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men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." The figure, however, is changed from that
of refreshing rain upon the grass that has been cut, to the beneficent sunshine after the
rain has fallen: "And He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a
morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining
after rain."
These passages help us to answer the question: "What will it be when the King
comes?"
Psa. 82: is prophetic of Israel's day of trouble: `They said, Come, and let us cut
them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance."
In this extremity they cry to the Lord: "Keep not silence, O God: hold not Thy peace,
and be not still, O God." The tumult of the enemies, and the "crafty counsel" taken
against the Lord's hidden ones, turn the mind back to Psa. 2: Moreover, remembering
that Moab and Ammom are the children of Lot, it is interesting to note that "ten nations"
are mentioned in Psa. 83: 6-8, and these are raised to be "confederate" against the
Lord. These foreshadow the ten kings of Rev. 17: 12.
Coming to Psa. 96: we read of millennial conditions. All the earth is called upon to
"Sing unto the Lord as new song". His glory is to be declared among the nations, and the
Gentiles are called upon to bring an offering and to come into His courts.
"Say among the heathen, The Lord reigneth . . . . . let the heavens rejoice, and let the
earth be glad, let the sea roar and the fulness thereof . . . . . FOR HE COMETH, for He
cometh to judge the earth."
This coming is further described in the next Psalm:--
"The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof.
Clouds and darkness are round about Him . . . . . a fire goeth before Him . . . . . The hills
melt like wax AT THE PRESENCE of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole
earth."
Psa. 98: ends with the words "For He cometh", &100:, and gives additional details of
that day. Psa. 110: anticipates the coming of the Lord:--
"The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thine enemies
Thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion . . . . . the Lord at
Thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath."
The closing words of Psa. 150:: "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord, Praise
ye the Lord", look forward to Rev. 5: 13 for the time of their fulfillment.
The witness of the Psalms to the second coming of the Lord shews Israel to be the
people, Zion the city, and the Lord's coming like rain and sunshine on the one hand, and
like fire and tempest on the other. It is a day of wrath as well as of blessing. The nations
of the earth are vitally connected with this coming, and its central idea is that of a coming
King. The hope of the church, as such, is not expressed in these Psalms, and however