his other adversaries. what a full, perfect, and divine sense were they verified to Christ! That subtle enemy, which deceiveth the whole world,' was not able to deceive him; neither the sons nor the father of wickedness could overthrow and subdue him: all opposition fell before him, and they who hated him suffered unparalleled desolation; the promised faithfulness and mercy of Jehovah were ever with him, and his kingdom was exalted with glory and honour.

See 2 Sam. xxii. 1. And in

25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

The dominions of David and his son Solomon extended from the Mediterranean 'sea' to the 'rivers' Euphrates, &c.: the empire of Christ is universal over Jews and Gentiles, throughout all the earth. See Ps. lxxii. 8, &c.

26. He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. 27. Also I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth.

All this, if in some respects true of David, is much more emphatically so of our Lord Jesus Christ. 'Son of God' is one of his distinguished titles; of the Father' he continually spoke, and to the Father he addressed his prayers and cries, in the days of his flesh; as man he was raised and exalted by the power and glory of the Divinity; he was 'the first-born of every creature, the first begotten from the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.' Col. i. 15; Rev. i, 5. Make us, blessed Lord, the sons of God, and teach us to

cry, Abba, Father; give us victory and dominion over sin and death, that we may live and reign with thee for ever.

28. My mercy will I keep for, or, to, him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. 29. His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

God kept his mercy and covenant with David, by preserving the line of his posterity, until his great antitype, Messiah, the subject of all the promises, came, by whom the kingdom was established for ever, being changed into a spiritual one, which is to be transferred from earth to heaven, and rendered coeval with those eternal mansions of the blessed.

30. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgements; 31. If they break, or, profane, my statutes, and keep not my commandments; 32. Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. 33. Nevertheless my loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. 34. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

The posterity of David were to enjoy God's favour, or be deprived of it, as they proved obedient or disobedient to his law;' as they executed or perverted its civil 'judgments;' as they observed or neglected its ceremonial statutes,' or religious institutions; as they kept or broke its 'commandments,' or moral precepts. When they became rebellious, idolatrous, and profligate, the rod was lifted up, and due chastisement inflicted, sometimes

by the immediate hand of heaven, sometimes by the instrumentality of their heathen adversaries; famine and pestilence, war and captivity, were at different times employed to reclaim backsliding Israel. But still, the covenant' of God in Christ stood sure; the Jewish nation was preserved, through all changes and revolutions, until the Seed came to whom the promise was made;' nor was Jerusalem destroyed, before the new and spiritual kingdom of Messiah was set up in the earth. Christian communities, and the individuals that compose them, are in like manner corrected and punished for their offences. Nevertheless, God's loving kindness will he not utterly take from us, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail. His covenant will he not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips.' So I am with you always,' says the Redeemer, even to the end of the world; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against my church.' Matt. xxviii. 20. xvi. 18. Nor shall the world be destroyed, until Christ come again, and his glorious kingdom be ready to appear.

35. Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David. 36. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. 37. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven.

The promise, covenant, and oath of God, which he declareth shall never fail, are here repeated. They relate to Christ, that 'Seed,' or 'Son of David,' who 'endureth for ever.' His throne is resplendent as the sun,' and shall continue, after that luminary is extinguished: his church is permanent as the moon,' though, like her, suhject to

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vicissitudes, and liable, for a time, to be obscured by eclipses, during her present state upon earth. And while the rainbow shall be seen in the clouds, man has 'a faithful witness in heaven' of the immutable truth of God's word, and the infallible accomplishment of what he promises. Look upon the rainbow,' saith the wise son of Sirach, and praise him who made it: very beautiful it is in the brightness thereof: it compasseth the heaven about with a glorious circle, and the hands of the most High have bended it.' Ecclus. xliii. 11. But let us not forget likewise, when we look upon the rainbow, to praise him who made it to be a sign and sacred symbol of mercy; in which capacity we behold it, to our great and endless comfort, compassing the throne of Christ with a gracious, as well as glorious, circle. There was a rainbow round about the throne.' Rev. iv. 3; Ezek. i. 28.

38. But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed. 39. Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant; thou hast profaned his crown, by casting it to the ground.

In the former part of our Psalm, we have seen what the divine promises were, which had been made to the house of David. By the latter part, upon which we are entering, it appears that the Psalm was written at a time, when the church of Israel was in such a manner oppressed and reduced by her enemies, that her members began almost to despair of those promises receiving their accomplishment. God seemed to have' cast off' and abhorred' his anointed' and 'servant;' that is, David, or rather the prince of his family who was upon the throne when this captivity and desolation

happened; the 'covenant' seemed to be overturned and made void,' when the 'crown' of Israel was defiled in the dust.

40. Thou hast broken down all his hedges, thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin. 41. All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours. 42. Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. 43. Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle. 44. Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground. 45. The days of his youth hast thou shortened; thou hast covered him with shame.

The manifold calamities of Sion are in these verses enumerated, the demolition of fences and fortifications; the cruel ravages consequent thereupon; the shame of defeats; the reproaches and insults of victorious adversaries; the dishonours of violent and untimely death. In days like these here described, when the church and the king are permitted to fall into the hands of those who hate them, and to drink thus deeply of the cup of affliction, distrust and despondency are apt to seize upon the minds of men. Nay, when the faithful few beheld the true 'Son of David,' and 'Anointed' of Jehovah, in the day of his sufferings; when they saw him, without help or defence, 'spoiled and reproached by his neighbours;' when they viewed the right hand of his adversaries set up,' and all his enemies rejoicing' over him; his 'glory made to cease,' and his crown profaned in the dust; the days of his youth shortened,' and himself delivered over to a 'shameful' as well as painful