The parable of the Resurrection in David's psalm.
The apostle quotes one of the few utterances in the Old Testament which yield with any distinctness the hope of a life after the grave. But, speaking generally, the psalms, as the choicest expressions of the spiritual life of Israel, are "dark sayings" and "parables" of higher relations than those to which they immediately refer. In this psalm we find—
I. THE IMMEDIATE SENSE OF THE PRESENCE OF THE LIVING GOD. And this is a presence which, once enjoyed, carries with it the promise of its enjoyment forever. God can never be less to me than he is at the moment of my highest spiritual joy in the possession of him. This sense of his presence gives perfect security.
II. THE EFFECT IS GLADNESS AND TRIUMPHANT HOPE. The soul will not be left in the gloom of Hades, to live on a life but the cold and shadowy reflection of the Bright life on earth. This cannot be believed and God's goodness be believed. This cannot be believed and the filial feeling retained. At last all arguments for the immortality of the soul fall back upon this deepest basis, the ineradicable conviction of the goodness of God.
III. THE WHOLE IS AN ARGUMENT FROM THE PAST TO THE FUTURE. "Thou madest known …the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of gladness." And the argument may be applied in a wider sense than that present to the mind of the psalmist. For he was a prophet; and all prophecy is a germ which unfolds into endless meanings which history brings to light. The greatest and most signal fulfillment of the prophecy was in the resurrection of Christ.
IV. THE FACTS, TOGETHER WITH THE PROPHECY, COMBINE IN ONE ARGUMENT FOR THE RESURRECTION. The facts were, that the risen Jesus had been seen by many. That now, after an interval from his departure, there had been a remarkable effusion of spiritual power. With these must be connected the fact that he had spoken of the coming of the Holy Ghost, the "promise of the Father." Putting the whole of the facts together, the conclusion was: Jesus, the despised and crucified, had been exalted to sovereign dignity, and in reference to Israel especially to the Messiahship; to be anointed Prophet, Priest, and King over his people for ever. The coincidence of extreme opposites is to be observed throughout the scheme of the gospel. It is illustrated, above all, in the humility and glorification, the weakness and power, the human contempt, and the Divine honor associated with the person of Jesus.—J.