existed, if we find any the same two persons continually brought together by the bond of prophecy, so that the same predictions fulfilled by one are shewn in Scripture to have been fulfilled, either wholly or in part, by the other, we shall have a strong presumption, if not a perfect proof, that the first of these persons was designedly intended to foreshadow the other. Now there are some persons recorded in the Old Testament, whose claim to a typical character principally rests upon a foundation similar to this: especially David and Solomon. I. 1. The greater part of the Psalms was written by David: and many of them refer to the actual circumstances of his life, which are known from other parts of Scripture. They furnish a key to his eventful history. His inmost thoughts, his hopes, his fears, his sufferings, his trust in God, his resignation, are all faithfully pourtrayed, and adorned with all the graces of the sublimest poetry. But we should form a very imperfect estimate of those divine songs, if we regarded them only as having reference to the occasion which produced them. Many of them avowedly foretel the future. Many more, which, at first sight, appear to be composed for a particular purpose, are quoted by our Lord and his apostles as prophetic of events which occurred under the Gospel dispensation and are often so quoted as to be made the foundation of express argument. Such passages we must believe to be prophetic, on the authority of teachers of whose inspiration we have other sufficient proof. The prophecies thus contained in the book of Psalms, are of a very remarkable kind. They are expressed in the person of the writer. To him are generally ascribed the circumstances which were hereafter to take place: and they are related with the greatest precision The degree of connection between the primary and secondary meaning of these prophecies, varies in different instances. Sometimes the words appear, throughout, applicable, with nearly equal propriety, to both events. Sometimes a part appears to refer more immediately to the primary completion, and a part to the secondary. Sometimes the prophet expresses the secondary meaning almost excusively. And sometimes the primary appliation is most discernible, and a second evert is more obscurely intimated, with differen degrees of clearness. The book of Psalms, compared with the New Testament, would furnish numerous instances of each of these methods, in which secondary prophecy is delivered. (1) The second Psalm is a hymn composed by David, the anointed king of Israel, probably when he was first set upon the holy hill of Sion, triumphant over his numerous enemies. No one can peruse the Psalm, considering it to refer to the real transactions of David's life, without perceiving its plain application. The style is, indeed, highly figurative and poetical. The images are of the most animated kind. And some of the expressions convey such exalted ideas, that they seem to refer to some than the temporal king. tion is fixed upon this whole is consistent and appropriate. person more elevated Yet, while our attenprimary meaning, the But when, in compliance with the suggestions of other parts of Scripture," we again peruse the Psalm, considered as a prophecy of the exaltation and glory of the Messiah's kingdom; the very same words are found to apply to events more glorious than any in which David was engaged. And those expresjons, which might appear exaggerated, when applied only to an earthly sovereign, become the words of truth and soberness, when referred to Him, whose name is above every name. b Acts xiii. 33. Heb. i. 5. Rev. ii. 27. xix. 15. Lowth, De Sacra Poesi Hebræorum ; Phil. ii. 9. See Prælectio XI. p. 99. (2) In like manner, in the sixteenth Psalm, David prefers an earnest prayer for support, declares his love to the saints which are in the earth, and his detestation of idolatry; with an expression of his faith and trust in God, and his hope of a future resurrection. We cannot exclude the person of David, without violating every principle of just interpretation, when the whole Psalm is expressed in his name. Still the Psalm is expressly cited by St. Peter and St. Paul, as actually prophetic of Christ. The apostles, in each case, do not quote the words merely by accommodation or implication. They make the prophecy the foundation of reasoning. They justly remark, that part of the Psalm is, in its literal sense, inapplicable to David, whose flesh did see corruption; and they accompany their conclusion with an assertion, which no believer in revelation can gainsay, that David, being a prophet, spake of the resurrection of Christ. (3) Again, in the twenty-second Psalm, although the general strain of the whole plainly shews, that the prophet is speaking primarily of himself, the prophetic intention of the words of Scripture is more obvious than their application to the circumstances of David. It con Acts ii. 25. xiii. 35. tains, in fact, a prophecy wonderfully accurate in the most minute particulars, and even literally fulfilled; appropriated by our Saviour on the cross to himself; and accomplished by his bitterest enemies, who unconsciously adopted the very words, and performed the very actions, which the prophet had foretold. The words of David appear more like the narration of a past event, than the prediction of future transactions. (4) The forty-first Psalm, on the contrary, affords an instance, in which the primary application of the words to the history of David is direct, and their prophetic reference to the circumstances in which Christ was betrayed, is indirect. David was betrayed by Ahithophel, his counsellor, who afterwards hanged himself, when he saw that his counsel was not followed." This treachery David laments in several passages. "It was not an enemy that reproached me ck was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked 2 Mark xv. 34. e Matt. xxvii. 46. h 2 Sam, xvii. 23. |