Psalms 24:1

gold, and the cattle on a thousand hills. They that dwell therein - All human beings. Verse 2 He hath founded it upon the seas - He not only created the vast mass, but separated the land from the waters, so that the mountains, etc., being elevated above the waters, appear to be founded on them, and notwithstanding all the tossings and ragings of the ocean, these waters cannot prevail. It is established upon the floods, and cannot be shaken. Verse 3 Who shall ascend - Who is sufficiently holy to wait in his temple? Who is fit to minister in the holy place? Verse 4 He that hath clean hands - He whose conscience is irreproachable; whose heart is without deceit and uninfluenced by unholy passions. Who hath not lifted up his soul - Who has no idolatrous inclination; whose faith is pure, and who conscientiously fulfils his promises and engagements. Verse 5 He shall receive the blessing - Perhaps alluding to Obed-edom, at whose house the ark had been lodged, and on whom God had poured out especial blessings. And righteousness - Mercy: every kind of necessary good. It is the mercy of God that crowns the obedience and fidelity of good men. For what made them good and faithful? God's mercy. What crowns their fidelity? God's mercy. Verse 6 This is the generation - This is the description of people who are such as God can approve of, and delight in. That seek thy face, O Jacob - It is most certain that אלהי Elohey, O God, has been lost out of the Hebrew text in most MSS., but it is preserved in two of Kennicott's MSS., and also in the Syriac, Vulgate, Septuagint, Ethiopic, Arabic, and Anglo-Saxon. "Who seek thy face, O God of Jacob." Selah - That is, It is confirmed; it is true. The persons who abstain from every appearance of evil, and seek the approbation of God, are those in whom God will delight. Verse 7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates - The address of those who preceded the ark, the gates being addressed instead of the keepers of the gates. Allusion is here made to the triumphal entry of a victorious general into the imperial city. In the hymn of Callimachus to Apollo, there are two lines very much like those in the text; they convey the very same sentiments. The poet represents the god coming into his temple, and calls upon the priests to open the doors, etc. Αυτοι νυν κατοχηες ανακλινεσθε πυλαως, Αυται δε κληιδες· ὁ γαρ Θεος ουκ ετι μακραν; "Fall back, ye bolts; ye pond'rous doors, give way For not far distant is the god of day." Callim. Hymn in Apol., ver. 6, 7. The whole of this hymn contains excellent sentiments even on the subject of the Psalms. Everlasting doors - There seems to be a reference here to something like our portcullis, which hangs by pullies above the gate, and can be let down at any time so as to prevent the gate from being forced. In the case to which the psalmist refers, the portcullis is let down, and the persons preceding the ark order it to be raised. When it is lifted up, and appears above the head or top of the gate, then the folding doors are addressed: "Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;" let there be no obstruction; and the mighty Conqueror, the King of glory, whose presence is with the ark, and in which the symbol of his glory appears, shall enter. Make due preparations to admit so august and glorious a Personage. Verse 8 Who is this King of glory? - This is the answer of those who are within. Who is this glorious King, for whom ye demand entrance? To which they reply: - The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle - It is Jehovah, who is come to set up his abode in his imperial city: He who has conquered his enemies, and brought salvation to Israel. To make the matter still more solemn, and give those without an opportunity of describing more particularly this glorious Personage, those within hesitate to obey the first summons: and then it is repeated, Psa 24:9. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in - To which a more particular question is proposed: - Who is He, This King of glory? To which an answer is given that admitted of no reply. The Lord of hosts - he who is coming with innumernble armies, He is this King of glory. On which, we may suppose, the portcullis was lifted up, the gates thrown open, and the whole cavalcade admitted. This verse seems to have been spoken before the ark appeared: Who is this (זה zeh) King of glory? when its coming was merely announced. In the tenth verse the form is a little altered, because the ark, the symbol of the Divine Presence, had then arrived. Who is He, (מי הוא mi hu), this King of glory? Here He is, to answer for himself. "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." Though this Psalm has all the appearance of being an unfinished piece, yet there is a vast deal of dignity and majesty in it; and the demands from without, the questions from those within, and the answers to those questions, partake of the true sublime; where nature, dignity, and simplicity, are very judiciously mingled together. The whole procedure is natural, the language dignified, and the questions and answers full of simplicity and elevated sentiments. Several, both among ancients and moderns, have thought this Psalm speaks of the resurrection of our Lord, and is thus to be understood. It is easy to apply it in this way: Jesus has conquered sin, Satan, and death, by dying. He now rises from the dead; and, as a mighty Conqueror, claims an entrance into the realms of glory, the kingdom which he has purchased by his blood; there to appear ever in the presence of God for us, to which he purposes to raise finally the innumerable hosts of his followers; for in reference to these, He is the Lord of hosts; and, in reference to his victory, He is the Lord mighty in battle. Introduction The psalmist, in great distress, calls upon God frequently, Psa 25:1-5; prays for pardon with the strong confidence of being heard, Psa 25:6-11; shows the blessedness of the righteous, Psa 25:12-14; again earnestly implores the Divine mercy; and prays for the restoration of Israel, Psa 25:15-22. This Psalm seems to refer to the case of the captives in Babylon, who complain of oppression from their enemies, and earnestly beg the help and mercy of God. It is the first of those called acrostic Psalms, i.e., Psalms each line of which begins with a several letter of the Hebrew alphabet in their common order. Of acrostic Psalms there are seven, viz., 25, 34, 37, Psa 111:1-10, Psa 112:1-10, 119, and 145. It is fashionable to be violent in encomiums on the Jews for the very faithful manner in which they have preserved the Hebrew Scriptures; but these encomiums are, in general, ill placed. Even this Psalm is a proof with what carelessness they have watched over the sacred deposit committed to their trust. The letter ו vau is wanting in the fifth verse, and ק koph in the eighteenth; the letter ר resh being twice inserted, once instead of ק koph, and a whole line added at the end, entirely out of the alphabetical series.

God's Absolute Propriety. 1 The earth is the Lord 's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Here is, I. God's absolute propriety in this part of the creation where our lot is cast, v. 1 . We are not to think that the heavens, even the heavens only, are the Lord's, and the numerous and bright inhabitants of the upper world, and that this earth, being so small and inconsiderable a part of the creation, and at such a distance from the royal palace above, is neglected, and that he claims no interest in it. No, even the earth is his, and this lower world; and, though he has prepared the throne of his glory in the heavens, yet his kingdom rules over all, and even the worms of this earth are not below his cognizance, nor from under his dominion. 1. When God gave the earth to the children of men he still reserved to himself the property, and only let it out to them as tenants, or usufructuaries: The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. The mines that are lodged in the bowels of it, even the richest, the fruits it produces, all the beasts of the forest and the cattle upon a thousand hills, our lands and houses, and all the improvements that are made of this earth by the skill and industry of man, are all his. These indeed, in the kingdom of grace, are justly looked upon as emptiness; for they are vanity of vanities, nothing to a soul; but, in the kingdom of providence, they are fulness. The earth is full of God's riches, so is the great and wide sea also. All the parts and regions of the earth are the Lord's, all under his eye, all in his hand: so that, wherever a child of God goes, he may comfort himself with this, that he does not go off his Father's ground. That which falls to our share of the earth and its productions is but lent to us; it is the Lord's; what is our own against all the world is not so against his claims. That which is most remote from us, as that which passes through the paths of the sea, or is hidden in the bottom of it, is the Lord's and he knows where to find it. 2. The habitable part of this earth ( Prov. viii. 31 ) is his in a special manner— the world and those that dwell therein. We ourselves are not our own, our bodies, our souls, are not. All souls are mine, says God; for he is the former of our bodies and the Father of our spirits. Our tongues are not our own; they are to be at his service. Even those of the children of men that know him not, nor own their relation to him, are his. Now this comes in here to show that, though God is graciously pleased to accept the devotions and services of his peculiar chosen people ( v. 3-5 ), it is not because he needs them, or can be benefited by them, for the earth is his and all in it, Exod. xix. 5 ; Ps. l. 12 . It is likewise to be applied to the dominion Christ has, as Mediator, over the utmost parts of the earth, which are given him for his possession: the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand, power over all flesh. The apostle quotes this scripture twice together in his discourse about things offered to idols, 1 Cor. x. 26 , 28 . "If it be sold in the shambles, eat it, and ask no questions; for the earth is the Lord's; it is God's good creature, and you have a right to it. But, if one tell you it was offered to an idol, forbear, for the earth is the Lord's, and there is enough besides." This is a good reason why we should be content with our allotment in this world, and not envy others theirs; the earth is the Lord's, and may he not do what he will with his own, and give to some more of it, to others less, as it pleases him? II. The ground of this propriety. The earth is his by an indisputable title, for he hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods, v. 2 . It is his; for, 1. He made it, formed it, founded it, and fitted it for the use of man. The matter is his, for he made it out of nothing; the form is his, for he made it according to the eternal counsels and ideas of his own mind. He made it himself, he made it for himself; so that he is sole, entire, and absolute owner, and none can let us a title to any part, but by, from, and under him; see Ps. lxxxix. 11, 12 . 2. He made it so as no one else could. It is the creature of omnipotence, for it is founded upon the seas, upon the floods, a weak and unstable foundation (one would think) to build the earth upon, and yet, if almighty power please, it shall serve to bear the weight of this earth. The waters which at first covered the earth, and rendered it unfit to be a habitation for man, were ordered under it, that the dry land might appear, and so they are as a foundation to it; see Ps. civ. 8, 9 . 3. He continues it, he has established it, fixed it, so that, though one generation passes and another comes, the earth abides, Eccl. i. 4 . And his providence is a continued creation, Ps. cxix. 90 . The founding of the earth upon the floods should remind us how slippery and uncertain all earthly things are; their foundation is not only sand, but water; it is therefore our folly to build upon them.