 |  |
The Seven Psalms.
A | 2: 7. The King on Zion. The decree.
B | 89: 26, 27, and II Sam. 7: 14. The King.
C | 97: 7. Worship Him all ye gods.
D | 104: 4. His angels spirits, His ministers a flaming fire.
C | 45: 6, 7. Thy throne, O God is for ever and ever.
B | 102: 25. The Creator.
A | 110: 1. Priest on Zion. The oath.
Let us consider the passages which the apostle brings forward. The apostle's
quotation and the manner of its introduction, "unto which of the angels did He at any
time say?" show that the title, "the Son", is unique.
As it was in the days of the Lord on earth, so evidently it was at the time of writing
this epistle the Scriptures were accepted as inspired truth, and however much their
testimony may have been avoided or contravened, no voice seems to have been raised to
throw doubt upon the infallible authority of the Word. There is also implied by the
nature of the argument the completeness of the testimony of Scripture. It is sufficient to
say that Scripture nowhere uses the expression, "Thou art My Son, this day have I
begotten Thee", to prove, by the omission, that such words could never be said of angels
at all. That Psalm 2: is prophetic of Christ, and of Christ in resurrection, we do not feel
it to be necessary to prove; the testimony of men speaking under the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost, and specially set apart to the authoritative position of apostles, is so great
that no other evidence is becoming; such testimony is that of Acts 13: 33.
The Psalm looks forward to the day when Christ as King shall be established on Zion,
and shall rule to the uttermost part of the earth. The day of His begetting unto this
glorious position was the day when, after He had suffered for sin, had died, and been
buried, God raised Him from the dead, the firstfruits of coming glory. This double
begetting finds an echo in Col. 1: 15-18, where Christ is seen in the first place as the
firstborn from the dead, the parallel with Heb. 1: being very marked by the words that
follow, "that in all things He might have the pre-eminence". The apostle brings another
Scripture to bear upon this theme, and this time quotes from the words by Nathan to
David, and which are referred to in Psalm 89: Solomon here, as in Psalm 72:, is
a type of Christ. It is worthy of notice that in both cases Christ the Son is viewed as
God's anointed King. While this fact is not brought into prominence by the apostle here,
it is important, inasmuch as Christ, being King, could not be a priest after the order of
Aaron; hence the Melchisedec priesthood is emphasized in this epistle. It may be
objected, that both angels and men are called "sons of God". This is true, and the apostle
in no wise denies it, but no angel has ever had a personal address made to him in this
way, and no angel ever inherited the name. Angels are sons of God by creation, men
become sons of God through faith; Christ, in resurrection, was declared Son of God by
inheritance.
The third quotation is sometimes taken a little differently from the A.V. rendering;
some would read it, "and when He again bringeth", in the sense of a second time. This