Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 3.djvu/228

220 We may be sure he takes place of all the inhabitants of this lower world, for he is made but a little lower than the angels, (v. 5.) lower indeed, because by his body he is allied to the earth, and to the beasts that perish, and yet by his soul, which is spiritual and immortal, he is so near akin to the holy angels, that he may be truly said to be but a little lower than they, and is in order next to them. He is but for a little while lower than the angels, while his great soul is cooped up in a house of clay, but the children of the resurrection shall be ἰσάγγελοι—angels' peers, (Luke xx. 36.) and no longer lower than they.

(2.) He is endued with noble faculties and capacities; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour; he that gave him his being has distinguished him, and qualified him for a dominion over the inferior creatures; for, having made him wiser than the beasts of the earth, and the fowls of heaven, (Job xxxv. 11.) he has made him fit to rule them, and it is fit that they should be ruled by him. Man's reason is his crown of glory; let him not profane that crown by disturbing the use of it, nor forfeit that crown by acting contrary to its dictates.

(3.) He is invested with a sovereign dominion over the inferior creatures, under God, and is constituted their lord. He that made them, and knows them, and whose own they are, has made man to have dominion over them, v. 6. His charter, by which he holds this royalty, bears equal date with his creation, (Gen. i. 28.) and was renewed after the flood. Gen. ix. 2. God has put all things under man's feet, that he might serve himself, not only of the labour, but of the productions and lives, of the inferior creatures; they are all delivered into his hand, nay, they are all put under his feet. He specifies some of the inferior animals; (v. 7, 8.) not only sheep and oxen, which man takes care of and provides for, but the beasts of the field, as well as those of the flood, yea, and those creatures which are most at a distance from man, as the fowl of the air, yea, and the fish of the sea, which live in another element, and pass unseen through the paths of the seas. Man has arts to take these; though many of them are much stronger, and many of them are much swifter, than he, yet, one way or other, he is too hard for them, Jam. iii. 7. Every kind of beasts, and birds, and things in the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed; he has likewise liberty to use them as he has occasion; Rise, Peter, kill and eat, Acts x. 13. Every time we partake of fish or of fowl, we realize this dominion which man has over the works of God's hands; and it is a reason for our subjection to God, our chief Lord, and to his dominion over us.

2. But this refers, in a particular manner, to Jesus Christ; of him we are taught to expound it, (Heb. ii. 6··8.) where the apostle, to prove the sovereign dominion of Christ, both in heaven and in earth, shows that he is that man, that son of man, here spoken of, whom God has crowned with glory and honour, and made to have dominion over the works of his hands. And it is certain that the greatest favour that ever was showed to the human race, and the greatest honour that ever was put upon the human nature, were exemplified in the incarnation and exaltation of the Lord Jesus; these far exceed the favours and honours done us by creation and providence, though they also are great, and far more than we deserve.

We have reason humbly to value ourselves by it, and thankfully to admire the grace of God in it,

(1.) That Jesus Christ assumed the nature of man, and in that nature humbled himself. He became the Son of man, a partaker of flesh and blood; being so, God visited him; which some apply to his sufferings for us, for it is said, (Heb. ii. 9.) For the suffering of death, a visitation in wrath, he was crowned with glory and honour. God visited him; having laid upon him the iniquity of us all, he reckoned with him for it, visited him with a rod and with stripes, that we by them might be healed. He was, for a little while, (so the apostle interprets it,) made lower than the angels, when he took upon him the form of a servant, and made himself of no reputation.

(2.) That, in that nature, he is exalted to be Lord of all. God the Father exalted him, because he had humbled himself; crowned him with glory and honour, the glory which he had with him before the worlds were; set him at his own right hand; constituted him not only the Head of the church, but Head over all things to the church; and gave all things into his hand, intrusted him with the administration of the kingdom of providence, in conjunction with, and subserviency to, the kingdom of grace. All the creatures are put under his feet; and, even in the days of his flesh, he gave some specimens of his power over them, as when he commanded the winds and the seas, and appointed a fish to pay his tribute.

With good reason, therefore, does the psalmist conclude as he began, Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, which has been honoured with the presence of the Redeemer, and is still enlightened by his gospel, and governed by his wisdom and power! In singing this, and praying it over, though we must not forget to acknowledge, with suitable affections, God's common favours to mankind, particularly in the serviceableness of the inferior creatures to us, yet we must especially set ourselves to give glory to our Lord Jesus, by confessing that he is Lord, submitting to him as our Lord, and waiting till we see all things put under him, and all his enemies made his footstool.

PSALM IX.

In this psalm, I. David praises God for pleading his cause, and giving him victory over his enemies and the enemies of his country, (v. 1..6.) and calls upon others to join with him in his songs of praise, v. 11, 12. II. He prays to God, that he might have still further occasion to praise him, for his own deliverances, and the confusion of his enemies, v. 13, 14, 19, 20. III. He triumphs in the assurance he had of God's judging the world, (v. 7, 8.) protecting his oppressed people, (v. 9, 10, 18.) and bringing his and their implacable enemies to ruin, v. 15..17. This is very applicable to the kingdom of the Messiah, the enemies of which have been, in part, destroyed already, and shall be yet more and more, till they all be made his footstool; which we are to assure ourselves of, that God may have the glory, and we may take the comfort.

To the chief musician upon Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

WILL praise thee,, with my whole heart, I will show forth all thy marvellous works. 2. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High. 3. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. 4. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause, thou sattest in the throne judging right. 5. Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. 6. O thou enemy! destructions are come to a perpetual end; and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them. 7. But the shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment; 8. And he shall judge the