guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out-For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and, His bishopric let another take." The former of these two citations is made from Psalm Ixix. 25.; the latter is a part of the verse now before us. If Judas, therefore, be the person whose destruction the sufferer fortelleth, the person speaking in this prophetical Psalm must of necessity be our Lord himself, who suffered by the treachery of Judas. In Psalm 1xix. 25. the prediction is in the plural number, "Their habitation shall be void;" yet St. Peter applies it, in the singular number, to Judas. The pas sage in our Psalm is singular, yet applicable not to Judas only, but to the whole nation of the Jews; whose "days," after they had crucified the Lord of glory, "were few;" who were dispossessed of the place and "office" which they held as the church of God, and to which, with all its honours and privileges, the Gentile Christian church succeeded in their stead, when the Aaronical priesthood was abolished, and that of the true Melchizedek established for ever.

9. His children shall be fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10. His children shall be continually vagabonds, and beg; they shall seek their bread also out of desolate places."

If, by the wretched death of Judas, his wife became a widow, and his children orphans, vagabonds, and beggars, their fate was but a prelude to that of thousands and ten thousands of the same nation, whose husbands and fathers came afterwards to a miserable end, at the destruction of Jerusalem. Their children, and children's children, have since been "continually vagabonds" upon the earth, in the state of Cain, when he had murdered his righteous brother, not cut off, but marvellously preserved for punishment and wo. Having nothing of their own, they roam through all parts of the world, civilized or barbarous, the scorn and contempt of mankind. And even if they are able to amass wealth, their unparalleled avarice still keeps them poor and beggarly in the midst of it. Thus Dr. Hammond, in his Annotation on these verses-"By this is described, in a very lively manner, the condition of the Jewish posterity, ever since their ancestors fell under that signal vengeance, for the crucifying of Christ. First, their desolations and devastations in their own country, and being ejected thence; secondly, their continual wanderings from place to place, scattered over the face of the earth; and, thirdly, their remarkable covetousness, keeping them always poor and beggarly, be they never so rich, and continually labouring and moiling for gain, as the poorest are wont to do; and this is continually the constant curse attending this people, wheresoever they are scattered."

"11. The extortioner, or, creditor, shall catch, or, seize, all that he hath; and the stranger shall spoil his labour. 12. There shall be none to extend mercy to him: neither shall there be any to favour his fatherless children."

Since the destruction of Jerusalem, how often hath this race been seized, pillaged, and stripped, and empoverished, by prince and people, in all the nations of the known world; none appearing, as in other cases, to favour and extend mercy to them!* "They have had no nation, none to avenge their grievous wrongs, which the Lord God of their forefathers had ordained they should suffer, at all times, and in all places, wheresoever they have come, without redress. Nay, their general carriage hath been so odious and preposterous, that albeit the Christian magistrates had conspired together for their good, they would themselves have certainly provoked their own misery." Thus that excellent divine, the learned and pious Dr. Jack

Thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee-The fruit of thy land and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not, eat up, and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway. Deut. xxviii. 29, 33.

son, vol. i. pp. 142, and 135, whose reflections upon the history of the Jews, at and since their dispersion, it were to be wished that every Christian could peruse. For, as he himself observes, "Christian parents, whether bodily or spiritual, should be as careful to instruct their children what the Lord has done to these Jews, as the Israelites should have been to tell their sons what God had done to Pharaoh." Ibid. p. 152.

"13. His posterity shall be cut off; and in the generation following their name shall be blotted out. 14. The iniquity of his fathers shall be remembered with the LORD; and the sin of his mother shall not be blotted out. 15. They shall be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth."

The traitorous and rebellious "posterity" of traitorous and rebellious parents suffered an "excision" by the Roman sword, and "in the generation following," their name, as a church and civil polity, was "blotted out" of the list of states and kingdoms upon earth. "The iniquity of their fathers" which they had filled up, "was remembered with Jehovah, and the sin of their mother," that is, perhaps of the synagogue of Jerusalem, now in bondage with her children," was not blotted out; that upon them might come all the righteous blood shed, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar," Matt. xxiii. 25. The blood of the prophets cried for vengeance against those who crucified the Lord of the prophets. God hid not his face any longer from all these horrible transgressions, but "they were before him continually," and occasioned him to "cut off the memory" of his people, once precious and fragrant, "from the earth;" so that while apostles and martyrs are annually commemorated with honour, and their good deeds, blossoming out of the dust, perfume the church, and delight the souls of the faithful, the names of "Judas," and "Jew," are never mentioned but with contempt and abhorrence.

"16. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart."

The crime which brought upon its perpetrators all the above-mentioned judgments and calamities, is here pointed out too plainly to be mistaken. "They remembered not to show mercy" to him, who showed it to all the world; they "persecuted" him who for our sakes became "poor," and who condescended to ask of his creatures water to drink; they betrayed and murdered the lowly and afflicted Jesus, whose "heart" was "broken" with sorrow for their sins, and with a sense of the punishment due to them. How long will it be, ere the brethren of this most innocent and most injured Joseph, "say one to another, We are very guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; THEREFORE is this distress come upon us!" Gen. xlii. 21.

"17. As he loved cursing, so shall it come unto him; as he delighted not in blessing, so shall it be far from him. 18. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so shall it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. 19. It shall be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. 20. This shall be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul."

They who reject Christ reject the fountain of "blessing," and choose a "curse" for their portion; and this portion, when they have finally made their choice, will certainly be given to them in full measure. The curse, that lighted on the Jewish nation, is resembled, for its universality and adhesion, to a "garment," which covereth the whole man, and is "girded" close about his loins; for its diffusive and penetrating nature, to "water," which, from the stomach, passeth into the "bowels," and is dispersed through all the vessels of the frame; and to "oil," which imperceptibly insinuates itself into the very "bones." When that unhappy multitude, assembled before Pontius Pilate, pronounced the words, "His blood be on us, and on our children," Matt. xxvii. 25. then did they put on the enve

nomed garment, which has stuck to and tormented the nation ever since; then did they eagerly swallow down that deadly draught, the effects whereof have been the infatuation and misery of 1700 years! If such, in this world, be "the reward of Messiah's adversaries, and of those who spake evil against him," what will hereafter be the vengeance inflicted on those who crucify him afresh, and put him again to an open shame?" Heb. vi. 6. And what will be the operation of the sentence, "Go, ye cursed," upon the bodies and souls of the wicked? how will it at once affect all the senses of the former, and all the faculties of the latter, with pain, anguish, horror, and despair! Think on these things, ye sinners; tremble, and repent!

"21. But do thou, for me, O GOD the Lord, Heb. JEHOVAH the Lord, for thy name's sake because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me. 22. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. 23. I am gone like the shadow when it declineth; I am tossed up and down as the locust. 24. My knees are weak through fasting: and my flesh faileth of fatness. 25. I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me, they shaked their heads."

In this last part of the Psalm, Messiah petitioneth for deliverance, urging to the Father his power as "Lord," the honour of his "name," and the greatness of his "mercy." He then pleadeth his own humiliation and affliction, his "poverty" and "heart"-felt agony of grief. Drawing towards the evening of his mortal life, he compareth himself to a "shadow, declining," and about to vanish from the earth, where he hath no rest, being persecuted from place to place, as a "locust" is driven hither and thither by the stormy wind and tempest; while enfeebled and emaciated by frequent "fastings," and long want of food during his passion, he was ready to sink under his burden; and what aggravated all his sufferings was, that he met with no pity and compassion from those around him; his enemies "reproached" and "reviled him, shaking their heads, and saying, Ah! thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself," &c. Mark xv. 29. Nor are we to suppose our Lord thus praying for his natural body only, but also for his mystical body, the church, that from all distresses, persecutions, and insults, the members of that body may in due time be delivered, like their blessed Head, by a joyful resurrection to eternal life.

"26. Help me, O LORD my God: O save me, according to thy mercy : 27. That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it."

The resurrection of Christ was to be the great demonstration of Jehovah's power; and it was published as such by the apostles to all the nations of the world, who thereupon believed, and were converted. The Jews alone hardened their hearts against that proof, and continued impenitent.

"28. They will curse, but thou shalt bless: when they arise, they shall be ashamed; but thy servant shall rejoice. 29. Mine adversaries shall be clothed with shame, and they shall cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle."

The apostate sons of Israel, though they have been so long "confounded" and blasted by the breath of Heaven's displeasure, yet continue "cursing" and blaspheming, as it is here foretold that they should do so. But God hath blessed" his Son Jesus, and through him all nations, who have been adopted into his family, and made his children by baptism; yea, and they shall be blessed, and enter by thousands and millions, into the "joy" of their Lord, in that day when his crucifiers shall have no cover. ing but their own "shame" and "confusion."

30. I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude. 31. For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul."

The former of these two verses is parallel to that which St. Paul citeth

from Psalm xxii. 22. "He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified, are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee," Heb. ii. 11. Great is the joy of the redeemed upon earth; greater will it be, after the resurrection of the dead, in the courts of heaven. Jesus unjustly put to death, and now risen again, is a perpetual advocate and intercessor for his people, ever ready to appear on their behalf against the iniquitous sentence of a corrupt world, and the malice of the grand accuser."

TWENTY-THIRD DAY.-MORNING PRAYER.

PSALM CX.

ARGUMENT.

In this Psalm David prophesieth concerning, 1. the exaltation of Christ; 2. the sceptre of his kingdom; 3. the character of his subjects; 4. his everlasting priesthood; 5, 6. his tremendous victories and judgments; 7. the means of his obtaining both kingdom and priesthood, by his sufferings and resurrection. Parts of this prophecy are cited and applied in the New Testament, by our Lord himself, Matt. xxii. 43. by St. Peter, Acts ii. 34. by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 25. Heb. v. 6. The church likewise hath appointed it as one of the proper Psalms to be read on Christmas-day. It appertaineth literally and solely to King Messiah.

"1. The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."

We are here informed of Jehovah's eternal and unchangeable decree concerning the kingdom of Messiah, its extension, power, and duration. That Messiah should, after his sufferings, be thus exalted, was determined in the Divine counsel and covenant, before the world began. Whether we suppose the Psalmist to be speaking of that determination, or of its actual accomplishment at the time of Christ's ascension into heaven, it maketh no great difference. The substance of the decree is the same. It was addressed by the Father to the Son, by Jehovah to Messiah, whom David in spirit styleth, my Lord; one that should come after him, as his offspring according to the flesh; but one, in dignity of person, and greatness of power, far superior to him, and to every earthly potentate; King of kings, and Lord of lords; God and man united in one person. To this person it was said by the Father, "Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool;" in other words, Seeing, O my Son Messiah, thou hast glorified me on the earth, and finished the work which I gave thee to do, the great work of man's redemption, take now the throne prepared for thee from the foundation of the world; behold, all power is given unto thee; enter upon thy mediatorial kingdom, and reign till every opposer shall have submitted himself to thee, and sin and death shall have felt thy all-conquering arm.

2. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies."

The

In the foregoing verse, David related the words spoken by the Father to the Son. In this, he himself, as a prophet, directe th his speech to King Messiah, predicting the glorious consequences of his enthronization, and the manner in which "his enemies" are to be "made his footstool." "rod" or sceptre of Christ's "strength" is his word, accompanied by his Spirit. The law was given to Israel from Sinai, but the Gospel went forth from "Sion;" it was preached to all nations, "beginning at Jerusalem," Luke xxiv. 47.; there began the spiritual kingdom of Jesus; there were the first converts made; and from thence the faith was propagated by the

apostles to the ends of the earth. This David seeing beforehand, cries out, Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies!" Go on, victorious Prince; plant the standard of thy cross among the thickest ranks of the adversary; and, in opposition to both Jew and Gentile, tumultuously raging against thee, erect and establish thy church throughout the world! This was accordingly done with marvellous speed and success; and the church, thus erected and established among the nations, hath been as marvellously preserved, "in the midst of her enemies," unto this day; yea, and the world shall sooner be destroyed, than she shall cease to be preserved.

"3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness: from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth."

The blessed effects of the Gospel, upon its publication, are here foretold. "The people" of Christ are those given him by his Father, and gathered to him by the preachers of his word. "The day of his power" is the season of their conversion, when the corruptions of nature can no longer hold out against the prevailing influences of grace; when the heart, will, and affections, turn from the world to God; and they make, as the first disciples did, a free and voluntary offer of themselves, and all they have, to their Redeemer. Then it is that they appear in the beauties of holiness," adorned with humility, faith, hope, love, and all the graces of the Spirit. With regard to the last clause of this verse, Bishop Lowth, in his admired Leotures, has observed, and proved, that it may be fairly construed to this effect: More than the dew from the womb of the morning, is the dew of thy progeny;" that is, Thy children, begotten to thee through the Gospel, shall exceed in number, as well as brightness and beauty, the spangles of early dew, which the morning discloseth to the delighted eye of the beholder. The whole verse, therefore, containeth a lively character of the subjects of Christ's spiritual kingdom, who are described by their relation to him as "his people;" by their "willingness" to obey and serve him; by their honourable attire, the rich and splendid robes of "holiness;" and by their multitudes, resembling the drops of "dew" upon the grass.

"4. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."

From Christ's regal office, and the administration thereof by the sceptre of his word and Spirit, the prophet passeth to his sacerdotal office, which was also conferred on him by the decree of the Father, and that decree, as we are here told, ratified by an oath; "Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent," or change his purpose. The oath of God was the great seal of heaven, designed to intimate the importance of the deed to which it was set, and "to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel," Heb. vi. 17. Whether this oath passed at the actual consecration of Messiah to the priesthood upon his ascension, or at his designation thereto by the covenant before the world, sufficient is it for our assurance and comfort, that it did pass. We have a Priest in heaven, who standeth continually pleading the merits of his sacrifice once offered upon the cross; "who ever liveth to make intercession for us;" and who is ready at all times, to bless us, "by turning away every man from his iniquities," Acts iii. 26. by aiding us against our enemies, and supporting us under our necessities. Oblation, intercession, and benediction, are the three branches of the sacerdotal office, which our great High Priest now exerciseth for us, and in the exercise of which the Father hath condescended in the most awful manner to promise, that he will hear and accept him on our behalf. His priesthood is not, like that of Aaron, figurative, successive, and transient, but real and effectual, fixed and incommunicable, eternal and unchangeable, according to that pattern of it exhibited to Abraham, before the law, in the person of Melchizedek, Gen. xiv. 18-20. and discoursed upon at large by the Apostle, Heb. vii. throughout.

Prælect. X.