en, with the torch of promise, lightens up the darkness
of the sufferings that are to fall upon this house,--Psalms with which
Ps. lxxxix. and cxxxix., which were composed at a later period, and by
other writers, are closely connected.

But there are other Psalms (ii. and cx.) in which David, with a
distinctness which can be accounted for only by divine revelation,
beholds the Messiah in whose coming the promise in 2 Sam. vii. should
find its final and complete fulfilment. Whilst David, in these Psalms,
represents the Messiah as his antitype, as the mighty conqueror, who
will not rest until He shall have subjected the whole earth to His
sway, Solomon, in Ps. lxxii., represents Him as the true Prince of
Peace, and His dominion, as a just and peaceful rule. The circumstances
of the time of Solomon form, in a similar way, the foundation for the
description of the Messiah in Ps. xlv., which was written by the sons
of Korah.

A personal Messianic element is contained in some of those Davidic
Psalms also which refer to the _ideal_ person of the _righteous one_,
whose image we at last find fully portrayed in the Book of Wisdom. In
these the sufferings of the righteous one in a world of sin are
described, as well as the glorious issue to which he attains by the
help of the Lord. After his own experience, David could not have
doubted that, notwithstanding the glorious promise of the Lord, severe
sufferings were impending over his family, and over Him in whom that
family was, at some future time, to centre. But his own experience
likewise promised a glorious issue to these sufferings. The Psalms in
which, besides the reference to the righteous one, and to the [Pg 151]
people, the allusion to the afflictions of the Davidic race, and to the
suffering Messiah, most plainly appear, are the xxii., the cii., and
the cix.

There cannot be any doubt that the Messianic promise made considerable
progress in the time of David. It is, in itself, a circumstance of
great importance that the eyes of the people were henceforth directed
to a definite family; for, thereby, their hopes acquired greater
consistency. _Further_,--The former prophecies were, all of them, much
shorter, and more in the shape of hints; but, now, their hopes could
become detailed descriptions, because a _substratum_ was given to them
in the present. The Messiah had been foretold to David as a successor
to his throne,--as a King. Hence it was, that, in the view of David