"that were upon the earth, and upon such "as excel in virtue;" he declares his firm confidence in the mercy and protection of his God, and his full assurance of a future state. I have set God always before me,

for he is on my right hand, therefore I 26 shall not fall; wherefore my heart was glad and my glory rejoiced, my flesh also "shall rest in hope, for why, thou shalt "not leave my soul in hell, neither shalt "thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption.

Thou shalt shew me the path of life, in thy presence is the fullness of joy, and "at thy right hand there is pleasure for "evermore." It is true, the entire passage is prophetic of our Lord's resurrection, to whom alone the words, "thou shalt not' "suffer thy holy one to see corruption," are applicable, as the apostle Peter* argues with the Jews. But assuredly the Prophet had a clear idea of future eternal happiness, and a firm confidence that he would himself enjoy it.

The next psalm is not less express: he here opposes the sensual enjoyments, on which the

the wicked fix their desires, to the pure celestial happiness of another life. "Deli

ver, me, O Lord, from the ungodly, which "is a sword of thine, from the men of

thy hand O Lord, from the men I say,

"and from the evil world, which have their

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'portion in this life," &c. "But as for

me, I will behold thy presence in righ66 teousness, and when I awake *

up after

"thy

*The word translated, "awake," seems by an apt metaphor to mean, awakening from death to life, yp. It is used in this sense in Isaiah, xxvi. 19. and Daniel, xii. 2. where it can bear no other sense. Vide infra.

This passage was adduced by Leland, to prove the same point as I employ it for; and Warburton with his peculiar manner observes, "In this the dissenter Leland, as I remem"ber, in some of his things, seems much to triumph; but I "shall shew that it means nothing less." Warburton proceeds to observe, "That the words our translators render "shall have their portion in this life," ought to have been, "shall have their portion in this life of theirs;" i. e. “ shall "be perfectly prosperous." This, as seems to me, may be admitted, without affecting either mine or Leland's argument; the entire force of which lies in the contrast the Psalmist draws between the wicked, who are thus perfectly prosperous, and who transmit this prosperity even beyond their own lives, to their children; and his own expectation, which is, most literally, "I will behold thy face in righ"teousness; I shall be satisfied in awaking, with thy like"ness." The Septuagint reads, " In righteousness shall I "be seen by thy countenance; I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear:" and with this the Arabic and Ethio

pic

Thus again, in the twenty-first psalm, which appears to me principally prophetic of the Messiah's glory, though several commentators conceive it to be spoken of David himself alone: celebrating the divine mercy, which distinguished the king of whom he speaks with the blessings of goodness, and set a crown of pure gold upon his head: The Psalmist adds, "He asked life of thee, "and thou gavest him a long life, even "for ever and ever. His honour is great

"in

pic agree. The Syriac reads, "I shall be satisfied when "thy fidelity shall awake;" " and this," says Warburton, "means only, God's glorious and powerful interposition, in "David's PRESENT rescue from his enemies' hands." But let me ask, what then becomes of the contrast between the expectation of the Psalmist, and the fortune of those who are perfectly prosperous, and leave this prosperity to their children? Interpret David's expectation as of present deliverance, and the passage is obscure, unmeaning and forced: take it in its obvious meaning of a future happiness, it is clear, rational and beautiful. The former interpretation therefore,. could be justified only by the certainty that the Psalmist had and could have no idea of a future life; which is a plain petitio principii, a logical error with which all Warburton's interpretations appear to me to be infected; though he charges his opponents with exactly a similar petitio principii on their part, V. 5. p. 157. The public must decide.

"in thy salvation; glory and great worship "shalt thou lay upon him, for thou shalt

46

*

'give him everlasting felicity, and make

"him glad with the joy of thy counte"nance."

In the forty-ninth psalm, the inspired author with unusual solemnity, demands at+

* Our Bible translates the seventh verse, "Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him," instead of “shalt,” which makes the text less decisive. Undoubtedly the original will bear this sense, yet it seems not so natural as the other; and the Targum of Jerusalem, the Septuagint, the Ethiopic, the Arabic and the Vulgate versions, all use the future tense. The Syriac only agrees in adopting the past tense, in this and the next clause. But all unite in the sense of the fourth verse, a life for ever and ever." Vide Biblia Waltoni.

The author of this psalm is uncertain, and some verses, particularly the fifth, eighth and ninth, are obscure, I use the translation of our Bible, which appears to follow the original very closely; indeed so closely as to retain its obscurities. Houbigant, in his version, removes these obscurities, by some very slight alterations of the original text, which seem perfectly justifiable. The fifth verse (with him the sixth) he translates, "Why should I fear in the evil day, "because that misery surrounds me;" and justifies the change, by an easy and obvious alteration of the text. And the ninth (with him the tenth) he renders, " Qui desinit "in sæculum, adhuc vivet, non in perpetuum videbit fo"veam, etiainsi videbit eam;" and his criticism on this verse, if admitted, would directly establish the doctrine for which we contend. "In this verse," says he," is con"tained the enigma which the Psalmist prepared for, in

"the

tention to the doctrine he purposes to enforce. "O hear ye this, all ye people; give

46 ear

"the fourth verse;" viz. that though man must pay the debt of nature, yet he would survive his fate, and would "not eternally remain in the pit. And then the Psalmist, "on account of this hope of the immortality proposed to "man, reproaches him with not providing for this immortality, but limiting his hopes to the present life, and thus 'becoming like the brutes." This interpretation Houbigant justifies, by a mere alteration of the punctuation in the original. Vide Houbigant. But there is scarcely any ambiguity of meaning, or difference of interpretation as to the fourteenth and fifteenth verses, on which my argument depends. The Ethiopic, the Syriac and the Arabic versions all give the same sense. The Arabic is, if possible, more exclusively applicable to a future life in verse fifteenth : "But God will free my soul from the power of the gravė, "when he shall receive it," i. e. my soul. Bishop Patrick, who was not sedulous to discover in the Old Testament indications of a future state, applies both these verses to the resurrection. But Horne's paraphrase is so strikingly beautiful, I cannot refrain from transcribing it. v. 14. "The

"

high and mighty ones of the earth, who cause people to "fear, and nations to tremble around them, must one day crowd the grave; in multitude and impotence, though "not in innocence, resembling sheep, driven and confined by the butcher in his house of slaughter. There death, "that ravening wolf, shall feed sweetly on them, and devour his long expected prey in silence and darkness; un"til the glorious morning of the resurrection dawn, "when the once oppressed and afflicted righteous, risen from the dead, and sitting with their Lord in judgment, shall have the dominion over their cruel enemies, whose faded beauty, withered strength and departed glory, shall display

"