forters but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. For thy sake I have borne reproach: shame hath covered my face. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee have fallen on me.” This is obviously an appeal of suffering innocence to the bar of a righteous God. Hence the fifth verse cannot be a confession of folly and sin as it stands in the text, but should be paraphrased thus: "O God, thou knowest whether the accusations of folly be true, or whether I be guilty of the crimes alleged to my charge." Most of the preceding passages are applied to Christ in the New Testament, John ii. 17. xv. 25. xix. 29. Rom. xv. 3. Ver. 22-28. "Let their table become a snare before them," &c. This is a prophecy of the destruction which should overtake the enemies of Christ. And their table remarkably became a snare to them, when they were gathered to the paschal feast, in the seventieth year of our Lord, and instigated to rebel against the Romans. The three last verses seem to predict the re-establishment of the Jews in the latter day's glory of the church.

12. The seventy-second psalm is a prediction of the glory and extent of the Messiah's kingdom. It may; indeed, be applied to Solomon, who was a type of Christ; but if restricted to him, the language is highly improper. This will appear by citing a few verses: "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers that water the earth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him. His name shall endure for ever; his name shall continue as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed." So it shall be in the Messiah's kingdom, when "the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as waters the sea."

D

13. Psalm xcv. 7, 11. "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the day of provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, it is a people that do err in their hearts, and they have not known my ways. Unto whom I sware in my wrath, that they should not enter into my rest." This prophecy is copiously illustrated and applied by Saint Paul to the gospel dispensation, Heb. iii. 7, 8. iv. &c. The day, has a plain reference to the day of Christ, Isa. xii. 1. Jer. xxiii. 6. Zech. xiii. 1. The voice, is God's address to us in the Christian ministry. John, who opened the commission, says, "I am the voice of one crying In the wilderness," &c. The forty years, correctly apply to the forty years patience of God, with the hardened Jews, under the gospel dispensation, before he destroyed their sanctuary, and dispersed their nation. The rest is heaven, including purity of heart, as the previous qualification for it. God grant that we may not exclude ourselves by hardness and unbelief!

14. Psalm cx. "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thine adversaries. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, (armies or dominion*) in the beauty of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen; he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the way; therefore shall he lift up his head." The ancient Rabbins applied this psalm to the Messiah, and with

* So Bishop Reynolds, Dr. Hammond, and Dr. Wall translate it.

so much propriety, that the modern Jews cannot evade · the application, but by the absurd idea, that it was composed by Abraham's servant in honor of his master. But this is perverting the title-" A psalm of David." Besides, the language is altogether too strong to admit of such an interpretation. He never judged the heathen nations, or made war except to rescue Lot. The whole is a beautiful and striking prediction of the regal and priestly offices of Christ, who according to the whole train of prophecy, will either convert or destroy the nations.* › Thẹ last verse is probably expressive of his passion. After having drank the bitter cup, he raised his head from the tomb.

15. Psalm cxviii. 19, 24. "Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go into them; and I will praise the Lord. This is the gate into which the righteous shall enter. The stone which the builders rejected is become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad." These are the gates of righteousness and sanctification, which the Lord hath opened to a sinful world, and no man can shut them. Penitent sinners may now enter his spiritual sanctuary, and serve him in holiness and righteousness of life. Scribes and Pharisees were the builders of the Jewish church, and they rejected the humble Messiah; but God made him the chief corner-stone, when he raised him from the dead, and constituted him head over all things to the church, which is his body, and the fulness of him that filled all in all.

The

16. In the book of psalms, many prophecies are found respecting the conversion of the Gentiles to the Messiah, and the destruction of his enemies; most of which have been omitted, because of the frequency of their recurrence. There is but one prediction more which shall be considered. It is a very distinguished promise concerning the establishment of the house of

*See Section viii, Article

David on the throne of Israel for ever. The reader is requested to consult at large Psalm lxxxix. cxxxii. 2 Sam. vii. Ezek. xxxiv. where the Lord covenants with David to build him a sure house, and cause his femily to reign before him as long as the sun, the moon, and the heavens shall endure. He remarkably adds, that if his children should offend, he would visit their iniquities with the stripes of sickness, war, and death; but not so as to exterminate the royal line. This covenant, God faithfully kept in view for a thousand years, and through the most afflictive vicissitudes of national disaster, until he had fully accomplished it in the birth of Jesus, who sitteth upon the throne of his father David for ever, Luke i. 33. On the death of Ahaziah, Athaliah his mother seized the government, and put to death all the seed-royal, except Joash, an infant, who was concealed in the temple, 2 Chron. xxii. And even after a long captivity of the whole nation, God brought back the royal family, (frequently called by Josephus, the Asmonæan family) to be prinees and governors in Judea under both the Grecian and Roman monarchies. This instance of God's faithfulness, which forms so distinguished a feature in the sacred and Jewish history, affords the most solid consolation to sincere believers; for so will the Lord fulfil all his promises. But it affords no licentious hope to actual backsliders and apostates, that their sins shall be visited merely with bodily stripes. Ahaziah, and Amon, and Jehoahaz, kings of Judah, and many of the princes, were, so far as we can judge, cut off in their sins.

17. Entering now on the book of Isaiah, we find him abound with luminous and elegant predictions; but shall restrict ourselves to those which immediately respect the person of Christ. Chapter the seventh, we have an explicit prediction of his mysterious incarnation. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, combined to subvert the throne of David, and they entered Judea with formidable armies. Abaz,

of Judah, and his army, were greatly alarmed;

but in the moment of danger, God sent Isaiah, with his infant son Shear-Jashub, to promise them victory, and to renew the promise of the Messiah. As a pledge of its certainty, he bade the king ask a sign. But Ahaz said, "I will not ask a sign, neither will I tempt the Lord." Then said Isaiah, ver. 14, 15. "The Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and (she) shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." He then denounced the punishment of death on the two invaders, which he assured Ahaz should take place before his son Shear-Jashub should know how to choose good and refuse evil.

18. Similar to the above, is the prediction we have, chapter the ninth, concerning the birth, character, and government of Christ. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and his kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice, from henceforth, and forever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." The language of the prophecy is so plain and appropriate, as to supersede the necessity of explication.

19. Isa. xxviii. 16. "Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone-a tried stone-a precious corner-stone-a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste," or be confounded. "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters overflow the hiding place." These words are addressed to the haughty rulers of Jerusalem, who ridiculed the judgments of God, and confided in a refuge of lies. The prophet assures them, that God will build a safer sanctuary of