то THE MESSIANIC PSALMS, FROM THE GERMAN OF DR. E. W. HENGSTENBERG; TRANSLATED BY REUEL KEITH, D. D., VIRGINIA, U. S. THE Messianic prediction extends back far beyond the time of David. We find it even in the book of Genesis assuming continually a more definite form. First, there is the promise in general terms, that the posterity of the woman should gain the victory over the kingdom of Satan; then we are taught that salvation should come through the descendants of Shem; from these again, Abraham is selected; from his sons, Isaac; from the sons of Isaac, Jacob; and lastly, from the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah, to be the ancestor of the great Redeemer and Pacificator, whose peaceful dominion should be extended over all the people of the earth. Henceforth the Messianic prediction received no considerable enlargement, nor a more specific determination, until the reign of David. But, as heretofore, only the tribe had been designated from which the Redeemer was to spring, so now the particular family was selected. This was done in the prediction which God by the prophet Nathan delivered to David, at a time when penetrated with gratitude for victory over all his foes, and his elevation from the deepest obscurity to the highest honour, he had resolved to erect for God a permanent temple, instead of the moveable tabernacle in which he had hitherto vouchsafed to dwell, 2 Sam vii. Some interpreters, as Calovius, have erroneously referred this promise exclusively to the Messiah. It contains b too many things which can relate only either to Solomon or the other natural descendants of David, to allow of this interpretation. For example, ver. 13, the descendant of David builds a temple for God,language which, taken in connexion with the previous mention of David's desire to build a temple, can be understood only of the earthly temple to be erected by Solomon; according to ver. 15, when the descendants of David should commit iniquity, God would not cast them entirely away, but visit them with gentle chastisement: here, also, the reference to a mere human, and therefore sinful, posterity is plain. Moreover, in 1 Chron. xxii. 9, &c. this promise is said by David himself to relate in the first instance to Solomon; and that Solomon so understood it is manifest from 1 Kings v. 5, 8, 17, &c. 2 Chron. vi. 7. But, on the other hand, we would just as little venture, with Grotius and others, to refer it to Solomon alone, or, with others, to Solomon and the rest of the earthly kings of the house of David. When we reflect that the promise of the great Redeemer, who should spring from the tribe of Judah, could not be unknown to David, we feel certain, that in the words, "And thy house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever," he must That does not, as Grotius supposes, here indicate merely a comparatively long period, is evident from the parallel passages, Ps. lxxxix. where the promise is repeated, and where, ver. 30, the phrase is explained by and '', ver. 37, by wi; ver. 38, by : .ver כימֵי - T: and from Ps. lxxii. where there is likewise a reference to this promise, and the expression is employed. Nor " : can an appeal be made in favour of the opposite opinion to Ps. xxi. 5. For the reference of the Psalm to David as an individual, is certainly as inadmissible as its reference to the Messiah. have seen something far more than could ever be fulfilled in his son Solomon, or any of his mere human descendants, who, like every thing earthly and mortal, must one day come to an end. That he certainly did so, is plain from the powerful emotion which, according to ver. 18, the communication awakened in his bosom. Just views of it have been taken by those who, as Augustine, de Civ. Dei, xvii. 8, 9, give it a double reference, first to Solomon and his successors, and also to Christ. It is very frequently the case in the prophetic annunciations that whole families and races are viewed as an individual, and then, whatever belongs to their different members is ascribed to him. See, for example, the blessing of Jacob, Gen. xlix. So is it also in the passage before us. Many things relate only to David's natural posterity, as the building of the temple and the mild chastisement: others exclusively to the Messiah, as the repeated assurance of the endless duration of his dominion; and, finally, others are fulfilled in an inferior sense in Solomon and his descendants, and in a higher one in Christ, as the promise, "I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son." 1 Thus therefore an important advance was made. Relying upon this prediction, the prophets not only announced the derivation of the Messiah from David, and borrowed from his life the lineaments with which when ennobled and perfected they might describe his illustrious descendants; but David also himself and other holy men who composed the Psalms, were led by the Divine Spirit into a deeper understanding of this promise, and received further illumination respecting its object.2 1 Comp. Mich. Crit. colleg. p. 461, seq. Hess Gesch. David's I. S. 423, seq. Anton. de Vatic. Mess. Muntinghe on Ps. ii. The Messianic interpretation is also established by the testimony of the New Testament, comp. Luke i. 32, 33. Heb. i. 5. 2 That David in particular was excited by the Divine pro The Psalms which are justly regarded as prophetic of the Messiah may be divided into two classes: I. Psalms in which the Messiah in his glory is celebrated and his dominion described by images drawn from the earthly theocracy. These Here belong Psalms ii. xlv. lxxii. and cx. have much in common, and so plainly refer to the same subject, that if the Messianic character of one be established, that of all the rest will follow. When we compare these predictions with those of an earlier period, we at once discover an important difference. Heretofore they had been more brief, more in the form of allusions; but now the foundation being provided, the prophecies could become finished descriptions. To David the Messiah was announced as a king, as his successor on his throne. And thus in his own contemplation, and in that of the other holy authors of the Psalms, the earthly head of the Theocracy formed the substratum of its future illustrious Renovator and Restorer. This mode of contemplation has been misrepresented by recent critics, and, with entire disregard of the manifold indications of a king of a far higher character, they have come to the conclusion that all the Psalms of this class relate only to an earthly head of the theocracy. The fact was in part erroneously interpreted even by those among the older critics, who, as Calvin, Grotius, and Bochart (see his Epist. ad Morlejum, p. 42) felt themselves constrained by it to adopt the notion of mise, and afterwards received further illumination from the prophetic spirit which dwelt within him, is asserted by Peter, Acts ii. 30, 31. The latter rests moreover on the testimony of the Lord himself, Matt. xxii. 43, where he says, "David spake v súμT, moved by the Holy Spirit. That true Messianic predictions are contained in the Psalms is evident from the fact that the Lord after his resurrection proved to his disciples that all that had happened to him had been foretold not only in the other books of the Old Testament, but also in the Psalms. |