It would be strange if these few psalms stood, in their prophetical significance, absolutely alone among the rest : the more so inasmuch as Psa. ii forms part of the preface to the first hook of the Psalter, and would, as such, be entirely out of place, did not its general theme virtually extend itself over those that follow. in which the interest generally centres in the figure of the Buppliant or worshipper himself. Hence the im- possibility of viewing the psalms generally, notwith- standing the historical drapery in which they are out- wardly clothed, as simply the past devotions of the his- torical David or the historical Israel. Other arguments to the same effect are furnished by the idealized repre- sentations which many of them present: by the out- ward points of contact between their language and the actual earthly career of our Saviour; by the frequent references made to them both by our Saviour himself and by the Evangelists; and by the view taken of them by the .lew-, as evinced in several passages of the Tar- gum. There is yet another circumstance well worthy of note iii its bearing upon thi- subject. Alike in the earlier and in the later portions of the Psalter, all those psalms which are of a personal rather than of a national Character are marked in the superscriptions with the name of David. It results from this that, while the Davidic psalms are partly personal, partly national, the Levitical psalms are uniformly national. Exceptions to
this rule exist only in appearance: thus Psa. lxxiii, al- though couched in tin' lirst person singular, is really a prayer of the Jewish faithful against the Assyrian in- vaders; and in Psa. xlii, xliii.it is the feelings of an ex- iled company rather than of a single individual to which utterance is given. It thus follow- that it was only those psalmists who were types of Christ by external office
and lineage a- well as by inward piety that were charged by the Holy Spirit to set forth beforehand, in Christ's own name and person, the Bufferings that awaited him
and the ^k.ry that should follow. The national hymns of Israel are. indeed, also prospective; but in general they anticipati rather the Struggles and the triumphs of the ( hristiau t 'hureh than those of Christ him-ell'.
We annex a list of I he chief passages in the Psalms which are in anywise quoted or embodied in the N.T., showing more or less clearly this anticipative character :
Psa. ii, 1,2, 7, 8, 9 j iv,4; v,9; vi,3,8; vii.,2,4-6; x.7; xiv, 1-3; xvi, 8 11; xviii, I. 19; xix. -1: xxii, 1, 8, 18, 22; xxiii. ti ; xxiv. 1 ; xxxi. 5; x.xxii. 1. •_'; xxxiv. X, 12 16,20; xxxv,9; xxxvi. 1 ; xxxvii.ll; xl,6 8; xli, !»: xliv,22; xlv, 6, 7; xlviii..: li. 1 : lv,22; lxviii. IK; Ixix, i,9, 22, 23, 25; lxxv,8; lxxviii, 2, 24 ; lxxxii,6; Ixxxvi,9; Ixxxix, 20; xc,4; xci.ll.p_': xcii,7; xciv, 11; xcv,7-ll; cii, 25 27; civ,4; cix,8; ,x.l. 1: cxii. '.': cxvi, m; cxvii. 1 ; cxviii, 6, 22, .:;. 25, 26; exxv, 5: cxl, 3. Sec Quotations.
\ 1. Moral i 'haracb ristics <<f<}u Psalms. — The great doctrines and precepts embodied in the Psalms — what views they give of God and his government, of man ami his sinfulness, of piety and morals, of a future state, and of the Messiah- are most ably set forth by Tholuck in his I'.tiih tin itij, § 4.
Foremost among these meets us, undoubtedly, the universal recourse to communion with Cod. "My voice is unto God, and I will cry" i Psa. lxxvii. 1), might well stand as a motto to the whole of tin- Psal- ter: tor, whether immersed in the depths, or blessed with greatness ami comfort on every side, it is to God that the psalmist's voice seems ever to soar spontane- ously aloft. Alike in the welcome of present deliver- ance or in the contemplation of past mercies, he ad- dresses himself straight to God as the object of ids
praise. Alike in the persecutions of his enemies and in the desertions of his friends, in wretchedness of body and in the agonies of inward repentance, in the mo- ment of impending dang< r and in the hour of apparent despair, it is direct to Cod that he utters forth his sup- plications. Despair, we say: for such, as tar as the de- scription goes, is the psalmist's slate in I '.-a. Ixxxviii. Hut meanwhile he is praying: the apparent impossi- bility of deliverance cannot restrain his Godward voice; and so the very force of communion with God carries him. almost unawares to himself, through the trial.
Connected with this is the faith by which he every- where lives in (hid rather than in himself. God's mercies, Cod's greatness, form the sphere in which his thoughts are ever moving. Even when, through ex- cess of affliction, reason is rendered powerless, the naked contemplation of find's wonders of old forms his effect- ual support ( Psa. lxxvii ).
Ii i> ni the essence of such faith that the psalmist's view of the perfections of Cod should he true and viv- id. The Psalter describes God a- he is; it ol,,ws with testimonies to his power and providence, bis love and faithfulness, his holiness and righteousness. Corre- spondingly it testifies against every form of idol which men would substitute in the living God's place, wheth- er it be the outward image, the work of nun's hands (Psa.cxv).or whether it be the inward vanity ot earth- ly comfort or prosperity, to be purchased at the cost of t he honor which cometh from God alone i Psa. iv). The solemn "See that there is no idol-way i ~U" ~~*1) in me" of 1'sa. exxxix— the striving ot the heart after the very truth, and naught besides i- the exact anticipa- tion of the •• Little children, keep you I'm ives from idols" of the loved apostle iii the X. T.