nails : and that, whilst he was suspended thus a naked bloody spectacle upon the cross, some gazed at him with stupid curio- sity, and others with cruel indifference amused themselves with " casting lots for his vesture." In no sense whatever was this ever verified in David : he was evidently overruled by the Spirit of God to personate the Messiah, in whom alone they were ever accomplished.
In relation to his soul also, much that is here spoken was uttered. Great as his bodily sufferings were, they were not to be compared with the anguish of his soul, which was transfixed with agony, long before the smallest pain was inflicted on his body^. He bore the Father's wrath that was due to the sins of the whole world j and this it was that so oppressed and over- whelmed him*^. At the same time all the hosts of hell assaulted him ; for " that was their hour, and the power of darkness." Under the pressure of all these things *' he was poured out like water :" or rather, like the burnt-offerings which were wholly consumed with fire, he was altogether consumed, as it were, with the fire of God's wrath ; insomuch that " his heart was like melted wax in the midst of his bowels."]
In the midst of all these sufferings we hear hini pouring out,
II. His supplications —
How exceedingly fervent and importunate were these !
[Twice does he implore the presence of God*^, the loss of which he had so bitterly bewailed * : and in every diversified form
does he offer his supplications for help and deliverance
We cannot suppose that these intreaties had reference only to his bodily sufferings : no ; we cannot doubt but that they re- lated chiefly to the sufferings of his soul: it was " the sword" of God's wrath that he so importunately desired to be delivered from, and " the roaring lion," the devil, from whose assaults he so begged to be preserved. The plea which he offered on this occasion deserves peculiar notice ; " Thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns : " yes ; from his earliest infancy had his Father protected and delivered him, when Herod and other blood-thirsty enemies sought to destroy him : and the remem- brance of past deliverances encouraged him to expetet all the aid that his necessities should require. Such pleas are proper for us also in the hour of trouble, nor shall they ever be urged in vain^. If, like Jesus, we offer supplications and prayers with strong crying and tears, like him we shall be heard, if not in
the
^ Luke xxii.44. * Isai. liii. 10. ^ ver. 11, Ip. ' ver. 1. f Ps. Ivi. 13.
344.] David's confidence in god. 55
the removal of the bitter cup, at least in an augmentation of our strength to drink it s.]
Behold in this prophetic description,
1. How desperate must have been the state of fallen man !
[What must have been our state, when nothing but the intervention of such a surety could save us ? O let us, in the sufferings of the Son of God, behold what miseries were due to
us ; and let us humble ourselves before God in dust and
ashes ]
2. How wonderful must be the love of Christ, who gave himself up to endure such things for us !
[He foreknew from all eternity what he must suffer to redeem our souls ; yet he cheerfully " undertook for us." And when the sufferings were coming fast upon him, he withdrew not from his work, till he could say, It is finished. He deprecated indeed the bitter cup, on a supposition that the removal of it could by any means consist with God's purposes of mercy to a fallen world : but, if it could not, then he desired that God's will might be done, and that nothing should be withheld that was ne- cessary for the accomplishment of man's salvation. O let this love be contemplated by us, till we burst forth into songs of praise and thanksgiving, and, under a sense of its constraining influ- ence, devote to him the souls which he has purchased at so dear a rate !]