I.　Among the Old Testament types, there is God's holy city,Jerusalem, and within this city there is a high peak calledZion, on which the temple was built—Psa. 2:6; 125:1:

A.　Although God is mysterious and invisible, there are two earthlysigns of God's existence—Zion and Jerusalem.

B.　Psalms 120 through 134 indicate that Zion, the center, andJerusalem, the circumference, remained deeply in the considerationof the people of Israel; they were very concerned forZion and Jerusalem—137:1, 5-6.

C.　On Mount Zion we have the church—the Body of Christ—andGod's economy for God's testimony—Heb. 12:18-24.

II.　Jerusalem typifies the church, and Mount Zion typifies theovercomers in the church—Psa. 2:6; 20:2; 48:11-12; 53:6a; 87:2:

A.　Zion is the highlight of Jerusalem, the beauty of the holy city—48:2; 50:2.

B.　The characteristics, the life, the blessing, and the establishmentof Jerusalem come from Zion—51:18; 102:21; 128:5; 135:21;Isa. 41:27; Joel 3:17.

C.　In the New Testament the overcomers are likened to Zion; inRevelation 14:1 the one hundred forty-four thousand overcomersare not just in Jerusalem—they are on the peak of Zion.

D.　In the church age the God-men who have been perfected andmatured are Zion, the overcomers—v. 1:

1.　The church is the heavenly Jerusalem, and the overcomersare Zion as the high peak and the highlight—Heb. 12:22;Rev. 14:1.

2.　The church life is today's Jerusalem, and in the churchthere must be a group of overcomers; these overcomers aretoday's Zion.

3.　The overcomers are for the building up of the Body of Christto consummate the New Jerusalem—Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:16;Rev. 3:12.

4.　The overcomers conquer the satanic chaos in the old creationand carry out the divine economy for the new creation—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 1:10; 3:9-10; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.

5.　The Lord needs the overcomers to carry out the economy ofGod to have a Body and to destroy His enemy—Eph. 1:10;3:9-10; Rev. 12:11.

6.　Without the overcomers the Body of Christ cannot be builtup, and unless the Body of Christ is built up, Christ cannotcome back for His bride—Eph. 4:16; 5:23, 27, 32; Rev.19:7-9.

E.　The Lord's recovery is to build up Zion—14:1; Eph. 4:16; Rev.21:2:

1.　Zion is the reality of the Body of Christ consummating inthe New Jerusalem, and in the Lord's recovery today wemust endeavor to reach this high peak—Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4-6,16; Rev. 21:2.

2.　The highest peak in God's economy is Zion, the reality ofthe Body of Christ, and in the church life we need to reachthis high peak—Rom. 12:4-5; 1 Cor. 1:2; 12:12-13, 27.

3.　The reality of the Body of Christ (Zion) is the corporateliving of the perfected God-men, who are genuine men butlive by the life of the processed and consummated TriuneGod, whose attributes are expressed through their virtues—Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:10; 1:19-21a.

F.　In the new heaven and new earth, the entire New Jerusalemwill become Zion; the New Jerusalem, the eternal MountZion, will be the Holy of Holies, the place where God is—Rev.21:1-2, 16, 22; cf. Ezek. 48:35.

G.　The only way to reach the high peak of Zion is by praying; inorder to reach Zion by praying, we need to know the significanceof prayer for the carrying out of God's economy—1 Tim.1:4; 2:8:

1.　Prayer is man breathing God, obtaining God, and beingobtained by God; real prayer is an exhaling and inhalingbefore God, causing us and God to contact each other andto gain each other—1 Thes. 5:17.

2.　Prayer is man cooperating and co-working with God, allowingGod to express Himself and His desire from withinhim and through him and thus accomplish His purpose—Rom. 8:26-27; James 5:17; Eph. 1:16-23; 3:14-21.

III.　In the Psalms of Ascents—Psalms 120 through 134—we seethe preciousness of Zion and Jerusalem to the saints; in allthese psalms the house and the city are the center:

A.　In Psalm 122 we see the saints' love for the house of God inJerusalem—v. 1.

B.　Psalm 125 speaks concerning Jehovah's surrounding of Hispeople:

1.　Those who trust in Jehovah are like Mount Zion, whichcannot be moved but abides forever; they love Mount Zionand liken themselves to Mount Zion—v. 1.

2.　As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so Jehovah surroundsHis people from now and to eternity—v. 2.

C.　Psalm 127 reveals Jehovah's care for and blessing to His people;instead of laboring in ourselves, we should trust in God,for He will take care of us and He will bless us.

D.　Psalm 128 speaks of Jehovah's blessing to Israel from Zion;God always blesses people from Zion, that is, from the overcomers—v. 5; cf. Num. 6:23-27.

E.　In Psalm 131 a saint speaks about his humbled heart andquieted soul before Jehovah:

1.　The psalmist has calmed and quieted his soul within him;he has been weaned, or stripped, of everything except theLord—v. 2.

2.　When our heart is humbled and our soul is quiet, we are ina condition that is suitable for God to come in to rest—132:14:

a.　In such a situation God can have a resting place, adwelling—v. 14.

b.　Only when we are humble, calm, and quiet is the situationright for God to rise up, enter us, and take us asHis resting place; this is Zion becoming God's habitation,His resting place, as revealed in Psalm 132.

IV.　Psalm 132 speaks concerning Jehovah's habitation and restin Zion through David (typifying Christ) His anointed:

A.　In verses 2 through 5 we see David's desire for the house ofGod.

B.　David wanted Jehovah to arise and enter with the Ark intoHis resting place in Zion; today this resting place is the overcomersin the churches—vv. 6-8.

C.　Verses 7 and 8 are figurative of the recovery of the churchlife:

1.　The Ark was separated from the tabernacle; this signifiesthat Christ was with the church but that He has been separatedfrom the church.

2.　Now is the time for us all to say, "Arise, O Jehovah, untoYour resting place, / You and the Ark of Your strength"—v. 8.

D.　Verses 14 through 18 are Jehovah's speaking concerning Zion;this is a picture of the top church life—the situation of theovercomers in Zion, the highest peak of God's mountain:

1.　Psalm 132 mentions seven items related to the overcomers:resting in God, dwelling with God (v. 14), food for satisfaction(v. 15), glorious clothing (v. 16), the horn of victory(v. 17), the enlightening lamp (v. 17), and the shining crown(v. 18).

2.　These items portray the situation of the overcomers in Zion,the highest peak of God's mountain.