himself and of the other psalmists, the earthly head of the
Congregation of the Lord formed the _substratum_ for the future
Saviour. The naked thought now clothed itself with flesh and blood. The
hope gained thereby in clearness and distinctness, as well as in
practical significance.

The slight hint of a higher nature of the Messiah, given in Gen. xlix.
8, forms the main ground for the advancing and more definite knowledge,
which we find in the days of David and Solomon. Grand and lofty
expectations could, henceforth, not fail to be connected with the
promise in 2 Sam. vii. 14, "I will be a father to him, and he shall be
a son to Me," and with the prophecy of the absolute perpetuity of
dominion, in the same passage. In Ps. ii. 12, the Messiah appears as
the Son of God [Greek: kat' exochen],--as He, in whom to trust is to be
saved, and whose anger brings destruction. In Ps. cx. 1, He appears as
the Lord of the Congregation and of David himself,--as sitting at the
right hand of omnipotence, and as invested with a full participation in
the divine power over heaven and earth. In Ps. lxxi. eternity of
dominion is ascribed to Him. In Ps. xlv. 7, 8, He is called God,
Elohim.

Among the offices of Christ, it is especially the _Regal_ office on
which a clear light has been shed. The Messiah appears prominently as
He "who has dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends
of the earth," Ps. lxxii. 8. In Ps. cx., however, the office of the
Messiah as the eternal _High Priest_ is first revealed to the
congregation. He appears as the person who atones for whatever sins
cleave to His people, as their Intercessor [Pg 152] and Advocate with
God, and as the Mediator of the closest communion with God. We have
here the outlines, for the filling up of which Isaiah was, at a later
period, called. The _Prophetic_ office of the Saviour does not
distinctly appear in the Psalms. It was reserved for Isaiah to bring
out into a clearer light the allusion given, on this subject, by Moses,
after it had been taken up again, for the first time since Moses' day,
by the prophet Joel.

It was quite natural that David, who himself was exercised and proved
by the cross, should be the first to introduce to the knowledge of the
Church a _suffering Messiah_. But the doctrine has with him still the
character of a germ; he still mixes up the references to the Messiah
with the allusions to His types. It was from these that David rose to
Him; it