PRIESTHOOD IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL (3)
[p. 77] PRIESTHOOD IN THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL (3)
1 Samuel 30: 7, 8; 2 Samuel 2: 1; 2 Samuel 6: 14, 15
JT It will be known that our subject is priesthood as seen in 1 and 2 Samuel. We have traced it from the beginning, in what is seen in Hannah, and then in Samuel, and finally in David. We noted how the Lord Jesus, in His service here, refers to this subject as in these books; calling attention to what David did in the section of Abiathar the high priest. How he entered into the house of God and partook of the shewbread, properly belonging to priests, but David partakes of it, as if to bring out what we are engaged with, how priesthood is taken up in an informal way. The Lord accredits it by alluding to it approvingly, throwing light on the whole of this section of Scripture. He accredits what is taken up informally, but taken up rightly; taken up according to God.
Christ is the Leader in christianity, indeed He is the Leader in everything for us, and we have the idea of leadership attached to Him in four different settings in the New Testament. He is the Leader, or Originator of life, (Acts 3: 15). He is Leader and Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins, (Acts 5: 31). He is Leader of our salvation, (Hebrews 2: 10), and He is the Leader and Completer of faith, (Hebrews 12: 2). So that in regard to the subject before us, He initiated the idea of liberty, in entering the cornfields. His disciples went further than He did in plucking the corn, and He brings in the section of Scripture before us to defend them in what they did. The Lord was leading in this way, He was taking up priesthood unofficially, but He is now established officially, as a High Priest in heaven, and we as believers, as disciples, having the Spirit, are constituted priests [p. 78] accordingly, and it is for us to stand in this liberty, the liberty in which He has set us free.
Rem In the first scripture read David does not move except under Jehovah’s direction.
JT That is a mark of priesthood, it is most important for us that we have access to God to get His mind. We are enjoined to draw near to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace for seasonable help, (Hebrews 4: 16). We are also said to have access to the holiest by the blood of Jesus, and on this ground urged to “draw near”. So that it is a feature of our subject that we have liberty to draw near to God, and ask Him for guidance. David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Bring near to me, I pray thee, the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod near to David. And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he said to him, Pursue; for thou shalt assuredly overtake them and shalt certainly recover”. The explicitness with which the answer comes is striking, and is set down for us for our learning, that we might have liberty to draw near to God in all matters of difficulty, personally or collectively; He will never fail us.
Ques The Lord says, “If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free” (John 8: 36). Is that further on, or is it connected with this?
JT It is related to what is before us. The passage in Mark 2 is illustrative of that — how the Son sets us free. The disciples are following, and governed by His example, for the idea of leadership is that one goes before. The Lord went before into the cornfields, and it was on the sabbath, so that He was violating current religious feeling and custom. True priesthood is sure to do that, sure to run across current religious feeling, and bring on persecution, but then the Lord has done it, and that is enough. They went further than He did, showing [p. 79] that the atmosphere promoted liberty for them, and He defends what they do. We can reckon on that, that in following His example, although it brings us into persecution, the Lord will defend us.
Ques Is priestly approach individual or collective?
JT Both. This prayer is individual, Abiathar is brought into it. Abiathar in a way would stand for high-priesthood here, so that “having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach”. It is open to us, because we have Him. Therefore any individual can take it up in that way, according to the Lord’s word, “when thou prayest, enter into thy chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret” (Matthew 6: 6). If it be in the meeting for prayer together, it is all on the same ground, the ground of drawing near to God, by faith, through Christ. We have (a great point in Hebrews) a great High Priest.
Ques Would verse 6 strengthen that thought: “but David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God”?
JT Well, it showed his knowledge of God. He would have in mind earlier instances of God’s answers in the way of help in time of need. It is a very remarkable word as stressing the immense importance of maintaining a knowledge of God. The expression indicates an innate power; he strengthened himself, in Jehovah his God. It would be in the knowledge he had of God; a feature that marked David is that he always had recourse to God; he always had confidence in God, however bad things were. Even if it be guilt in one’s conduct, you can always have recourse to God, He will never turn you aside.
Rem You have spoken of liberty: it would help some of us if you would say a little of what is in your mind in connection with the [p. 80] word.
JT Well, allusion has been made to John 8: 35, 36. The Son is said to be over the house. The Lord said to the Jews, “Now the bondman abides not in the house for ever: the son abides for ever. If therefore the Son shall set you free, ye shall be really free”. And in Galatians 5: 1 the apostle says, “Christ has set us free in freedom; stand fast therefore, and be not held again in a yoke of bondage”. The liberty is there, He is the Leader in it. He moves in a certain way with a view to the inauguration of something, and others have liberty to follow in that way. The Lord says in the same section in John, “and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”. It is known truth that sets us free. The great general thought is that the Son sets us free as in the house, but “the truth” adjusts us in detail. So that all the meetings we have such as this, year in and year out, week in and week out, are to that end. The needs of the saints are met, and at the same time they are adjusted as to things that might hold them in bondage, interfere with their spiritual liberty; the Holy Spirit is here for that purpose.
Rem Would you say that the truth would set us free from evil things, and the Son would set us free to enter into the things of God?
JT Yes. The Son’s liberation is more positive. The truth helps in detail, so that you take up the epistle to the Romans and the epistle to the Galatians for individual liberty, and then you take up the Corinthian epistles for collective correction, and the epistle to the Colossians liberates us in life. Ephesians leads us on into the heavenly side, and sets us free in relation to what is up there. So that the truth is in parts; we know in part, and it comes to us as we are ready for it.
What comes out in 1 Samuel 30 is a great disaster and yet, although the position seems to be irretrievable, it is remarkable that the Amalekites [p. 81] did not slay anyone, the persons were all preserved. There is hope so long as the persons are preserved, and the next thing is to get at them, and that is the point in David’s soul. What is he to do? He is in terrible stress, the people were about to slay him, and his conscience would be active because he had been with the Philistines instead of looking after his people and his property, but he knew God, and that is the great point; that we always maintain liberty of approach to Him.
Ques David slew the lion and the bear by his God. Would that experience enter into this?
JT It would, as regards his knowledge of God. You may be sure he would have recourse to God in prayer before he did that great exploit. He overcame them by God’s power, “Jehovah who delivered me ...” he says. We have instances of his prayers. The books of Psalms open up what a man he was in this respect. We see him in them both in prayer and in praise. In truth, that is where you get David the priest.
Ques Will you help us as to the ephod?
JT Well, the ephod was the principal priestly garment, as we learn in Exodus 28. Abiathar brought an ephod when he fled to David. Scripture does not say he wore it. I do not think Abiathar characteristically represented the thought as he came to David. At first it was priesthood in the abstract; soon to take form, according to God, in David. That is why the subject is of such significance in this section, because so much is made of the ephod as brought by Abiathar to David. It is the time of his rejection, especially here in Ziklag, where he is in great distress. So that this first book of Samuel as regards David’s priesthood should be a great lesson to us, especially because we are in a world of stress; our position in the truth involves constant stress of circumstances. The enemy is all round and ever [p. 82] ready to attack, and this section teaches us how to go on to find deliverance, that is, there is priestly liberty of access to God.
Ques What would answer to the ephod in the New Testament language?
JT Well it is the possession of the Spirit, I think. Romans furnishes it. Romans is an ephod book. That is where the christian comes into the truth in the order in which God would have it entered into. Priesthood necessitates the understanding of holiness, and liberty to speak to God, all, of course, based on redemption. Holiness, chapter 6, is worked out through practical righteousness. In chapter 7 we are enjoined to “serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter”. Then you get in chapter 7 again, “I myself with the mind serve God’s law ...” That is a priestly touch, serving the law of God. It is not the legal system, but the law of God which must always be observed. In chapter 8 we have liberty by the Spirit: “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”. Then in chapter 12 we present our bodies a living sacrifice, a reference to priesthood. So that the youngest christian, brother or sister, takes the thought up as thus seen; it works out from obedience to the truth from the heart. You now have the ephod, the characteristic priestly garment. This involves not only service Godward, but also manward. The ephod contemplates love for all saints, and hence a readiness to serve them. One is thus constituted a priest according to God’s mind, and the exercise of that priesthood sets aside effectively all spurious claims to priesthood. In our chapter we have priesthood marked by the knowledge of God, enabling the believer as in distress to draw near to Him for needed help. That is an immense thing, whether it be in the house with the children, or in [p. 83] the office, where you have to contend with difficulties, or in the street, you can turn to God.
Ques Continue therein with God. Is that the thought?
JT Yes; as with God in our circumstances, we can count on Him.
Rem The requests of one having an ephod would be sure to have an answer.
JT That is what you get here. Of course, there are things that we may not get answers about immediately, because we may be burdened by things that, if we only knew God better, would not be a burden to us. So Peter tells us to cast all our care upon God. Whatever you think is a care, cast it upon Him, because He cares for you, and what you get is “the peace of God, which surpasses every understanding”.
Rem The Lord’s word in Mark 2 puts this on the elevation of the High Priest, referring to David in that way.
JT I think so, that is what is meant. Whether I am in the office, and perhaps taxed, unusually taxed by something that happens, by my employer or my fellow employees, whatever it be, I am always linked up with high-priesthood in Christ. Hebrews teaches that we are linked up with a great system in connection with Christ in heaven. A key word in Hebrews is “having”. Christians are spoken of as “having a great priest over the house of God”. You may say He has us, but what a wonderful thing that we have Him! And we have Him in that capacity, as before God a High Priest in heaven; One who ever lives to make intercession for us, as though He never does anything else, so that we draw near.
Ques John was in the Spirit, would that be the ephod?
JT Well, that is more; of course it is included, but he is outside of his natural reckonings, outside [p. 84] of his ordinary mixed condition here; it thus goes beyond what we are speaking of.
There is a difference between the asking for things and the Urim; the Urim is a thought beyond that. In Saul’s time there was no answer even by Urim, that is, the state was not right — the state of soul — but John was certainly in the right state of soul. Urim means Lights, and the Thummim, Perfections, according to the best authorities. Thummim alludes to the state of a person, and light comes in relation to it. These features are seen perfectly in Christ, indeed they refer to Him as High Priest in heaven. But, as we see in Saul, the state of those obtaining the benefit of them is also involved. Alluding to Levi in Deuteronomy, the Thummim is put before the Urim, because he had proved in his path in the wilderness, at least typically, that he answered to the mind of God.
Ques Does what you have said about the ephod link on with overcoming?
JT It attaches to the christian as having the Spirit, that he can ever have recourse to God, even if he sins. Of course, if I have iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me, but as having failed in any way and judged myself on account of this, I have recourse to God directly.
Rem The sword of Goliath was wrapped in a cloth.
JT I think that was the state of things in the house of God at that time. The ephod itself is not referred to as worn, and the sword was not being used. It was in keeping with what we have already spoken of as to the condition under that priesthood. There was no energy. It was in keeping with the position in the other part of the book, where Eli is sitting on a seat, and he and others sleeping in the temple. The word of God is likened to a sword, and it is living and operative; it is not to be inactive.
Ahimelech says, “it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod”. Neither the ephod nor the sword was in use. You will not have much testimony if these things are not in use.
Rem They are not to be used when we are ministering to our brethren, we then have to leave the sword behind.
JT Why should we? We are, I trust, using it here now! The flesh in us, if at all active, has to be met by the sword of the Spirit. This must be ever present with us. The point is, it should be used, and the priesthood should be active, and this is seen in prayer. Every creature of God is good, for it is sanctified by the word of God, that is the active word of God, and prayer. They ought to mark our households and the assembly.
Ques Does the wearing of the ephod involve the use of the sword?
JT I think it does. The two things stand together in Hebrews 4: 12 - 16. First you have the description of the word of God: “the word of God is living and operative, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and penetrating to the division of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things are naked and laid bare to his eyes”. That is the position from God’s side. God in His faithfulness keeps on operating through His Spirit so that everything is exposed to myself: if not to the brethren, to myself, because of inward divine operations. Then the Spirit of God goes on to tell us about the priesthood. “Having therefore a great high priest who has passed through the heavens ... Let us approach therefore with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace for seasonable help”. The two things stand together, and they are the means furnished for us to get through, and it seems [p. 86] to me that under Ahimelech and under Eli, they were not used. David coming in exposes the whole position, and that is what the Lord has in mind in alluding to that incident: “what David did”.
Ques Was this attack of the Amalekites on the company?
JT It was against the whole position which faith would take account of at the time. It was indeed a very terrible thing, and David was at fault in measure, but even so he knew God, and God will never fail us if we really turn to Him in contrition of heart. David acts intelligently here, he asks for the ephod.
Ques Is this side of the matter purely individual?
JT I think it is so far.
Ques What condition of soul then would one be brought into as set forth in David in type here occasioned by the loss of his two wives and Ziklag burnt with fire? What point in our soul’s history does this answer to?
JT Well, he rises to a type of Christ here, that is another thing. In fact, we come on to the ground of the epistle to the Romans where Christ has recovered everything. We are only dealing with one point, that is priesthood, but the chapter is the recovery of everything, that is, the epistle to the Romans. This chapter and the first chapter of the next book bring out that David was in the spirit of that epistle, he was overcoming evil with good.
Rem So this exercise of priestly privilege would bring one into all the gain of what had been recovered in Romans.
JT That is right. David rises to a type of Christ, he “recovered all”. You will notice that none of the people were killed. Romans contemplates not dead people, but people alive in responsibility, and the Lord has recovered everyone on those lines. The spirit of chapter 1 of the next book is one of great magnanimity, great grace; overcoming the evil with [p. 87] good; a great moral victory. He was pained by the tidings of Saul’s death. So deep were his feelings that he composed a song, the song of the bow, written in the book of Jasher. David was not feigning sorrow; it was the anointed of the Lord that fell at the hands of the Philistines, and he felt this.
Rem It is very beautiful indeed: it shows how morally and spiritually he could wear the ephod.
JT Well, quite so, all in accord with the epistle to the Romans — a great victory; overcoming evil with good. “If therefore thine enemy should hunger, feed him; if he should thirst, give him drink” (Romans 12: 20). That is the principle in this chapter, showing how we are to act in such circumstances. We become morally superior, and give up hard feelings about others, although they may be our enemies; we are to heap coals of fire upon their heads.
Ques Is that bringing in a priestly condition?
JT Yes. It shows what Romans does for the believer.
Rem That would explain Peter’s speaking of a royal priesthood.
JT Just so. First, a holy priesthood for approach to God, and then a royal priesthood: “that ye might set forth the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness to his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2: 9). The royal priesthood is more public.
Rem So that there is recovery come in by way of priesthood.
JT It is through getting to God here, you thus get power in your soul. David strengthened himself in Jehovah his God. Faith was there as latent power in his soul. In this chapter and in the beginning of the next book he stands out beautifully, showing how suitable he was to take on the kingship. The next thing is ascent, but before we start going up we must have everything right below, so that whatever difficulties arise among us, we never have victory [p. 88] until we overcome evil with good, it is not simply getting a brother out of the way, but overcoming evil with good.
Ques Concerning the Urim and Thummim, do you connect that with the Lord’s words, “if ... thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light”.
JT That is right, the single eye corresponds with the Thummim. It is the state of your soul, it is a perfect state in that sense and your whole body is luminous.
The next prayer that we get is in the next book, chapter 2: 1. It is the next move; after a victory what will be the next move? What is the next move now that the Lord has given a victory to you over your enemies? In truth Romans is victory over oneself, that is Og, the big man of Numbers 21. Now what is the next move? This verse corresponds. “It came to pass after this that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said to him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron”. The first answer gave him leave to go up to any part of Judah; he is not content with that, he wants it to be more definite. It is now a question of entering into the purpose of God, because Judah represents sovereign selection, and David belongs to Judah. You are now coming into your rights. Having gained a victory on the moral side, you come to the sovereign side, and what great things there are for us on the line of sovereignty! David enquires further, “Whither shall I go up?” That is the next thing. God answers, “Unto Hebron” — which is in type the epistle to the Colossians. It is at this stage the safest place for the christian: the safest stopping place is Colossians.
Ques What is in your mind in speaking of the safest stopping place?
JT Well, it is a question now of the danger of [p. 89] identifying yourself with the world in its cultured feature, with philosophy, and the like. The christian is more enlightened than other people, but there are refined things in the world such as learning, and it may be thought that these may be conveniently and profitably taken on; that is the danger now. As seen in Colossians, Hebron is to dissipate that from our minds. Hebron was built before Zoan in Egypt. Zoan represents the wisdom of this world; it was where the wise ones of Egypt dwelt (Isaiah 19: 11). The natural mind would say to the christian, Do you not think that more learning, social refinement, better music in the meeting; better understanding of things from the human point of view, would improve the position? But God would say to you, What I have in My mind is before all that, before Egypt, before Greece, indeed, before the world. Paul says, “we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery ... which God had predetermined before the ages for our glory” (1 Corinthians 2: 7). Colossians and Ephesians open it up. It is very important to see that what we are brought into does not admit at all of the very best things of the world, the result of education. Christianity does not admit of it at all, we have something which existed before that, before the world; the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world for our glory. Greece and Rome afford much for man’s glory, but not for our glory. God ordained wisdom before the world for our glory. It elevates us out of this world altogether. Colossians is a stopping place, as we go on to the full position ordained for us in the counsels of God. In the types you get it at the Jordan, they moved from Shittim and came to the Jordan and lodged there; that is, before they passed over they lodged. A lodging place is something temporary for a certain purpose.
Rem A lodging place is not finality.
JT It is a spiritual thought; it is where [p. 90] certain things are resolved. You go through certain things there, you see that the ark is to be two thousand cubits ahead, you learn the greatness of Christ as you never did in the wilderness. There was no requirement in the wilderness journey that the ark should be two thousand cubits ahead; that is typically Colossians, which epistle is to bring out among other things the greatness of the Person of Christ; in all things He has pre-eminence. You are to learn to learn that in the lodging place; to learn how to contemplate this great Person, and to judge yourself in relation to that; how small you are.
Rem Hebron was where David first reigned.
JT That is what you get here, he reigned there seven years and six months. The six months, I suppose, was a bit of a test, and perhaps show that he had the full advantage of the education there. He reigned in Jerusalem thirty-three years. Hebron was an enlightening and wholesome stopping place. So that coming from Ziklag, Hebron was some three thousand feet up. I am alluding to that illustratively; it involved exercise to get there. Notice the recurrence of the words “go up” in 2 Samuel 2: 1 - 3. Hebron is really on higher ground than Jerusalem. What an outlook you get in that elevation! — spiritually the eternal thoughts of God. There is a great lesson in this, great instruction for the young people to see the great realm of spirituality they are brought into. In Hebron it is no question of the universities and their researches. Hebron is a question of God’s eternal thoughts; that is, what has antedated the world. The characteristic men and women of faith and recipients of divine promises lie there — in the cave of Machpelah — awaiting “that world and the resurrection from among the dead”.
Rem What Hebron represents is set forth in Christ.
JT Yes; it is a question of the divine mind,
[p. 91] the wisdom prepared before the world for our glory — we have it now by the Spirit.
Rem It is in One in whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
JT That is what Colossians brings out. First you have the kingdom of the Son of the Father’s love. It is very attractive — God has “translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love”. One of the most beautiful expressions you can get, and in Him we have redemption, and so on. He created everything, He holds everything, He is the Head of the body, the assembly, and in Him all the Fulness was pleased to dwell, all the Fulness.
Rem Very impressive and very blessed! For a believer to stop in some conditions is dangerous, but to stop at Hebron, how very excellent: to contemplate Christ, meditate upon Him, and then to have the wisdom you speak of in our souls!
Ques Would the effect of that be that He would be expressed in His people?
JT Well, that is the next thing. He is Head of the body in Colossians, not because He has gone to the right hand of God, but because of who He is. It is a question of His Person. In chapter 3 He is said to be sitting at the right hand of God.
Ques Is that why there comes a call for a transfer of affections in Colossians?
JT Yes; have your mind on things above. It is your mind there. That is, you have the greatest mental range possible — things above, and not the things of the earth.
Rem We come into the sphere where intelligence is to be developed. Having right instincts, we enter into divine things intelligently. Would “love in the Spirit” be the subjective state enabling us to understand the things above?
JT Yes. It is the only mention of the Spirit [p. 92] in Colossians. That is the kind of love to have. 1 Corinthians begins with wisdom, connecting it with love: “Things which eye has not seen, and ear not heard, and which have not come into man’s heart, which God has prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2: 9). You learn all these things in Hebron, that is in Colossians; and so in chapter 2 we are enjoined in regard to “philosophy and vain deceit”. We do not need these things, the apostle says. It is not so much a question of exposing them, but that we do not need them, for we have everything in Christ — “in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2: 9).
Rem “And ye are complete in him”.
JT Just so, there is no room for anything else.
Ques I was wondering whether love as you have spoken of it would fit in with the Lord’s supper?
JT Well, what has been before us generally comes in properly after the Supper is partaken of. Three kinds of love come before us as in assembly. Firstly, the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. Secondly, the covenant-love of God, which comes in as the cup is partaken of; it is the perfect love that casts out fear in our souls. Thirdly there is the love that the Father has for the Son, that is the most exalted kind of love. As the Lord Jesus prayed, “that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them” (John 17: 26). You can see that that comes into the assembly in its proper heavenly setting, it is a question of the Father’s love for the Son and our having the same kind of love — that we can love the Son as the Father loves the Son.
Rem Does what you are now saying lead on from what you indicated at the beginning of these readings, in Hannah and Samuel — the question of priesthood, Romans-wise, then in David the praise line?
JT Yes; for the latter we go on to chapter 6; here you have priesthood with a linen ephod as has [p. 93] already been called attention to. We are on a very high level now, because we are at Jerusalem in chapter 6. Zion is taken in chapter 5, and David would have the ark in its own place; that is chapter 6. Typically, it is Ephesians. The ark did not reach its own position until Zion was taken, because Hebron would not do for it; it is Jerusalem that is required, the city of the great king, and therefore the passage read is applicable now. The scripture says that “David danced before Jehovah with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. And David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of Jehovah with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet”. I think we have priesthood here in a remarkable way; the linen has its place.
Ques Would Psalm 132 come in here — the ark in its right place?
JT That is what I was thinking; the Psalms greatly augment what we are speaking of. Of course the subject is immense, you could not compass it in a few readings, but that psalm fits in exactly here. We get there an insight into David’s private feelings — “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Psalm 132: 4, 5). What a proposal that is! And then he goes on to say, “Behold, we heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood”. That is no doubt the ark in the house of Abinadab on the hill. That was not a suitable place for it, and so we get in that psalm David’s exercise; perhaps as quite a young man. That was really the thought that governed his whole life, the idea of the house, which began with Jacob: “habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob” — not Abraham, but Jacob, because the house of God is in connection with Jacob. Then David goes on to ask that God’s priests should be clothed in righteousness. He had the great thought [p. 94] that priesthood was necessary, and not only an official priesthood, but priests marked by moral qualities, garments of righteousness. Then, “and let thy saints shout for joy” — a great consummation of all his exercises. God answers him saying, “Jehovah hath chosen Zion”. David recognises the divine need and selection, and God takes the matter up. He says, I will see to all that, that they will be clothed in righteousness, clothed in salvation. That is, they will be entirely free from this world. So that the Psalms fit in here. The fifth book has a great place in relation to the divine dwelling-place and service. The whole book of Psalms was made in five parts and the last book is the great culmination.