THE EFFECT OF THIS COMMUNICATION. 193 death a seed or son of his should arise, who should be in reality also the Son of God; that this Divine person would build a house for the glory of God, and succeed to the kingdom of his father David. And as David was here taught that this Divine person should suffer vicariously for iniquity, and bear the stripes due to the children of Adam, it is not improbable that it was on this occasion that he learned the unsatisfactory character of merely animal sacrifice, and the purpose of God to provide a better offering for the transgressions of mankind. "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire, but a body hast Thou prepared me: burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do Thy will, O my God." (Psalm xl. 6-8; Heb. x. 5.) It will not excite surprise to say that the king felt profoundly affected by this communication. He immediately went into the tabernacle, and "sat before the Lord and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?" He then acknowledged the Divine goodness to the Hebrew nation in their deliverance from Egypt, and their being taken under the immediate protection of God. But the most interesting part of this address to the Lord is that which refers to the blessings promised to David and his family. Here the mind of the king is evidently oppressed with his emotion; and his language is consequently abrupt, full of wonder, and abounding in repetitions. "And this was yet a small thing in Thy sight, O Lord God; but Thou hast spoken also of Thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? And what can David say more unto Thee? For Thou, Lord God, knowest Thy servant, For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things, to make Thy servant know them." On this address, Kennicott remarks, “From David's address to God, after receiving the message by Nathan, it is plain that David understood the son promised to be the Messiah, in whom his house was to be established for ever. But the words which seem most expressive of this sense, are in this verse now rendered very unintelligibly : ‘And is this the manner of man?' Whereas the words literally signify: And this is (or must be) the law of the man, or of Adam;' that is, this promise must relate to the law or ordinance made by God to Adam, concerning the seed of the woman." Dr. Adam Clarke adds, as the king's conclusion from all this, "From my line shall Messiah spring, and be the spiritual and triumphant King, for ever and ever." Having apprehended this, as the purport of the Divine communication, well might he exclaim, “What can David say more ?" We have given the sense of this prophecy at length, as it was communicated to the royal prophet: it may now be desirable to show the important additional information which it gave to him respecting the world's Redeemer, and also the further light which it sheds on Messianic prophecy in general. The human nature of the Saviour had been declared to be the seed of the woman, a Son of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob,then of Judah; and now, and finally, the line of descent is limited to David, and as such He is announced in the Gospel, "Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham." (Matt. i. 1.) The Messiah is here also explicitly declared to be the Son of God. This is the first time this relationship is mentioned in the Scriptures respecting the Messiah. This is a most import THE KINGDOM CF MESSIAH. 195 ant circumstance, and marks a great development in Messianic prophecy; and is re'erred to in the text already quoted from St. Paul, as setting forth the supreme dignity of the Redeemer's person. Further, this prophecy declared the Messiah to be a king. The appellation "Shiloh," given by Jacob to the promised Saviour, might obscurely indicate His regal dignity, but this is now explicitly announced. And, lastly, this kingdom of Messiah is said to be an extension. and perpetuation of the kingdom of David, which the angel declared to the Virgin should be fulfilled in Christ, almost in the very words of this prophecy. After receiving this prophetic message, and acknowledging the Divine goodness before the Lord in his tabernacle, David composed the second Psalm, which still further shows the effect produced on his mind by these great and important revelations. PSALM II. Why do the heathen rage, And the people imagine a vain thing? And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord, and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, And cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, And vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I set my King Upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; Ask of Me, And I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inherit ance, And the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces, like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings! Be instructed, ye judges of the earth! And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And ye perish from the way, When His anger is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him." It seems, from the beginning of this Psalm, and the long series of wars in which David was soon after engaged, (2 Sam. viii.,) that the neighbouring nations were actually forming combinations of their military power for the purpose of crushing the rising greatness of Israel, which was now sufficiently prominent to excite their jealousy and apprehension. The Psalm opens with a reference to this: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?" Assured by the gracious communication of God by Nathan, David regards all these efforts of his enemies as the struggles of sheer imbecility. The Lord had promised him a continued kingdom, and He would have in derision all who attempted to arrest the progress of THE PHILISTINE WAR. 197 His will. But this is not the most important ground of David's confidence. God had declared His purpose, made a decree that His Son should reign in Zion, and exercise an everlasting dominion. So David regarded his kingdom as preliminary and introductory to the kingdom of Messiah, and therefore as invincible against all the efforts of its enemies. The psalmist then counsels universal submission to this all-powerful Potentate as the only means of escape from danger and ruin. This Psalm recognises all the particulars of the revelation made through Nathan; and, in one respect, goes beyond them. The additional light which had by this means shone on the mind of David, gave him to see that the kingdom of Messiah should not only be everlasting, but universal. The heathen were to be given to Him for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession. For about seven years after the capture of Zion, with the exception of a short war with the Philistines, David enjoyed undisturbed peace. Now, however, the combination of his enemies, previously mentioned, had assumed such a serious aspect, that he felt called upon to arrest its progress by a vigorous aggression on those of the parties to this military alliance who were nearest to his country, and who possessed the most effectual means of harassing him, if other nations assailed him. It is also possible that, although these circumstances might have induced David to prepare for war, other and higher motives might have led him into actual conflict. He well knew that God had promised to Israel the sovereignty of all the countries, from the Nile to the Euphrates; and from the revelations he had recently received, he could not but regard himself as the legitimate representative of the Hebrew people, and, as such, under obligation to secure all the terri |