"To me speaks the Rock of Israel" (1 Sam. Ii. 2; eh. xxii. 2, 3, 32, 47). "He is faithful that promised" (Heh. x. 23). His faithfulness is the foundation of his pron,ises. "And the he1Lvens eh1Lll prniee thy wonders, 0 Jehovah: !Lnd thy faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones" (Pe. lxx.xix. 1, 2, 5, 8, 24, 33). On this the believer reet~ when all things fail, and of this he testifies in death, committing his soul into the hands of God, as "unto a fuithful Creator" (1 Pet. iv. 19; Ps. xxxi. 5). III. GLORIOUS ANTICIPATIONS of the kingdom of God; wherein the glory of the present merges into the greater glory of the future, and earth and heaven are one (vers. 3-5; Ps. lxxxv. 11). He sees: 1. The majesty of the King of righteo11,.mess; like the splendour of the rising sun. His view of the ideal theocratic ruler of the future ha~ its perfect realization in him who is "King of kings, and Lord of lords." The chief object of the Christian's contemplation in death is the glory of Christ. "Herein woull I live; herein would I die; herein would I dwell in my thoughts and affections, to the withdrawing and consumption of all the painted beauties of this world, unto the crucifixion of all things here below, until they become unto me a dead and deformed thing, no way meet for affectionate embraces" (Owen). 2. The brightness of a heavenly day; "the drawing near of the kingdom of the heavens," and abounding life and happiness for ever (eh. xxii. 51 ; ver. 5). "Nevertheless we according to his promise," etc. (~ Pet. iii. 13). 3. The realization of a blessed hope; the hope of personal salvation (ver. 5), associated with and assured in the immortal life of the King and his people (Ps. xvi. 9-11; xvii. 15; xlix. 15; lxxiii. 24; John xiv. 19). 4. The destruction oj all iniquity. (Ver. 6.) The people shall be all righteous. "The dying eyes see on the horizon of the far-off future the form of him who is to be a just and perfect Ruler; before the brightness of whose presence, and the refreshing of whose influence, verdure and beauty shall clothe the world. As the shades gather, that radiant glory to come brightens. He departs in peace, having seen the salvation from afar. It was fitting that this fullest of his prophecies should be the last of his strains, as if the rariture which thrilled the trern bling strings had snapped them in twain" (Maclaren). •• They who watch by him see not; but he sees- Sees and exults. Were ever dreams like tuese? Those who watch by him hear not; but he hears, And earth recedes, and heaven itself appears." (Rogers.) "His funeral obsequies were celebrated with the greatest pomp ever yet known In Israel, and his arms were preserved as sacred relics in the temple; but the lapse of time only increased the reverence in which his memory was held in the national heart, until it finally culminated in a glowing desire to behold him once again upon the earth, and to see the advent of a. second David" (Ewald).-D.
Vars. 3-7.-.Lln oracle concerning the King Messiah. 1. The hope of salvation, and more especially of the establishment of the kingdom of heaven upon earth, was, in some measure, fulfilled in the reign of David, the Lord's messiah. In his character as theocratic ruler he was a. type (prefigurement or anticipatory outline) of Christ (1 Sam. ii, 10). "The type is prophecy in deed." 2. Under Di vine inspiration, he formed an tdeal of a theocratic ruler, in connection with his own personality and history. Hence the representations contained in the Messianic psalms (xvi., xxii.), in some things transcend his experience, and in others are mingled with his infirmities. 3. In this oracle or Divine saying (as in Ps. ex., and perhaps others) he looked forward to the realization of his ideal at a future time. "No part whatever of the Old Testament is introduced with a. greater majesty of language, or more excites the expectation of some splendid and glorious sense, than the last words of David" (Kennicott). The promise of eternal dominion to his house was joined with~ intimation of his death (eh. vii. 12); and "these last words show how, in consequence of the consciousness of his own guilt, the image of the Messiah was separated from his subjectivity, and ea.me before him as a majestic form of the future. He, the highly favoured one, who had considered himself immortal (P8. xvi.), mu&t now die! He therefore grasps the pillars of the promise, ceases to connect the Messianic hopes with himself, and as a. prophet beholds the future of his seed" (Delitzsch). •• These words a.re not merely a. lyric effusion of 680 THE SEOOND BOOK OF_ SAMUEL. [OH, Xll:Ill. 1---39,