15. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors, I am distracted; Heb. I am distressed, not knowing which way to turn myself*. 16. Thy fierce wrath goeth over me, thy terrors have cut me off. 17. They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.

We are not to imagine that the holy Jesus suffered for us only at Gethsemane, and on mount Calvary. His whole life was one continued passion; a scene of labour and sorrow, of contradiction and persecution; "he was afflicted," as never man was, "from his

youth up," from the hour of his birth, when, thrust out from the society of men, he made his bed in the stable at Bethlehem; he was "ready to die,” a victim destined and prepared for that death which, by anticipation, he tasted of through life; he saw the flaming sword of God's " fierce wrath" waiting to "cut him off" from the land of the living; the "terrors" of the Almighty set themselves in array against him, threatening, like the mountainous waves of a tempestuous sea, to overwhelm his amazed soul. Let not the church be offended or despond, but rather let her rejoice in her sufferings, by which, through every period of her existence, from youth to age, she" filleth up that which is behind of the "afflictions of Christ," who suffers and will be glorified In his people, as he hath already suffered and been glorified FOR them. See Col. i. 24.

* Dominus ipse de se, Psal. lxxxviii. 16. "Fero terrores tuos; "animi linquor." Loquitur de extremis suis angoribus et doloribus. VITRINGA in Jesai. ii. 667.

18. Lover and friend hast thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

It is mentioned again, as a most affecting circumstance of Christ's passion, that he was entirely forsaken, and left all alone, in that dreadful day. The bitter cup was presented filled to the brim, and he drank it off to the dregs. No man could share in those sufferings by which all other men were to be redeemed. His "lovers and friends," his disciples and acquaintance, "were put far from him;" they all "forsook him, and fled," to hide themselves from the fury of the Jews, "in darkness," in dark, i. e. secret places. Thus it is written in the Psalms, and thus in the Gospels it is recorded to have happened. Oftentimes, O blessed Jesu, do we forsake thee; but do not thou forsake us, or take thy holy Spirit from us.

SEVENTEENTH DAY.-EVENING PRAYER.

PSALM LXXXIX.

ARGUMENT.

This Psalm is appointed by the church to be read on Christmas-day. It celebrates, ver. 1—4. the mercies of God in Christ, promised to David; 5-13. the almighty power of Jehovah, manifested in his works and dispensations; 14. his justice, mercy, and truth; 15-18. the happiness and security of his people; 19-37. his covenant made

with David, as the representative of Messiah, who should come of his seed; 38-45. the church lamenteth her distressful state, at the time when this Psalm was penned*; 46-51. she prayeth for the accomplishment of the promise; and, in the mean time, 52. blesseth Jehovah.

1. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

The "mercies of Jehovah" have ever employed the voices of believers to celebrate them. These mercies were promises to the human race, in their great representative and surety, before the world began; 2 Tim. i. 9. Tit. i. 2. they were prefigured by ancient dispensations; and, in part, fulfilled, at the incarnation of Christ. The "faithfulness" of God,, in so fulfilling them, is now "made known," by the holy services of the Christian church, "to all ge"nerations."

2. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever; thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

Whatever be at any time the state of the church on earth, she knoweth that the foundation of God standeth sure; that the sacred edifice, raised thereon,

* Sedeciâ capto, domo David e solio deturbatâ, promissiones Dei irritas videri propheta queritur, necdum adesse Christum. BOSSUET. Dr. Kennicott imagines it to have been composed by Isaiah, as a solemn and public address to God, at the time when Rezin and Pekah were advancing against Jerusalem.

will be incorruptible and eternal as "heaven" itself, where only mercy and truth are to have their perfect work, in the everlasting felicity of the redeemed. Of this felicity, which is to be the consummation of God's promises, and our hopes, we behold some faint resemblance, as often as we view the stability, the beauty, and the glory of the visible material "heavens."

3. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant: 4. Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all gene

rations.

The two former verses set forth a profession of faith in God's mercy: these two assign the ground of such faith; namely, the covenant which God is here introduced as declaring that he had made with David, and which he did make with him by the prophet Nathan 2 Sam. vii. 12. &c. The covenant relates to David's "seed," and to the "establishment of his

66

66

throne" in that seed; literally, in Solomon for a time; spiritually, in Christ for ever: "When thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which "shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish "his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his king"dom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be

my son." These last words are cited by the apostle, Heb. i. 5. as spoken of Christ, to evince his superiority over the angels. Yet, that the whole passage does, in the letter, relate to Solomon, can admit of no doubt, he being the "seed" and immediate

successor of David, and the person appointed "to "build an house for God's name." Here then we have an incontestable proof, that the covenant with David had Messiah for its object; that Solomon was a figure of him; and that the Scripture hath sometimes a double sense*. It is moreover to be observed, that the covenants made with Abraham, David, &c. all had their original and foundation in the covenant made with MESSIAH, who was the true Father of the faithful, the Beloved and Chosen of God; the great Prophet, Priest, and King; the only person qualified to be a Sponsor, and to engage in a covenant with the Father for mankind. His sufferings were the price of our redemption and because he suffered in the flesh, as "the "Son of David," therefore is he "established for

66

ever, and his throne built up to all generations." Remarkable are the words of the angel to Mary; "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of "his father David; and he shall reign over the house "of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall "be no end." Luke, i. 32.

5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD; thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints: or, The heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD; and the saints thy faithfulness. in the congregation.

Did not "the heavens praise the wonders of "Jehovah," when a choir of angels descended from above, to sing an anthem, at the birth of Christ?

*“Disposui testamentum :" percussi fœdus cum electo meo? id est, Davide et Christo.

VOL. III,

Bossuet.
I