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pronounce the irreversible sentence, not a creature then present shall be able to accuse that sentence of injustice. After this model should the thrones of princes, and the tribunals of earthly magistrates, be constituted in "justice and judgment," adorned with "mercy and truth."

15. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy

countenance.

Next to the praises of Jehovah, is declared the happiness of those who have Him for their God; who "know the joyful sound, or sound of the trumpet," by which the festivals of the Jewish Church were proclaimed, and the people were called together to the offices of devotion; who enjoy the "light" of truth, and through grace are enabled to "walk" therein. These blessings are now become our own: the evangelical trumpet hath sounded through the once heathen world; the Sun of righteousness hath risen upon all nations. Let us attend to the "joyful sound;" let us "walk" in the glorious "light."

16. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. 17. For thou art the glory of their strength and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted. 18. For the LORD is our defence; and the holy One of Israel is our King.

It is the duty of Christians, as it was that of Israelites, to ascribe all their strength, their success, and their glory, whether in matters temporal or spiritual, to Jehovah alone. Having heard the sound, and experienced the illuminating and reviving influences of the Gospel, in the name and in the salvation of God we rejoice all the day, and in his righteousness only we trust to be exalted to heaven: to Him we attribute the glory of that

strength, with which, in time of temptation, we may find ourselves happily endued; and in his favour, or grace, our horn, or the efforts of our power, shall be exalted, and crowned with victory ; our defence in all dangers is from Jehovah, who was ever the shield of his ancient people: and the Holy One of Israel is our Redeemer and our King.

19. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid, or, placed, help upon, or, in, one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

The covenant made with David was mentioned in general terms above, at verses 4, 5. But a more particular account is now given of God's dispensations relative to the son of Jesse, and his posterity. We are presented with the substance of the revelation made upon this subject, "in vision," to one of the prophets, perhaps Samuel, or Nathan, here styled an "holy one,' or religious person, one favoured and accepted by God, who is introduced as manifesting to this his prophet the Divine counsels concerning David: "I have placed help upon, or in, one, who shall become an eminent and mighty Saviour of Israel; from among all the people I have chosen, and determined to exalt him, for that purpose to the throne." Thus was Messiah foretold, in prophetical visions and revelations, as the person designed to be the mighty Redeemer of his Church; thus, in the fulness of time, was He chosen from among all the children of men, and exalted, through sufferings, to an eternal throne.

20. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him : 21. With whom my hand shall be established; mine arm also shall strengthen him.

David was the servant of God; he was, by

the prophet Samuel, anointed with oil; he was strengthened and established in his kingdom, by the hand and arm of Jehovah. But never let Christians fail, in this eminently figurative character, to contemplate that true DAVID (for so HE is called, Ezek. xxxiv. 23. xxxvii. 25.) the BELOVED Son of God; "the servant and elect of Jehovah, in whom his soul delighted, and on whom he put his spirit;" Isa. xlii. 1, whom He "anointed with his holy oil, with the oil of gladness, with the Holy Ghost and with power;" Ps. xlv. 7. Acts x. 38. whom He strengthened, and established in his spiritual kingdom, with his hand and arm, and the might of his omnipotence.

22. The enemy shall not exact upon, or, deceive, him nor the son of wickedness afflict, or, subdue, him. 23. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him. 24. But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

These promises were fulfilled to David, when God delivered him out of the hand of Saul, and of all his other adversaries. See 2 Sam. xxii. 1. And in 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.

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 İ 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 judgments; 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

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