Thus the general character of the book (more correctly of the five books of Psalms, in which there is much more method than is supposed) is clearly given. It is the position of the godly remnant in Israel, and Christ entering in spirit wholly and fully into the position of this remnant, sometimes animating their feelings according to His mind in them in it, while sometimes the Spirit rises up to the expression of His own, as entered personally into it, so that what is there said becomes direct prophecy as to Christ Himself. The Lord, entering fully in grace (for in all their affliction He was afflicted) into their trial, appropriates more than once language which is also true and applicable in the mouth of the remnant, though sometimes, as we have seen, it is exclusively Himself. In all, it is His Spirit graciously furnishing the expression of sorrows and desires in the trial by His perfect sympathy, or of which He is the source—sorrows and desires into which He has so personally entered, that often the terms employed belong prophetically to Him.
To proceed (Psa. 9 and 10.), the trial and judgment of the last days are definitely gone into, and the state of the remnant plainly set forth; the needy expectations of the poor would not always be forgotten. The connection of the Lord with the remnant, and their praise for deliverance, is unfolded in Psa. 9; the extensive power of wickedness and distress of the remnant in Psa. 10; but the general subject and result is the same. In Psa. 11-15 the various thoughts, feelings, and apprehensions of the remnant in these circumstances are developed, Psa. 15 showing the Jewish character of godliness which shall find its place in God's holy hill. All this, and its unquestionable carrying on of the subject to the last days (for we have in Psa. 8 the full final exaltation of Christ and blessing of Israel under the glory of Jehovah's name; and in Psa. 10 the heathen perished out of the land, and the Lord king forever and ever) shows the existence and character of the remnant in that day, and its connection with the remnant in the time of Christ's personal presence in humiliation here on earth, in the very clearest possible way.
This is completed in Psa. 16 and 17, especially the first, by Christ's definitely taking this place of association with the godly remnant, as He did historically when He was baptized with John's baptism (the submission to which, on the part of the remnant, was the first expression of the action of the Spirit of God in their separating in view of the thoroughly purging of the Jewish floor). In the path of that action, Christ, who surely needed no repentance, at once goes with them. The principle laid down in the beginning of this
Psalm is brought forward in the Epistle to the Hebrews, to show that “both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.” In the Psalm, Christ says, I take the place of a servant to Jehovah, not my divine place. He says to Jehovah, Thou art my Lord; my goodness extendeth not to thee. He says (for that is the connection) to the saints on earth, the excellent, In them is all my delight. Having taken this path, and owning, leaning on, and desiring none but Jehovah, He follows the path of life, does not see corruption, and finds His eternal joy as man in the presence and at the right hand of Jehovah. As Psa. 16 was His trust in God, so Psa. 17 is His appeal to His righteousness. He will behold His face in righteousness and be satisfied, awaking up in His likeness, the true eternal image of the invisible God. But here He brings in the remnant as associated with Him in His sorrow. In Psalm 16:22O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; (Psalm 16:2), it is absolutely Himself passing through death in the power of life. Mainly so in Psalm17; only He associates the rest of the godly with Himself.
Psa. 18 is, I doubt not, the application of Christ's death backwards and forwards (to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and to their final deliverance when, under the figure of David, all is subdued under Him).
The Psalms which follow are remarkably interesting. In Psa. 19 we have the testimony of the creation, and the law. Psa. 20, Messiah; but now it is the sympathy of the remnant with Him, as suggested by the prophetic Spirit. Psa. 21 the full result of His sorrows and desires recognized in His glory. Compare Psa. 20:44Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. (Psalm 20:4), and Psa. 21:22Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. (Psalm 21:2). The result is, length of days forever and ever as man, and glory laid on Him. In result, His right hand finds out all His enemies. In Psa. 22 we have, not His sorrows from man merely, but the forsaking of God. He mentions these sorrows, and appeals to God not to forsake Him, and is forsaken as none other had been. The result is all grace, which He exercises on His full deliverance, in making known the deliverer's name to His brethren, and associating the remnant in praise with Him, then all Israel (for He has been heard as the poor man, so that they may trust in their cry); and then all the ends of the earth bow to Him in millennial fullness; and generations to be born learn what He has done as the source of their blessedness.
I will close this rapid review of the early Psalms with noticing Psa. 23 and 24. Psa. 23 as showing Jehovah's faithful shepherd care through every difficulty, now exercised in our favor by Christ, is in principle the portion of every believer; but as He knows His sheep and is known of them, so He has walked in the path in which the sheep had to walk, and when He put them forth, went before them; and though the place of sheep was properly still theirs, not His, yet He has really walked in it; and, in that sense this Psalm is the expression of His own confidence. Restoring is not exclusively from sin—though He does that for us, but from sorrow and oppression of heart; as, “Now is my soul troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour.” In Psa. 24 we find, that He who has walked in the path of the sheep themselves in grace is the Lord of hosts Himself; and in the last day will take His place in glory in the hill and in the house of the glory of Jehovah. The character of him who shall have a place there, and blessing and righteousness from the God of his salvation, is found in verses 3-6. For the righteous remnant are all forgotten; only here, I apprehend, it goes out to Gentiles (so verses 5 and 6 seem to imply), for they shall rejoice in that day with His people. From this to Psa. 41, which closes the book (Psa. 40 giving the source of all the blessings in the counsels of God, and the willingness of Christ to undertake the accomplishment of His will), are largely and blessedly unfolded the various exercises of heart in confidence, joy, and sorrow, with exhortations and warnings suited to the godly in such circumstances, and Christ's entering into them given as a ground of confidence: “This poor man cried and the Lord heard him,” though this be in principle true of many a saint.
In this part, consequently (for it is never the case before Psa. 25), sins are referred to, and the blessedness of forgiveness; for, after all, the remnant had sins, and Christ took them. But the true godly character of the remnant, as under the influence of Christ's Spirit, is what is put forward in the first place as the true essential characteristic of the book, and of the position of those who are its immediate subjects. Even in Psa. 22, where the fact of God's forsaking is spoken of, the “Why?” shows the perfectly righteous man. Through grace we can answer the “Why?” but in the Psalm itself Christ is the Righteous Sufferer forsaken of God. Of Psa. 6 we can say, that the occasion of such fear to us would be our sins; but sins are not spoken of there—it was grief: but the wicked who pressed Him He sends away, as apart from them. In a word, sins are not spoken of before Psa. 25. This is after the whole introductory part of the connection of Christ with the remnant. Thence to the end of Psa. 41 every kind of practical exercise is gone through to which the remnant will be in fact subject, of which they need the exposition from God; but it is always of the godly these Psalms speak, even when forgiveness is sought or sins confessed. They acquaint us with the circumstances of the godly remnant in the latter day, though often on principles which all, by grace, can use. See Psa. 35 and 37.
Remark also the essential difference between the sufferings of Christ from man and from God; the first were for righteousness, the second for sin. The consequence of the first (Psa. 21) is, that He will make His enemies as a fiery oven in the day of His wrath. In the second He was bearing wrath: the consequence is all unmingled blessing, and nothing else, as its fruit. (See Psa. 22:11-2311Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 13They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 16For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. 18They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. 21Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. 22I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. (Psalm 22:11‑23)).
(To be continued)