'Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the
beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew
of thy youth.'--PSALM cx. 3.
It is no part of my present purpose to establish the reference of this
psalm to our Lord. We have Christ's own authority for that.
It does not seem to be typical--that is to say, it does not appear to
have had a lower application to a king of Israel who was a shadow of the
true monarch, but rather to refer only to the coming Sovereign, whom
David was helped to discern, indeed, by his own regal office, but whose
office and character, as here set forth, far surpass anything belonging
to him or to his dynasty. The attributes of the King, the union in His
case of the royal and priestly dignities, His seat at the right hand of
God, His acknowledged supremacy over the greatest Jewish ruler, who here
calls him 'my Lord,' His eternal dominion, His conquest of many nations,
and His lifting up of His head in triumphant rule that knows no end--all
these characteristics seem to forbid the possibility of a double
reference, and to demand the acknowledgment of a distinct and exclusive
prophecy of Christ.
Taking that for granted without more words, it strikes one as remarkable
that this description of the subjects of the Priest-King should be thus
imbedded in the very heart of the grand portraiture of the monarch
Himself. It is the anticipation of the profound New Testament thought of
the unity of Christ and His Church. By simple faith a union is brought
about so close and intimate that all His is theirs, and the picture of
His glory is incomplete without the vision of 'the Church, which is His
body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.' Therefore, between
the word of God which elevates Him to His right hand, and the oath of
God which consecrates Him a priest for ever, is this description of the
army of the King.
The full force of the words will, I hope, appear as we advance. For the
present it will be enough to say that there are really in our text three
co-ordinate clauses, all descriptive of the subjects of the monarch,
regarded as a band of warriors--and that the main ideas are these:--the
subjects are willing soldiers; the soldiers are priests; the
priest-soldiers are as dew upon the earth. Or, in other words, we have
here the very heart of the Christian character set forth as being
willing consecration; then we have the work which Christian men have to
do, and the spirit in which they are to do it, expressed in that
metaphor of their priestly attire; and then we have their refreshing and
quickening influence upon the world.