CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS. PSALM I. 1 BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; His leaf also shall not wither;-and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. away 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:-but the way of the un- THE first sound of the harp of the sweet singer of Israel* * David's name is prefixed to seventy-three Psalms; but he is understood to A The Theme. Historical allusion. Proplietic reference. tree-like some palm or pomegranate-tree,*-laden with fruit, or like that tree of life in Rev. xxii. 2, that yieldeth its fruit every month, and yieldeth fruit of all variety. "Every bud of it grows into a grain," says the Targum, on the words "all that he doeth shall prosper," taking y as it is used in Gen. vii. 11, 12. "He is the very contrast to the barren fig-tree, withered by the curse," says a modern interpreter. Perhaps this comparison to the tree and the streams should carry us back to Eden, and suggest the state of man holy and happy there. Redeemed man rises up again to Eden-blessedness. Is it the fact of its occurrence in this Psalm, or is it simply the expressiveness of the similitude, that has led to its repetition in Jer. xvii. 8? But, besides, we are carried back to Joshua by the language used regarding the man's prosperity. Joshua's career was one of uninterrupted prosperity, except in one single case, when he forgot to consult the Lord; and the Lord's words to him were these "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, But thou shalt meditate therein day and night, That thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; And then thou shalt have good success."-(Josh. i. 8.) Perhaps this reference to the days of Joshua made this Psalm the more appropriate as an introduction to the whole book. It connected these ancient days with other generations. It sang of the same Lord, acting toward all men on the same principles. It sang of a race who had come to possess the land of Canaan, who acted on the holy maxims that guided Joshua when he took possession-a race of men guided by the revealed will of Jehovah. The ungodly are not thus prosperous,-they are not as "trees by the river side." They are as "chaff," ready to be driven away in the day of wrath, and unable to resist the slightest breath of Jehovah's displeasure (Dan. ii. 35; Matt. * Stanley (Pal. and Sinai, p. 145) thinks the oleander referred to. It grows common and abundant by river-sides in the East. But the oleander does not bear fruit. iii. 12, the "day of decision"). Hence they cannot "stand." Even as in Rev. vi. 17, the cry of the affrighted worldkings, captains, rich men, mighty men, bond, free—is, “The great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" For the "Lord knoweth the way of the righteous." Our Lord may have referred to this passage in his memorable expression so often used (Matt. vii. 23; Matt. xxv. 12; Luke xiii. 27), “I never knew you-I know you not.” O the happiness, then, of the godly! happy now, and still happier in that day which now hastens on, when the Husbandman shall separate "the chaff" from the wheat, and the kingdoms of earth be broken in pieces "like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor," and "the wind shall carry them away." O the folly of those who "sit in the seat of the scorners," and ask in these last days (2 Pet. iii. 3), "Where is the promise of his coming?" the Head. We have noticed that our Lord seems to quote one of the Used by Christ, expressions of this Psalm; and let us see how we may suppose it all read by him in the days of his flesh. We know He read it; his delight was in the law of the Lord; and often has he quoted the book of Psalms. As he read, it would be natural to his human soul to appropriate the blessedness pronounced on the godly; for he knew and felt himself to be indeed The godly, who “had not walked in the counsels of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful." He felt himself able to say at all times, "Thy law is within my heart!" Was He not the true palm-tree? Was He not the true pomegranate-tree? Can we help thinking on Him as alone realizing the description in this Psalm? The members of his mystical Body, in their measure, aim at this holy walk; but it is only in him that they see it perfectly exemplified. "His leaf never withered;" "he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Peter. ii. 22); "he yielded his fruit in its season," obeying his mother Mary, and being found about his Father's business; going up to the feast "when his hour vas come," and suffering, when the time appointed came; everything" in season." And "all he did prospered;" he finished the work given him to do (John xvii. 4), and because Used by the members. of his completed work, "therefore God hath highly exalted him," (Philip. ii. 8, 9). measure. We who are his members seek to realize all this in our We seek that everything in us should be to the glory of God-heart, words, actions-all that may adorn the gospel, as well as all that is directly holy. Having the imputed righteousness of this Saviour, we earnestly long to have his holiness imparted too; though conscious that He alone. comes up to the picture drawn here so beautifully. In either view, we may inscribe as the title of this Psalm, The blessed path of the Righteous One. Referred to in Acts xiii. PSALM IL 1 WHY do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh-the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7 I will declare the decree :-the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth, 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, And ye perish from the way,-when his wrath is kindled but a little. WE have a quotation from this Psalm in Acts xiii. 33, where advance upon the preceding, inasmuch as it places before us the Righteous One in a new position. The view taken of Messiah by the world and by Jehovah is the theme; our eye is fixed on the purpose of Jehovah, triumphantly accomplished in Messiah's glory, in spite of all opposition. Nor let us forget the quotation of ver. 1, 2, in Acts iv. 23, which countenances us in asserting that it speaks of the fierce enmity of the world to the Righteous One from the period of his First coming onward to his Second appearing. The nations, or Gentiles (□113), have raged, and the tribes of Israel (?) have agreed in hostility to the Lord's Messiah, ever since the day when Jew and Gentile met at Calvary to kill the Prince of life; and their rage is not evaporated, but shall be manifested more fiercely still when the beast and the false prophet lead on their hosts to Armageddon. It is quoted with reference to that day in Rev. ii. 27, xi. 18; and xix. 15, quotes "the rod of iron," from ver. 9. the Epistles. Perhaps the expression used so frequently in the epistles, Referred to in “fear and trembling," is taken from ver. 11. It is used in exhortations to servants (Ephes. vi. 5) regarding duty; in Philip. ii. 13, to all believers engaged in striving for holiness; while in 1 Corinth. ii. 3, Paul describes his state of mind in his ministry at Corinth by these terms. May there not be a reference in all these, and similar passages, to our Psalm? It is as if it had been said, Remember our instructions for serving our King Messiah, in prospect of his glorious coming and kingdom" Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling." the Gospel. Even the Jews are pretty nearly agreed that no other than Referred to in Messiah is the theme of the sweet singer of Israel here. "Anointed" is considered as decisive-it is Messiah, Christ. By some readers, however, the introduction of Christ by the name of "Son,” in ver. 7, and then in ver. 12, (where the rarer term occurs, probably because poetical and lofty, as in Prov. xxxi. 2,) has been thought abrupt. But, abrupt as it may seem, there is no doubt hanging over the application. Messiah is "my Son," and so exclusively pre-eminent in this, that Jehovah, pointing to him, calls on all men to honour |