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sign, and unites the remotest events with the nearest: the style of the prophet, in the mean time, so adapting itself to this double prospect, as to paint the near and subordinate event in terms that emphatically represent the distant and more considerable. So that, with this explanation, nothing can be more just or philosophical, than the idea which Lord Bacon suggests, of divine prophecy.

"The great scheme of redemption, we are now considering, being the only scheme in the plan of Providence, which, as far as we know, hath been prepared and dignified by a continued system of prophecy, at least this being the only scheme to which we have seen a prophetic system applied, men do not so readily apprehend the doctrine of double sense in prophecy, as they would do, if they saw it exemplified in other cases. But what the history of mankind does not supply we may represent to ourselves by many obvious suppositions; which cannot justify, indeed, such a scheme of things, but may facilitate the conception of it."*

In allegories framed by man, the ground-work is generally fiction,t because of the difficulty of finding one true series of facts, which shall exactly represent another. But the great disposer of events, "known unto whom are all his works," from the beginning to the end of time, was able to effect this; and the scripture allegories are therefore equally true, in the letter and in the spirit of them. The events signifying, no less than those signified, really happened, as they are said to have done. Why the allegories of the most perfect form, with which the book of God abounds, and which are all pregnant with truths of the highest import, should be treated with neglect and contempt, while the imperfect allegories of man's devising are universally sought after and admired, as the most pleasing and most efficacious method of conveying instruction, it is not easy to say. Why should it not afford a believer as much delight, to contemplate the lineaments of his Saviour, portrayed in one of the patriarchs, as to be informed, that the character of lapis was designed by Virgil to adumbrate that of Antonius Musa, physician to Augustus? Or why should not a discourse upon the redemption of the church, as foreshadowed by the exodus of Israel, have as many admirers among Christians, as a dissertation, however ingeniously composed, on the descent of Æneas to the infernal regions, considered as typical of an initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries?

A learned, judicious, and most elegant writer of the present age hath stated and illustrated the subject we are now upon, with a felicity of thought and expression peculiar to himself. I shall endeavour to gratify the English reader with a view of his sentiments. The beauties of his language are not to be translated.

"It would be an arduous and adventurous undertaking to attempt to lay down the rules observed in the conduct of the Mystic Allegory; so diverse are the modes in which the Holy Spirit has thought proper to communicate his counsels to different persons upon different occasions, inspiring and directing the minds of the prophets according to his good pleasure; at one time vouchsafing more full and free discoveries of future events: while, at another, he is more obscure and sparing in his intimations. From hence, of course, ariseth a great variety in the scripture usage of this kind of allegory, as to the manner in which the spiritual sense is couched under the

Bishop Hurd's excellent Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies, Serm. iii. † I say "generally," since, as the above cited Mr. Merrick justly observes, "It is possible (for example) in a complimental address to a modern statesman, or general, to relate the actions of some ancient patriot of the same character, in such a manner, that the parallel intended to be drawn between them, shall be readily known, and the praises expressly bestowed on the one, be transferred, by the reader's own application, to the other."

Neque propterea ab historico, sive literali atque immediatio, ut aiunt, sensu aberrare nos oportet: quin eò erit clarior et fundatior secretioris illius intelligentiæ sensus, quò typum ipsum, hoc est, historiam ac literam tigemus certius. Bossuet Dissertat. in Psal. ad finem.

ather. Sometimes it can hardly break forth and show itself at intervals through the literal, which meets the eye as the ruling sense, and seems to have taken entire possession of the words and phrases. On the contrary, it is much oftener the capital figure in the piece, and stands confessed at once by such splendour of language, that the letter, in its turn, is thrown into shades, and almost totally disappears. Sometimes it shines with a constant equable light; and sometimes it darts upon us on a sudden, like a flash of lightning from the clouds. But a composition is never more truly elegant and beautiful, than when the two senses, alike conspicuous, run parallel together through the whole poem, mutually corresponding with, and illustrating each other. I will produce an undoubted instance or two of this kind, which will show my meaning, and confirm what has hitherto been advanced on the subject of the mystic allegory.

"The establishment of David upon his throne, notwithstanding the opposition made to it by his enemies, is the subject of the second Psalm. David sustains it in a two-fold character, literal and allegorical. If we read over the Psalm first with an eye to the literal David, the meaning is obvious, and put out of all dispute by the sacred history. There is indeed an uncommon glow in the expression, and sublimity in the figures, and the diction is now and then exaggerated as it were on purpose to intimate, and lead us to the contemplation of higher and more important matters concealed within. In compliance with this admonition, if we take another survey of the Psalm, as relative to the person and concerns of the spiritual David, a nobler series of events instantly rises to view, and the meaning becomes more evident, as well as exalted. The colouring, which may perhaps seem too bold and glaring for the king of Israel, will no longer appear so, when laid upon his great antitype. After we have thus attentively considered the subjects apart, let us look at them together, and we shall behold the full beauty and majesty of this most charming poem. We shall perceive the two senses very distinct from each other, yet conspiring in perfect harmony, and bearing a wonderful resemblance in every feature and lineament, while the analogy between them is so exactly preserved, that either may pass for the original from whence the other was copied. New light is continually cast upon the phraseology, fresh weight and dignity are added to the sentiment, till gradually ascending from things below to things above, from human affairs to those which are divine, they bear the great important theme upwards with them, and at length place it in the height and brightness of heaven.

"What hath been observed with regard to this Psalm, may also be applied to the seventy-second; the subject of which is of the same kind, and treated in the same manner. Its title might be, The Inauguration of Solomon. The scheme of the allegory is alike in both; but a diversity of matter occasions an alteration in the diction. For whereas one is employed in celebrating the magnificent triumphs of victory, it is the design of the other to draw a pleasing picture of peace, and of that felicity which is her inseparable attendant. The style is therefore of a more even and temperate sort, and more richly ornamented. It aboundeth not with those sudden changes of the person speaking, which dazzle and astonish; but the imagery is borrowed from the delightful scenes with which creation cheers the sight, and the pencil of the divine artist is dipped in the softest colours of nature. And here we may take notice how peculiarly adapted to the genias of this kind of allegory the parabolical style is, on account of that great variety of natural images to be found in it. For as these images are capable of being employed in the illustration of things divine and human, between which there is a certain analogy maintained, so they easily afford that ambiguity which is necessary in this species of composition, where the language is applicable to each sense, and obscure in neither; it comprehends

both parts of the allegory, and may be clearly and distinctly referred to one or the other.""*

The scheme of exposition so beautifully delineated, and illustrated in two instances by this truly valuable author, has been extended, in theory, by another learned writer, to a great part of the Psalter; and that upon a principle deduced from the attributes of God, and the nature and design of the divine dispensations; though his own labours, like those of Dr. Hammond, were employed chiefly in literal criticism. His reasoning is as follows"In this point (namely, the application of the Psalms to the mysteries of the gospel) I am very clear. The Jews only, as a nation, acknowledged the one supreme God, under the name of Jehovah; they must be therefore his peculiar people. There is nothing capricious in this; they are correlates, and of necessity answer reciprocally to each other. Hence that singular intercourse between God and them. Hence, among other instances of his favour, his communication of himself to them by supernatural ways of oracle, inspiration, &c. When the acknowledgment of the one God branched itself, from this Jewish flock, over the face of the earth, and by that means he was become the God of all mankind, they must all, for the same reason, become his people. As God is ever the same, and his doings uniform, his conduct towards mankind must exactly be proportioned to his conduct towards the Jewish nation. Let us therefore place God in common over them both; and there will be-on one side, the Jewish nation; and on the other, mankind: on one side Canaan, and a national prosperity; on the other, heaven, and human happiness: on one side, a redemption from Egyptian servitude, and national evils; on the other, a redemption of the whole human race from absolute evil: on one side, national crimes atoned by national ceremonies, sacrifices, priests; on the other, sins expiated by the one universal sacrifice of JESUS CHRIST: on one side, national and temporary saviours, kings, prophets, &c.; on the other, all this universal and eternal: on one side the law, and every branch of it, adapted to a favourite nation; on the other, the everlasting gospel, suited to all mankind. It is impossible, therefore, that God can say anything to David, under the quality of king of this chosen nation, which he does not speak at the same time to JESUS CHRIST, as king of all the elect: and that in a truer and nobler sense. To each of them he speaks in a sense adapted to the nature of their respective kingdoms. Nor is this latter a bare accommodation of words, but the first and highest meaning of them, and which only, absolutely speaking, can be the true sense of God; the other being this sense, confined to a particular circumstance; in other words, an absolute truth, made history, and matter of fact. This is a principle, which shows, that, far from denying the Christian application, I consider the literal and historical sense only as a kind of vehicle for it.

Upon this plan it is, that many of the Psalms are interpreted in the following sheets.

In such of them as were written by David, and treat of his affairs, that extraordinary person is considered as an illustrious representative of Messiah, who is more than once foretold under the name of David, and to whom are applied, in the New Testament, Psalms which do undoubtedly, in the letter of them, relate to David, and were composed on occasion of particular occurrences which befell him; a circumstance in theology, to be accounted for upon no other principle.

When therefore he describeth himself as one hated and persecuted without a cause; as one accused of crimes which he never committed, and suffering

* Bishop Lowth on the Hebrew poetry, Lect. xi.

+ Preface to An Essay towards a New English Version of the Book of Psalms, by the Rev. Mr. Mudge.

for sins, the very thoughts of which he abhorred: as one whose life was imbittered by affliction, and his soul overwhelmed with sorrows; yet, withal, as one whom no troubles could induce to renounce his trust and confidence in the promises of God concerning him, when he repeateth his resolutions of adhering to the divine law, setting forth its various excellencies, and the comforts which it afforded him in the days of adversity; when he complaineth of that implacable malice, and unrelenting fury, with which he was pursued by Saul and his attendants, by Doeg the Edomite, by rebellious Absalom, traitorous Ahitophel, &c. and when, contrary to all appearances, he predicteth their destruction, with his own final exaltation; in expounding the Psalms of this cast and complexion, it hath been my endeavour to direct the reader's thoughts to parallel circumstances, which present themselves in the history of the true David; his sorrows and sufferings; his resignation under them all; his obedience to the will of his Father; the temper and behaviour of his betrayers and murderers; the prophecies of judgments to be inflicted upon them, and of glory to be conferred upon him. As the Psalter was the liturgy of the Jewish church, of which our Lord was a member, and to which he therefore entirely conformed, during his abode and humiliation upon earth, he might pour forth his complaints and "offer up his prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears,"* in the very words which his progenitor David had before used under his own troubles, but which were given by inspiration, with a view to the case of that blessed person, whom, in those troubles, he had the honour to prefigure.

Other Psalms there are, which disclose far different scenes. In them, the sorrows of David are at an end, and the day of his deliverance hath already dawned. The heavens are opened, and Jehovah appeareth in the cause of his afflicted servant. He descendeth from above, encompassed with clouds and darkness, preceded by fire and hail, proclaimed by thunder and earthquake, and attended by lightnings and whirlwinds. The mountains smoke, and the rocks melt before him; the foundations of the globe are uncovered, and the deep from beneath is moved at his presence. The adversary is dismayed and confounded; opposition, in the height of its career, feels the blast through all its powers, and instantly withers away. The anointed of God, according to his original designation, is at length elevated to the throne; his sceptre is extended over the nations; the temple is planned by him, and erected by his son; the services of religion are appointed in perfect order and beauty: Jerusalem becometh a praise in all the earth; and the kingdom is established in honour, peace, and felicity. If in Psalms of the former kind, the holy Jesus might behold those persecutions and sufferings under which he was to be humbled, and to mourn, during his pilgrimage here below; in Psalms of this latter sort he might strengthen and console himself, as a man "touched with the feelings of our infirmities, and tempted in all points like as we are," by viewing "the glory that should follow" by contemplating the manifestation of the Father in favour of his beloved Son; his own joyful resurrection, triumphant ascension, and magnificent inauguration; the conversion of the world, and the establishment of the church; events, which were foreshadowed by those above-mentioned; and to which, when the strongest expressions made use of by the divine Psalmist are applied, they will no longer appear hyperbolical; especially if we bear in mind, that these prophetic descriptions wait for their full and final accomplishment at that day, when the mystical "body of Christ," having "filled up that which is behind of his afflictions," shall also, amidst the pangs and convulsions of departing nature, arise from the dead, and ascend into heaven; where all the members of that body, which have been afflicted,

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and have mourned with their Lord and Master, shall be comforted and glorified together with him.*

In some of the Psalms, David appears as one suffering for his sins. When man speaks of sin, he speaks of what is his own; and therefore, every Psalm, where sin is confessed to be the cause of sorrow, belongs originally and properly to us, as fallen sons of Adam, like David, and all other men. This is the case of the fifty-first, and the rest of those which are styled Penitential Psalms, and have always been used in the church as such. Sometimes, indeed, it happens, that we meet with heavy complaints of the number and burthen of sins, in Psalms, from which passages are quoted in the New Testament as uttered by our Redeemer, in which there seems to be no change of person from beginning to end. We are assured, for instance, by the apostle, Heb. x. 5. and the sixth, seventh, and eighth verses of the fortieth Psalm, "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire," &c. are spoken by Messiah, coming to abolish the legal sacrifices, by the oblation of himself once for all. The same person, to appearance, continues speaking, and, only three verses after, complains in the following terms; "Innumerable evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold of me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me." So again, there are no less than five quotations from different parts of the sixty-ninth Psalm, all concurring to inform us, that Christ is the speaker through that whole Psalm. Yet the fifth verse of it runs thus; "O God, thou knowest my foolishness and my guiltiness is not hid from thee." The solution of this difficulty given, and continually insisted on, in the writings of the Fathers, is this; that Christ in the day of his passion, standing charged with the sin and guilt of his people, speaks of such their sin and guilt, as if they were his own, appropriating to himself those debts, for which, in the capacity of a surety, he had made himself responsible. The lamb, which, under the law, was offered for sin, took the name "guilt," because the guilt contracted by the offerer, was transferred to that innocent creature, and typically expiated by its blood. Was not this exactly the case, in truth and reality, with the Lamb of God? "He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth; but he bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Christ and the church compose one mystical person, of which he is the head, and the church the body: and as the body speaks by the head, and the head for the body, he speaks of her sin, and she of his righteousness; which consideration is at the same time a key to any claims of righteousness made in the Psalms by her, and to any confession of sin made by him. This seems to be a satisfactory account of the matter. Such at least, appears to have been the idea generally adopted and received, in the first ages of the Christian church; a circumstance, which it is presumed, will be deemed a sufficient apology for the author, if in the explication of such passages, he hath ventured to proceed accordingly. Nay, and even in reciting the Penitential Psalms, when the unhappy sufferer is ready to sink down under that weight of wo which sin hath laid upon him, if he will extend his thoughts, as he is sometimes directed to do, to that holy and most

Neque prætermittendum illud Augustini passim; tunc Psalmos videri suavissimos, ac divinissima luce perfusos, cúm in his caput et membra. Christum et Ecclesiam, sive apertè propalatos, sive latentor designatos intelligimus. Quare iterùm atque iterùm erigamus animos; atque ubi atque Davidem Solomonem; ubi Davidis hostes, Saülem, Achitophelem, alios; ubi bella et pacem, captivitatem libertatem, ac cætera, ejusmodi audimus; tum animo infigamus Christum, Eccelesiam laboribus periculisque exercitam, atque inter adversa et prospera peregrinantem; tum sanctorum persecutores, non modò visibiles, sed etiam in visibiles illas atque aëreas potestates, pugnasque in hâc vitâ perpetes, ac secuturan posted pacem sempiternam. Bossuet Dissertat. in Psalm. ad Fin.

† See Lev. v. 6.

† 1 Pet. ii. 22.

§ 2 Cor. v. 21.

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