684.]
[Melchizedec, though a priest, was a king also, and one that was most eminently fitted to typify the Saviour, being " king of righteousness and peace1." Thus was Christ not a priest only, but "a priest upon his throne s." Being now exalted to the right hand of God, he " sitteth there, till all his enemies become his footstool." " To him every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear " allegiance : or, if any con- tinue to withstand his overtures of mercy, he will smite them to the ground ; yea, though they be the greatest monarchs upon earth : " He will strike through kings in the day of his wrath." There is " a day of wrath," as well as a day of mercy ; and terrible indeed will be " the wrath of the Lamb." As a mighty conqueror desolates the countries which he overruns, and fills them with the bodies of the slain, so will Jesus in that awful clay. If he rule not men by their free consent, as their Lord, he will judge them as rebels, and "wound the heads of all " to the remotest corners of the earth : he will say, " Bring hither those that were mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, and slay them before me."
Previous to his own victories, he was himself, according to human estimate, to be overcome. But his humiliation was to pave the way for his exaltation : "by death he was to overcome him that had the power of death, and to deliver from death " his ransomed people. This was the way pointed out in the very first proclamation of mercy to fallen man : " The Seed of the woman was to bruise the serpent's head ; but the serpent was first to bruise his heel*." Accordingly he did " drink of the brook in the way :" he suffered infinitely more than words can express, or the mind of man can conceive; and then "he lifted up the head," and was " exalted far above all principalities and powers," whether of heaven or hell; and he " shall surely reign till all his enemies be put under his feet."]
We cannot improve this subject better than by asking, 1. What think ye of Christ ? [This is the very question which our Lord himself asked in reference to this psalm. Yet it is not a mere theoretical opinion that we ask for, but the practical persuasion of your hearts. Do you view him with reverence and love as your
incarnate God ? Do you look to him as your Prophet,
to teach and guide you into all truth ? Do you look to
him as your great High Priest, trusting in his all-atoning sacri- fice, and imploring an interest in his prevailing intercession ?
Father. But this introduces needless perplexity into the subject. If we understand " The Lord at thy right hand," as meaning, The Lord ivho is thy strength and thy support, (which is certainly its most ob- vious meaning,) the whole speech is uninterrupted and clear. r Heh. vh. 2. 8 Zech. vi. 13. t Gen. iii. 15.