7 'Adopted thee,' in sight of Jew and Gentile, as manifested in thy resurrection from the dead (Ro. 1. 4), and exhibited thee to the holy angels as the legitimate object of their worship, He.1.5.—C.

8 Ask^k of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

k Ps.22.27-31; 72.8; 89.21-37. Da.7.13,14. He.7.25.

9 Thou^l shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.

l Re.2.27; 19.15. Da.2.44. Re.6.12-17; xvi. xix. Mat.22.14, with Is.30.14. Je.19.11.

10 Beⁿ wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

n Is.26.9; 52.15; 60.3,10,11,16; 49.23. Je.6.8. Ps.72.10,11; 45.12.

11 Serve^o the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

o He.12.28,29. Mat.17.5. Jn.5.22,23. Ps.89.7; 95.1-7; xcvi.-c.

12 Kiss^p the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled ^qbut a little. ^rBlessed are all they that put their trust in him.

p Jn.5.23. 1 Sa.10.1. 1 Ki.19.18. Job 31.27. Ho.13.2.

q Mat.22.7. Re.6.12-17; 16.1-21, with 2 Th.1.9. Re.14.9-11.

r Pr.16.20. Is.30.18; 26.3,4. Je.17.7. Ro.9.33; 10.11. 1 Pe.2.6. Ps.34.8; 40.4; 84.12; 146.5.

Notes

Ver. 1. Why do the heathen rage? The heathen nations being madly attached to idolatry and the Jewish people to self-righteousness, united in opposition to Christ, Ac. 4. 26; and for the same reasons all who inherit their principles still persevere in the same opposition. C.

Ver. 2. The kings of the earth set themselves, &c. 'Array or marshal' their hosts—their military power and cruel legal enactments and agents, as in the Jewish and Roman persecutions of the early Christians, or the terrible machinery of the Inquisition in the later days of the Reformation. C.

Ver. 3. The main purpose or object of this psalm is to celebrate the dignity, power, and ultimate triumph of the Anointed One. The ode is divided into four parts of three stanzas each. In the first, the presumptuous rebellion of the princes of the earth is mentioned, ver. 1-3. In the second, the Lord Jehovah expresses his contempt for the rebels, and announces his purpose to overthrow them by the agency of his Anointed One, ver. 4-6. In the third, the Anointed One declares his office, and his resolve to carry out Jehovah's will, and execute vengeance, ver. 7-9. In the fourth, a practical and solemn warning and admonition is given to the whole princes and people of the earth. P.

Ver. 4. Lord. Adonai, not Jehovah, as in ver. 2, 7, 11. Adonai signifies my pillars, God in the character of providential upholder. C.

Ver. 7. My Son. A title of the 'Word that was God' (Jn. 1. 1), that 'eternal life that was with the Father' (1 Jn. 1. 1), and who thus being 'eternal life with the Father,' must have been his eternal Son; for as Father necessarily implies a Son, if the Father were eternal, a point that cannot be disputed, so must the Son have been eternal. C.

Ver. 12. The Son is the Anointed of ver. 2; the King of ver. 6; and the omnipotent Conqueror of ver. 9. The Hebrew word translated 'Son' is different from that used in ver. 7. It is an older, and appears to have been a more dignified, term. It will be observed that the three last verses of the psalm correspond to the three first. The revolt against the Lord and his Anointed finds its parallel in the injunction to serve the Lord and to kiss the Son. P.

Reflections.—Bitter and inveterate is the enmity of mankind against Jesus Christ our Saviour. The agents of hell, Jews and Gentiles, readily drop their private animosities to harmonize in opposition to him! If his cause is to be run down they cordially unite in the work! And not well-grounded fear, but enraged enmity, makes the princes of the earth to oppose his kingdom, which is not of this world. But in vain are all their contrivances and fury. His church, and every believer, is fixed on a rock, against which the powers of hell and earth can never prevail. Jesus' person, as the only begotten Son of God from eternity, and declared to be such in his resurrection from the dead, and the new covenant made with him, are their everlasting foundation. His intercession, and the saving power of his Spirit, endear them to himself. But dreadful is the judgment executed on his Jewish, heathen, antichristian, or other opposers! And if the great are not good they shall receive the deeper damnation. O how mixed is the service of Christ on earth! Whilst we rejoice in him and his fulness, we need to tremble on account of our own guilt and corruption, and the snares and dangers that attend us. But holy jealousy and filial fear produce joys unspeakable and full of glory. While the world contemn him and riot in wantonness, let my soul kiss, receive, love, adore, and submit to God's Son; so shall I be blessed in him with all spiritual blessings in time and eternity.