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nity, foretelling a period not yet arrived, when the Jews should be converted to the religion of Christ, and stand foremost in their attachment to Christianity: when the Messiah should have grounds for selecting the Jewish nation above all others as a man selects one woman for his wife, and when the Jewish nation should look up to him above all others as a woman looketh up to her husband. It might mean, first, under the type of the bridegroom, to express the great affection the Messiah should have for his Church, and the protection and blessings he should confer upon it; and, secondly, under the type of the bride, to intimate the zeal and attachment with which the Christian Church should look up to the Messiah, and the perfect dependence it should place on him; and the description of the King, the bride, and her companions might be intended to intimate the power of the Messiah, the glory of his Church, and the success of his religion. It is one of the Psalms for Christmas Day. See Dr. Hales's 9th Dissertation, 301. 2 Slade, 195.

(m) v. 1. "Inditing of a good matter," or "labouring with a godly theme."Bishop Horsley.

(n)" Unto" or "of; concerning." Bishop Horsley renders it, "I address my performance to the King."

(0) "The King," i. e. "the Messiah." Hammond and Bishop Horsley observe, from the Jewish expositors, that "the King" in the Psalms always applies to the Messiah, unless there is something in the context to direct it to some other person.

(p) v. 3. "Thou," i. e. either "Solomon" or" the Messiah."

(9) "Fairer" or "purer:" and if the

5. Good luck have thou with thine honour: ride on, because (t) of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

6. Thy arrows (u) are very sharp, and the people shall be subdued (x) unto thee: even in the (y) midst among the King's (y) enemies.

7. Thy seat, O God (2), endureth for ever (a): the scep

Psalm refer to the Messiah, though he was to have "no form or comeliness, no "beauty that we should desire him, (Is. liii. "2.)"" he did no sin, neither was guilę "found in his lips. 1 Pet. ii. 22."

(r) "God." Hebr. Elohim.

(s) "For ever;" true of Christ: far from true of Solomon. See ante, 43. note (y).. (t) v. 5. "For "because," Bishop Horsley reads "in the cause of."

(u) v. 6. "Thy arrows, &c." The time of the Messiah is repeatedly noticed as a time of signal vengeance. See note on Psalm ii. 9.

(x)" Subdued, &c." This is so far true of Solomon that he "reigned over all "kingdoms, from the river" (Euphrates). "unto the land of the Philistines, and unto "the borders of Egypt, 1 Kings iv, 21." but his was a reign of peace.

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(૫) "The King's," i. e. "thine," he is addressing the King. "In the midst:" even there where they would be least assailable; so completely should they be subdued. The same idea occurs in the prophetic Psalm, cx. 2. "Be thou ruler, even in the midst among thine enemies." (z) v. 7. "O God." Hebr. Elohim; referring to the Messiah, Euseb. Eccl. Hist. B. 1. c. 3. p. 9. Basil. 80. Vaill. 37. And "would the Holy Ghost" (says Justin Martyr) "call any one Lord or God, except the Father of all, and his Christ ?" Justin Martyr, Dial. cum Tryphone, 277. and see 287.

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(a)" For ever." The perpetual duration of Christ's kingdom is repeatedly foretold; and as its fulfilment is now going on before our eyes, it is one of the many proofs of the authenticity of the Scriptures, and of the divine origin of our religion. In Ps. lxxxix. 30. it is said, " His seed will I "make to endure for ever, and his throne

tre of thy kingdom is a right | sceptre. (b)

8. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: wherefore God (c), even thy God (c), hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

9. All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia: out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

10. King's daughters were among thy honourable women : upon thy right hand did stand the (d) queen in a vesture of gold, wrought about with divers colours.

11. Hearken, O daughter (e), and consider, incline thine ear: forget (g) also thine own people, and thy father's house.

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as the days of heaven." In Ps. lxxii. 5. "They shall fear thee, as long as the sun " and moon endureth, from one gene"ration to another." According to Ps. cx. 1. he is to sit at God's right hand, till God shall make his enemies his footstool. His is the kingdom, which, (according to Dan. ii. 44.) The God of heaven should set "up, which shall never be destroyed;" it was to him that, (according to Dan. vii. 14.) "there was given dominion and glory, and "a kingdom, that all people, nations, and "languages should serve him, whose do"minion is an everlasting dominion, which "shall not pass away, and whose kingdom "is that which shall not be destroyed;" and, according to his own prophecy, (Matt. xvi. 18. ante, 190.) the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church. (b) Or, "a sceptre of righteousness is the "sceptre of thy kingdom.'

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(c) v. 8. "God," Hebr. Elohim, so that here is in verse 8. God anointing, and by referring to verse 7. it is God who is anointed. God the Father anointing, and Christ the God anointed. Vaill. 18.

(d) v. 10." The queen," i. e. (as many writers think) the Jewish nation when it shall have embraced Christianity.

(e) v. 11. "Daughter," i. e. (probably) her who in v. 10. is called " the queen.' (g) "Forget," i. e. either, " lay aside

12. So shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty for he is thy Lord God (h), and worship thou him.

13. And the daughter of Tyre (i) shall be there with a (k) gift : like as the rich also among the people shall make their supplication before thee.

14. The King's (1) daughter is (mall glorious (n) within: her clothing (o) is of wrought gold.

15. She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework: the virgins, that be her fellows, shall bear her company, and shall be brought unto thee.

16. With joy and gladness shall they be brought and shall enter into the King's palace.

17. Instead (p) of thy fathers

"those peculiarities which separate you "from other nations, (Justin M. Dial. cum Tryphone, 287.) or " disregard every "attachment which will interfere with

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your duty;" for in the language of Christ, "He that loves father or mother "more than me, is not worthy of me, "Matt. x. 37."

(h) v. 12. "Thy Lord God," or rather "thy Lord," (Hebr. Adoni). "God" is not in the original.

(i) v. 13. "The daughter of Tyre," i. e. (perhaps)" the greatest Gentile nations." (k) "A gift," i. e. " in worship."

(2) v. 14. "The King's daughter," i. e. (probably) her who in verse 10. is called "the queen," and in verse 11. is addressed as" daughter.

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(m) " Is," i. e. (probably) "must be," this will be required.

(n)" All glorious within," i. e. (probably) endowed with all internal graces, with every good quality of heart and mind.

(o)" Her clothing, &c." i. e. (perhaps) she has really all the worth she seems to have: there is no deception, no false shew.

(p) v. 17. "Instead, &c." Bp. Horsley thinks the rendering may be, " Thy child

ren shall be what their fathers were, i. e. "God's chosen people; their zeal for "Christ's religion, when converted, shall "intitle them to that distinction."

thou shalt have children: whom thou mayest make princes in all lands.

18. I will remember thy Name from one generation to another : therefore shall the people give thanks unto thee, world without end.

Psalm xlvi. (9) GOD is our hope and strength : a very present help in trouble.

2. Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved : and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;

3. Though the waters thereof rage and swell: and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.

4. The rivers (r) of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God: the the holy place of

(q) A song of triumph, written with great spirit upon some signal victory or deliverance, describing in very animated language the advantage of God's assistance and his irresistible power, and introducing God himself to increase the effect. It is supposed to have been written either, 1st, upon David's successes mentioned 2 Sam. viii.; or, 2dly, upon the destruction of the Moabites and Ammonites, who came up against Jehoshaphat, but turned against each other, as recorded 2 Chron. xx. (See post, 313. note on Psalm xlviii.); or, 3dly, upon the annihilation of Sennacherib's army, when the angel of the Lord smote in their camp one hundred and eighty-five thousand men. (See 2 Kings xix. 35. and Isaiah xxxvii. 36.) The recurring frequently to hymns written on signal instances of God's assistance, was calculated to keep the events constantly in their minds, and to inspire the highest opinion of God's power, and a thankful remembrance of his protection.

(r) v. 4. "The rivers, &c." i. e. (perhaps)"the most violent commotions, or the "most formidable irruptions shall be so con"trolled by God's power, that instead of dismay and despair, they shall produce "exultation and triumph, shall make the "city glad."

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(s) v. 6. "Make much ado," i. e. “hos"tilely_raise their forces, &c."

(t)

"The earth," i. e. "all human power." (u) v. 7. "The Lord, &c." The triumphant burthen of the song; the reason why they may despise all human efforts: where God assists, the event cannot be doubtful.

(x) v. 8. "Destruction, &c." i. e. " upon "our enemies."

(y) v. 9. "Maketh wars to cease, &c." i. e. (probably,) "by overcoming all human "means, frustrating all human devices."

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(2) "Breaketh, knappeth, burneth, &c." It was usual to burn and otherwise destroy much of the armour of their enemies after gaining a victory. This custom is probably referred to, Isaiah ix. 4, 5. Post, And in Ez. xxxix. 9, 10. after denouncing defeat the heathen on the mountains of Israel, God says, They that dwell in the "cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall "set on fire and burn the weapons, both "the shields and the bucklers, the bows and “the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, &c." So Virgil, Æn. viii. 561.

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"Scutorum incendi victor acervos."

See 2 Lowth's Isaiah 100. and Hos. ii. 18. X 4

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Lessons for the Ninth Day of the Month throughout the Year.

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"I will break the bow and the sword, and "the battle out of the earth."

(a) v. 10. "Be still then, &c." Evidently a change of person: God himself is introduced. This direction agrees with that given to the Jews in Jehoshaphat's time, when, in answer to Jehoshaphat's anxious prayer, God gave him this assurance, "Ye shall not need to fight in "this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, "and see the salvation of the Lord with 66 you, 2 Chron. xx. 17." and accordingly

under us and the nations under our feet.

4. He shall choose out an heritage for us: even the worship of Jacob, whom he loved.

5. God (c) is gone up with a merry noise and the (c) Lord with the sound of the trump.

6. O sing praises, sing praises

God stirred up their enemies to destroy each other, which they did.

(b) A spirited hymn, upon some solemn procession with the ark. It is one of the proper Psalms for Ascension Day.

(c) v. 5, "God," and "the Lord," typified by "the ark," the symbol of God's presence. Justin M. considers this and all that follows in this Psalm as prophetical, applying to the Messiah. Dial. cum Try. phone, 255.

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(d) v. 7. "Understanding, i. e. "skill, "judgment."

(e) v. 9." The princes, &c." i. e. either, "the heads of the Gentile nations are "united in worship with the Jewish peo"ple," or "the governors of distant districts "are come to join the rest of the people." (g) "For God, &c." "For whilst they are "concurring in the worship of God, their "territories will be safe. God shall defend "them." In Exod. xxxiv. 23, 24. when God directs all the males to appear before him thrice every year, he assures them that at those times no man shall desire their land; (that is,) they shall be free from invasions.

(h) A song of triumph upon some signal deliverance, perhaps that in the time of Jehoshaphat, when the Moabites and Ammonites, and the inhabitants of Mount Seir came up against him. See 2 Chron. xx. and the note on the 46th Ps. The alarm was great, and a fast was proclaimed; all Judah was gathered together out of all their cities to ask help of the Lord, and they stood before him with their wives and their children. God promised them deliverance, and stirred up their enemies to fall upon each other, which they did so effectually, that none escaped. The spoil was so great, that the Jews were three days in gathering it; on the fourth, they assembled in the valley of Berachak, and there they blessed the Lord and then they went up to Jerusa

2. The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth upon the north side lieth the city of the great King; God is well known in her palaces as a sure refuge.

3. For lo, the (i) kings of the earth are gathered, and gone by (k) together.

4. They marvelled to see such things (1): they were astonished and suddenly cast down.

5. Fear came there upon them, and sorrow as upon a woman in her travail.

6. Thou shalt break the ships (m) of the sea through the east wind.

7. Like as we have heard, so

lem, with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord. This was about 896 years before the birth of Christ. The Psalm notices the protection God afforded to Jerusalem, the discomfiture of her enemies, the advantages of its situation, and her perfect exemption from damage. It is also probably prophetical, taking occasion from this great interposition of God's assistance, to look forward to that preeminent deliverance, the redemption by Christ; and signifying beforehand the opposition it should experience, the discomfiture of its opponents, and the success and triumphs of its adherents. Jerome evidently so considers it. The strength of Sion may be considered as intimating the strength of Christ's church; founded on that rock, against which the powers of hell shall not prevail. It is one of the Psalms for Whitsunday.

(i) v. 3. So in Psalm ii. 2. " the kings of "the earth" are described as Christ's opposers.

(k) "Gone by," i. e. (probably)" in "military array.

(2) v. 4. "To see such things," i. e. “ at " what they saw."

(m) v. 6." The ships, &c." The Moabites, &c. came from beyond the sea, (2 Chron. xx. 2.) and this may refer to the destruction of their ships; or it may be only another similitude, Thou destroyedst "them, as the east wind destroys ships."

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