DICKSON, DAVID. This Scottish expositor was born in 1583. Ordained in 16r 8, he continued minister of Irvine for twenty-three years. He preached the Gospel with remarkable power, so that many from distant parts of the country came to reside in Irvine, merely to enjoy the benefit of his ministry. He became professor of divinity in the University of Glasgow in 1641, and about 1650 was translated to the same chair in the University of Edinburgh. He died in 1662.
Besides other works of a theological character, Dickson is the author of A short explanation of the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, Aberdeen, 1635, 12M0 ; A brief explanation of the Psalms, London, 1645-1654, 3 vols. 1211(10 ; Expositio Analytica Epistolarum, Glasg., 4to ; A brief exposition of the Gospel according to Matthew, Lond., 1651, r 2mo ; and An Exposition of all the Epistles, Eond., 1659, fol. According to a note of Dr. Gillies in his Historical Collections, i. 296, he was perhaps ` the principal mover of that concert among several worthy ministers of the Scots church for publishing short, plain, and practical expositions upon the whole Bible.' Mr. Dickson executed his portion of the task very creditably. His exposition of the psalms is, on the whole, the best of his productions—clear, sensible, abound ing in practical reflections, and bearing closely at times on Christian experience. His work on
the Epistle to the Hebrews was his earliest com mentary on Scripture, and the observations on successive passages into which it is divided, are occasionally vague and irrelevant, while the sum mary prefixed to each chapter scarcely traces with precision the steps of the argument contained in it. But his expository works on the whole are valu able. His strong grasp of the system of divine truth enables him to thread his way among textual difficulties with considerable success. The savour of evangelical feeling pervades all he writes. We can understand as we read his works, how per plexed and anxious consciences could turn to him for relief and guidance, while he laboured as a pas tor in Irvine. Nor does Mr. Orme speak too strongly when he affirms that `none of the puri tanical expositors of the period during which Mr. Dickson lived is superior to him, and in distinctness of method and language, and point and conden sation of sentiment, he is equal to any of them.' His commentary on the Psalms was republished in and again in 1834.—W. H. G.