240  MESSIANIC  PSALMS.
their  enthusiastic  patriotism,  no  less  than  in  their  well-
known  superstition,  (if  we  must  deny  them  the  influence
of  any  higher  religious  feeling,)  which  would  have  made
them  indignantly  recoil  from  the  mere  attempt  to  pollute
their  sacred  melodies  by  such  an  incongruous  addition.
But,  if  neither  to  a  heathen  nor  to  a  Jewish  monarch
could  this  song  "concerning  the  king"  be  addressed,  what
remains  but  that  we  should  recognize  in  it  a  prophetical
announcement  of  the  glory  and  excellence  of  Him  who  is
emphatically  the  King,  and  of  the  beauty  and  honour  of
his  bride  the  church  ?  4.  With  this  view  of  the  Psalm  all
its  statements  fnlly  accord.  The  subject  of  the  former
part  of  it — the  king — is  addressed  as  possessing  un-
paralleled beauty  of  person  and  gracefulness  of  speech
(ver.  2), — as  an  invincible  warrior  in  the  cause  of  truth,
meekness,  and  righteousness  (ver.  4), — and  as  God,  whose
throne  is  eternal,  whose  sceptre  is  right,  and  whose  glory
and  dignity  are  superior  to  that  of  all  who  are  called  kings.
