authors, and from the very form of their compositions, must have been extremely popular. The pious hymns of the inspired Psalmist, praising the wonderful works of God for his chosen people, and adorning the sentiments of piety with all the charms of poetry and music, must have been read with avidity, and remembered with delight; and the sententious maxims of the royal preacher, the pride of his nation, for wisdom, power, and majesty, could scarcely fail of exciting attention to religious truth and moral duty.

After these we behold a series of prophets, delivering their admonitions and predictions, with the most intrepid resolution and the most awful menaces, to the kings and the assembled multitudes of Judah and Israel. We see some of their predictions immediately accomplished in the most important public events; and therefore their remaining prophecies must have excited general attention and anxious expectation. In truth, the schools of the prophets, established first by Samuel, supplied for ages the civil historians as well as the religious instructors of Judea; and the most distinguished prophets were so deeply engaged in publie events, that their lives and writings were blended with every thing interesting in history, and preserved as parts of the national records.

The important doctrine of a future state of retribution was by these various inspired teachers gradually developed with perpetually increasing clearness and force, as the circumstances of the Jewish people required its promulgation; as well from the extension of their views by the improvement of their intellectual character, as from the gradual cessation of that extraordinary providential superintendence which became unnecessary for the support of religious and moral principle in proportion as the people became more sensible of the perpetual providence and moral attributes of the Divinity, and therefore more capable of being duly impressed with the divine promises of a future retribution.

And here, though the learned prelate so often alluded to, hurried away, it should seem, by a zeal for establishing his system on the broadest possible basis, seems originally to have maintained that no ideas of a future state were to be found amongst the Jews, previous to the captivity: yet he afterwards found it necessary to admit they were gradually inculcated by the Prophets subsequent to David.* But assuredly he ought to

* Vide Warburton, Vol. v. p. 9. and the first Section of this Lecture.

have included this inspired Psalmist in the number of those who promulgated this great truth, not indeed with the same clearness as the last prophets, but yet sufficiently to prove his own firm belief of it, and to suggest it to the consideration of every pious and reflecting mind.

66

In Psalm xvi. after solemnly attesting his warm attachment to the pious, that "his delight was upon the saints that were upon the earth, and upon such as excel in virtue;" he declares his firm confidence in the mercy and protection of his God, and his full assurance of a future state: "I have set God "always before me; for he is on my right hand, therefore I “shall not fall. Wherefore my heart was glad, and my glory "rejoiced: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For why? Thou "shalt not leave my soul in hell; neither shalt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. Thou shalt show me the path of "life; in thy presence is the fulness of joy and at thy right hand "there is pleasure for evermore."* It is true, the entire passage is prophetic of our Lord's resurrection, to whom alone the words, "thou shalt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption," are applicable, as the Apostle Peter† argues with the Jews. But assuredly the Prophet had a clear idea of future eternal happiness, and a firm confidence that he would himself enjoy it.

66

The next Psalm is not less express. He here opposes the sensual enjoyments on which the wicked fix their desires, to the pure celestial happiness of another life. "Deliver me, O Lord, "from the ungodly, which is a sword of thine; from the men of thy hand, O Lord, from the men, I say, and from the evil “world, which have their portion in this life," &c. "But as “for me, I will behold thy presence in righteousness: and when "I awake up after thy likeness, I shall be satisfied with it.”

66

In this passage I use the translation of our Prayer Book; it seems clearer than that in our Bible, and fully as accurate. In the meaning of the three last verses, all the interpretations agree; except that the Syriac translates the last clause, "I shall be "satisfied with the pleasures of victory at thy right hand. Vide Biblia Waltoni. Yet even this does not exclude the idea of eternity. "nya æternitatem significat, sic dictam "quasi victoriam temporis," says Rivetus, and adds, "Nomen hic in adverbii naturam "transit; est hoc adjunctum perpetuum beatitudinis, qua 'ioqui beatitudo non esset, is perpetua non foret." Vide Poli Synopsin.

† Vide Acts, ii. 29, &c.

66

The word translated “awake,” seems by an apt metaphor to mean, awakening from death to life, xp. It is used in this sense in Isaiah, xxvi. 19, and Dan. xii. 2, where it can bear no other sense. Vide infra.

Thus again, in Psalm xxi. (which appears to me principally prophetic of the Messiah's glory, though several commentators conceive it to be spoken of David himself alone) celebrating the divine mercy, which distinguished the king, of whom he speaks, with the blessings of goodness, and set a crown of pure gold upon his head; the Psalmist adds, " He asked life of thee, and "thou gavest him a long life: even for ever and ever. His "honour is great in thy salvation; glory, and great worship shalt "thou lay upon him. For thou shalt give him everlasting felicity; and make him glad with the joy of thy countenance." In Psalm xlix. the inspired author † with unusual solemnity

66

This passage was adduced by Leland, to prove the same point as I employ it for; and Warburton with his peculiar manner, observes, "In this the dissenter Leland, as "I remember, in some of his things, seems much to triumph: but I shall show that it "means nothing less." Warburton proceeds to observe, that the words our translators render "shall have their portion in this life," ought to have been, "shall have their portion in this life of theirs ;" i. e. " shall be perfectly prosperous." This, as seems to me, may be admitted, without affecting either mine or Leland's argument; the entire force of which lies in the contrast the Psalmist draws between the wicked, who are thus perfectly prosperous, and who transmit this prosperity even beyond their own lives, to their children; and his own expectation, which is, most literally, "I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied in awaking, with thy "likeness." The Septuagint reads, "In righteousness shall I be seen by thy counte66 nance; I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear:" and with this the Arabic and Ethiopic agree. The Syriac reads, "I shall be satisfied when thy fidelity shall "awake;" "and this," says Warburton, "means only, God's glorious and powerful "interposition in David's PRESENT rescue from his enemies' hands." But let me ask, what then becomes of the contrast between the expectation of the Psalmist, and the fortune of those who are perfectly prosperous, and leave this prosperity to their children? Interpret David's expectation as of present deliverance, and the passage is obscure, unmeaning, and forced take it in its obvious meaning of a future happiness, it is clear, rational, and beautiful. The former interpretation, therefore, could be justified only by the certainty that the Psalmist had and could have no idea of a future life; which is a plain petitio principii, a logical error with which all Warburton's interpretations appear to me to be infected; though he charges his opponents with exactly a similar petitio principii on their part, Vol. v. p. 157. The Public must decide.

Our Bible translates the fifth verse, "Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon "him," instead of "shalt," which makes the text less decisive. Undoubtedly the original will bear this sense, yet it seems not so natural as the other; and the Targum of Jerusalem, the Septuagint, the Ethiopic, the Arabic, and the Vulgate versions, all use the future tense. The Syriac only agrees in adopting the past tense in this and the next clause. But all unite in the sense of the fourth verse," a life for ever and ever." Vide Biblia Waltoni.

The author of this Psalm is uncertain; and some verses, particularly the 5th, 8th, and 9th, are obscure. I use the translation of our Bible, which appears to

demands attention to the doctrine he purposes to enforce : "0 “hear ye this, all ye people; give ear all ye inhabitants of the "world." The doctrine thus solemnly promulgated, is the folly of the wicked who trust in their riches, and forget the approach of death, which strips them of all, and exposes them to the vengeance of God, whom riches cannot disarm. "They that trust "in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, "nor give to God a ransom for him, (for the redemption of "their souls is precious, and it ceaseth for ever) that he should "still live for ever, and not see corruption," &c. And again,

66

follow the original very closely; indeed so closely as to retain its obscurities. Houbigant, in his version, removes these obscurities by some very slight alterations of the original text, which seem perfectly justifiable. The 5th verse (with him the 6th) he translates, "Why should I fear in the evil day, because that misery surrounds me?" and justifies the change, by an easy and obvious alteration of the text. And the 9th (with him the 10th) he renders "Qui desinit in sæculum, adhuc vivet, non in perpe"tuum videbit foveam, etiamsi videbit eam;" and his criticism on this verse, if admitted, would directly establish the doctrine for which we contend. "In this verse," says he, "is contained the enigma which the Psalmist prepared for, in the 4th verse; "viz. that though man must pay the debt of nature, yet he would survive his fate, "and would not eternally remain in the pit. And then the Psalmist, on account of "this hope of the immortality proposed to man, reproaches him with not providing "for this immortality, but limiting his hopes to the present life, and thus becoming "like the brutes." This interpretation Houbigant justifies, by a mere alteration of the punctuation in the original. Vide Houbigant. But there is scarcely any ambiguity of meaning, or difference of interpretation, as to the 14th and 15th verses, on which my argument depends. The Ethiopic, the Syriac, and the Arabic versions all give the same sense. The Arabic is, if possible, more exclusively applicable to a future life in ver. 15: "But God will free my soul from the power of the 66 grave, when we shall receive it," i. e. my soul. Bishop Patrick, who was not sedulous to discover in the Old Testament indications of a future state, applies both these verses to the resurrection. But Horne's paraphrase is so strikingly beautiful, I cannot refrain from transcribing it. Ver. 14: "The high and mighty ones of the earth, who cause people to fear, and nations to tremble around "them, must one day crowd the grave; in multitude and impotence, though not in "innocence, resembling sheep driven and confined by the butcher in his house of "slaughter. There death, that ravening wolf, shall feed sweetly on them, and devour his long-expected prey in silence and darkness; until the glorious morning of "the resurrection dawn, when the once oppressed and afflicted righteous, risen from “the dead, and sitting with their Lord in judgment, shall have the dominion over "their cruel enemies, whose faded beauty, withered strength, and departed glory, "shall display to men and angels, the vanity of that confidence which is not placed in "God."—Warburton interprets "in the morning," to mean, "by the judgment of the law, which was administered in the morning hours." What straits is a system driven to, to require such an interpretation!

66

66

speaking of the wicked, who think their houses shall continue for ever, and call the lands after their own names, he exclaims, "This their way is their folly; yet their posterity approve their sayings like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall "feed upon them, and the righteous shall have dominion over "them in the morning, and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul "from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me." Surely these expressions cannot be understood to denote any thing short of an eternal deliverance from the power of death, and a blessed reception into the presence of God.

66

I would here notice the remarkable verses in Psalm xxxvi.; where, speaking of those who put their trust in the Lord, the Psalmist declares, "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the "fatness of thy house: and thou shalt make them drink of the "river of thy pleasures; for with thee is the fountain of life; "in thy light shall we see light." Warburton, strongly as this passage appears to indicate eternal life sustained by that presence which is the fountain of life, dismisses it with this short and decisive observation; "Here, to prove the immortality of man, "a text is produced, which teaches the eternity of God. But "I know some who think there is a necessary connexion be"tween those two truths." It may perhaps be answered as shortly, that though there is no general necessary connexion between those two truths, yet if the Scripture asserts, not only that God is to exist for ever, but that man shall witness that eternal existence, partaking of that inexhaustible fountain of life which is with God; it is not very far from asserting that man himself will be also immortal.

*

The same sentiment observed in Psalm xlix. is more conspicuous in Psalm lxxiii. in which the author (whether David or Asaph is not material in the present question, as they were contemporary,† and equally prove that the sentiments which they express existed in the most pious and reflecting minds) chooses as his subject the worldly prosperity of the ungodly, and the doubts and perplexities which this excited

* Vide 1 Chron.

If, as Patrick thinks, this Psalm was composed by Asaph the Seer, it will belong to the days of Hezekiah.