102nd Psalm in these words, "Thou, JEHOVAH, hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands," &c.—the quotation incidentally making known to us that the 5th of the Penitential Psalms is addressed to "GOD the SON, Redeemer of the world."

7. And in further proof of His Personal and essential, as well as economical and official dignity, S. Paul shows from the 110th Psalm that, at this very time, the "SON" is seated far above all blessing and praise, in Majesty inaccessible, on the Throne of Deity itself, at the FATHER's right hand; awaiting the time when, His enemies being made His footstool, He shall come, attended by ten thousand times ten thousand of His holy Angels to assume His own victorious Throne.1 (S. Matt. xxv. 31; Rev. iii. 21.)

8. One link more has the Apostle yet to add to this lustrous chain of quotations from the Psalter.2 And as it is one bearing so closely upon the general question of Psalmodic interpretation, and exhibiting in so interesting a way, the depth of spiritual meaning often to be found underlying the plain literal sense, we must notice it somewhat more fully. He is expatiating on the greatness of the "Salvation" brought in by the SON. And, as one element in its greatness, he proclaims that they who embrace it, though now heirs of corruption and death, and, like their Master, for a little time (Bpaxú Ti) made lower than the Angels, shall yet be exalted to a dignity and glory far above that of the highest Seraph. Even at the present time these Blessed Spirits, by us unseen, are ever hovering in radiant bands around the "heirs of Salvation," ministering unto them. But when corruption shall have put on incorruption, and the New Creation have unfolded itself, then will this super-angelic exaltation of the "Brethren" of the "Firstborn" be illustriously and eternally manifested. Apostle's eighth quotation then, is devoted to the elucidation and proof of this marvellous Gospel revelation. It is from the eighth

The

1 Mr. Dunwell (vid. p. 226) says this word "until" merely means “for ever." Now without questioning it may have that meaning, or that, in one sense, it must have that meaning here, inasmuch as CHRIST must ever partake by virtue of His Divine Nature in the incommunicable Divinity, Majesty, Supremacy, of the Eternal FATHER; still, the allusions made by our LORD and His Apostles to this verse, and His own words, Rev. iii. 21, implying a mysterious distinction between His FATHER'S Throne, on the which He is now seated, and His own Throne, which He has yet visibly to assume, point to some ineffable but specific meaning contained in the word "until," which we must not evade by merely indentifying it with the word" for ever. "" S. Paul tells us (Heb. x. 12) that the SON "after offering His one, perpetual (els tò dinvekès) Sacrifice," has "sat down at the right Hand of the FATHER" but immediately adds that He is " awaiting the time when His enemies shall be made His footstool." It is not the FATHER'S Throne which S. John describes in those sublime words, Rev. xx. 4, (cf. 11); vid. also S. Matt. xix. 28; xxv. 31. The whole subject however, is one of profound mystery.

2 Quotations, we mean, in proof of the super-angelic Dignity of the SON. For the two succeeding references to the Psalms (vid. vv. 11, 12) are in illustration of a different subject, viz., the blessed oneness between the SAVIOUR and His people, the Sanctifier and the Sanctified, the "firstborn" and His “ 'many brethren."

Psalm : (6 What is man that Thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man," &c. ?

Now here we are at once met with the important discovery that this 8th Psalm in its full and ultimate design, is still an unfulfilled prophecy, and that it relates to the "coming age" (aiwv μéżλwv, Eph. i. 21) to a future glorious period for which "all Creation," old and new alike, "groaneth and travaileth in pain together;" the "eighth Day" or "Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory."

With

But has the Psalm then, it may be urged, no reference to the present time, or to the past? is its plain surface-meaning to be excluded by its higher aim and scope? By no means. whatever ulterior spiritual truth it may be charged, its simple literal announcements are not thereby a whit compromised. And this is a very important general consideration, as we shall have occasion further to show. But at present, a word as to its mystical grasp and import.

i. And first, Who is the "LORD the Governor ?" None other than the "Son given," on Whose "shoulders shall be the Government," and "His Name called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty GOD," &c. We have His own warrant for this; when, as the "Son of David," He elicited "praise from the mouth of babes and sucklings" (S. Matt. xxi. 16) and, appealing to this Psalm, identified Himself with the "LORD and Governor" to whom it asserts that praise to be due. But

ii. Has the first verse of the Psalm yet been fulfilled ? Is CHRIST'S Name yet "excellent in all the earth?" Do all own Him as their LORD? Is His will yet "done on earth as it is done in Heaven?" No, for the Psalm, as we have already remarked, has its standing-point and sphere, not in the present aiv, but, as S. Paul tells us, in the "world to come" oixovμévy peλλoon; not till when shall its words be abundantly realised.

Our LORD tells us

iii. And who is the " enemy and avenger?" who the "enemy" is (S. Matt. xiii. 39; S. Luke x. 19; vid. also 1 Cor. xv. 26.) He is none other than that great "Corpus Diaboli," whose head has already been bruised; who has been cast out of Heaven; who has yet to be bound, head and members, with a 'great chain ;" and then crushed and silenced for ever.

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iv. And what are the sheep, oxen, and beasts; the "fowls of the air;" the "fish," and other denizens of the "great deep," over whom "man and the Son of Man" have obtained supremacy? S. Paul simply explains them by the words "all things" (Heb. ii. 8) or, in another place, (Phil. ii. 10.) by "things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth." That is to say, CHRIST and His Elect are to have universal Dominion: every tongue shall confess that CHRIST is Kúpos [cf. Ps. viii. 1; Phil. ii. 11]; every knee shall bow to Him; alike of Toupávio, i.e., "Angels, Princi

palities, Powers," here represented as the "fowls of the air;" of Tiyao, here spoken of as "sheep, oxen, and beasts," i.e., the several classes of men (cf. Ps. cxliv. 13, 14; S. John x.; 1 Cor. ix. 7—11; Isa. xi. 6–9;) and of xaτaxovo, the "fish of the sea," the gloomy inhabitants of Sheol, on whom "Death gnaweth," and over whom "the Righteous shall have domination in the Morning." (Ps. xlix. 14.) In fact, this Psalm only recounts the actual attainment by the second Adam (the Téλeos 'Avp) of that visible Lordship over the New Creation, the correlative to which over the old creation had been promised to the first Adam in precisely similar terms. Rather perhaps, seeing that "Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet," we might speak of Psalm viii. 6, 7, as recounting the fulfilment of the prediction originally made in Gen. i. 28.

Here then we are arrested by a consideration of great importance. It seems we cannot apprehend the full meaning of the Psalms without constantly bearing in mind the important typical character impressed not only upon the Old Testament History, but also on the whole of the material universe; how that all things earthly are but figures and shadows of heavenly realities; that between the two there is a continuous harmony and correspondence.

Holy Scripture itself is perpetually attesting this. Let a single familiar example in addition to those already adduced, suffice. The Apostle Paul (Rom. xi. 18), speaking of the universal diffusion of the Gospel, and the full realization of the Apostolic commission, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," has recourse to the Psalter for a confirmation of this prediction. And where does he find it? In the 19th Psalm; where David says that the heavenly luminaries, though without voice and sound, intelligibly proclaim, "in all lands," the "glory" of their great CREATOR. The natural light is sent into all the world. The spiritual Light therefore "which lighteth every man" cannot be less universally diffused.

Now from these few examples (which we have selected almost at random) of the Holy Spirit's manner of interpreting the Psalms, we have at least seen sufficient to convince us how meagre and inadequate are our own ordinary expositions, and that this is in a great measure attributable (as already maintained) to our individual neglect of the helps provided for us in the written word of GOD.

For there are, as we have already stated, about fifty Psalms quoted in the New Testament, and some of them more than once. E.g. There are no less than seven distinct quotations from Psalm xxii. alone, and the same number from Psalm lxix. One particular verse of another Psalm (cxviii. 22) is quoted six times by different writers in the New Testament.1

And even in the case of Psalms not absolutely quoted, how fre

1 Viz. S. Matt. xxi. 42; S. Mark xii. 10; S. Luke xx. 17; Acts iv. 11; Eph. ii. 20; 1 S. Peter ii. 7.

quently have we light incidentally thrown upon them. Take, for instance, the short 29th Psalm, with its magnificent description of the effect of the seven-fold "Voice of the LORD;" so often regarded merely as a poetical description of a thunderstorm.

By the light of the New Testament, however, we unquestionably see pourtrayed in this Psalm the tremendous convulsions and transformations effected in the moral universe by the Almighty "Voice" or Spirit of JEHOVAH-that Omnipotent Breath, which, if it does not renew and purify, rushes forth as a whirlwind and storm of devouring fire to destroy. But do we ask at what particular crisis of the world's history this mighty seven-fold Utterance is most energetically felt, and the Psalm therefore meets with its specific, and most complete fulfilment? S. John tells us, in the Revelation, that, immediately before the seventh or "last trumpet," announcing the visible inauguration of MESSIAH's kingdom of Glory, then it is that "the seven thunders utter their" mysterious "voices" (as entà Spovтai) the article evidently appearing to refer us to this Psalm. Here then is the true Baptist "preparing the way" before the victorious SAVIOUR; the great "Voice" before the Almighty" Word." Here is the "fiery Utterance;" here the "rushing mighty Wind" tearing up the "cedar trees;" bringing down everything that exalteth itself against the obedience of CHRIST; and levelling "a way" for the King of kings and LORD of lords. But ere we proceed further with our subject, two questions demand attention.

1. Are we justified in giving a mystical sense to every earthly thing whereof the Psalmist speaks? and

2. In giving this mystical interpretation are we justified, ordinarily, in ignoring the literal sense?

Both these questions must undoubtedly be answered in the negative. For first; it is most true that Holy Scripture gives us ample warrant for supposing that every part, not only of the Mosaic Dispensation but also of the old creation, has its mysterious counterpart (or rather, archetype) in the Christian Dispensation and the New Creation. And doubtless, one of the fruitful sources of intellectual joy in the future Life will be the tracing out these Divine analogies, listening with "opened ears" to their wondrous harmonies, comparing the earthly picture with the heavenly Original, and the shadows of the world which now is with the blissful realities of the "World to come."

But with our present limited faculties, "knowing but in part," seeing but through a glass, darkly," is it possible to translate accurately from its earthly to its heavenly sphere the words of

1 For the thunder appears to be the outward expression in the natural world of the voice of the LORD in the spiritual world. So, when JEHOVAH speaks from heaven, S. John xii. 28, His "voice" was understood and interpreted by the eternal Son, whereas "the people that stood by said, it thundered."

wisdom which the book of nature (to confine ourselves at present to this) utters? It cannot be. We know so little of the original that we cannot rightly adjust the parts, or appropriate all the points of the model. And hence, where Scripture has furnished us with no key wherewith to unlock its symbolic meaning, we must be humbly content to remain in ignorance; believing that what is hidden from us, is hidden from us for some wise purpose, and that it is healthier for us to abide in reverent, trustful ignorance than to give the rein to mere presumptuous, profitless, imaginings.

But again; may we in Scripture interpretation, safely neglect as unimportant the earthly vehicle whereby the heavenly truth is conveyed? As a general rule, certainly not. One of the great beauties and excellencies of Scripture language is this, that we constantly have two, sometimes even three, distinct streams of interpretation running side by side of one another—literal, it may be, spiritual, allegorical; or past, present, and future-each maintaining its own proper course, keeping its own separate channel, without confusion or mutual interference. And here is one particular wherein Holy Scripture so infinitely transcends all earthly compositions. Here is one of the most significant signs of the presence of the One All-pervading Spirit, who speaks in nature, "who spake by the prophets," to whom past, present, and future, to whom "all flesh" and "all spirit," with accordant voice, though each in their own tongue, give harmonious testimony.

In human allegory, the outward covering may be safely passed over as neither being nor professing to be anything beyond a mere verbal clothing of the higher truth, and having no independent existence of its own. But this is not the case with the words of GOD. Here "deep answereth to deep," nature to grace, the old Dispensation to the new, the past to the present, and both to the future. Here the outward vehicle has no less an objective reality in its own region, than the inward mystery: and the evolution of the latter no more necessitates the abandonment of the former, than the verity of the "Res Sacramenti" involves the annihilation of the "Sacramentum."

This, however, is sadly overlooked in Scripture exegesis. How are we perpetually hearing of the "carnal dreams" of the literalists, and the "mystic unrealities" of the spiritualists; and yet both parties, as far as they go, are right in principle. The fault of either lies in the advocacy of one system exclusively, and to the neglect of the other, or perhaps in the arbitrary confusion of the two together.

Now we cannot doubt for instance, that S. Augustine was right in regarding the beautiful language of the 104th Psalm which recounts God's works in the old creation, as, throughout significative and symbolical of His corresponding greater works in the New Creation; and that the whole Psalm is pregnant with a deeper

1 Psalm cl. 6.