which prevailed in our Saviour’s day. The Jews said, “The holy land is
God’s, and the seed of Abraham are his only people;” but their great
Monarch had long before instructed them,—“_The earth is the Lord’s, and
the fulness thereof_.” The whole round world is claimed for Jehovah,
“_and they that dwell therein_” are declared to be his subjects. When we
consider the bigotry of the Jewish people at the time of Christ, and how
angry they were with our Lord for saying that many widows were in
Israel, but unto none of them was the prophet sent, save only to the
widow of Sarepta, and that there were many lepers in Israel, but none of
them was healed except Naaman the Syrian,—when we recollect, too, how
angry they were at the mention of Paul’s being sent to the Gentiles, we
are amazed that they should have remained in such blindness, and yet
have sung this Psalm, which shows so clearly that God is not the God of
the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also. What a rebuke is this to those
wiseacres who speak of the negro and other despised races as though they
were not cared for by the God of heaven! If a man be but a man the Lord
claims him, and who dares to brand him as a mere piece of merchandise!
The meanest of men is a dweller in the world, and therefore belongs to
Jehovah. Jesus Christ has made an end of the exclusiveness of
nationalities. There is neither barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but
we all are one in Christ Jesus.
Man lives upon “_the earth_,” and parcels out its soil among his mimic
kings and autocrats; but the earth is not man’s. He is but a tenant at
will, a leaseholder upon most precarious tenure, liable to instantaneous
ejectment. The great Landowner and true Proprietor holds his court above
the clouds and laughs at the title-deeds of worms of the dust. The
fee-simple is not with the lord of the manor nor the freeholder, but
with the Creator. The “_fulness_” of the earth may mean its harvests,
its wealth, its life, or its worship; in all these senses the Most High
God is Possessor of all. The earth is full of God; he made it full and
he keeps it full, notwithstanding all the demands which living creatures
make upon its stores. The sea is full, despite all the clouds which rise
from it; the air is full, notwithstanding all the lives which breathe
it; the soil is full, though millions of plants derive their nourishment
from it. Under man’s tutored hand the world is coming to a greater
fulness than ever, but it is all the Lord’s; the field and the fruit,
the earth and all earth’s wonders are Jehovah’s. We look also for a
sublimer fulness when the true ideal of a world for God shall have been
reached in millennial glories, and then most clearly the earth will be
the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof. These words are now upon London’s
Royal Exchange, they shall one day be written in letters of light across
the sky.
The term “_world_” indicates the habitable regions, wherein Jehovah is
especially to be acknowledged as Sovereign. He who rules the fish of the
sea and the fowl of the air should not be disobeyed by man, his noblest
creature. Jehovah is the Universal King, all nations are beneath his
sway: true Autocrat of all the nations, emperors and czars are but his
slaves. Men are not their own, nor may they call their lips, their
hearts, or their substance their own; they are Jehovah’s rightful
servants. This claim especially applies to us who are born from heaven.
We do not belong to the world or to Satan, but by creation and
redemption we are the peculiar portion of the Lord.
Paul uses this verse twice, to show that no food is unclean, and that
nothing is really the property of false gods. All things are God’s; no
ban is on the face of nature, nothing is common or unclean. The world is
all God’s world, and the food which is sold in the shambles is
sanctified by being my Father’s, and I need not scruple to eat thereof.
2. In the second verse we have the reason why the world belongs to God,
namely, because he has created it, which is a title beyond all dispute.
“_For he hath founded it upon the seas._” It is God who lifts up the
earth from out of the sea, so that the dry land, which otherwise might
in a moment be submerged, as in the days of Noah, is kept from the
floods. The hungry jaws of ocean would devour the dry land if a constant
fiat of Omnipotence did not protect it. “_He hath established it upon
the floods._” The world is Jehovah’s, because from generation to
generation he preserves and upholds it, having settled its foundations.
Providence and Creation are the two legal seals upon the title-deeds of
the great Owner of all things. He who built the house and bears up its
foundation has surely a first claim upon it. Let it be noted, however,
upon what insecure foundations all terrestrial things are founded.
Founded on the seas! Established on the floods! Blessed be God the
Christian has another world to look forward to, and rests his hopes upon
a more stable foundation than this poor world affords. They who trust in
worldly things build upon the sea; but we have laid our hopes, by God’s
grace, upon the Rock of Ages; we are resting upon the promise of an
immutable God, we are depending upon the constancy of a faithful
Redeemer. Oh! ye worldlings, who have built your castles of confidence,
your palaces of wealth, and your bowers of pleasure upon the seas, and
established them upon the floods; how soon will your baseless fabrics
melt, like foam upon the waters! Sand is treacherous enough, but what
shall be said of the yet more unstable seas?
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in
his holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up
his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness
from the God of his salvation.
6 This _is_ the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy
face, O Jacob. Selah.
Here we have the true Israel described. The men who shall stand as
courtiers in the palace of the living God are not distinguished by race,
but by character; they are not Jews only, nor Gentiles only, nor any one
branch of mankind peculiarly, but a people purified and made meet to
dwell in the holy hill of the Lord.
3. “_Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?_” It is uphill work for
the creature to reach the Creator. Where is the mighty climber who can
scale the towering heights? Nor is it height alone; it is glory too.
Whose eye shall see the King in his beauty and dwell in his palace? In
heaven he reigns most gloriously, who shall be permitted to enter into
his royal presence? God has made all, but he will not save all; there is
a chosen company who shall have the singular honour of dwelling with him
in his high abode. These choice spirits desire to commune with God, and
their wish shall be granted them. The solemn enquiry of the text is
repeated in another form. Who shall be able to “_stand_” or continue
there? He casteth away the wicked, who then can abide in his house? Who
is he that can gaze upon the Holy One, and can abide in the blaze of his
glory? Certainly none may venture to commune with God upon the footing
of the law, but grace can make us meet to behold the vision of the
divine presence. The question before us is one which all should ask for
themselves, and none should be at ease till they receive an answer of
peace. With careful self-examination let us enquire, “Lord, is it I?”
4. “_He that hath clean hands._” Outward, practical holiness is a very
precious mark of grace. To wash in water with Pilate is nothing, but to
wash in innocency is all-important. It is to be feared that many
professors have perverted the doctrine of justification by faith in such
a way as to treat good works with contempt; if so, they will receive
everlasting contempt at the last great day. It is vain to prate of
inward experience unless the daily life is free from impurity,
dishonesty, violence, and oppression. Those who draw near to God must
have “_clean hands_.” What monarch would have servants with filthy hands
to wait at his table? They who were ceremonially unclean could not enter
into the Lord’s house which was made with hands, much less shall the
morally defiled be allowed to enjoy spiritual fellowship with a holy
God. If our hands are now unclean, let us wash them in Jesu’s precious
blood, and so let us pray unto God, lifting up pure hands. But “_clean
hands_” would not suffice, unless they were connected with “_a pure
heart_.” True religion is heart-work. We may wash the outside of the cup
and the platter as long as we please, but if the inward parts be filthy,
we are filthy altogether in the sight of God, for our hearts are more
truly ourselves than our hands are. We may lose our hands and yet live,
but we could not lose our heart and still live; the very life of our
being lies in the inner nature, and hence the imperative need of purity
within. There must be a work of grace in the core of the heart as well
as in the palm of the hand, or our religion is a delusion. May God grant
that our inward powers may be cleansed by the sanctifying Spirit, so
that we may love holiness and abhor all sin. The pure in heart shall see
God, all others are but blind bats; stone-blindness in the eyes arises
from stone in the heart. Dirt in the heart throws dust in the eyes.
The soul must be delivered from delighting in the grovelling toys of
earth; the man who is born for heaven “_hath not lifted up his soul unto
vanity_.” All men have their joys, by which their souls are lifted up;
the worldling lifts up his soul in carnal delights, which are mere empty
vanities; but the saint loves more substantial things; like Jehoshaphat,
he is lifted up in the ways of the Lord. He who is content with the
husks will be reckoned with the swine. If we suck our consolation from
the breasts of the world, we prove ourselves to be its home-born
children. Does the world satisfy thee? Then thou hast thy reward and thy
portion in this life; make much of it, for thou shalt know no other joy.
“_Nor sworn deceitfully._” The saints are men of honour still. The
Christian man’s word is his only oath; but that is as good as twenty
oaths of other men. False speaking will shut any man out of heaven, for
a liar shall not enter into God’s house, whatever may be his professions
or doings. God will have nothing to do with liars, except to cast them
into the lake of fire. Every liar is a child of the devil, and will be
sent home to his father. A false declaration, a fraudulent statement, a
cooked account, a slander, a lie—all these may suit the assembly of the
ungodly, but are detested among true saints: how could they have
fellowship with the God of truth, if they did not hate every false way?
5. It must not be supposed that the persons who are thus described by
their inward and outward holiness are saved by the merit of their works;
but their works are the evidences by which they are known. The present
verse shows that in the saints grace reigns and grace alone. Such men
wear the holy livery of the Great King because he has of his own free
love clothed them therewith. The true saint wears the wedding garment,
but he owns that the Lord of the feast provided it for him, without
money and without price. “_He shall receive the blessing from the Lord,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation._” So that the saints
need salvation; they receive righteousness, and “_the blessing_” is a
boon from God their Saviour. They do not ascend the hill of the Lord as
givers but as receivers, and they do not wear their own merits, but a
righteousness which they have received. Holy living ensures a blessing
as its reward from the thrice Holy God, but it is itself a blessing of
the New Covenant and a delightful fruit of the Spirit. God first gives
us good works, and then rewards us for them. Grace is not obscured by
God’s demand for holiness, but is highly exalted as we see it decking
the saint with jewels, and clothing him in fair white linen; all this
sumptuous array being a free gift of mercy.
6. “_This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O
Jacob._” These are the regeneration, these are in the line of grace;
these are the legitimate seed. Yet they are only seekers; hence learn
that true seekers are very dear in God’s esteem, and are entered upon
his register. Even _seeking_ has a sanctifying influence; what a
consecrating power must lie in finding and enjoying the Lord’s face and
favour! To desire communion with God is a purifying thing. Oh to hunger
and thirst more and more after a clear vision of the face of God; this
will lead us to purge ourselves from all filthiness, and to walk with
heavenly circumspection. He who longs to see his friend when he passes
takes care to clear the mist from the window, lest by any means his
friend should go by unobserved. Really awakened souls seek the Lord
above everything, and as this is not the usual desire of mankind, they
constitute a generation by themselves; a people despised of men but
beloved of God. The expression “_O Jacob_” is a very difficult one,
unless it be indeed true that the God of Jacob here condescends to be
called Jacob, and takes upon himself the name of his chosen people.
The preceding verses correct the inordinate boastings of those Jews who
vaunted themselves as the favourites of heaven; they are told that their
God is the God of all the earth, and that he is holy, and will admit
none but holy ones into his presence. Let the mere professor as he reads
these verses listen to the voice which saith, “without holiness no man
shall see the Lord.”
“_Selah._” Lift up the harp and voice, for a nobler song is coming; a
song of our Well-beloved.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who _is_ this King of glory? The LORD is strong and mighty, the
LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift _them_ up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he _is_ the King of
glory. Selah.
7. These last verses reveal to us the great representative man, who
answered to the full character laid down, and therefore by his own right
ascended the holy hill of Zion. Our Lord Jesus Christ could ascend into
the hill of the Lord because his hands were clean and his heart was
pure, and if we by faith in him are conformed to his image we shall
enter too. We have here a picture of our Lord’s glorious ascent. We see
him rising from amidst the little group upon Olivet, and as the cloud
receives him, angels reverently escort him to the gates of heaven.
The ancient gates of the eternal temple are personified and addressed in
song by the attending cohort of rejoicing spirits.
“Lo his triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant the solemn lay,
‘Lift up your heads, ye heavenly gates;
Ye everlasting doors, give way.’”
They are called upon “_to lift up their heads_,” as though with all
their glory they were not great enough for the All glorious King. Let
all things do their utmost to honour so great a Prince; let the highest
heaven put on unusual loftiness in honour of “_the King of Glory_.” He
who, fresh from the cross and the tomb, now rides through the gates of
the New Jerusalem is higher than the heavens; great and everlasting as
they are, those gates of pearl are all unworthy of him before whom the
heavens are not pure, and who chargeth his angels with folly. “_Lift up
your heads, O ye gates._”
8. The watchers at the gate hearing the song look over the battlements
and ask, “_Who is this King of glory?_” A question full of meaning and
worthy of the meditations of eternity. Who is he in person, nature,
character, office and work? What is his pedigree? What his rank and what
his race? The answer given in a mighty wave of music is, “_The Lord
strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle_.” We know the might of
Jesus by the battles which he has fought, the victories which he has won
over sin, and death, and hell, and we clap our hands as we see him
leading captivity captive in the majesty of his strength. Oh for a heart
to sing his praises! Mighty hero, be thou crowned for ever King of kings
and Lord of lords.
9. “_Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in._” The words are repeated
with a pleasing variation. There are times of deep earnest feeling when
repetitions are not vain but full of force. Doors were often taken from
their hinges when Easterners would show welcome to a guest, and some
doors were drawn up and down like a portcullis, and may possibly have
protruded from the top; thus literally lifting up their heads. The
picture is highly poetical, and shows how wide heaven’s gate is set by
the ascension of our Lord. Blessed be God, the gates have never been
shut since. The opened gates of heaven invite the weakest believer to
enter.
Dear reader, it is possible that you are saying, “I shall never enter
into the heaven of God, for I have neither clean hands nor a pure
heart.” Look then to Christ, who has already climbed the holy hill. He
has entered as the forerunner of those who trust him. Follow in his
footsteps, and repose upon his merit. He rides triumphantly into heaven,
and you shall ride there too if you trust him. “But how can I get the
character described?” say you. The Spirit of God will give you that. He
will create in you a new heart and a right spirit. Faith in Jesus is the
work of the Holy Spirit, and has all virtues wrapped up in it. Faith
stands by the fountain filled with blood, and as she washes therein,
clean hands and a pure heart, a holy soul and a truthful tongue are
given to her.
10. The closing note is inexpressibly grand. Jehovah of hosts, Lord of
men and angels, Lord of the universe, Lord of the worlds, is the King of
glory. All true glory is concentrated upon the true God, for all other
glory is but a passing pageant, the painted pomp of an hour. The
ascended Saviour is here declared to be the Head and Crown of the
universe, the King of Glory. Our Immanuel is hymned in sublimest
strains. Jesus of Nazareth is Jehovah Sabaoth.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS.
_Whole Psalm._—It will be seen that this Psalm was written to be chanted
in responsive parts, with two choruses. To comprehend it fully, it
should be understood that Jerusalem, as the city of God, was by the Jews
regarded as a type of heaven. It so occurs in the Apocalypse, whence we
have adopted it in our poetical and devotional aspirations. The court of
the tabernacle was the scene of the Lord’s more immediate residence—the
tabernacle his palace, and the ark his throne. With this leading idea in
his mind, the most cursory reader—if there be cursory readers of the
Bible—cannot fail to be struck with the beauty and sublimity of this
composition, and its exquisite suitableness to the occasion. The chief
musician, who was probably in this case the king himself, appears to
have begun the sacred lay with a solemn and sonorous recital of these
sentences:—
“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof;
The world, and they that dwell therein,
For he hath founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the floods.”
The chorus of vocal music appears to have then taken up the song, and
sung the same words in a more tuneful and elaborate harmony; and the
instruments and the whole chorus of the people fell in with them,
raising the mighty declaration to heaven. There is much reason to think
that the people, or a large body of them, were qualified or instructed
to take their part in this great ceremonial. The historical text says,
“David, and _all the house of Israel played before the Lord_ upon all
manner of instruments,” etc. We may presume that the chorus then
divided, each singing in their turns, and both joining at the close—
“For he hath founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the floods.”
This part of the music may be supposed to have lasted until the
procession reached the foot of Zion, or came in view of it, which, from
the nature of the enclosed site, cannot be till one comes quite near to
it. Then the king must be supposed to have stepped forth, and begun
again, in a solemn and earnest tone—
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who shall stand in his holy place?”
To which the first chorus responds—
“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.”
And then the second chorus—
“He shall receive the blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
This part of the sacred song may, in like manner, be supposed to have
lasted till they reached the gate of the city, when the king began again
in this grand and exalted strain:—
“Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors,
And the King of glory shall come in!”
repeated then, in the same way as before, by the general chorus.
The persons having charge of the gates on this high occasion ask—
“Who is the King of glory?”
To which the first chorus answers—
“It is Jehovah, strong and mighty—
Jehovah mighty in battle.”
which the second chorus then repeats in like manner as before, closing
it with the grand universal chorus,
“He is the King of glory! He is the King of glory!”
We must now suppose the instruments to take up the same notes, and
continue them to the entrance to the court of the tabernacle. There the
king again begins—
“Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.”
This is followed and answered as before—all closing, the instruments
sounding, the chorus singing, the people shouting—
“He is the King of Glory!”
_John Kitto’s “Daily Bible Illustrations.”_
_Whole Psalm._—The coming of the Lord of glory, the high demands upon
his people proceeding from this, the absolute necessity to prepare
worthily for his arrival, form the subject-matter of this Psalm.—_E. W.
Hengstenberg._
_Whole Psalm._—We learn from the rabbins, that this was one of certain
Psalms which were sung in the performance of Jewish worship on each day
in the week:—
The 24th Psalm on the 1st, the Lord’s-day,
our Sunday.
48th “ 2nd ”
82nd “ 3rd ”
94th “ 4th ”
81st “ 5th ”
93rd “ 6th ”
92nd “ 7th, the Jewish
Sabbath.
This Psalm, then, appropriated to the Lord’s-day, our Sunday, was
intended to celebrate the resurrection of Messiah, and his ascension
into heaven, there to sit as a priest upon God’s throne, and from thence
to come down bringing blessings and mercies to his people.—_R. H.
Ryland._
_Whole Psalm._—Anthem of praise, performed when the heads of the gates
of Jerusalem were lifted up to receive the ark; and those of the
Israelites who were ceremoniously clean, were alone permitted to
accompany it into the court of the tabernacle. A Psalm of David. Verses
1, 2, chorus. 3. First voice. 4, 5. Second voice. 6. Chorus. 7.
Semi-chorus accompanying the ark. 8. Voice from within the gates. 8.
Chorus of priests accompanying the ark. 9. Chorus of priests and people
with the ark. 10. Voice within the gates. 10. Grand chorus.—_From “The
Psalms, with Prefatory Titles, etc., from the Port Royal Authors,” by
Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, 1825._
_Whole Psalm._—How others may think upon this point, I cannot say, nor
pretend to describe, but for my own part, I have no notion of hearing,
or of any man’s ever having seen or heard, anything so great, so solemn,
so celestial, on this side the gates of heaven.—_Patrick Delany, D.D.,
1686-1768._