God has been pleased to make certain gracious declarations in reference to our fallen race, of an absolute, that is, unconditional kind. His name being Jehovah, the unchanging One, all these declarations must, in due time, be fully carried out. Among these declarations there is what He said to the serpent in the hearing of our first parents: "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. iii. 15). There are also the declarations in His covenant with Abraham: "I will make of thee a great nation in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession

And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. xii. 2, 3; xvii. 7, 8; xxii. 18). There are also the declarations in His covenant with David: "I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish His kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom for ever

thy throne shall be established for ever" (2 Sam. vii. 12, 13, 16). Many other similar declarations there are; but all these declarations, in all their details, have to be fulfilled to the letter, because they are unconditional, and His name is Jehovah, the unchanging One. Bearing this in mind will greatly help to the understanding of all the prophetical writings, and of the Psalms in particular.

PART I.

PSALM I.

This psalm, as neither an address to God, nor an address from God, seems to present us with the moral of the whole Book of Psalms.

First, in reference to those that God has respect to. It is the man that walks in a course of separation from the wicked, delighting himself in Jehovah's word, that is blessed. Such a one shall, in due time, find himself possessed of full and enduring prosperity. Ver. 1-3. This, of course, implies a resurrection for those who have so walked, but have left this scene before the full time has come.

Secondly, in reference to those that God has not respect to. Presently, the wicked shall no more prosper in the earth. They shall not be able to stand when God rises up to judgment. They shall no longer be found in the congregation of the righteous, for they shall be consumed out of the earth (Ps. civ. 35; Prov. ii. 22; Matt. xiii. 41). Ver. 4-6.

PSALM II.

Who the speaker is in this psalm, or at least in the latter part of it, from ver. 7: "I will declare the decree: Jehovah said unto Me, Thou art My Son; it is I, this day, that have begotten Thee," we learn from Acts xiii. 32, 33, Hebrews i. 5, and Hebrews v. 5; for, according to these scriptures, the speaker in ver. 7 is the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen and glorified Son of God. That is, David's seed rather than David is to be understood here.

This psalm is thus a warning from Jehovah's anointed One, that is, from Jehovah's Christ, or Messiah, as risen from the dead and exalted to God's right hand, to the kings and judges

of the earth, as confederate against Jehovah and against His anointed One. Ver. 1-3.

Jehovah's counsel is that His anointed One shall reign upon Zion His holy mountain, and thence exercise sway, not only over Israel, but over all the earth; and Jehovah will in wrath, if they turn not, make good what He has ordained. Ver. 4-6. This clearly sets forth an earthly kingdom; it stands out in striking contrast with the heavenly calling of the church.

This confederate opposition of the kings and judges of the earth, in its first actings, is recorded in Acts iv. 24-28, where vers. 1 to 3 of this psalm are quoted, and applied to the slaying of Jesus by Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel; but it is not yet ended, for Jehovah's anointed One does not yet reign on mount Zion. Nay, in the last days it receives a fuller development than ever. In the last days the kings of the earth will be found assembled together in siege against Jerusalem (Zech. xiv.) determined to destroy the last testimony to the name of Christ out of the earth; and it is to this fuller development that this psalm especially refers. This opposition, in its first actings, was carried to great lengths, seeing Jehovah's anointed One was cast out and slain; but Jehovah raised Him up and gave Him glory, and addressed to Him this word: "Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for Thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Ver. 7-9.

But this is not all. Jehovah's anointed One has been raised up, not only to be a King, but also a Saviour: "Him hath God exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (Acts v. 31). He came originally to the children of Israel with a message of peace from God (Acts x. 36); but such a message to sinners needed His death. For this reason was His death

permitted, even because God was minded to save. Whilst nothing could more fully prove man's desperate state of ungodliness than their treatment of Him, Jehovah's anointed One, Jehovah's Son,-His death, as under God's hand, brought in salvation. Whilst He suffered for righteousness under man's hand, He suffered for sin under God's. Thereby all God's deep displeasure at man's ungodliness was displayed. Therefore He raised Him again the third day. As the result, repentance was to be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke xxiv. 47). It only remained that men should repent and turn to God. There is forgiveness and life for all such. But neither Israel nor the Gentiles have received this testimony. A party called of God, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles, are found receiving it (Rom. ix. 24). And this party, called the church, will, in due time, be caught up to heaven (1 Thess. iv. 16, 17). Then a fresh testimony to Christ will be raised up in Israel (Mal. iii. 5; Rev. xi. 3), and whilst those who compose this testimony will be, on the one hand, the means of bringing down upon the Jews the hostility of the apostate Gentiles, they will be, on the other hand, as intercessors for their unbelieving nation, the means of saving it; for when the nations are gathered together against Jerusalem to battle, and its destruction is imminent, Jehovah will, in answer to the cry of His godly ones, appear in the person of His anointed One for their salvation and for the destruction of their enemies. It is under these circumstances that the gracious word of warning at the close of the psalm is addressed to the opposing kings of the earth: "Now therefore, O kings, understand; be instructed, O judges of the earth," etc. Ver. 10-12.

This psalm may thus be called a key psalm, as not only bringing before us Jehovah's counsel, and so the groundplot of the Book of Psalms, but also two of the prominent parties concerned with that counsel,-Jehovah's appointed King, and the opposing kings of the earth.

PSALM III.

This and the four following psalms, to Psalm vii. inclusive, constitute a group illustrative of the sufferings of Jehovah's anointed One, under man's rejection, set forth in the previous psalm.

Jehovah's anointed One, under the sense of the numbers of His enemies, encourages Himself in Jehovah His God. Jehovah will answer Him when He calls upon Him. Ver. 1-4.

Jehovah His God is His confidence; He will put down all His enemies in due time. From Him alone comes deliverance. In the meantime, His blessing is upon His people. Ver. 5–8.

PSALM IV.

Jehovah's anointed One, under the sense of the contempt and opposition of the children of men, comforts Himself in God, His righteous God. Ver. 1.

At the same time He warns the children of men that Jehovah is not of their mind, that He is bent upon honouring "His godly One," and that He will hear Him when He calls upon Him. He bids them offer the sacrifices of righteousness, that is, sacrifices in righteousness (Mal. iii. 3), and to put their trust in Jehovah. Ver. 2–5.

In answer to the cry of the many after happiness, He testifies to the satisfying joy of the light of Jehovah's countenance. With such as find it, there is peace, whatever else for a time may be lacking. Ver. 6-8.

PSALM V.

Jehovah's anointed One encourages Himself in Jehovah, His King and His God, as a God that hates evil, although bearing so long with evil doers. Ver. 1-7.

He seeks guidance on account of the wiles of His enemies. Vers. 8 and 9. He prays that His enemies may be cast down, but that all those that take refuge in Jehovah may be glad. Ver. 10-12.