in use among the sons of Adam. The same is to be said with regard to words which seem to attribute many other human passions and affections to the Deity: as, for instance, these which follow:

5. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.' 6. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.'

The meaning is, that by pouring out his indignation upon the adversaries of Messiah, as formerly upon those of David, God would no less evidently convict and reprove their folly and impiety, than if he had actually thus spoken to them from his eternal throne above: 'Yet, notwithstanding all your rage against him, have I raised from the dead, and exalted as the Head of the church, my appointed King Messiah; in like manner as I once set his victorious representative David upon my holy hill of Sion, in the earthly Jerusalem, out of the reach of his numerous and implacable enemies.' Let us reflect, for our comfort, that He who raised up his son Jesus, has promised to raise up us also who believe in him; and that the world can no more prevent the exaltation of the members, than it could prevent that of the Head.

7. 'I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee.'

Jesus, for the suffering of death, crowned with honor and immortality, upon the holy hill of Zion, in the new Jerusalem, now, 'declares the decree,' or preaches the Gospel of the everlasting covenant. His part in the covenant was performed by keeping the law, and dying for the sins of men. Nothing therefore remained but the accomplishment of the promise made to him by the Father, upon those conditions. One part of this promise was fulfilled, saith St. Paul, 'in that he had raised up Jesus again; as it is written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee:' Acts xiii. 33. Another part was fulfilled at the ascension of Christ, and his inauguration to an eternal kingdom, and an unchangeable priesthood, as the true Melchizedek, King of righteousness, King of peace, and Priest of the most high God. The next article in the covenant, on the Father's side, was the enlargement of Messiah's spiritual kingdom,

by the accession of the nations to the church. And accordingly, this was the next thing which Jehovah said unto him,' after having proclaimed his Sonship and preeminence; as we find by the following verse:

8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.'

Christ was to enter upon the exercise of the intercessorial branch of his priestly office with a request of the Father, that the heathen world might be given for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession,' in return for the labors he had undergone, and the pains he had endured: as also to supply the place of the Jews, who were his original 'inheritance and possession,' but were cast off, because of unbelief. That such request was made by Christ, and granted by the Father, the person who writes this, and he who reads it, in a once Pagan, but now Christian island, are both witnesses.

9. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.'

The irresistible power and inflexible justice of Christ's kingdom are signified by his ruling with a rod of iron;' the impotence of those who presume to oppose him, is compared to that of a potter's vessel,' which must fly in pieces at the first stroke of the iron rod. The power of Christ will be manifested in all, by the destruction either of sin, or the sinner. The hearts which now yield to the impressions of his Spirit, are broken only in order to be formed anew, and to become vessels of honor, fitted for the Master's use. Those which continue stubborn and hardened, must be dashed in pieces by the stroke of eter

nal

vengeance.

10. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 11. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling."

The decree of the Father, concerning the kingdom of the Son, being thus promulgated by the latter, an exhortation is made to the kings of the earth, that they would learn true wisdom, and suffer themselves to be instructed unto salvation; that they would bow their sceptres to the cross of Jesus, and cast their crowns before his throne;

esteeming it a far greater honor, as well as a more exalted pleasure, to serve Him, than to find themselves at the head of victorious armies, surrounded by applauding nations.

12. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way; when his wrath is kindled but a little, blessed are all they that put their trust in him.'

Christ beseeches kings, no less than their subjects, to be reconciled to him, and by him to the Father: since a day is at hand, when mighty men shall have no distinction, but that of being mightily tormented. And then will be seen the 'blessedness' of those who 'put their trust in' the Lord Jesus. For when the glory of man shall fade away as the short-lived flower of the field, and when all, that is called great and honorable in princes, shall be laid low in the dust, he shall give unto his faithful servants a crown without cares, and a kingdom which cannot be moved.

PSALM III.

ARGUMENT.

[This Psalm is said to have been composed by David, when he fled from his son Absalom. Thus circumstanced, he expresses himself in terms well adapted to the parallel case of the Son of David, persecuted by rebellious Israel; as also to that of his church, suffering tribulation in the world. 1, 2. He complains, in much anguish, of the multitude of his enemies, and of the reproaches cast upon him, as one forsaken by God; but, 3. declares, notwithstanding, his sure trust in the divine promises; 4, 5. he relates the success of his prayers, 6-8. derides the impotent malice of his enemies, and ascribes salvation to Jehovah.]

1. 'LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me.'

David is astonished to find, that the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom,' 2 Sam. xv. 13.; that his counsellors are revolted, and his friends falling off continually; and that the king of Israel is forced to leave his capital

mourning and weeping. Thus, led forth out of Jerusalem by his own children in arms against him, the holy Jesus went, forsaken and sorrowing, to the cross, in the day of trouble. Thus is the church oftentimes opposed and betrayed by her sons, and the Christian by his passions and affections. So true it is, that a man's foes are they of his own household.' But he who by prayer engages the assistance of Jehovah, will rise superior to them all.

2. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in GOD.'

Affliction and desertion are two very different things, but often confounded by the world. Shimei reviled David, as reprobated by heaven; and the language of the Shimeis afterward, concerning the Son of David, was, 'He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him.' See 2 Sam. xvi. 8. Matt. xxvii. 43. The fearful imaginations of our own desponding hearts, and the suggestions of our crafty adversary, frequently join to help forward this most dangerous temptation, in the hour of sorrow. What therefore hath faith to offer? We shall hear

3. But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head.'

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Such is the answer of David, and of all the saints, but above all, of the King of saints, to the temptation before mentioned. Jehovah is a 'shield' against this, and all other fiery darts, shot by Satan and his associates: he is the glory' of Christ and the church, with which they will one day be seen invested, though for a season it appear not to the world, any more than did the royalty of David, when, weeping and barefoot, he went up mount Olivet: 2 Sam. xv. 30. The same Jehovah is the lifter up of our heads,' by the gift of holy confidence, and the hope of a resurrection, through that of Jesus Christ, prefigured by the triumphant and happy return of David to Jerusalem.

4. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.'

David driven from Jerusalem, still looked and prayed towards the 'holy hill' of Sion. Christ, when a stranger on the earth, 'made supplication, with strong crying, to Div. No. XXI.

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his Father in heaven. Christ was heard for his own sake; David was heard, and we shall be heard, through him.

5. 'I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me.'

Behold David, in the midst of danger, sleeping without fear; secure, through the divine protection, of awaking to engage and vanquish his enemies. Behold the Son of David composing himself to his rest upon the cross, that bed of sorrows; and commending his spirit into the Father's hands, in full confidence of a joyful resurrection, according to the promise, at the time appointed. Behold this, O Christian, and let faith teach thee how to sleep, and how to die; while it assures thee, that as sleep is a short death, so death is only a longer sleep; and that the same God watches over thee, in thy bed and in thy grave. 6. 'I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.'

Faith, revived and invigorated by prayer, and fixed on God alone, is a stranger to fear, in the worst of times. The innumerable examples of saints rescued from tribulation, and, above all, the resurrection of the Son of God from the dead, render the believer bold as a lion, although the name of his adversary be 'Legion.'

7. Arise, O LORD! save me, O my God! for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek-bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.'

The church, through Christ, prayeth in these words of David, that Jehovah would arise, as of old time, in the power of his might; that he would finally break the power of Satan and his adherents; pluck the spoil out of the jaws of those beasts of prey; and work that glorious deliverance for the members, which is already wrought for the Head, of the body mystical.

8. Salvation belongeth,' or be ascribed, unto the LORD; thy blessing is,' or be, upon thy people.'

The Psalm ends with an acknowlegement, which ought always to fill the heart, and, on every proper occasion, to flow from the mouth of a Christian; namely, that 'salvation' is not to be had from man, from the kings of the earth, or the gods of the heathen, from saints or