they can only be uttered by him who has also power and authority to bless: so that the bless ings and the cursings in the Psalms are by no means the feeble wishings and wouldings of a thing crushed before the moth, like David, whe is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre also, with himself, turned to dust in its place to this day; but they are the utterances of him who hath all judgment committed into his hand; of the exceeding great and eternal weight of glory to them who love him and his righteousness, being the called according to his purpose; and of the exceeding great and eternal weight of wrath to them who hate him and his righteousness, being abominable, and disobedient, and to every good work reprobate. To strengthen this remark, it is observable, that those blessings and curses are always laid in the balance, one over against the other, as the sanctions of Jehovah round the blood and righteousness of the Lamb, in whom his soul acquiesceth: and they are all to be found where the sufferings and glory of Christ are unquestionably meant, as in Psalms xl. lxix, cix. &c. shewing, that the whole love of God, or wrath of God, are centered upon every one, as their hearts are centered, or not centered, upon the alone object of his delight, the Lamb that was slain, but now in the midst of the throne, who is the only bond and centre of union between God and his creatures, whether in heaven or in earth; to whom be glory for ever. Amen. He, he alone blesseth, and they are blessed; he curs eth, and they are cursed; if he say it, who can disannul it? Behold, he hath spoken to the chil dren of his love, and said, 'Come to me, ye blessed,' &c. But to the children of his wrath he saith, Depart from me, ye cursed,' &c. As for those mine enemies, who would not that I should reign over them, bring them hither, and slay them before my face;' as it is written, Luke xix. 27. A true commentary upon such passages as these in the Psalms; Let them be confounded and ashamed that set themselves • against me-Pour out thine anger upon them, ' and let thy wrathful indignation take hold up, on them-Let them go down alive into hellLet shame cover them-Let the pit close her ⚫ mouth upon them-Let them be blotted out <for ever. These things are further explained in the New Testament: The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of man-And some shall arise to shame and everlasting contemptAnd ⚫ these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. • Kiss ye the Son.' Behold the King who hath the government of his Father's house upon his shoulders. Turn away your eyes from David, and behold the Branch of the root of Jesse, who hath the keys of death and hell; who openeth, and no man shutteth; who shutteth, and no man openeth, Behold, he hath said, said to every creature under heaven, Bless, and curse not.' Would you jump into Jehovah's judgment-seat? or plead for David's being there, usurping the word out of his mouth? wrenching the sword out of his hand? scattering the bolts of the Almighty's wrath? and dealing with his arm damnation or salvation round the world, according to his good pleasure? certainly! as people were favourers or opposers of him and his righteous cause? Behold what you have done, when you contended for David against the Lord speaking in the Psalms !-Verily in the sight of God! those curses, uttered in the Psalms, are so far from being an argument against, that they are an irrefragable testimony of God, bearing his own peculiar seal and character, proving that it is his own Son in person that speaks in those Psalms. Therefore, if thou wouldst not be found fighting even against God here also, you must allow that David, in all the curses uttered in the Psalms, is only the mouth of God, to whom vengeance belongeth, who saith, I will recompense, *saith the Lord-And again, Let them shout for joy who love thy salvation, and say, Let thy name be magnified-But let them be destroyed together who wish me evil-who persecute the soul of thy turtle-adding iniquity unto their iniquity, and bow down their back alway-Let them be desolate, for a reward of their shame, who say unto me, Aha! aha!-To speak thus, was it not his prerogative alone, who was hated without a cause, insulted, scoffed, reproached as an associate with publicans and people of bad fame, a glutton, a wine-biber, a raiser of sedition, and Sabbath-breaker, a pro faner of the temple, a madman, a devil in communion with Beelzebub; blindfolded, buffeted, spitted upon, scourged, crowned with thorns, clothed with a robe of mockery; crucified, and blasphemed every where, evermore, by the serpent and all the serpent's seed, in his own person, and in the persons of all his members-was it not his prerogative, I say, to utter his Father's wrath, and execute the judgment due upon the devil and all the devil's children? Was he not exalted? Sent he not the Holy Ghost of purpose to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged, and cast out with his children for ever, for their rebellion against the Son? Thus hath the Son declared, If I had not come and spoken to you, you had had no sin,` (no sin in rejecting me); but now I have ⚫ come and spoken to you, and done the works ⚫ which none other man did, you have no cloak for your sin-I am come the light into the 'world-He that believeth on me shall not walk in darkness-But this is the condemnation, ⚫ that the light is come into the world, and men ' loved darkness rather than the light, because their deeds are evil;' and therefore, Psalm Ixix. 22. &c. is said to be fulfilled, Rom. xi. 9. in the destruction of those who believed not the apostles testifying of Christ and his righteous, ness. So that, if thou believe not those same his apostles, all the curses of Jehovah's power, by Christ, and for Christ's sake, shall be even pour - ed into thy spirit; and eternity shall shew, that it was not a fellow-worm you had to do with, talking or praying about the destiny of his ene mies, or those of the church; but Christ himself, the Lord in person, God over all blessed for ever, appearing with his own blood, which you trample under foot, and wherewith he sanctified himself, and with his own Spirit, to which you do despite, against you, and as many as shall continue to the death, calling God a liar, by discrediting his testimony which he hath given concerning his Son. The very appearance of a curse, therefore, in any Psalm, were there no other evidence of the Psalm's being spoken by the Lord, is an infallible mark of interpretation to go by; that we may learn not to blaspheme, but ascribe to him his own prerogative, who hath power to cast both soul and body into hellfire. What a piteous thing is it to see Dr Watts and others making palliations and apologies for the harsh Jewish spirit, as they call it, and unkindly genius or nature of that dispensation appearing in the curses and imprecations uttered in the Psalms! And then you are roundly advised by them, after their own method, to leap over such passages in your devotions, as if you had stumbled on a deadly snake; for this reason, add they, because they are unsuitable to be used by us now-a-days, under our milder dispensation, which breathes nothing but love and gentleness. -True! to all who rejoice in the cross of Christ. |