526 A SHORT VIEW OF SCRIPTURE HISTORY. of them besides Jesus Christ came to institute a new religion as Moses did, or wrought such numerous and various miracles to attest theirdoctrine. 12. Q. Who was the next eminent prophet that spake plain- ly of Christ? A. David speaks often of him in his book of Psalms in many remarkable expressions, and describes his incar- nation, his sufferings, his exaltation, and his various offices of prophet, priest and king; viz. 1. Hiscoming into the world to preach the truth of God and the doctrine of righteousness for the salvation of men, and the weakness and insufficiency of the Jewish sacrifices. Ps. xl. 6-8. " Sacrifices and offering thou didst not desire ; that is, the Jewish sacrifices were not required as real and effectual ex- piations, because they could not take away sin. " But my ears hest thou opened ; then said I, lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me : I delight to do thy will, O my God. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation, 1 have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation, &c." Thefirst part of this psalm is expressly applied to Christ; Heb. x. 5-9. and instead of the words, My ears hast thou opened, the apostle expresses it, A body hast thou prepared me : And then hegoes on to spew how Christ made himself a perfect and effectual sacrifice, instead of all the imperfect sacrifices un- der the law. 2. His being chosen out of the Jewish nation to be the Sa- viour and the king of Israel, is foretold under the emblem of David ; Ps. lxxxix. 18-37. " Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty : I have exalted one chosen out of the people -I will make him my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth, &c." Christ is called the first-born of the creation, andKing of kings; Col. i. 15., Rev. xix. 16. 3. Thechildren in the temple singing his triumph when he entered into "Jerusalem is early intimated ; Ps. viii. 2. as Out of the mouth ofbabes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength, or perfected praise;" and in Ps. cxviii. 25, 26. youhave the very words of their song. Save now, I beseech thee ; which in the Hebrew is hosanna : "O Lord ; blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Which is applied to Christ ; Mat. xxi. 9. And as the scribes and pharisees raged and had indignation against him on this account, so this very rage is intimated in the same Ps. viii. 2. "'rite babes and sucklings cried out, anddid still or silence the enemy and theavenger, that is, the revengeful enemy." And this is further hinted in Ps. cxviii. 22. where David calls Christ " the stone which the builders refused, and which is become the head-stone of the corner :" The teachers and rulers, or the Jews, who should have been the builders of the church, rejected Christ, and on this occasion he applies these
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