Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

The GOD of the Rock of my Salvation! It is GOD, That Avengeth me, and That Bringeth down the People under me; and That Bringeth me forth from mine Enemies. THOU also hast Lifted me up on High, above Them that rose up against me: Thou hast Delivered me from the violent Man. Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O LORD, among the Heathen, and I will sing praises unto Thy Name. HE is The TOWER of Salvation for His King; and Sheweth Mercy to His Anointed, unto David, and to His Seed for evermore.'”—2 Sam.

xxii.

How acceptable a display have we here of all the beauty and vigour of poetical composition, dedicated to The True SOURCE of them, The FATHER of Lights and The FOUNTAIN of WISDOM! What an interesting exhibition of that faith, which worketh by humility and reverence and love towards The CREATOR of all Things and The PRESERVER of all Men! A King and a Conqueror; a Man, whose wisdom ruled a People in righteousness, and whose valour struck terror into the hearts of all his Enemies, is here seen, bending on the knees of his heart, and acknowledging that his Sufficiency was only from GOD! The whole Psalm abounds with the loftiest sentiments of piety and the most holy raptures of praise; it exhibits equal beauty and holiness with the admirable Song of Moses on the Deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians (Ex. xv.): and the sudden changes of Person, that are conspicuous in it throughout, mark it as an extemporaneous production, and bear the stronger testimony to its speaking the language of David's heart. Triumphant over all his Enemies, both abroad and at home, he acknowledges, with equal dignity of utterance and justness of conception, that his Victory was of The LORD; and that He Alone Brought Salvation. Not only for past Deliverances does David magnify his GOD, but at a time of the highest prosperity, he equally relies on Him for present Protection and future Support; well knowing that no Human state in any period of it can give security, whether of temporal or Spiritual good, unless GOD be The GUARANTEE of it. In the Song under consideration (and which has been embodied principally into the xviiith Psalm, but parts of it have also been thrown into other psalms), David, after breaking forth in a noble confession of the Power and Providence of GOD, looks back upon the chequered scene of his own Life, and on the multitude of perils that assailed him, and from which The LORD had Set him free, recollecting that in all his calamities he had made The LORD his Confidence; and, seeking Succour from Him, had not been disappointed, he now exultingly proclaims as much. What important admonition and what salutary consolation for the Children of affliction does this sentence, the confession of so great and good a Man, as David, contain, “In my distress I called upon The LORD, and cried to my GOD; and He did Hear my voice out of His Temple, and my cry did enter into His Ears!' Then, in all the loftiness of poetic sentiment, sublimed by the purest feelings of devotion, the holy Bard imagines, as far as Human conception can do, the Manifestation of The DIVINE PRESENCE upon the Earth: Such as indeed might seem more applicable to the Last Day of this World's Life, when The LORD shall Arise to Shake Terribly the Earth. In the spirit of Prophecy David, without reference to dates, was led, perhaps, to the prospect of that Deliverance of his Soul from Hell, and of that Condemnation of the Wicked and the Wicked One, Which the Judgment to Come will Confirm. Let the Wicked contemplate but even these awful Designations of the Visitation of DIVINE Wrath, and consider how they shall escape, if they neglect so Gracious a Salvation, as is freely Offered to them! But terrible as is the representation here given of DIVINE Vengeance, it is incalculably less, than will be the Reality; for as the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of Man to conceive the Things That The LORD hath Prepared for Them, that love Him; neither hath eye seen, nor ear heard, nor hath

[ocr errors]

it entered into the heart of Man to conceive the Woes that await, for ever and ever, the Rejected of The ALMIGHTY.

After thus setting before us, in poetic and prophetic spirit, an Image of the Terrors of The LORD, that he may persuade Men to fear Him, Who hath Power to Destroy both Body and Soul in Hell, he reverts to his own temporal Deliverances, and then justifies the Ways of GOD to Man, as A GOD of Mercy, of Righteousness, and of Purity; of Purer Eyes than to Behold iniquity, and yet not Extreme to Mark what is done amiss, nor Willing the death of a Sinner; but Ready to Comfort the Weak-hearted, to Raise up Them that fall, to Bind up the wounds of the contrite Spirit, and to Compassionate us even as a tender Father compassionateth his Children. The Inspired Songster, prophetically uniting his own faithfulness as a Saint, with That Righteousness, Which was Perfected in his DESCENDANT after the Flesh, The Man CHRIST JESUS (and Which is, as it were, Ingrafted on the Sout of every pious Believer), proclaims the blessed Fruits of Such faithful Righteousness and Holiness and Charity, Thereon founding his assurance of Salvation, and Thereby exhorting to an observance by Others of that conduct, which will assuredly meet with so exceeding Great Reward. He then, sinking, as it were, into himself, states the particular Proofs of GOD'S Providence towards him, by Giving to him, in manifold and signal Instances, the Power and the Victory, and Visiting all his Enemies with confusion; and the Song is concluded with a fine apostrophe to The GOD of his worship, and an obvious admission of the Prophetic Spirit That dictated it, by an allusion to That SEED, Which, Springing carnally from himself, should be Spiritually Blessed, and be the Cause of Spiritual Blessings for evermore to all Believers in the same Holy Faith.

"Now these be the last words of David. David, the Son of Jesse, said, and the Man who was raised up on High, the Anointed of The GOD of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, said, 'The SPIRIT of The LORD Spake by me, and His Word was in my tongue! THE GOD of Israel Said, The ROCK of Israel Spake to me, 'He, that ruleth over Men, must be just, ruling in the fear of GOD: and he shall be as the light of the morning, when the Sun riseth, even a morning without clouds: as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.' Although my House be not so with GOD; yet He hath Made with me an Everlasting Covenant, Ordered in all things, and Sure: for This is All my Salvation, and all my desire; although He Make it not to grow. But the Sons of Belial shall be All of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: but the Man, that shall touch them, must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear: and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.'”– 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 to 7.

However abrupt a termination of a History, so interesting and important as David's, this may seem to be, yet as it immediately follows in the Narrative before us, it is here given in that order. The last words of a good Man are oftentimes the most valuable legacy he can leave: valuable not only to the immediate Hearers, on whom the manner, as well as the connection, are calculated to give those words the deepest impressiveness, but also to Others, whether Contemporaries, or of any succeeding Generations, to whom the tidings may be borne. In the approaching hour of death, the Soul, tremblingly alive to the altered state, that instantaneously awaits it, conscious that its Omnipotent and Omniscient CREATOR is Coming unto its immediate Judgment, and that from His Judgment there is no appeal, and knowing that every Man will be there Judged by his works here, and that to form the estimate of them the secrets of all hearts will be laid open, that the motives of all actions will be unfolded, disdains to deal treacherously with itself or with Others, and usually, at least, speaks forth the language of soberness and truth. The great Truths proclaimed by David on such an awful occasion were, that The

[blocks in formation]

How acce

poetical compo Lights and T that faith, wh CREATOR O Conqueror; a valour struck the knees of GOD! The most holy re admirable S and the sudd as an extem

the language at home, he tion, that hi Not only fo highest pros port; well whether of In the So xviiith Ps: breaking back upon assailed 1 his calan Him, ha portant this se my disti

voice o loftines Bard in DIVINE cable to Terribly was led

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors]
[graphic]
[ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

lial, and Drive them headlong to the Abyss of Hell, where their worm dieth and their fire is not quenched; but where the stings of remorse and selfmnation shall be their portion, and the bitterness of woe be upon them at reflection of having, by their own folly alone, come short of The Kingdom of ren, and of being Separated from the Favour of Him, in Whose Love are and Peace and Joy Eternal. Let us take heed that we fall not into those and temptations and snares, which drown Men in such destruction and tion, and leave no way to escape from the evil to come; an evil greater it hath entered into the heart of Man to conceive, when the Soul, conily suffering the extreme of anguish, shall yet be feelingly alive to the Justice OD's Judgment, though in utter despair of any mitigation of its Punish

From such incalculable evil the way of escape is now open to us, for LORD, Whose Word is Truth, hath Said, "I am The Way and The Light The Life he that followeth Me shall never see death; the power of the second th shall have no dominion over him." Thus, and in similar contemplations, the last words of the sweet Psalmist of Isral be improved to the furtherof our Soul's hope of joining with him in the Land of Spirits, and singing elujah, for that The LORD GOD Omnipotent Reigneth, when the Beauty of ness shall be upon us; for He, THE MOST HOLY ONE, will be both our VIOUR and SANCTIFIER.

**In the same Book, bearing the Prophet Samuel's name, though ously written by some other hand, or at some other time, to supply, as it were, omission in the preceding history, the following account of the Chiefs and tains and principal Men about David is introduced.

"These be the names of the mighty Men, whom David had: The Tachmonite, sat in the seat, Chief among the Captains; the same was Adino, the Eznite;

ifted up his spear against eight Hundred, whom he slew at one time. And after

was Eleazer, the Son of Dodo, the Ahohite, One of the three mighty Men with id when they defied the Philistines, that were there gathered together to battle, the Men of Israel were gone away; he arose, and smote the Philistines until his d was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword and The LORD Wrought a at Victory that day: and the People returned after him only to spoil. And r him was Shammah, the Son of Agee, the Hararite: and the Philistines were hered together into a Troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles; the People fled from the Philistines; but he stood in the midst of the ground, 1 defended it, and slew the Philistines: and The LORD Wrought a great etory. And Three of the thirty Chief went down, and came to David in the vest time unto the Cave of Adullum: and the Troop of the Philistines pitched the Valley of Rephaim: and David was then in an hold, and the Garrison of ePhilistines was then in Beth-lehem: and David longed, and said, 'Oh that One ould give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, which is by the gate!' And the three mighty Men brake through the Host of the Philistines, and drew ater out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto The ORD: and he said, 'Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this! Is not his the Blood of the Men that went in jeopardy of their Lives?' Therefore he would These things did these three mighty Men."-2 Sam. xxiii. 8 to 17. The same account is given, with slight variations, in the 1st Book of Chronicles, chapter xi. 10 to 19.

not drink it.

As the wisdom of a Ruler is chiefly manifested, and the utility of his government established, by the selection of able Ministers, so in this description of the chiefest Officers of David's Army, proof is afforded equally of the discriminate judgment and exemplary influence of David: the native attachment

HOLY GHOST, The SPIRIT of The LORD JEHOVAH had been his Instructor, and had Given piety to his heart and Prophetic utterance to his tongue, Teaching him, what hath been engraven by The Self-Same SPIRIT on the consciences of all Men, and is Registered for our admonition in the imperishable Leaves of the Record of the Word of GOD, that all governance over Others and, impliedly, over ourselves, should be by the rules of justice, and in the fear of GOD, Who, with the Merciful will Shew Himself Merciful, and with the upright Man will Shew Himself Upright: and, as an Apostle of The SON of GOD hath said, "He, that turneth Many to righteousness, shall shine as the Stars of Heaven," so this Prophet and Type of The SON of GOD likens the just and pious Ruler of a People to the most grateful and cheering blessings of Nature diffused by The All-Dispensing Hand of PROVIDENCE in the first burst of Day, and in the lovely hue of vernal meadows refreshed with the dew-drops from Heaven. David then, contemplating what a perfect Man should be, sinks under the consciousness of his own imperfections, and, with an honest and humble heart, disclaims his title to the truly just Man. He had indeed erred, but in a life of so much incident and temptation, who can say that any Other would have been even so upright? but, though David had sinned, and sinned grievously, he repented of the evil; and where genuine repentance is, there is The Kingdom of Heaven at hand. To the unspeakable consolation, therefore, of his Soul in its contemplation of the immediate hour of death, he says, in allusion to That Imputed Righteousness, Which is perfect in the Sight of GOD, "Although my House be not so with GOD, yet He hath Made with me an Everlasting Covenant, Ordered in all things and Sure: for This is All my Salvation, and all my desire." What, more than such sentiments, confirmed by such conduct, can convey to the mind so impressive a lesson of the value and necessity of seeking in this life the Favour of The ALMIGHTY, that in death He may not only not Abandon us to despair, but that His SPIRIT, Which is emphatically The COMFORTER, may then Speak Consolation to our Souls, and Extend to us the Promise of a Participation in the Sure Mercies of David; Mercies Which Issue from Him, Whose Mercy Endureth for Ever; and Which, indeed, through the Merits of The SPIRITUAL DAVID, are alone the Rock of our Salvation, and should be the never-failing Object of our desire.

The utter desolation and confusion of the Wicked, David Prophetically announces; thus proclaiming his faith in a Judgment to Come, when the Righteous shall go into The Kingdom of Joy; and they, that have done evil, into everlasting fire. And against That Day it behoves All of us to prepare ourselves, and by putting on the whole Armour of GOD to fight the good fight of faith, that we present an impenetrable front against the fiery darts of the Devil; and that we guard against the temptations and snares that unceasingly await us both from without and from within; placing our confidence in GOD, and using the ready Help of The SPIRIT, Who, in every temptation wherewith we are tempted, will Find a ready way for us to escape withal, if we will but choose to walk therein, that we may find rest to our Souls. Let us, therefore, watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation without minds sufficiently fortified to resist it! The Generation of Belial was not confined to the days of David: in every succeeding age these Sons of Perdition, the willing Emissaries of the Evil One, are found, and are zealously affected to extend their reign on Earth by making Converts of Others in the gratification of evil passions, regardless of the interminable ruin in which, as the effect of The OMNIPOTENT'S Displeasure, their own conscience admonishes them they must inevitably be involved, from that awful Day when The Man CHRIST JESUS, Fenced with that Iron, which is the Symbol of the Invincible Power of The GOD-HEAD, and having the Staff of the Spear of The SPIRIT, Which is Truth itself, shall Touch all the Sons

« AnteriorContinuar »