Christian Friend vol. 19, 1892, p. 29.
"Psalm 24 closes the whole series of Psalms (commencing with Psalm 16) which speak of the association of Christ with the excellent - the saints that are in the earth. We have in it Christ in the path of life with the saints; Christ in the path of righteousness in the midst of an evil world; Christ suffering, the centre of all Israel's history, and the Object of Jehovah's interest when identified with Israel; Christ suffering as Witness to the truth, Object of the remnant's thoughts and affections; - Christ suffering as forsaken of God; Christ taking personally the path in which the sheep had to walk, and so unfolding to them the care of Jehovah, though Himself the true Shepherd; and Christ, when all own Jacob and the God of Jacob, entering into the temple as the triumphant Jehovah, the Lord of hosts. Though the blessed One be largely a pattern for us in much of this, yet the true effect on the piety of the heart is wrought in seeing Himself truly Man, treading the path before our eyes, and engaging every affection of the soul in the contemplation of it." Let us follow briefly this concise and beautiful summary of this cluster of Messianic Psalms.
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In Psalm 16, then, we have "Christ in the path of life with the saints"; for He is here presented to us as the dependent and obedient Man, as the Man of faith. This is seen in the first verse, where He cries, "Preserve me, O God; for in Thee do I put my trust." It is the aspect seen in the Hebrews, where it says of Him, "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God"; for we are permitted to trace His pathway through life, up to and through death, and on to the right hand of God, where there are pleasures for evermore. There is thus a remarkable correspondence with Philippians 1, where the Christian is seen, in the person of Paul, in life, in the prospect of death, and after death with Christ, which, as he tells us, is very much better than life.
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Passing to the next psalm, we behold "Christ in the path of righteousness in the midst of an evil world." It therefore commences, "Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips." In this path Christ found all His resources in God, in His word, in His strength, in His loving-kindness, and in His protection. What a lesson for His people as they also are passing through an evil scene, having their lot cast in the perilous times! The apostle Peter is much concerned with the path of God's people as suffering for righteousness. It is striking to observe that the issue of the path is according to its character. "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Verses 7 and 11 bring in the remnant in their association, through grace, with Christ.
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In the next place (Psalm 18) Christ is seen as "suffering, the centre of all Israel's history, and the Object of Jehovah's interest when identified with Israel." The superscription will explain the occasion of the psalm, and at the same time show how the Spirit of God has taken up the sufferings of David, and his deliverance from all his enemies, to shadow out the greater sufferings of David's Son, and His deliverance from the strivings of the people, preparatory to His being established as the Head of the nations in His universal sway over the earth. The details may easily be gleaned, from which it will be seen that Christ here experienced the sorrows of death, and that His sufferings in this connection become the "centre" of deliverance of His people, - from Egypt onwards to their establishment in blessing in a future day, as stated in the last verse. "Great deliverance giveth He to His king; and showeth mercy to His anointed, to David, and to His seed for evermore."
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Christ is not seen in Psalm 19, where God's two witnesses, that of creation, and that of His word, as embodied in the law, are described as presented to man in responsibility, together with the estimate formed of them by the godly in Israel. It is in Psalms 20, 21 that we have "Christ suffering as witness to the truth, object of the remnant's thoughts and affections." Christ here, therefore, is God's third witness to man, following, as He did, upon the two previous testimonies of creation and the law. The first of these is found in Romans 1; the second in Romans 2 and Romans 3; and the apostle brings in the third - Christ - in Romans 10, and connects it in a very special way with that of creation. (See Rom. 10:18.) The connection between Psalms 20 and 21 is very beautiful. Christ, as the object of the remnant's affections, is the subject of their prayers in Psalm 20:1-5, and the answer is recorded in Psalm 21:2-6. They rejoice, moreover, in His salvation - deliverance, and they participate in the consequent blessing. The last verse of Psalm 20 is remarkable, as the remnant cry equally to Jehovah and the King, thus showing that they know that the King is Jehovah. They are also taught that it is in resurrection (Ps. 21:4) that He receives the kingdom, and that it is with resurrection power He will subdue all His enemies. (Compare 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Philippians 3:20-21.)
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That Psalm 22 sets forth "Christ as forsaken of God" is known to every child of God, inasmuch as it contains the very words that were uttered by the Lord when in His agony on the cross. Man is in the scene, both Jew and Gentile, but only as the blind instrument for the accomplishment of the divine will. It is from God's hand that the Lord takes the cup. "Thou hast brought me," He says, "into the dust of death." (Ps. 22:15.) And just because He suffers here from the hand of God, and is forsaken, we have atonement in this psalm; whereas in Psalm 69, for example, where He suffers from man's hand, His death (while every aspect is included in His one act of death) is rather that of a martyr. This explains the widely-different consequences described as flowing from His death in these two psalms. In the latter, where the Lord suffers from man in his wickedness, pure and unmitigated judgment is the result; whereas in the former, where atonement is found, grace and blessing flow out in ever-widening circles, until the ends of the earth are reached. (See Ps. 22:22, 25, 27.)
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All are familiar with the precious Psalm (Ps. 23) that speaks of our Shepherd's care. It is in this we view "Christ taking personally the path in which the sheep had to walk, and so unfolding to them the care of Jehovah, though Himself the true Shepherd." For in truth He was, in the place which He so graciously took, as dependent on God as His people. And He took this place and trod this path that He might, for all time to come, be the perfect example for every sheep and lamb of His flock. The psalm is so beautiful because, in addition to all the love and care which it reveals, it teaches so plainly that all the blessings - rest, refreshment, restoration, guidance, the rod and the staff, the table, the anointing, the goodness and mercy, etc., of which it speaks, flow from what the Lord is to His people. It is thus because He is our Shepherd that we shall not want. It is He who maketh us to lie down, etc. This is very blessed.
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Lastly, in Psalm 24, we are permitted to behold "Christ, when all own Jacob, and the God of Jacob, entering into the temple as the triumphant Jehovah, the Lord of hosts;" We have in this psalm the full result, as far as the earth is concerned, of the work of atonement wrought out and finished in Psalm 22. It is divided into two parts. There is, first, universal blessing - "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." And in connection with this, in reply to the question, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" etc., the moral characteristics of those that seek after God, and after Jacob as the people of God, are given. The door is thus opened to all the world in the age to come, in the millennial kingdom. Secondly - He who is seen as forsaken of God in Psalm 22, and as the Shepherd in Psalm 23 leading and ministering to His flock, is now presented as the King of glory, as Jehovah mighty in battle, Jehovah of hosts, returning from His victory, and entering in through the unfolded gates, and the opened everlasting doors, to dwell with His people on His own, loved hill of Zion, and in the holy place. (v. 3.) The result for Him therefore of His own work of redemption is, that He can now in resurrection take possession of the "gates of Zion" in the mountain of His holiness, and surround Himself there with His redeemed.
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There can be, it may be added, no more blessed occupation than in tracing out every detail of the path of our blessed Lord in His work for, and association with, His people. It keeps Himself before the soul; and as we ponder upon the tenderness, the lowliness and meekness, the grace and love, exhibited by Him at every step, we look adoringly upward to Him as glorified at the right hand of God, and we say, The Jesus whose pathway we have followed on earth is the Jesus we behold. Blessed be His name!