I will declare the decree
These are the words of Jehovah's Anointed and King, exercising
his kingly office, according to the decree and commandment of the
Father: for these words refer not to the following, concerning
the generation of the Son, which does not depend on the decree
and arbitrary will of God, but is from his nature; but these
words relate to what go before. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin,
and Oriental versions, place this clause at the end of ( Psalms 2:6 ) ; some
render it, "declaring his commandment", or "the commandment of
the Lord"; the laws that he would have observed, both by him and
by the subjects of his kingdom. The Syriac and Arabic versions,
"that he might declare the commandment of the Lord"; as if this
was the end of his being appointed King. The word (qx) is differently rendered; by many,
"the decree", the purpose of God concerning Christ as Mediator,
and the salvation of his people by him; and who so fit to declare
this as he who lay in the bosom of the Father, and was privy to
all his secret thoughts and designs, and in when the eternal
purpose was purposed. ( John 1:18 ) ( Ephesians
3:11 ) . The Chaldee paraphrase renders it by (amyq) , "the covenant", the
everlasting covenant of grace; and who so proper to declare this
as he with whom the covenant was made, and who is the covenant
itself, in whom all the blessings and promises of it are, and the
messenger of it. ( Malachi 3:1 ) . It may
not be unfitly applied to the Gospel, which is the sum and
substance of both the decree and covenant of God; it is what was
ordained before the world for our glory. This Christ was
appointed to preach, and did declare it in the great
congregation; the same with the counsel of God, ( Acts 20:27 ) . The words
will bear to be rendered, "I will declare" (px la) "to the command" F8; or
according to the order and rule prescribed by Jehovah, without
adding to it or taking from it: agreeably to which he executed
his office as King, and Prophet also. The doctrine was not his
own, but his Father's he preached; he spake not of himself, but
as he taught and enjoined him; the Father gave him commandment
what he should say and speak, ( John 12:49 ) ; and he
kept close to it, as he here says he would: and he ruled in his
name, and by his authority, according to the law of his office;
and which might be depended upon from the dignity of his person,
which qualified him both for his kingly and prophetic offices,
expressed in the following words:
the Lord hath said unto me, thou [art] my Son;
not by creation, as angels and men; nor by adoption, as saints;
nor by office, as civil magistrates; nor on account of his
incarnation or resurrection; nor because of the great love of God
unto him; but in such a way of filiation as cannot be said of any
creature nor of any other, ( Hebrews 1:5 ) ; He is
the true, proper, natural, and eternal Son of God, and as such
declared, owned, and acknowledged by Jehovah the Father, as in
these words; the foundation of which relation lies in what
follows:
this day have I begotten thee;
which act of begetting refers not to the nature, nor to the
office, but the person of Christ; not to his nature, not to his
divine nature, which is common with the Father and Spirit;
wherefore if his was begotten, theirs must be also: much less to
his human nature, in which he is never said to be begotten, but
always to be made, and with respect to which he is without
father: nor to his office as Mediator, in which he is not a Son,
but a servant; besides, he was a Son previous to his being
Prophet, Priest, and King; and his office is not the foundation
of his sonship, but his sonship is the foundation of his office;
or by which that is supported, and which fits him for the
performance of it: but it has respect to his person; for, as in
human generation, person begets person, and like begets like, so
in divine generation; but care must be taken to remove all
imperfection from it, such as divisibility and multiplication of
essence, priority and posteriority, dependence, and the like: nor
can the "modus" or manner of it be conceived or explained by us.
The date of it, "today", designs eternity, as in ( Isaiah 43:13
) , which is one continued day, an everlasting now. And this may
be applied to any time and case in which Christ is declared to be
the Son of God; as at his incarnation, his baptism, and
transfiguration upon the mount, and his resurrection from the
dead, as it is in ( Acts 13:33 ) ; because
then he was declared to be the Son of God with power, ( Romans 1:4 ) ; and to
his ascension into heaven, where he was made Lord and Christ, and
his divine sonship more manifestly appeared; which seems to be
the time and case more especially referred to here, if it be
compared with ( Hebrews
1:3-5 ) .