he was the father of the royal family, and a man of great note and eminency in his generation, and whose name and memory were justly very precious. Now when we read that psalm of his, we must consider,
1. That he could not say that of himself, for he died, and was buried, and his sepulchre remained in Jerusalem till now, when Peter spake this, and his bones and ashes in it; nobody ever pretended that he had risen, and therefore he could never say of himself, that he should not see corruption; for it was plain he did see corruption. St Paul urges this, ch. 13. 35—37. Though he was a man after God's own heart, yet he went the way of all the earth, as he saith himself, (1 Kings 2, 2.) both in death and burial.
2. Therefore certainly he spake it as a prophet, with an eye to the Messiah, whose sufferings the prophets testified beforehand, and with them the glory that should follow; so did David in that psalm, as Peter here plainly shews.
(1.) David knew that the Messiah should descend from his loins, (v. 30.) that God had sworn to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He promised him a Son, the throne of whose kingdom should be established for ever, 2 Sam 7. 12. And it is said, (Ps. 132. 11.) God swore it in truth unto David. When our Lord Jesus was born, it was promised that the Lord God would give him the throne of his father David, Luke 1. 32. And all Israel knew that the Messiah was to be the Son of David, that is, that, according to the flesh, he should be so by his human nature; for otherwise, according to the spirit, and by his divine nature, he was to be David's Lord, not his son. God having sworn to David, that the Messiah, promised to his fathers, should be his Son and Successor, the Fruit of his loins, and Heir to his throne, he kept this in view, in penning his psalms.
(2.) Christ being the Fruit of his loins, and, consequently, in his loins when he penned that psalm, (as Levi is said to be in Abraham's loins, when he paid tithes to Melchizedek,) if what he says, as in his own person, be not applicable to himself, (as it is plain that it is not,) we must conclude it points to that Son of his that was then in his loins, in whom his family and kingdom were to have their perfection and perpetuity; and therefore, when he says that his soul should not be left in its separate state, nor his flesh see corruption, without doubt he must be understood to speak of the resurrection of Christ, v. 31. And as Christ died, so he rose again, according to the scriptures; and that he did so, we are witnesses.
3. Here is a glance at his ascension too. As David did not rise from the dead, so neither did he ascend into the heavens, bodily, as Christ did, v. 34. And further, to prove that when he spake of the resurrection, he meant it of Christ, he observes that when in another psalm he speaks of the next step of his exaltation, he plainly shews that he spake of another person, and such another as was his Lord; (Ps. 110. 1.) The Lord said unto my Lord, when he had raised him from the dead, "Sit thou at my right hand, in the highest dignity and dominion there; be thou intrusted with the administration of the kingdom both of providence and grace; sit there as King until I make thy foes either thy friends or thy footstool," v. 35. Christ rose from the grave to rise higher, and therefore it must be of his resurrection that David spake, and not his own, in the 16th Psalm; for there was no occasion for him to rise out of his grave, who was not to ascend to heaven.
We now come to the application of this discourse concerning the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ.
1.) This explains the meaning of the present wonderful effusion of the Spirit in those extraordinary gifts. Soine ot the people had asked, (v. 12.) What meaneth this? I will tell you the meaning of it, says Peter. This Jesus being exalted to the right hand of God; so some read it, to sit there; exalted by the right hand of God; so we read it, by his power and authority, it comes all to one; and having received of the Father, to whom he is ascended, the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath given what he received, (Ps. 68. 18.) and hath shed forth this which you now see and hear; for the Holy Ghost was to be given when Jesus was glorified, and not before, John 7. 39. You see and hear us speak with tongues that we never learned; probably, there was an observable change in the air of their countenances, which they saw, as well as heard the change of their voice and language; now this is from the Holy Ghost, whose coming is an evidence that Jesus is exalted, and he has received this gift from the Father, to confer it upon the church, which plainly speaks him to be the Mediator or middle Person be tween God and the church. The gift of the Holy Ghost was, [1.] A performance of divine promises already made; here it is called the promise of the Holy Ghost; many exceeding great and precious promises the divine power has given us, but this is the promise, by way of eminency, as that of the Messiah had been, and this is the promise that includes all the rest; hence God's giving the Holy Spirit to them that ask him, (Luke 11. 13.) is his giving them all good things, Matt. 7. 11. Christ received the promise of the Holy Ghost, that is, the promised gift of the Holy Ghost, and has given it to us; for all the promises are yea and amen in him. [2.] It was a pledge of all divine favours further intended; what you now see and hear, is but an earnest of greater things.
(2.) This proves what you are all bound to believe, that Christ Jesus is the true Messiah and Saviour of the world; this he closes his sermon with, as the conclusion of the whole matter, the quod erat demonstrandum—the truth to be demonstrated; (v. 36.) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that this truth has now received its full confirmation, and we our full commission to publish it, That God has made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. They were charged to tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ, till after his resurrection; (Matth. 16. 20.—17. 9.) but now it must be proclaimed on the house-tops, to all the house of Israel; he that has ears to hear, let him hear it; it is not proposed as probable, but deposed as certain; Let them know it assuredly, and know that it is their duty to receive it as a faithful saying, [1.] That God has glorified him whom they have crucified. This aggravates their wickedness, that they crucified one whom God designed to glorify; and put him to death as a deceiver, who had given such pregnant proofs of his divine mission: and it magnifies the wisdom and power of God, that though they crucified him, and thought thereby to have put him under an indelible mark of infamy, yet God had glorified him, and the indignities they had done him, served as a foil to his lustre. [2.] That he has glorified him to that degree, as to make him both Lord and Christ: these signify the same; he is Lord of all, and he is not a usurper, but is Christ anointed to be so. He is one Lord to the Gentiles, who had had lords many; and to the Jews he is Messiah, which includes all his offices. He is the King Messiah, as the Chaldee-paraphrast calls him; or as the angel to Daniel, Messiah the Prince, Dan. 9. 25. This is the great truth of the gospel which we are to believe, that that same Jesus, the very same that was crucified at Jerusalem, is he to whom we owe allegiance, and from whom we are to expect protection, as Lord and Christ.
