to  the  whole,  modify  the  chronological  sequence.  Christ,  the
antitypical  David,  is  the  main  speaker  throughout.  (Compare
Acts  ii.  25 — 27,  34.)  Augustine  truly  observes,  "  At  the  time
the  Psalms  were  written,  they  were  not  of  such  use  to  those
among  whom  they  were  written  as  they  are  to  us  ;  for  they
were  written  to  prophesy  the  New  Testament  among  those
•who  lived  under  the  Old  Testament."  (Compare  i  Pet.  i.  1 1, 12,
"  Searching  what,  or  what  manner  of  time  the  Spirit  of  Christ
which  was  in  them  did  signify,  when  it  testified  beforehand
the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should  follow  :
Unto  whom  it  was  revealed,  that  not  unto  themselves,  but
unto  us,  they  did  minister  the  things  which  are  now  reported
unto  you  by  them  that  have  preached  the  gospel,"  etc.)  The
one  great  theme  ultimately  intended  is  Messiah  in  His  inner
life  as  the  GOD-Man,  and  in  His  past,  present,  and  future
relations  to  the  Church  and  to  the  World.  (Compare  Luke
xxiv.  25,  27,  44,  46.)

Such  a  spiritual  affinity,  probably,  connects  the  trilogy
of  Psalms  xxii.,  xxiil,  and  XXIV.  As  the  twenty-second
Psalm  pourtrays  the  Death  scene  of  Messiah,  so  the  twenty-
third  Psalm  His  Rest  in  Paradise^  and  the  twenty-fourth
Psalm  His  Ascension.  In  this  group,  apparently,  the  Mes-
sianic reference  is  so  prominent  as  to  eclipse  the  primary
and  immediate  reference  to  David,  the  type  and  the  writer.
