Whatever be at any time the ftate of the church on earth, the knoweth that the foundation of God ftandeth fure; that the facred edifice, raised thereon, will be incorruptible and eternal as "heaven" itself, where only mercy and truth are to have their perfect work, in the everlasting felicity of the redeemed. Of this felicity, which is to be the confummation of God's promifes, and our hopes, we behold fome faint refemblance, as often as we view the ftability, the beauty, and the glory of the vifible material "heavens."

3. I have made a covenant with my chofen, 1 have fworn unto David my fervant: 4. Thy feed will I eftablish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.

The two former verfes fet forth a profeffion of faith in God's mercy: these two affign the ground of fuch faith; namely, the covenant which God is here introduced as declaring that he had made with David, and which he did make with him by the prophet Nathan. 2 Sam. vii. 12, &c. The covenant relates to David's "feed," and to the "establishment "of his throne" in that feed; literally, in Solomon, "When for a time; fpiritually, in Chrift, for ever.

thy days fhall be fulfilled, and thou fhalt fleep "with thy fathers, I will fet up thy feed after thee, "which fhall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will "establish his kingdom. He fhall build an house "for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he "fhall be my fon." Thefe laft words are cited by the Apostle, Heb. i. 5. as fpoken of Chrift, to

evince his fuperiority over the angels. Yet, that the whole paffage does, in the letter, relate to Solomon, can admit of no doubt, he being the "feed" and immediate "fucceffor" of David, and the perfon appointed to "build an houfe for God's naine." Here then we have an inconteftable proof, that the covenant with David had Meffiah for it's object; that Solomon was a figure of him; and that the Scripture hath fometimes a double fenfe *. It is moreover to be observed, that the covenants made with Abraham, David, &c. all had their original and foundation in the covenant made with MESSIAH, who was the true Father of the faithful, the Beloved and Chofen of God; the great Prophet, Prieft, and King; the only perfon qualified to be a Sponfor, and to engage in a covenant with the Father, for mankind. His fufferings were the price of our redemption: and because he fuffered in the flesh, as "the "fon of David," therefore is he "established for

ever, and his throne built up to all generations." Remarkable are the words of the angel to Mary; "The Lord God fhall give unto him the throne of "his father David; and he shall reign over the house "of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall "be no end." Luke i. 32.

5. And the heavens fhall praife thy wonders, O Lord; thy faithfulness alfo in the congregation of the faints: Or, The heavens fhall praife thy wonders, O LORD; and the faints thy faithfulness in the congregation.

* "Difpofui teftamentum:" percuffi fœdus cum electo meo: id eft, Davide et Chrifto. BOSSUET. H

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Did not "the heavens praife the wonders of Je"hovah," when a choir of angels defcended from above, to fing an anthem, at the birth of Chrift? And how muft the celeftial courts have refounded with the hallelujahs of thofe bleffed fpirits, when they again received their King, returning in triumph from the conqueft of his enemies? Nor do " the "faints" omit to celebrate God's "faithfulness in "the congregation" upon earth, while "with angels " and archangels, and all the company of heaven, "they laud and magnify his glorious name, evermore "praising him, and faying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord "God of hofts, Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. Glory be to thee, O Lord most high."

6. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? Who among the fons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? 7. God is greatly to be feared in the affembly of the faints; and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. 8. O LORD God of hofts, who is a frong LORD like unto thee? Or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Or, and thy faithfulness is round about thee.

These verses proclaim that right and title which Jehovah hath to the praises of all his creatures in "heaven and earth." No one of them, however excellent and glorious, however deified and adored by fond and foolish man, can enter the lifts, and contest the fuperiority with it's Maker. High over all is the throne of God: before him "angels" veil their faces, "faints" proftrate themselves with loweft reverence, and created nature trembles at his word: his "power"

is almighty, and derived from none; and with "truth" he is on all fides invefted as with a garment: the former enables him, the latter (if we may fo exprefs it) binds him to perform those gracious. promises, which mercy prompted him to make, concerning our eternal redemption.

9. Thou ruleft the raging of the fea: when the waves thereof arife, thou ftilleft them.

The extent of the ocean, the multitude of it's waves, and their fury, when excited by a storm, render it, in that state, the most tremendous object in nature; nor doth any thing, which man beholds, give him fo juft an idea of human impotence, and of that divine power, which can excite and calm so boisterous an element, at pleasure. God himself therefore frequently appeals to this inftance of his omnipotence: See Job xxxviii. 11. Jer. v. 22. an attribute, of which our Lord fhewed himself to have been poffeffed, when, being with his difciples in the ship, he atose and rebuked a tempeftuous wind and a raging fea, and there was inftantly a calm. In all our troubles and temptations, be thou, blessed Jefu, with us, and then they shall never finally overwhelm

us.

10. Thou haft broken Rahab, i. e. Egypt, in pieces, as one that is flain: thou haft fcattered thine enemies with thy ftrong arm.

The deftruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptians is here mentioned, as another inftance of God's mighty power. And it is probable, that the foregoing verfe was intended to allude more particularly to that miraculous exertion of God's fovereignty over the wa

ters, the divifion of the Red Sea, which happened at the fame time; as thefe two events are generally spoken of together. Thus Ifaiah: "Art thou not it "that hath cut Rahab, i. e. Egypt, and wounded "the dragon, i. e. Pharaoh? Art thou not it which "hath dried the fea, the waters of the great deep, "that hath made the depths of the fea a way for the "ranfomed to pafs over ?" li. 9. The fame power, which effected all this, hath fince, in Chrift Jefus, overcome the world, destroyed the works of the devil, and ranfomed mankind from the depths of the grave.

11. The heavens are thine, the earth alfo is thine : as for the world, and the fulness thereof, thou haft founded them. 12. The north and the fouth, thou haft created them; Tabor and Herman fhall rejoice in thy name.

The "heavens," and all the glorious bodies there ranged in beautiful order; the "earth," with it's rich furniture, and the unnumbered tribes of it's inhabitants, through it's whole extent, from " north to

fouth," and from eaft to weft; all these are so many evidences of that wisdom and power, which at the beginning contrived and formed them; all, in their respective ways, declare the glory, and speak the praises of their great Creator; but chiefly the holy land, and the fruitful hills which adorned it, "Tabor" in one part, and "Hermon” in another, formerly feemed, as it were, to " rejoice" and fing, for the abundant favours fhowered down upon them by the God of Ifrael, who hath fince caufed all nations no lefs to exult and triumph in his faving

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13. Thou