ring to the conception, birth, and name of Messiah, we pass over at present, and proceed to examine and illustrate that portion referring to his regal character and authority. "The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

The angel Gabriel here declares David to be the father of Jesus Christ, of course according to the flesh; and distinctly teaches that he had been a king, and occupied a throne; and that this kingdom and throne, once honored by the occupancy and government of David, were yet, by the Lord God, to be given to his Son Jesus, and that Jesus was to sit upon that throne, reign over, rule, and govern that people.

David was the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, and a lineal descendant of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. These his illustrious ancestors, renowned for their strong and unwavering faith, rose up in Goliath-like stature among the believing of their age. Their works, wrought by the mighty power of this divine principle, stand in unrivalled magnitude on earth's historic page. Their deep, vital piety manifested itself in living power in all their conduct, and in their sincere friendship to God. From him in whom they so firmly believed, so fervently loved, and devoutly feared, they received exceeding great and precious promises for themselves and their children. Some of these promises, and the great Abrahamic cove

nant, have not yet been fulfilled, but doubtless shall be when God's set time comes. The dying Jacob, whose heavenly unscaled eye looked down the long vista of futurity, and through many intervening events, and rested upon the glories of a far remote day, whose blissful hours have not yet appeared on the roll of time, breathed out the following prophetic blessing upon Judah, and through him and his descendants upon the house and family of David, and upon his royal seed too: "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies ; thy father's children shall bow before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone. up; he stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as an old lion who shall rouse him? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be."

In progress of fulfilment of this prophetic benediction, full of glorious meaning, and fraught with the most important and blissful consequences to all subsequent generations-exalting Judah's descendants to regal authority, God commissioned his prophet Samuel to Bethlehem, to anoint one of the sons of Jesse king of Israel. The prophet, in obedience to the divine mandate, having reached the house of that venerablo and pious servant of the Most High, by direct inspiration and divine authority, rejected one son after another, and refused to anoint any as king of Israel

till he came to the youngest. David, then a ruddy youth of fifteen years, dreaming and caring little about sceptres, thrones, and kingdoms, was on the plains of Bethlehem keeping his father's flocks, and tending the ewes great with young; tuning his divine, consecrated harp, in sweetest, holiest strains, to the God of Israel, and pouring his pious anthems upon midnight's stilly hour, at the prophet's request was called home. As soon as Samuel saw the beautiful youth standing in his presence, he knew by divine intimation, by the clear revelation of God in his soul, that this was he whom God, in the exercise of his sovereign pleasure, had chosen to be the king of Israel, the successor of Saul; and accordingly, with all the solemnity which the occasion and work required, he "took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." That act, by the special choice, appointment, and authority of God, made him king of Israel, God's own chosen and anointed king. And while Samuel anointed him with the holy oil, which by divine authority he had prepared, God anointed him with the Holy Ghost, thereby qualifying him for the performance of all the important duties devolving upon him when he should occupy the throne, and rule Israel.

The very manner, then, in which David was chosen and anointed king, strongly prognosticated and insured his future greatness. Chosen of God, and the Spirit

of the Lord resting upon him, it was fairly to be presumed that all his plans would be laid in the wisdom and fear of God; that they would be acted out by the omnipotent help of God; and consequently that all his undertakings would be crowned with peculiar success. And that such was the case the whole history of this man, who was a man according to God's own heart, clearly shows and triumphantly proves.

The military valour and skill, and noble conduct of the divinely-anointed David, in all public matters involving the interests of the community, soon gained and secured for him the warm and strong affections of the people. When Saul saw the strong attachment and regard which the people manifested to him whom the Lord had secretly anointed their king, his jealousy was aroused, his hatred was inveterate and vindictive, and, with desperate determination, he resolved upon his murder. Once and again, by various stratagems and feigned madness, he sought to slay him, as if by accident. Failing in one effort, he had recourse to others to put him to death; but God, who had decreed, and by his prophet anointed, him to be the king of Israel, kept him in the hollow of his hand as in a strong fortified tower; guarded him by his invisible and omnipotent providence as by a wall of adamant, so that every plan and attempt of Saul to have him slain signally failed. The plan of " him who rules in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth" was acted out in every respect, and to the

fullest extent. All the stratagems of Saul proved abortive in destroying the counsel of God, or subverting his purposes. In due time David was, by the same overruling providence that called him to be, and anointed him king of Israel, and preserved him from Saul's cunning attempts to destroy his life, elevated to rule his people Israel.

After to him many painful and severe trials and dangerous wars, to which it is now unnecessary to advert, David, by the immediate direction of God, who had promised him the kingdom, and by the hand of Samuel anointed him to the office of king, left Ziklag and went up to Hebron, the capital of Judah. When the Lord's chosen appeared in that city, in accordance with the divine purpose, God doubtless working secretly upon their heart, the rulers of that tribe voluntarily chose and anointed him their king. He reigned seven years and six months over the house of Judah; and during that whole period he might be said to be engaged in contests with the other tribes. At the end of that time they also, without doubt under divine influence upon their hearts, renounced their hostility to him, and chose him to be their king, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel, and sent an embassy to him to that effect. He accepted their proposal, which was in perfect accordance with the purpose of God; and now, by an overruling providence, carrying out his infinitely wise purposes, he became king of all Israel, and they, the highly honoured and