The book of Psalms is a collection of hymns, or sacred songs, in
praise of God, and consists of poems of various kinds. They are the
productions of different persons, but are generally called the Psalms of
David, because a great part of them was composed by him, and David
himself is distinguished by the name of the Psalmist. We cannot now
ascertain all the Psalms written by David, but their number probably
exceeds seventy; and much less are we able to discover the authors of
the other Psalms, or the occasions upon which they were composed. A few
of them were written after the return from the Babylonian captivity. The
titles prefixed to them are of very questionable authority; and in many
cases they are not intended to denote the writer but refer only to the
person who was appointed to set them to music. David first introduced
the practice of singing sacred hymns in the public service of God; and
it was restored by Ezra. The authority of the Psalms is established not
only by their rank among the sacred writings, and by the unvaried
testimony of ages, but likewise by many intrinsic proofs of inspiration.
Not only do they breathe through every part a divine spirit of
eloquence, but they contain numberless illustrious prophecies that were
remarkably accomplished, and are frequently appealed to by the
evangelical writers. The sacred character of the whole book is
established by the testimony of our Saviour and his Apostles, who, in
various parts of the New Testament, appropriate the predictions of the
Psalms as obviously apposite to the circumstances of their lives, and as
intentionally composed to describe them. The veneration for the Psalms
has in all ages of the church been considerable. The fathers assure us,
that in the earlier times the whole book of Psalms was generally learned
by heart; and that the ministers of every gradation were expected to be
able to repeat them from memory. These invaluable Scriptures are daily
repeated without weariness, though their beauties are often overlooked
in familiar and habitual perusal. As hymns immediately addressed to the
Deity, they reduce righteousness to practice; and while we acquire the
sentiments, we perform the offices of piety; while we supplicate for
blessings, we celebrate the memorial of former mercies; and while in the
exercise of devotion, faith is enlivened by the display of prophecy.
Josephus asserts, and most of the ancient writers maintain, that the
Psalms were composed in metre. They have undoubtedly a peculiar
conformation of sentences, and a measured distribution of parts. Many of
them are elegiac, and most of David’s are of the lyric kind. There is no
sufficient reason however to believe, as some writers have imagined,
that they were written in rhyme, or in any of the Grecian measures. Some
of them are acrostic; and though the regulations of the Hebrew measure
are now lost, there can be no doubt, from their harmonious modulation,
that they were written with some kind of metrical order; and they must
have been composed in accommodation to the measure to which they were
set. (See _Poetry of the Hebrews_.) The Hebrew copies and the Septuagint
version of this book contain the same number of Psalms; only the
Septuagint translators have, for some reason which does not appear,
thrown the ninth and tenth into one, as also the one hundred and
fourteenth and one hundred and fifteenth, and have divided the one
hundred and sixteenth and one hundred and forty-seventh each into two.
It is very justly observed by Dr. Allix, that, “although the sense of
near fifty Psalms be fixed and settled by divine authors, yet Christ and
his Apostles did not undertake to quote all the Psalms they could, but
only to give a key to their hearers, by which they might apply to the
same subjects the Psalms of the same composure and expression.” With
regard to the Jews, Bishop Chandler very pertinently remarks, that “they
must have understood David, their prince, to have been a figure of
Messiah. They would not otherwise have made his Psalms part of their
daily worship; nor would David have delivered them to the church to be
so employed, were it not to instruct and support them in the knowledge
and belief of this fundamental article. Were the Messiah not concerned
in the Psalms, it would have been absurd to celebrate twice a day, in
their public devotions, the events of one man’s life, who was deceased
so long ago, as to have no relation now to the Jews and the
circumstances of their affairs; or to transcribe whole passages from
them into their prayers for the coming of the Messiah.” Upon the same
principle it is easily seen that the objections, which may seem to lie
against the use of Jewish services in Christian congregations, may cease
at once. Thus it may be said, Are we concerned with the affairs of David
and of Israel? Have we any thing to do with the ark and the temple? They
are no more. Are we to go up to Jerusalem, and to worship on Sion? They
are desolated, and trodden under foot by the Turks. Are we to sacrifice
young bullocks according to the law? The law is abolished, never to be
observed again. Do we pray for victory over Moab, Edom, and Philistia;
or for deliverance from Babylon? There are no such nations, no such
places in the world. What then do we mean, when, taking such expressions
into our mouths, we utter them in our own persons, as parts of our
devotions, before God? Assuredly we must mean a spiritual Jerusalem and
Sion; a spiritual ark and temple; a spiritual law; spiritual sacrifices;
and spiritual victories over spiritual enemies; all described under the
old names, which are still retained, though “old things are passed away,
and all things are become new,” 2 Cor. v, 17. By substituting Messiah
for David, the Gospel for the law, the church Christian for that of
Israel, and the enemies of the one for those of the other, the Psalms
are made our own. Nay, they are with more fulness and propriety applied
now to the substance, than they were of old to the “shadow of good
things then to come,” Heb. x, 1. For let it not pass unobserved, that
when, upon the first publication of the Gospel, the Apostles had
occasion to utter their transports of joy, on their being counted worthy
to suffer for the name of their Lord and Master, which was then opposed
by Jew and Gentile, they brake forth into an application of the second
Psalm to the transactions then before their eyes, Acts iv, 25. The
Psalms, thus applied, have advantages which no fresh compositions,
however finely executed, can possibly have; since, beside their
incomparable fitness to express our sentiments, they are at the same
time memorials of, and appeals to, former mercies and deliverances; they
are acknowledgments of prophecies accomplished; they point out the
connection between the old and new dispensations, thereby teaching us to
admire and adore the wisdom of God displayed in both, and furnishing
while we read or sing them, an inexhaustible variety of the noblest
matter that can engage the contemplations of man.
Very few of the Psalms, comparatively, appear to be simply prophetical,
and to belong only to Messiah, without the intervention of any other
person. Most of them, it is apprehended, have a double sense, which
stands upon this ground and foundation, that the ancient patriarchs,
prophets, priests, and kings, were typical characters, in their several
offices, and in the more remarkable passages of their lives, their
extraordinary depressions and miraculous exaltations foreshowing him who
was to arise as the head of the holy family, the great prophet, the true
priest, the everlasting king. The Israelitish polity, and the law of
Moses, were purposely framed after the example and shadow of things
spiritual and heavenly; and the events which happened to the ancient
people of God were designed to shadow out parallel occurrences, which
should afterward take place in the accomplishment of man’s redemption,
and the rise and progress of the Christian church. (See _Prophecy_.) For
this reason, the Psalms composed for the use of Israel, and by them
accordingly used at the time, do admit of an application to us, who are
now “the Israel of God,” Gal. vi, 16, and to our Redeemer, who is the
King of this Israel. It would be an arduous and adventurous undertaking
to attempt to lay down the rules observed in the conduct of the mystic
allegory, so diverse are the modes in which the Holy Spirit has thought
proper to communicate his counsels to different persons on different
occasions; inspiring and directing the minds of the prophets according
to his good pleasure; at one time vouchsafing more full and free
discoveries of future events; while, at another, he is more obscure and
sparing in his intimations. From hence, of course, arises a great
variety in the Scripture usage of this kind of allegory as to the manner
in which the spiritual sense is couched under the other. Sometimes it
can hardly break forth and show itself at intervals through the literal,
which meets the eye as the ruling sense, and seems to have taken entire
possession of the words and phrases. On the contrary, it is much oftener
the capital figure in the piece, and stands confessed at once by such
splendour of language, that the letter, in its turn, is thrown into
shade, and almost totally disappears. Sometimes it shines with a
constant equable light, and sometimes it darts upon us on a sudden, like
a flash of lightning from the clouds. But a composition is never more
truly elegant and beautiful, than when the two senses, alike
conspicuous, run parallel together through the whole poem, mutually
corresponding with and illustrating each other.
Thus the establishment of David upon his throne, notwithstanding the
opposition made to it by his enemies, is the subject of the second
Psalm. David sustains in it a twofold character, literal and
allegorical. If we read over the Psalm first with an eye to the literal
David, the meaning is obvious, and put out of all dispute by the sacred
history. There is indeed an uncommon glow in the expression, and
sublimity in the figures; and the diction is now and then exaggerated,
as it were, on purpose to intimate and lead us to the contemplation of
higher and more important matters concealed within. In compliance with
this admonition, if we take another survey of the Psalm, as relative to
the person and concerns of the spiritual David, a nobler series of
events instantly rises to view, and the meaning becomes more evident, as
well as exalted. The colouring, which may perhaps seem too bold and
glaring for the king of Israel, will no longer appear so, when laid upon
his great antitype. After we have thus attentively considered the
subject apart, let us look at them together, and we shall behold the
full beauty and majesty of this most charming poem. We shall perceive
the two senses very distinct from each other, yet conspiring in perfect
harmony, and bearing a wonderful resemblance in every feature and
lineament, while the analogy between them is so exactly preserved, that
either may pass for the original, from whence the other was copied. New
light is continually cast upon the phraseology, fresh weight and dignity
are added to the sentiment, till gradually ascending from things below
to things above, from human affairs to those which are divine, they bear
the great important theme upward with them, and at length place it in
the height and brightness of heaven. What has been observed with regard
to this Psalm, may also be applied to the seventy-second; the subject of
which is of the same kind, and treated in the same manner. Its title
might be, “The Inauguration of Solomon.” The scheme of the allegory is
alike in both; but a diversity of matter occasions an alteration in the
diction. For whereas one is employed in celebrating the magnificent
triumphs of victory, it is the design of the other to draw a pleasing
picture of peace, and of that felicity which is her inseparable
attendant. The style is therefore of a more even and temperate sort, and
more richly ornamented. It abounds not with those sudden changes of the
person speaking which dazzle and astonish; but the imagery is borrowed
from the delightful scenes with which creation cheers the sight, and the
pencil of the divine artist is dipped in the softer colours of nature.
And here we may take notice how peculiarly adapted to the genius of this
kind of allegory the parabolical style is, on account of that great
variety of natural images to be found in it. For as these images are
capable of being employed in the illustration of things divine and
human, between which there is a certain analogy maintained, so they
easily afford that ambiguity which is necessary in this species of
composition, where the language is applicable to each sense, and obscure
in neither; it comprehends both parts of the allegory, and may be
clearly and distinctly referred to one or the other.
On this book Bishop Horsley remarks:--These Psalms go, in general, under
the name of the Psalms of David. King David gave a regular and noble
form to the musical part of the Jewish service. He was himself a great
composer, both in poetry and music, and a munificent patron, no doubt,
of arts in which he himself so much delighted and excelled. The Psalms,
however, appear to be compositions of various authors, in various ages;
some much more ancient than the times of King David, some of a much
later age. Of many, David himself was undoubtedly the author; and that
those of his composition were prophetic, we have David’s own authority,
which may be allowed to overpower a host of modern expositors. For thus
King David, at the close of his life, describes himself and his sacred
songs: “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 Jehovah spake by me, and his word was in my
tongue.’ It was the word, therefore, of Jehovah’s Spirit which was
uttered by David’s tongue. But it should seem, the Spirit of Jehovah
would not be wanting to enable a mere man to make complaint of his own
enemies, to describe his own sufferings just as he felt them, and his
own escapes just as they happened. But the Spirit of Jehovah described
by David’s utterance what was known to that Spirit only, and that Spirit
only could describe. So that, if David be allowed to have had any
knowledge of the true subject of his own compositions, it was nothing in
his own life, but something put into his mind by the Holy Spirit of God;
and the misapplication of the Psalms to the literal David has done more
mischief than the misapplication of any other parts of the Scriptures
among those who profess the belief of the Christian religion.
The Psalms are all poems of the lyric kind, that is, adapted to music,
but with great variety in the style of composition. Some are simply
odes. An ode is a dignified sort of song, narrative of the facts, either
of public history or private life, in a highly adorned and figured
style. But the figure in the Psalms is that which is peculiar to the
Hebrew language, in which the figure gives its meaning with as much
perspicuity as the plainest speech. Some are of the sort called elegiac,
which are pathetic compositions upon mournful subjects. Some are ethic,
delivering grave maxims of life, or the precepts of religion, in solemn,
but for the most part simple, strains. Some are enigmatic, delivering
the doctrines of religion in enigmata, contrived to strike the
imagination forcibly, and yet easy to be understood. In all these the
author delivers the whole matter in his own person. But a very great, I
believe the far greater, part are a sort of dramatic ode, consisting of
dialogues between persons sustaining certain characters. In these
dialogue Psalms the persons are frequently the psalmist himself, or the
chorus of priests and Levites, or the leader of the Levitical band,
opening the ode with a proem declarative of the subject, and very often
closing the whole with a solemn admonition drawn from what the other
persons say. The other persons are Jehovah, sometimes as one, sometimes
as another, of the three Persons; Christ in his incarnate state,
sometimes before, sometimes after, his resurrection; the human soul of
Christ as distinguished from the divine essence. Christ, in his
incarnate state, is personated sometimes as a priest, sometimes as a
king, sometimes as a conqueror; and in those Psalms in which he is
introduced as a conqueror, the resemblance is very remarkable between
this conqueror in the book of Psalms and the warrior on the white horse
in the book of Revelation, who goes forth with a crown on his head, and
a bow in his hand, conquering and to conquer. And the conquest in the
Psalms is followed, like the conquest in the Revelation, by the marriage
of the conqueror. These are circumstances of similitude which, to any
one versed in the prophetic style, prove beyond a doubt that the
mystical conqueror is the same personage in both.
praise of God, and consists of poems of various kinds. They are the
productions of different persons, but are generally called the Psalms of
David, because a great part of them was composed by him, and David
himself is distinguished by the name of the Psalmist. We cannot now
ascertain all the Psalms written by David, but their number probably
exceeds seventy; and much less are we able to discover the authors of
the other Psalms, or the occasions upon which they were composed. A few
of them were written after the return from the Babylonian captivity. The
titles prefixed to them are of very questionable authority; and in many
cases they are not intended to denote the writer but refer only to the
person who was appointed to set them to music. David first introduced
the practice of singing sacred hymns in the public service of God; and
it was restored by Ezra. The authority of the Psalms is established not
only by their rank among the sacred writings, and by the unvaried
testimony of ages, but likewise by many intrinsic proofs of inspiration.
Not only do they breathe through every part a divine spirit of
eloquence, but they contain numberless illustrious prophecies that were
remarkably accomplished, and are frequently appealed to by the
evangelical writers. The sacred character of the whole book is
established by the testimony of our Saviour and his Apostles, who, in
various parts of the New Testament, appropriate the predictions of the
Psalms as obviously apposite to the circumstances of their lives, and as
intentionally composed to describe them. The veneration for the Psalms
has in all ages of the church been considerable. The fathers assure us,
that in the earlier times the whole book of Psalms was generally learned
by heart; and that the ministers of every gradation were expected to be
able to repeat them from memory. These invaluable Scriptures are daily
repeated without weariness, though their beauties are often overlooked
in familiar and habitual perusal. As hymns immediately addressed to the
Deity, they reduce righteousness to practice; and while we acquire the
sentiments, we perform the offices of piety; while we supplicate for
blessings, we celebrate the memorial of former mercies; and while in the
exercise of devotion, faith is enlivened by the display of prophecy.
Josephus asserts, and most of the ancient writers maintain, that the
Psalms were composed in metre. They have undoubtedly a peculiar
conformation of sentences, and a measured distribution of parts. Many of
them are elegiac, and most of David’s are of the lyric kind. There is no
sufficient reason however to believe, as some writers have imagined,
that they were written in rhyme, or in any of the Grecian measures. Some
of them are acrostic; and though the regulations of the Hebrew measure
are now lost, there can be no doubt, from their harmonious modulation,
that they were written with some kind of metrical order; and they must
have been composed in accommodation to the measure to which they were
set. (See _Poetry of the Hebrews_.) The Hebrew copies and the Septuagint
version of this book contain the same number of Psalms; only the
Septuagint translators have, for some reason which does not appear,
thrown the ninth and tenth into one, as also the one hundred and
fourteenth and one hundred and fifteenth, and have divided the one
hundred and sixteenth and one hundred and forty-seventh each into two.
It is very justly observed by Dr. Allix, that, “although the sense of
near fifty Psalms be fixed and settled by divine authors, yet Christ and
his Apostles did not undertake to quote all the Psalms they could, but
only to give a key to their hearers, by which they might apply to the
same subjects the Psalms of the same composure and expression.” With
regard to the Jews, Bishop Chandler very pertinently remarks, that “they
must have understood David, their prince, to have been a figure of
Messiah. They would not otherwise have made his Psalms part of their
daily worship; nor would David have delivered them to the church to be
so employed, were it not to instruct and support them in the knowledge
and belief of this fundamental article. Were the Messiah not concerned
in the Psalms, it would have been absurd to celebrate twice a day, in
their public devotions, the events of one man’s life, who was deceased
so long ago, as to have no relation now to the Jews and the
circumstances of their affairs; or to transcribe whole passages from
them into their prayers for the coming of the Messiah.” Upon the same
principle it is easily seen that the objections, which may seem to lie
against the use of Jewish services in Christian congregations, may cease
at once. Thus it may be said, Are we concerned with the affairs of David
and of Israel? Have we any thing to do with the ark and the temple? They
are no more. Are we to go up to Jerusalem, and to worship on Sion? They
are desolated, and trodden under foot by the Turks. Are we to sacrifice
young bullocks according to the law? The law is abolished, never to be
observed again. Do we pray for victory over Moab, Edom, and Philistia;
or for deliverance from Babylon? There are no such nations, no such
places in the world. What then do we mean, when, taking such expressions
into our mouths, we utter them in our own persons, as parts of our
devotions, before God? Assuredly we must mean a spiritual Jerusalem and
Sion; a spiritual ark and temple; a spiritual law; spiritual sacrifices;
and spiritual victories over spiritual enemies; all described under the
old names, which are still retained, though “old things are passed away,
and all things are become new,” 2 Cor. v, 17. By substituting Messiah
for David, the Gospel for the law, the church Christian for that of
Israel, and the enemies of the one for those of the other, the Psalms
are made our own. Nay, they are with more fulness and propriety applied
now to the substance, than they were of old to the “shadow of good
things then to come,” Heb. x, 1. For let it not pass unobserved, that
when, upon the first publication of the Gospel, the Apostles had
occasion to utter their transports of joy, on their being counted worthy
to suffer for the name of their Lord and Master, which was then opposed
by Jew and Gentile, they brake forth into an application of the second
Psalm to the transactions then before their eyes, Acts iv, 25. The
Psalms, thus applied, have advantages which no fresh compositions,
however finely executed, can possibly have; since, beside their
incomparable fitness to express our sentiments, they are at the same
time memorials of, and appeals to, former mercies and deliverances; they
are acknowledgments of prophecies accomplished; they point out the
connection between the old and new dispensations, thereby teaching us to
admire and adore the wisdom of God displayed in both, and furnishing
while we read or sing them, an inexhaustible variety of the noblest
matter that can engage the contemplations of man.
Very few of the Psalms, comparatively, appear to be simply prophetical,
and to belong only to Messiah, without the intervention of any other
person. Most of them, it is apprehended, have a double sense, which
stands upon this ground and foundation, that the ancient patriarchs,
prophets, priests, and kings, were typical characters, in their several
offices, and in the more remarkable passages of their lives, their
extraordinary depressions and miraculous exaltations foreshowing him who
was to arise as the head of the holy family, the great prophet, the true
priest, the everlasting king. The Israelitish polity, and the law of
Moses, were purposely framed after the example and shadow of things
spiritual and heavenly; and the events which happened to the ancient
people of God were designed to shadow out parallel occurrences, which
should afterward take place in the accomplishment of man’s redemption,
and the rise and progress of the Christian church. (See _Prophecy_.) For
this reason, the Psalms composed for the use of Israel, and by them
accordingly used at the time, do admit of an application to us, who are
now “the Israel of God,” Gal. vi, 16, and to our Redeemer, who is the
King of this Israel. It would be an arduous and adventurous undertaking
to attempt to lay down the rules observed in the conduct of the mystic
allegory, so diverse are the modes in which the Holy Spirit has thought
proper to communicate his counsels to different persons on different
occasions; inspiring and directing the minds of the prophets according
to his good pleasure; at one time vouchsafing more full and free
discoveries of future events; while, at another, he is more obscure and
sparing in his intimations. From hence, of course, arises a great
variety in the Scripture usage of this kind of allegory as to the manner
in which the spiritual sense is couched under the other. Sometimes it
can hardly break forth and show itself at intervals through the literal,
which meets the eye as the ruling sense, and seems to have taken entire
possession of the words and phrases. On the contrary, it is much oftener
the capital figure in the piece, and stands confessed at once by such
splendour of language, that the letter, in its turn, is thrown into
shade, and almost totally disappears. Sometimes it shines with a
constant equable light, and sometimes it darts upon us on a sudden, like
a flash of lightning from the clouds. But a composition is never more
truly elegant and beautiful, than when the two senses, alike
conspicuous, run parallel together through the whole poem, mutually
corresponding with and illustrating each other.
Thus the establishment of David upon his throne, notwithstanding the
opposition made to it by his enemies, is the subject of the second
Psalm. David sustains in it a twofold character, literal and
allegorical. If we read over the Psalm first with an eye to the literal
David, the meaning is obvious, and put out of all dispute by the sacred
history. There is indeed an uncommon glow in the expression, and
sublimity in the figures; and the diction is now and then exaggerated,
as it were, on purpose to intimate and lead us to the contemplation of
higher and more important matters concealed within. In compliance with
this admonition, if we take another survey of the Psalm, as relative to
the person and concerns of the spiritual David, a nobler series of
events instantly rises to view, and the meaning becomes more evident, as
well as exalted. The colouring, which may perhaps seem too bold and
glaring for the king of Israel, will no longer appear so, when laid upon
his great antitype. After we have thus attentively considered the
subject apart, let us look at them together, and we shall behold the
full beauty and majesty of this most charming poem. We shall perceive
the two senses very distinct from each other, yet conspiring in perfect
harmony, and bearing a wonderful resemblance in every feature and
lineament, while the analogy between them is so exactly preserved, that
either may pass for the original, from whence the other was copied. New
light is continually cast upon the phraseology, fresh weight and dignity
are added to the sentiment, till gradually ascending from things below
to things above, from human affairs to those which are divine, they bear
the great important theme upward with them, and at length place it in
the height and brightness of heaven. What has been observed with regard
to this Psalm, may also be applied to the seventy-second; the subject of
which is of the same kind, and treated in the same manner. Its title
might be, “The Inauguration of Solomon.” The scheme of the allegory is
alike in both; but a diversity of matter occasions an alteration in the
diction. For whereas one is employed in celebrating the magnificent
triumphs of victory, it is the design of the other to draw a pleasing
picture of peace, and of that felicity which is her inseparable
attendant. The style is therefore of a more even and temperate sort, and
more richly ornamented. It abounds not with those sudden changes of the
person speaking which dazzle and astonish; but the imagery is borrowed
from the delightful scenes with which creation cheers the sight, and the
pencil of the divine artist is dipped in the softer colours of nature.
And here we may take notice how peculiarly adapted to the genius of this
kind of allegory the parabolical style is, on account of that great
variety of natural images to be found in it. For as these images are
capable of being employed in the illustration of things divine and
human, between which there is a certain analogy maintained, so they
easily afford that ambiguity which is necessary in this species of
composition, where the language is applicable to each sense, and obscure
in neither; it comprehends both parts of the allegory, and may be
clearly and distinctly referred to one or the other.
On this book Bishop Horsley remarks:--These Psalms go, in general, under
the name of the Psalms of David. King David gave a regular and noble
form to the musical part of the Jewish service. He was himself a great
composer, both in poetry and music, and a munificent patron, no doubt,
of arts in which he himself so much delighted and excelled. The Psalms,
however, appear to be compositions of various authors, in various ages;
some much more ancient than the times of King David, some of a much
later age. Of many, David himself was undoubtedly the author; and that
those of his composition were prophetic, we have David’s own authority,
which may be allowed to overpower a host of modern expositors. For thus
King David, at the close of his life, describes himself and his sacred
songs: “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 Jehovah spake by me, and his word was in my
tongue.’ It was the word, therefore, of Jehovah’s Spirit which was
uttered by David’s tongue. But it should seem, the Spirit of Jehovah
would not be wanting to enable a mere man to make complaint of his own
enemies, to describe his own sufferings just as he felt them, and his
own escapes just as they happened. But the Spirit of Jehovah described
by David’s utterance what was known to that Spirit only, and that Spirit
only could describe. So that, if David be allowed to have had any
knowledge of the true subject of his own compositions, it was nothing in
his own life, but something put into his mind by the Holy Spirit of God;
and the misapplication of the Psalms to the literal David has done more
mischief than the misapplication of any other parts of the Scriptures
among those who profess the belief of the Christian religion.
The Psalms are all poems of the lyric kind, that is, adapted to music,
but with great variety in the style of composition. Some are simply
odes. An ode is a dignified sort of song, narrative of the facts, either
of public history or private life, in a highly adorned and figured
style. But the figure in the Psalms is that which is peculiar to the
Hebrew language, in which the figure gives its meaning with as much
perspicuity as the plainest speech. Some are of the sort called elegiac,
which are pathetic compositions upon mournful subjects. Some are ethic,
delivering grave maxims of life, or the precepts of religion, in solemn,
but for the most part simple, strains. Some are enigmatic, delivering
the doctrines of religion in enigmata, contrived to strike the
imagination forcibly, and yet easy to be understood. In all these the
author delivers the whole matter in his own person. But a very great, I
believe the far greater, part are a sort of dramatic ode, consisting of
dialogues between persons sustaining certain characters. In these
dialogue Psalms the persons are frequently the psalmist himself, or the
chorus of priests and Levites, or the leader of the Levitical band,
opening the ode with a proem declarative of the subject, and very often
closing the whole with a solemn admonition drawn from what the other
persons say. The other persons are Jehovah, sometimes as one, sometimes
as another, of the three Persons; Christ in his incarnate state,
sometimes before, sometimes after, his resurrection; the human soul of
Christ as distinguished from the divine essence. Christ, in his
incarnate state, is personated sometimes as a priest, sometimes as a
king, sometimes as a conqueror; and in those Psalms in which he is
introduced as a conqueror, the resemblance is very remarkable between
this conqueror in the book of Psalms and the warrior on the white horse
in the book of Revelation, who goes forth with a crown on his head, and
a bow in his hand, conquering and to conquer. And the conquest in the
Psalms is followed, like the conquest in the Revelation, by the marriage
of the conqueror. These are circumstances of similitude which, to any
one versed in the prophetic style, prove beyond a doubt that the
mystical conqueror is the same personage in both.