tained in the sixteenth Psalm, at the tenth verse, which could only have been fulfilled in Christ.

The reader must be referred to Bishop Pearson's excellent article upon this subject. The Jews allowed this prophecy to allude to the Messiah; and how verily was it accomplished in Him! For at the third day Christ rose again according to the Scriptures; He had no time to see corruption. The demonstration of this assertion is strikingly to be found in the New Testament. At the effusion of the Holy Ghost, St. Peter claimed this Psalm, as containing a most bright prediction of the death and resurrection of Christ 1; and St. Paul' not merely indicated its application to Christ, but censured those who would restrict it to David. Nor does Christ's own authority appear to have been wanting to the Apostle's declaration; for, if we consult St. Luke xxiv. 27. and 44-46. we shall perceive no very obscure indications, that He had taught the same doctrine to his disciples. In the primitive days of Christianity, this Psalm was never otherwise interpreted; in the days of the Fathers its allusion to the resurrection was a continual subject of appeal. It also closely corresponds to the matter of the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.

Acts ii. 25-31.

2 Ibid. xiii. 35-37.

An observation or two nevertheless may be necessary on the words, "Thou will not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption,” in which, the Holy One should rather have been rendered merciful One, an application very appropriate to our Saviour, and impossible with respect to David. The term rendered in our version "Hell," means Hades, or the place of departed spirits; and though it cannot be positively decided, whether, at the time of the translation of our Bible, there was any latitude of signification given to the term, it is well known to every Anglo-Saxon scholar, that to this word likewise once appertained that of the place of departed spirits, as well as the sense now exclusively attributed to it. It was the faithful translation of this passage, that subjected Montanus to the Inquisition.

This prophecy will especially be seen to have been fulfilled, when we consider, that the Jews calculate time inclusively. Thus the Friday evening and the Sunday morning, with the whole of Saturday, were emphatically called three days. Thus Christ saw no corruption, and according to the Jewish interpretation, rose again on the third day, although He had only been in the grave one whole day, and parts of the preceding and following. That Christ died is acknowledged; for when his enemies

came to break his legs, they found, that He was dead already, and they brake not his legs; that He was buried, is also acknowledged; but that He rose again on the third day is denied by infidels. Why then did they not go to the grave and produce his body? The body could not have been removed, for sentinels were placed about the sepulchre. The guards could not have been bribed: the poverty of the disciples is a warrant against that supposition. Hence we may conclude, that Jesus rose on the third day, and saw not corruption. The unbelieving Thomas acknowledged upon indubitable evidence his Lord and his God. It was impossible for this prophecy to have been fulfilled in David, "For David, after he had served his own generation, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption;" but the Son of God on the third day rose from the dead, and at last ascended to his Father in Heaven, where He will remain, until He shall come again, to judge both the quick and the dead.

PSALM Xxii. 1.

MATT. xxvii. 46, &c.

The twenty-second Psalm contains many prophecies, exclusively accomplished in the Messiah. The fact of it being one of the proper Psalms for Good Friday is a sufficient evidence of its Ecclesiastical reference to the Messiah. The first verse was uttered

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by Christ just before He expired on the cross. "Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani ?" said the Son of God, when He was sorrowful even unto death. That the Son of God should actually suffer, can easily be conceived by believing also, that He was the Son of Man. It was the humanity, that suffered; and upon the humanity He bore the griefs and sins of the whole world. Christ was to suffer and die to atone for sin it was so appointed by Heaven; but it was impossible for Him so to do without actually suffering; therefore we may readily imagine Him, especially, when the prophecy was about to be fulfilled, in the midst of his torments and agonies crying out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Christ went through all the sufferings of humanity, sin excepted; He passed the pains of infancy; He suffered hunger and thirst; He was tempted; He was moved as a man; He bent down under the weight of the cross; He felt the spear pierce his sacred side, and the nails his hands and feet: the vinegar, his enemies offered Him to drink, was nauseous to Him: and the torments of the cross intolerable; well might He thus call upon his Father to help Him! But He Himself might have called whole legions to his aid; but then the work of God would not have been accomplished; it was necessary for one to die for the people, and that one was Christ. Any assistance from the Father would

have subverted the plan. Had the power of Christ's Divinity been called into action, the wrath of Heaven would not have been appeased, Satan would have been triumphant, and man still in his sins. Whereas, now, Christ has died; He has conquered the grave, the power of Satan, and atoned for sin.

Thus the seventh and eighth verses of the twentysecond Psalm were written respecting the Messiah ; but He exerted not his Divine Power for the reasons just specified. At the sixteenth verse of the same Psalm, it was predicted, that his hands and feet should be pierced, and at the eighteenth, that they should part his garments among them, and cast lots for his vesture. That this prediction was literally fulfilled, we learn from the histories of the Evangelists; and in every part we recognize the custom of the times; for among the Romans it was customary to divide the pallium of the crucified in parts, while one alone received the tunica entire by lot. Thus for the coat, which was without seam, woven from the top throughout, they cast lots, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.

The piercing of the hands and feet, and the partition of the garments could not have been predicted of David, nor of any one in the history of the