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"house, that thou hast brought me to this [elevation]: and even this, was yet little "in thine eyes, O REGENT LORD, since "thou hast spoken also concerning thy "servant's house, to a remote [period]: Surely "this is the law of the Adam, O REGENT "LORD. And what can David proceed to say unto thee further? For thou knowest

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thy servant, [i. e. the fulness of his heart] "O REGENT LORD. For the sake of thy word, and according to thine own heart, "hast thou made thy servant to know all this great [mystery.]

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“And now, LORD OF GODS, establish for "ever the word which thou hast spoken, "touching thy servant, and touching his house; and do according as thou hast spoken, and let thy name be magnified for

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ever; saying, THE LORD OF HOSTS is "GOD over ISRAEL; and let the house of

thy servant David be established before Thee: For Thou LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, hast opened the ear of "[revealed to] thy servant, saying, I will "build thee a house: Therefore hath thy "servant found in his heart to pray this

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prayer unto thee. And now, REGENT "LORD, Thou art THE GOD, and thy "words are truth, and thou hast spoken to

thy servant, this good [promise]: Now, "therefore, let it please thee to bless the "house of thy servant, that it may abide

for ever before Thee; for thou REGENT "LORD hast spoken and with thy blessing "let the house of thy servant be blessed for "ever."

According to the sagacious explanation of Peters on Job, Preface, p. lxix. that myste

and this * וזאת תורת האדם,rious expression

6

[is] the law of the Adam," intimates" this "surely, can be no other than the law,' or "fixed decree, concerning the second Adam, "or blessed Redeemer, so long promised to "us" that" seed of the woman" who is "to crush the serpent's head:" that "seed "of Abraham, in whom all the nations of the "earth are to be blessed :" that "seed of "Isaac, Jacob, Judah," the "SHILOH" spoken of, to whom "the gathering of peoples is to be," and now declared to be the son

of David," whose kingdom shall be established

וראיתני בתור

And this is supported, by the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvii. 17. nhyan 0787 “And thou hast regarded me, "according to the law of the Adam from "above." And accordingly, our blessed LORD explains,-" No one hath ascended "into heaven, except He that descended from "heaven, THE SON OF MAN, who was in "heaven," John iii. 13. "Ye are from be“low, I am from above," John viii. 23. And the Baptist: "He that cometh from above, "is above all," John iii. 31. And Paul: "the first Adam was a type of the future," Rom. v. 14, being both immediately, Sons of God: But "the first man Adam was "born a living soul; the last Adam, a quick

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ening spirit-The first man, is of the

earth, earthy; the second man, is THE "LORD from heaven." 1 Cor. xv. 45-47. Nothing indeed can more strongly express the infinite superiority of CHRIST's nature above that of Adam and all his race: Who often styles himself "THE SON OF MAN;" not out of humility, (as sometimes mistakenly supposed) but to mark himself as the VICEGERENT of THE DEITY, destined to ap

pear

pear in human form; according to Daniel's magnificent description, vii. 13, 14, explanatory of Ps. viii. 4. And accordingly, our Saviour assumes the title, where he authoritatively asserts his divine dignity: to his disciples, Matt. xvi. 13, and to the Jewish high priest, Matt. xxvi. 64, and as judge of all, John v. 22-27.

How well the title of THE SON OF GOD was understood by the Jews appears, 1. From Agur's inquiry, Prov. xxx. 4. "What is "His name, and what is HIS SON's name?" 2. From the signal confessions of faith; John i. 50." Rabbi, Thou art THE CHRIST, “THE KING OF ISRAEL." Matt. xvi. 16. John vi. 69. "Thou art THE CHRIST, THE "SON OF THE LIVING GOD." 3. From the solemn charge of the high priest, on his iniquitous trial, urging him, when the false witnesses failed*, to criminate himself, Matt. xxvi. 63. "I adjure thee by THE LIVING "GOD, to tell us whether thou be THE "CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD." 4 From

* See a curious confession of the Jews, touching these false witnesses, in Sharp's Defence of Christianity, Part I. p. 42.

the ground of their requisition for his condemnation to Pilate, John xix. 7. "We have "a law, and by our law he ought to die, be"cause he made himself THE SON OF GOD;" and 5. from the Roman centurion's confession seeing the awful signs that accompanied his crucifixion, Matt. xxvii. 54.

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Truly this was THE SON OF GOD," where we may incidentally remark, that the phrase is indiscriminately used in these places, with and without the article: ὁ υἱος τ8 Θε8υἱος 78 8 and vios es, or eg vios — and Θες υἱος throughout the New Testament,

The day of our Lord's new birth, or investiture in the highest privileges of divine Sonship, as before observed, was the day of his resurrection. It was then, that, "Gon 66 made Him HEIR OF ALL-after he had, through [the sacrifice of] himself, made

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purification of our sins," Heb. i. 3. It was then," when HE again introduced the "FIRST BORN into the world, He said, "and let all the angels of God worship him." Heb. i, 5. Whence John expressly styles him, "THE FIRST BORN from the dead," Rev, i. 5, explaining Ethan's epithet; Ps,