I have the general fact of trust in Jehovah when enemies and trouble have multiplied; next, the enmity of the wicked against the Spirit of Christ. But Jehovah has set apart the godly man for Himself. Psa. 5 rests on the sense, in him that is righteous, of the character of God, which must be opposed to the wicked and own him who in righteousness cries to Him. Psa. 6, on the other hand, gives the sense, when Jehovah is looked at for oneself, of having merited rebuke and blame. It looks to being saved from what weighs on it. Psa. 7 looks to being saved from the outward persecutor, on whom judgment will come. But note that Psa. 5 shows how the Spirit of Christ looks, beyond present circumstances, on prophetically; for in David's time there was no house nor temple. Circumstances may have given occasion to the expressions in the Psalms, etc., but they go far beyond them.
In these Psalms then, we get the Spirit in which the state of things is met. In Psa. 9, after the exaltation of Christ, we get the historical results as to all Israel, or at any rate Judah. But then this is Jehovah's intervention, and the judgment of the world. Moreover all the above Psalms are taken up save Psa. 6 which, on the favorable intervention of God, could not be referred to, for the question raised in it was then necessarily over. It was the inward exercise of soul connected with the outward pressure. The contrast is seen in Psa. 9:1313Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: (Psalm 9:13), and Psa. 6:55For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? (Psalm 6:5).
Now Psa. 15-17 answer to Psa. 1 and 2 in this respect, that one gives the character of the Remnant, the two others the purpose and power of God. In Psa. 15 we have clearly the character of those who will be kept for God's dwelling, and holy hill. Psa. 16 and 17 give the portion of the slain “in the Lord" and "in his likeness," and Psa. 16, as we know, is directly applicable to Christ. But it is beyond all question that these Psalms apply to the Remnant in trial in the last days; Psa. 9 and 10, indeed all of these Psalms, show it as clearly as possible. But then the use of Psa. 16 by Peter, shows how Christ entered into and took part in these sorrows, and, as looking to Jehovah as in that position indeed, verse 3 shows His gracious association with them. And note as in verse 11, the Remnant are noticed, and though the Speaker in the Psalm is satisfied, as awaking with God's likeness, yet salvation from death is supposed and looked for. Psa. 16 takes up clearly His own reference in faith to Jehovah, in view of death, as a faithful One, but as a Man, "My goodness extendeth not to thee," and says to the saints "In them is my delight." But it is confidence not sorrow and distress here—John, not Matthew. In Psa. 17 we have the pressure of men; in Psa. 18 the distress of soul from death, though leading to triumph and glory, and that in Israel closes that part.
Psa. 19 begins another teaching, and goes wider—testimony into all the world with that of the law, as heretofore noted, and then Messiah in trouble and exalted of God, beyond death, in life and glory forever. Then are testimonies—what is before the hearts and eyes of men, each in his own character—Messiah only before those who had eyes to see. Psa. 20, I think, supposes temporal deliverance for the Remnant, though Psa. 21 supposes heavenly glory for the Messiah, bringing judgment hereafter on His rejectors; Psa. 22 is then, and it stands thus alone, the foundation of universal blessing, in the proper expiatory sufferings of Christ, in His own abandonment by God, yet heard (once He had wrought expiation) from the horns of the unicorns, when He had finished the work. And here is what is essential to its character—He is quite alone. It is evidently totally different. Even in Psa. 20 and 21, though alone, yet He is seen and contemplated by others. It was a sorrow and a hope into which they could more or less enter. It was for their thoughts and feelings; but here He is alone with God, and the expression His own.