Yet this feature of it is the most neglected in the study of the Book. It is rarely ever studied as a prophetic book; the devotional study has always been in the lead.

What then is the Prophetic Message of the Psalms? The prophecies of the Psalms comprise the following three themes:

1. The prophetic message concerning the Messiah, His humiliation and His exaltation. There are more prophetic statements on this theme of all themes in the Psalms, than in the Book of Isaiah or in any of the other prophetic books. As already stated in the paragraph of this introduction relating to the Lord Jesus and the Psalms, we have in many of them the pre-written prayers of our Lord, as well as the expressions of His sorrow and grief. The story of His life of loneliness down here, the hatred which He met, the rejection from the side of the nation; the betrayal and other features of His humiliation are found over and over again in the Psalms. While the chosen instruments passed through experiences of sorrow and trial, the Spirit of God pictures in them Him who could say "Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto Me." (Lament. i: 12). But the application of these Psalms to the Person of our Lord needs great caution. Some teachers have erred grievously in this matter. We heard several years ago of a Bible teacher applying Psalm xxxviii: 7 to our Lord: "For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh." And this teacher declared that the Lord suffered thus because He took upon Himself our sickness and diseases. Such teaching must be severely condemned for it is positively false. Nor must other similar expressions be put into the mouth of our Lord. He had no need to complain of sins for He had no sin. He had no need to use the Fifty-first Psalm.

The sufferings of the Cross are prophetically revealed in the xxii Psalm and in others as well. Then the glory which is to follow, the Kingship of Christ, His Kingdom is wonderfully predicted in many of the Psalms. His first Coming in humiliation, to be rejected and to die; His second Coming to be accepted and to reign over the earth, these are the two great prophetic messages of the Psalms. It is of much interest to note the order of the four great Messianic Psalms which we find in the first section of the Book. The Spirit of God calls our attention to them in the N. T. The second Psalm is the first; here the Divine Sonship of our Lord is made known. The Eighth Psalm is next quoted; there He is the Son of Man. In Psalm xvi we see Him as the Obedient One and in Psalm xxii obedient unto death, the death of the Cross. Son of God-Son of Man, Obedient, obedient unto death, the death of the Cross. And with each of these Psalms His glory is connected.

2. The second Prophetic theme of the Psalms we mention are the

sorrows, trials and suffering of Israel and their coming deliverance, restoration, blessing and glory. We do not mean by this the prediction of their present wanderings and the afflictions which are upon that nation as a result of having rejected the Christ, but the experiences through which a godly Jewish remnant will have to pass when this present age closes in its predicted darkness and apostasy. Of this time Jeremiah speaks as the time of Jacob's trouble. "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." That remnant will appear when the purpose of this present dispensation, the out calling of the people for His Name (the Church) is accomplished. A remnant of His earthly people, energized by the Spirit of God, will turn to the Lord and pass through that time of trouble, of which our Lord speaks as the great tribulation. It will be the travail time for them. They suffer from the side of ungodly nations and pray for deliverance. (See Isaiah lxiii-15-lxiv.) The Psalms give us the completest picture of their harrowing experiences. Here we read their sorrows, their afflictions. We hear their prayers, their cry "How long, O Lord, how long!" We hear them plead that the Lord might intervene and come down to save them. The nations about them persecute them. The land, which is partially restored, is invaded again. Then we read in the Psalms of a Wicked Man who domineers over them; one who breaks the covenant. This is the Man of Sin, the final Anti-Christ. And as they pray for deliverance, they cry to God for vengeance, to deal with their enemies and with His enemies according to His righteousness. This will explain perfectly the imprecatory prayers we find here and there in this book.

Suddenly the scene changeth. Their prayers are answered. Heaven opens and the long expected King returns. Their tears are wiped away; their moans are changed to songs, their agonizing cries are turned to laughter. They are delivered and receive the blessing as His people, their land is blest and they become the channel of blessing and mercy to the nations of the earth. It is all intensely interesting and fascinating.

3. The third prophetic theme shows the future glories in store for His redeemed people, for the nations of the earth and for creation itself. In other words we have prophecies relating to the Coming Kingdom. The prophetic teaching of the Psalms annihilates Postmillennialism. These prophecies show conclusively that there can be no blessing for Israel, for the nations, for the earth, no peace and prosperity, no world conversion, till the King comes back. The Book ends with the mighty Hallelujahs, the glorious consummation when heaven and earth will sing His praises. How well Handel caught this message when in his Oratorio, "The Messiah," he con

cludes all with a mighty Hallelujah chorus. Our annotations will adhere to this threefold prophetic message. The task is difficult to condense these great truths. Far easier it would be to write a book of a thousand pages than one of a hundred. It is all so rich and glorious.

The Division of the Psalms.

The unknown collector of these Psalms has divided the Book into five sections, which we must maintain and follow. These five sections correspond in a remarkable manner with the five books with which the Bible opens, the Pentateuch. This was known to the ancient Jews, for they call the Psalter "the Pentateuch of David." The Aramaic comment (Midrash) on Psalm i: 1 declares that "Moses gave to the Israelites the five books of the Law and corresponding with these David gave them the five books of the Psalms."

I. THE GENESIS SECTION, Psalms I-XLI. This section has the same character as the Book of Genesis in that it has much to say about man. We have first a contrast between the righteous and the ungodly. After that a contrast between the first man, Adam, and the second Man who was made a little lower than the angels. (Psalm VIII.) Here also is a description of the Wicked One, in whom in some future day the defiance of the ungodly will culminate. This man of sin, the Anti-Christ, is revealed in Psalms IX and X; the tribulation which is yet to come for man is revealed in the Psalms which follow. The Christ, the last Adam, in His obedience, even the obedience unto the death of the cross, His salvation and His Glory are unfolded. (Psalms XVI-XLI.) The first Book ends with a Blessing and a double Amen.

II. THE EXODUS SECTION. Psalms XLII-LXXII. Like in the Book of Exodus, where the story is written how God redeems by blood and by power, we see a people groaning and moaning. The opening Psalms show a people oppressed and longing for God. This is the godly Jewish remnant. Then we find their prayers answered by the coming of the King (Psalm xlv). Redemption by

power then takes place and the blessings of the Kingdom, when Christ has returned, are revealed in a number of Psalms. The lxxii Psalm, the conclusion of this second Book gives the Reign and the Kingly Glory of Christ. This book also ends with a double Amen and the statement, so very appropriate to this Book, "And let the whole earth be filled with His glory." The book of Exodus ends with the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle, the Exodus portion of the Psalms ends with His glory filling the whole earth.

III. THE LEVITICUS SECTION. Psalm LXXIIIPsalm LXXXIX. This is the briefest section. The theme of Leviticus is "Holiness unto the Lord." In this section we are brought into the sanctuary and we behold the holiness of the Lord in dealing with His people. The Asaph Psalms are put into this section and nearly every Psalm has something about the sanctuary, the congregation, Zion and approaching the Lord. It also closeth with a benediction and a double Amen.

IV. THE NUMBERS SECTION. Psalms XC-CVI. The first Psalm of this section is the Psalm Moses wrote, in all probability when he saw the people dying in the wiiderness. The second Man is seen in Psalm xci. Here we have the prophetic Psalms which show that the times of unrest and wanderings will cease, when the Lord reigneth and when the nations will worship Him. No rest and no peace till then. This section ends with an Amen and a Hallelujah.

V. THE DEUTERONOMY SECTION. Psalms CVIICL. In this section, as it is in Deuteronomy, the Word is magnified. The Lord Jesus Christ quoted this book of Deuteronomy exclusively in His conflict with the devil. Christ is seen as the Living Word in the beginning of this section. His rejection, His exaltation, His Return and the Hallelujah times which follow are once more revealed in a cluster of Psalms (cix-cxiii). Then follows the con