swore to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Psalm 132:1-5, ESV)

The promise of God’s eternal kingdom, God’s house, came to David, but God did not allow David to see its fulfillment. Why not?

6 Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’ ( 1 Chronicles 22:6-10)

David was a man of action and a man of blood. He conquered kingdoms in the name of the LORD. He was a man after God’s own heart and his ministry was great indeed! Yet, he remained a man of flesh, a carnal man subject to sin, and the Scripture declares, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 15:50) David could not inherit the Kingdom, but today we can. Why? Because yesterday we made the twelfth ascent, the step into God’s rest. Yesterday we laid down our own plans, our own designs for great ministries for God. Yesterday we quieted our souls before him, determined to hope only in him, and ceased to occupy ourselves with matters too great for us. Yesterday we gave up our guns and our bows and arrows and determined that we would not be men of blood. I will not die with a man’s blood on my hands… will you? I am not a man of blood… are you?

Today we become sons, the prophetic fulfillment of Solomon, son of David.

Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool. (Psalms 132:6-7 KJV)

Ephratah is Bethlehem, the place of our LORD’s birth. We know of Jesus and we know he was born in Bethlehem Ephratah. We always heard that the word Immanuel, which means God with us, referred only to him. But, no, the prophecy concerns us. God is with us, within us, and soon we will become the very habitation of God as the rest of this wonderful psalm makes clear.

8 Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.

When we fully and completely enter God’s rest, then we will literally become his resting place. At that moment of complete rest he will transform these lowly bodies into immortal bodies. At that moment the “ark of his might” permeates our entire being. His Law will become part of our very being and we will be enabled to obey it perfectly. Rather than consuming it any longer, his Word, his manna, will consume us and we will become living expressions of the Word of God. We, now the dead in our sins, a dead tree, will have budded like Aaron’s almond branch into new eternal life!

9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.

It is at this time that God clothes us with righteousness. Finally we will become the priests of the Most High which he has ordained us to be. Our ordination comes not from man, for only God can ordain his priests who arise in the Order of Melchizedek, just as Jesus was of that Order.

10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 

This promise is sure because God made particular promises to David concerning the eternal nature of his throne. We who believe in Jesus and have determined to obey the Gospel he has given us are the anointed ones spoken of here. God will not turn his face from us. In fact, the songs of ascent are all about ascending into the very presence of God where we will actually see God’s face. Verses 11 and 12 tell us God’s specific promise regarding this.

11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body[a]
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.”

What follows is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting spiritual concepts in all Scripture, which is that God’s people literally become New Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling place of God and the Lamb of God.

13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.

This passage also makes it clear that no one is fully “saved” until the time of their glorification, until the time when God has completed his work upon their souls and clothes them with righteousness and salvation. At this time his chiseling upon us, his affliction of us, ceases and takes us and places us into the eternal city, the city we have sojourned toward all our lives. Then we will shout for joy and then our horn, our strength will become evident to all. At that time these overcomers will begin to rule with a rod of iron and will begin to bring the entire earth into the subjection of their King. So, this song ends,

18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.

The prophecies given to Anna show that this event is about to take place. Months ago God was showing Anna that she was going to go through tribulation in her flesh. As she began to obey what he showed her that revelation changed from that given to carnal Christians to that given to overcoming spiritual Christians. God took her a long way in a short time. I believe that her words affected other sleeping Christians and that they too have now awakened. The time is upon us. If you do not understand these words, then it is probably too late to avoid tribulation. Nevertheless, the LORD will provide you protection through the overcomers who will soon be glorified. If you just woke up, then pray that God will hide you in the shadow of his wing.

Click here to watch a video of this teaching.

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

131 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 131 ESV)

This is the twelfth song of ascent and God uses the number 12 throughout Scripture to denote his government and the foundations of his government. For example, verse 12 of Revelation 21 says, “And having a wall great and high, and having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” Notice, first, that this is verse 12. Second, observe that the number 12 is mentioned 3 times. Third, we see that this verse speaks of New Jerusalem, the seat of God’s eternal government over man, and, fourth, that it tells us that the city possesses 12 gates. A gate in Scripture speaks of the place of judgment and rule in a society, its government.

“But,” you may say, “Psalm 131 does not speak of foundations at all. What are you talking about?” Good question.

Psalm 131 deals with the prerequisite step each person must take before he can become part of the governmental foundation of God’s kingdom. This is the step of resting from our own labors and repenting of the pride those labors brought us. By this time all of us ought to have quit thinking about the “great” effect that our “ministry” is going to have on the world for the LORD’s benefit.

As I take this twelfth step I will examine my heart and repent until I too can affirm that my heart is not lifted up. I will agree with my maker that without him I can do no good thing. I cannot say the right words and I cannot write any song, poem, or teaching that can bring salvation to any person. Recently I have become wont to say, “There’s no salvation in music.” Over the past fifteen years I wrote about two hundred songs in the hope that a soul might be positively affected for the sake of the LORD and righteousness’ sake, but I never saw it. I have been in “worship” meetings where the music seemed so “anointed,” but I don’t think I ever saw a heart changed by that music. But, I sure have seen a lot of proud musicians and worship leaders! Likewise, I have known proud teachers of God’s Word. And I myself have been proud of various “spiritual” things I did over the past thirty-five years… all for the “glory of God” of course!

But now I resolve to lift not my heart in pride and raise not my eyes too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. I cannot yet understand them. I have calmed and quieted my soul (a little at least!), as a weaned child no longer cries for her Mother’s breast. My hope is in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Now, I will take this step, hoping that even yet I might qualify for the crown of life and be deemed worthy to become part of that great city, New Jerusalem.

A Song of Ascents.

130 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
6 my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities. (Psalm 130 ESV)

As I ascend to God’s throne (or at least hope to) I am constantly reminded that I cannot do it in the power of my own flesh, soul, or will. What began in the Spirit with me 35 years ago will not and cannot be perfected by myself. God must work in me to will and to do his good pleasure. The most I seem able to do is to affirm that God’s ways are just, right, and true (although I do not understand them or why he allows evil to dominate and rule so long), repent of my sins he reveals to me, and hope for the change which will finally establish his literal rule on earth.

As I take the eleventh step I humbly (so far as I am able to humble myself) pray this prayer. I thank God that he forgives my sins for I know that I could not stand in his presence if he did not. I fear that I may not be found perfect in his sight when I do finally behold him, but my faith in Jesus and all his word affirms that I will be. I do not despise God’s Word and want to see it accomplished in myself and in all the earth. In God’s Word my soul hopes.

Yea, I wait for the LORD, always wait for the LORD, constantly wait for the LORD. My soul waits for the LORD, more than watchmen wait for the morning, far more than watchmen wait for the morning. I have waited for years… and years.

O Israel, you in whom God rules, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is grace, mercy, and love.
With him comes our redemption; he will redeem these lowly bodies of flesh.
He will forgive all our sins.
He will give us a new heaven and new earth, glorified bodies in which righteousness dwells.

A song of ascents.^[a]

A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.