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Psalm from which it is taken, and see if it will not serve him as a key, wherewith to unlock the treasures of eternal wisdom; if it will not " open his eyes," and show him "wonderful things" in God's law. When we are taught to consider one verse of a Psalm as spoken by Messiah, and there is no change of person, what can we conclude, but that he is speaker through the whole? In that case, the Psalm becomes at once as much transfigured, as the blessed person, supposed to be the subject of it, was on mount Tabor. And if Messiah be the speaker of one Psalm, what should hinder, but that another Psalm, where the same kind of scene is evidently described, and the same expressions are used, may be expounded in the same manner?

It is very justly observed by Dr. Allix, that "although the sense of near fifty Psalms be fixed and settled by divine authors, yet Christ and his apos-. tles did not undertake to quote all the Psalms they could quote, but only to give a key to their hearers, by which they might apply to the same subjects the Psalms of the same composure and expression."* The citations in the New Testament were made incidentally, and as occasion was given. But can we imagine, that the church was not farther instructed in the manner of applying the Psalms to her Redeemer, and to herself? Did she stop at the applications thus incidentally and occasionally made by the inspired writers? Did she stop, because they had directed her how to proceed? We know she did not. The primitive Fathers, it is true, for want of critical learning, and particularly a competent knowledge of the original Hebrew, often wandered in their expositions; but they are unexceptionable wit nesses to us of this matter of fact, that such a method of expounding the Psalms, built upon the practice of the apostles in their writings and preachings, did universally prevail in the church from the beginning. They, who have ever looked into St. Augustine, know, that he pursues this plan invariably, treating of the Psalms, as proceeding from the mouth of Christ, or of the church, or of both, considered as one mystical person. The same is true of Jerome, Ambrose, Arnobius, Cassidore, Hilary, and Prosper. Chrysostom studies to make the Psalter useful to believers under the gospel. Theodore attends both to the literal and prophetic sense. But what is very observable, Tertullian, who flourished at the beginning of the third century, mentions it, as if it were then an allowed point in the church, that "almost all the Psalms are spoken in the person of Christ, being addressed by the Son to the Father, that is, by Christ to God." In this channel flows the stream of the earliest Christian expositors. Nor did they depart in this point from the doctrine held in the church of the ancient Jews, who were always taught to regard MESSIAH as the capital object of the Psalter. And though, when the time came, that people would not receive Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah, it does not appear that they ever objected to the propriety of the citations made by our Lord and his apostles, or thought such passages applicable to David only, and his concerns. Nay, the most learned of their Rabbies, who have written since the commencement of the Christian era, still agree with us in referring many of the Psalms to Messiah and his kingdom; differing only about the person of the one, and the nature of the other.

When learning arose, as it were, from the dead, in the sixteenth century, and the study of primitive theology by that means revived, the spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures revived with it. It was adopted, at that time, by one admirably qualified to do it justice, and to recommend it again to the world by every charm of genius, and every ornament of language.

Preface to his Book of Psalms, p. 9.

† Omnes pené Psalmi Christi personam sustinent,-Filium ad Patrem, id est Christum ad Deum verba facientem repræsentant.

I mean the accomplished Erasmus, who omitteth no opportunity of insisting on the usefulness, and even the necessity of it, for the right understanding of the scriptures; for the attainment of that wisdom which they teach, and that holiness which they prescribe; seeming to think himself never better employed, than when he is removing the earth and rubbish with which those Philistines, the monks, had stopped up the wells of salvation, opened by the apostles, and first fathers of the church, for the benefit of mankind.* This great man was much importuned by his learned friends, as he informeth us in an epistle to Cardinal Sadolet, to write a commentary on the Psalms. Such a work, executed by him, had been one of the richest gifts that were ever cast into the Christian treasury; as we may judge from the specimen which he hath left us, in his discourses on eleven of them. Some of these were drawn up with a view to enlarge upon the transactions of the times; and in all of them he is more diffuse and luxuriant, than, it is to be presumed, he would have been in a general exposition. But they abound with a rich variety of sacred learning, communicated in a manner ever pleasing, and ever instructive. If at any time he takes us out of the road, it is to show us a fine country, and we are still in company with Erasmus. He considers a Psalm, as it may relate to Christ, either suffering, or triumphant; as it may concern the church, whether consisting of Jews or Gentiles, whether in adversity or prosperity, through the several stages and periods of its existence; and as it may be applicable to the different states and circumstances of individuals, during the trials and temptations which they meet with, in the course of their Christian pilgrimage and warfare here below, till having overcome their last enemy, they shall sit down with the Lord in his kingdom; when the scheme of prophecy shall receive its final accomplishment, and "the MYSTERY of God be FINISHED."

It is obvious, that every part of the Psalter, when explicated according to this scriptural and primitive method, is rendered universally "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness;" and the propriety immediately appears of its having always been used in the devotional way, both by the Jewish and the Christian church. With regard to the Jews, Bishop Chandler very pertinently remarks, that "they must have understood David their prince to have been a figure of Messiah. They would not otherwise have made his Psalms part of their daily worship, nor would David have delivered them to the church, to be so employed, were it not to instruct and support them in the knowledge and belief of this fundamental article. Was the Messias not concerned in the Psalms, it were absurd to celebrate, twice a day, in their public devotions, the events of one man's life, who was deceased so long ago as to have no relation now to the Jews, and the circumstances of their affairs; or to transcribe whole passages from them into their prayers for the coming of the Messiah."§ Upon the same principle, it is easily seen, that the objections, which may seem to lie against the use of Jewish services in Christian congregations, cease at once. Thus, it may be said, Are we concerned with the affairs of David and of Israel? Have we anything to do with the ark and the temple? They are no more. Are we to go up to Jerusalem, and to worship on Sion? They are desolated, and trodden under foot by the Turks. Are we to sacrifice young bullocks, according to the law? The law is abolished, never to be

* Enchirid. Mil. Christ. in Præfat. Canon. 5. et passim.

† Lib. xxv. Epist. 11. Edit. Froben. 1085. Edit. Cler. Non semel rogatus sum quum ab aliis, tum ab Anglorum Rege, ut in omnes Psalmos ederem Commentarios; sed deterrebant me quum alia multa, tum illa duo potissimum, quod viderum hoc argumentem vix posse pro dignitate tractari, nisi quis calleat Hebræorum literas, atque etiam antiquitates; partim quod verebar ne turbâ Commentariorum obscuraretur Sermo Propheticus, citius quam illustraretur. § Defence of Christianity, First Part, p. 241.

+ Rev. x. 7.

observed again. Do we pray for victory over Moab, Edom, and Philistia; or for deliverance from Babylon? There are no such nations, no such places in the world. What then do we mean, when, taking such expressions into our mouths, we utter them in our own persons, as parts of our devotions, before God? Assuredly we must mean a spiritual Jerusalem and Sion; a spiritual ark and temple; a spiritual law; spiritual sacrifices; and spiritual victories; spiritual enemies; all described under the old names, which are still retained, though "old things are passed away, and all things are to become new."* By substituting Messiah for David, the gospel for the law, the church Christian for that of Israel, and the enemies of the one for those of the other, the Psalms are made our own. Nay, they) are with more fulness and propriety applied now to the substance, than they were of old to the "shadow of good things then to come." And therefore, ever since the commencement of the Christian era, the church hath chosen to celebrate the gospel mysteries in the words of these ancient hymns, rather than to compose for that purpose new ones of her own. For let it not pass unobserved, that when, upon the first publication of the Gospel, the apostles had occasion to utter their transports of joy, on their being counted worthy to suffer for the name of their dear Lord and Master, which was then opposed by Jew and Gentile, they broke forth into an application of the second Psalm to the transactions then before their eyes. See Acts iv. 25. The primitive Christians constantly followed this method in their devotions; and, particularly when, delivered out of the hands of persecuting tyrants by the victories of Constantine, they praised God for his goodness, and the glorious success and establishment of Christ's religion, no words were found so exquisitely adapted to the purpose, as those of David, in the xcvi. xcviii. and other Psalms-"Sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, and praise his name; be telling of his salvation from day to day. Declare his honour unto the heathens, his worship unto all people," &c. &c. &c. In these, and the like Psalms, we continue to praise God, for all his spiritual mercies in Christ, to this day.

The Psalms, thus applied, have advantages, which no fresh compositions, however finely executed, can possibly have; since, besides their incomparable fitness to express our sentiments, they are, at the same time, memorials of, and appeals to, former mercies and deliverances; they are acknowledgments of prophecies accomplished; they point out the connexion between the old and new dispensations, thereby teaching us to admire and adore the wisdom of God displayed in both, and furnishing, while we read or sing them, an inexhaustible variety of the noblest matter that can engage the contemplations of man.

Why is the mind more than ordinarily affected, and either melted into sorrow, or transported with joy, when on the days set apart for the commemoration of our Saviour's birth, passion, resurrection, &c. the proper Psalms are read, which the church hath appointed, following herein the directions of the evangelists and apostles, and the usage of the early ages? Why, but because, by such appointment, we are necessarily put upon transferring our ideas from the complaints or exultations of David and Israel, to those of a suffering or glorified Messiah, of whose sufferings or glories we participate, as members of his mystical body? And how much more intense would be the effect, if, in the sermons preached on such occasions, such

* 2 Cor. v. 17. Ergo arrige aures, Christiane Lector, et ubi talia in Davide legeris, tu mihi fac cogitas, non Arcam, fragile lignum, aut Tabernaculum contectum pellibus, non urbem lapidibus compositam: non Templum divinæ Majestati augustum; sed Christi et ecclesiæ Sacramenta, sed vivos lapides, Christo angulari lapidi coaptatos; sed ipsam Eucharistiam præsentis Dei testem; denique cæleste regnum et æternam felicitatem. Bossuet Dissertat. de Psal. Cap. i. ad fin.

† Heb. x. 1.

proper Psalms were expounded to the people, and their propriety evinced, as it might easily be? Discourses of this kind would make the hearts of the auditors to "burn within them," and men would cease to wonder, that three thousand Jews were converted to the faith, by St. Peter's animated discourse on part of the sixteenth Psalm. Were believers once brought well acquainted with these proper Psalms, they would be better enabled to study and apply the rest, which might likewise be explained to them at different times, and certainly afford the finest subjects on which a Christian orator can employ his eloquence. That this was done in the primitive church, we learn from the exposition of the Psalms left us by St. Chrysostom in the east, and St. Augustine in the west, those expositions still subsisting in the form of homilies, as delivered to their respective congregations. Is it not to be feared, that, for want of such instructions, the repetition of the Psalms, as performed by multitudes, is but one degree above mechanism? And is it not a melancholy reflection, to be made at the close of a long life, that, after reciting them at proper seasons, through the greatest part of it, no more should be known of their true meaning and application, than when the Psalter was first taken in hand at school!

Many sensible and well-disposed persons, therefore, who, when they read or sing the Psalms, desire to read and to sing "with the spirit and the understanding," have long called for a commentary which might enable them to do so; which might not only explain the literal sense of these divine compositions, and show how they may be accommodated to our temporal affairs, as members of civil society; but might also unfold the mysteries of the kingdom of God, which are involved in them, and teach their application to us, as members of that spiritual and heavenly society, of which Christ Jesus is the head, and for whose use, in every age, they were intended by their omniscient Author. A work of this kind, though often desired, has never yet been executed, upon any regular and consistent plan. The survey of a province in Theology, hitherto almost unoccupied among the moderns, which promised a great deal of pleasing as well as profitable employment, gave birth to the attempt which hath been made to cultivate it, in the ensuing commentary; in which the author has only endeavoured to evince, by an induction of particulars, the truth of what so many learned and good men have asserted in general, concerning the prophetical, or evangelical import of the Psalter. Dr. Hammond, in the preface of his Annotations, tells us, he chose to leave every man to make applications of this kind for himself, finding he had work enough upon his hands in the literal way. But so much having been done by him, and other able critics in that way, it seems to be now time that something should be done in the other, and some directions given, in a case where directions cannot but be greatly

wanted.

Very few of the Psalms, comparatively, appear to be simply prophetical, and to belong only to Messiah, without the intervention of any other person. Most of them, it is apprehended, have a double sense, which stands upon this ground and foundation that the ancient patriarchs, prophets, priests, and kings, were typical characters, in their several offices, and in the more remarkable passages of their lives, their extraordinary depressions, and miraculous exaltations, foreshowing Him who was to arise, as the Head of the holy family, the great Prophet, the true Priest, the everlasting King. The Israelitish polity, and the law of Moses, were purposely framed after * A concern for the present peace and prosperity of the world, and of that kingdom to which we belong, ought ever to be entertained and cherished by the most exalted Christian. And if this part of the subject should at any time, in the following work, appear to be but slightly touched upon, the reason is, because it lies obvious upon the surface, and has been so frequently inculcated by other expositors. Nor are mankind indeed so liable to forget the relation they bear to the world, as they are to overlook that which subsists between them and their Creator and Redeemer.

the example and shadow of things spiritual and heavenly: and the events which happened to the ancient people of God, were designed to shadow out parallel occurrences, which should afterwards take place in the accomplishment of man's redemption, and the rise and progress of the Christian church. For this reason, the Psalms composed for the use of Israel, and Israel's monarch, and by them accordingly used at the time, do admit of an application to us, who are now "the Israel of God,"* and to our Redeemer, who is the King of this Israel.†

Nor will this seem strange to us, if we reflect, that the same divine person, who inspired the Psalms, did also foreknow and predispose all events, of which he intended them to treat. And hence it is evident, that the spiritual sense is, and must be peculiar to the Scriptures; because, of those persons and transactions only, which are there mentioned and recorded, can it be affirmed for certain that they were designed to be figurative. And should any one attempt to apply the narrative of Alexander's expedition by Quintus Curtius, or the commentaries of Cæsar, as the New Testament writers have done, and taught us to do the histories of the Old, he would find himself unable to proceed three steps with consistency and propriety. The argument therefore, which would infer the absurdity of supposing the Scriptures to have a spiritual sense, from the acknowledged absurdity of supposing histories or poems merely human to have it, is inconclusive; the sacred writings differing in this respect, from all other writings in the world, as much as the nature of the transactions which they relate differs from that of all other transactions, and the author who relates them differs from all other authors.

"This double, or secondary sense of prophecy, was so far from giving offence to Lord Bacon, that he speaks of it with admiration, as one striking argument of its divinity. Ia sorting the prophecies of Scripture with their events, we must allow, says he, for that latitude, which is agreeable and fami liar unto divine prophecies, being of his nature, with whom a thousand years are but as one day; and therefore they are not fulfilled punctually at once, but have springing and germinant accomplishment through many ages, though the height, or fulness of them, may refer to some one age.

"But, that we may not mistake or pervert this fine observation of our great philosopher, it may be proper to take notice, that the reason of it holds in such prophecies only as respect the several successive parts of one system which being intimately connected together, may be supposed to come within the view and contemplation of the same prophecy; whereas it would be endless, and one sees not on what grounds of reason we are authorized to look out for the accomplishment of prophecy, in any casual unrelated events of general history. The Scripture speaks of prophecy, as respecting Jesus, that is, as being one connected scheme of providence, of which the Jewish dispensation makes a part: so that here we are led to expect that springing and germinant accomplishment which is mentioned. But, had the Jewish law been complete in itself, and totally unrelated to the Christian, the general principle-that a thousand years are with God but as one day-would no more justify us in extending a Jewish prophecy to Christian events, because perhaps it was eminently fulfilled in them, than it would justify us in extending it to any other signally corresponding events whatsoever. It is only when the prophet hath one uniform connected design before him that we are authorized to use this latitude of interpretation. For then the prophetic Spirit naturally runs along the several parts of such de

Gal. vi. 16.

†That expressions and descriptions in human writings are often so framed as to admit of a double sense, without any impropriety or confusion, is shown by the very learned Mr. Merrick, in his excellent Observations on Dr. Benson's Essay concerning the Unity of Sense, &c. subjoined to his Annotations on the Psalms.

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