He saw that the kingdom which he had now established
upon earth " should never be moved ;" that " the gates of hell should never prevail against it ;" and that it should stand for ever and ever"". Well therefore might he say, " The King shall joy in thy strength, O Lord ; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice !"]
Having thus explained the psalm, we proceed to, II. Shew what improvement we should make of it —
From its literal sense we learn, how thankful we should be for any blessings vouchsafed unto us —
[In many respects God has ^'prevented us with the blessings of goodness;" and in many he has given them in answer to our prayers. We may " account even his long-suffering towards us to be salvation," and much more the gift of his grace, and the knowledge of his dear Son. Can we reflect on " the salvation to which he has called us," even " the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory," and not be thankful for it? Can we reflect on the exaltation which we ourselves have received, from death to life, from slaves to free-men, from children of the devil to sons of God, and not rejoice in it ? Can we think of our having been made " kings and priests unto God," " heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ," yea, partners of his throne, and partakers of his glory for evermore ; can we contemplate all this, and not say, " In thy salvation how greatly shall 1 rejoice?"
Verily, if we do not rejoice and shout for joy, " the
very stones will cry out against us" ]
From its mystical or prophetical sense we learn what should be our disposition and conduct towards the Lord Jesus —
[Methinks, we should rejoice in his joy. If it were but a common friend that was released from heavy sufferings and ex- alted to glory, we should rejoice with him in the blessed change : how much more then should we participate in our minds the joy and glory of our adorable Redeemer ! But more parti- cularly we should submit to Ids government. This is strongly and awfully suggested in all the latter part of the psalm before
us. 1 Zeph. iii. i;. •" ver. /.
52 PSALMS, XXII. 1 1 — 21. [34Sr*
US. " God has highly exalted Jesus, that at his name every knee should bow ;" yea, he has sworn, that every knee shall bow to him ; and that all who will not bow to the sceptre of his grace, shall be broken in pieces with a rod of iron. Read from the text to the end of the psalm ; and endeavour to realize every
expression in it O that we may be wise ere it be too
late ! Let us *' kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and we perish :'" for though now he condescends to follow us with intreaties to be reconciled towards him, the time is quickly coming, when he will say, " Bring hither those that were mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them before me,"]
A further improvement we should make of this subject is, to cojifide in his care. " He is set to be blessings" to a ruined world. He has " ascended up on high that he might fill all things:" *' he has received gifts, even for the rebellious;" and ** has all fulness treasured up in him," on purpose that we may " receive out of his fulness grace for grace." There is nothing that we can want, but it may be found in him ; nor any thing which he is not willing to bestow on the very chief of sinners. Let us then look to him, and trust in him ; and assure ourselves, that, as " he lost none that had been given him" in the days of his flesh, so now will he suffer " none to be plucked out of his hands." We cannot expect too much from such a King : however ^' wide we open our mouths, he will fill them."