“Lord of lords” (Rev. xix. 16); for the whole world and all the things
therein are his by a twofold title. First, by donation of God his
Father, having “all power given unto him in heaven and in earth” (Matt.
xxviii. 18), even whatsoever things the Father hath are his (John xvi.
15); and so consequently “made heir of all things.” Heb. i. 2. Secondly,
the earth is Christ’s and all that therein is, by right of creation, for
“_he founded it_,” saith our prophet, and that after a wonderful manner,
“_upon the seas and floods_.” ... All things then are Christ’s, in
respect of _creation_, “by whom all things were made” (John i. 3); in
respect of _sustentation_, as upholding all things by his mighty word
(Heb. i. 3); in respect of _administration_, as reaching from one end to
another, and ordering all things sweetly (Wis. viii. 1); in one word—“Of
him, and through him, and to him, are all things.” Rom. xi. 36. From
hence we may learn (1), That Christ is “the King of glory,” “Lord of
Hosts,” even Almighty God. For he that made all, is “Lord over all;” he
that is the Creator of heaven and earth is Almighty (saith our Creed);
able to do whatsoever he will, and more than he will too—more by his
absolute power, than he will by his actual—“able to raise up children
unto Abraham” out of the very stones of the street, though he doth not
actually produce such a generation. His almightiness evidently proves
him to be God, and his _founding of the world_ his almightiness; for
“The gods that have not made the heaven and earth shall perish from the
earth, and from under these heavens.” Jer. x. 11. (2). Seeing the
compass of the world and all they that dwell therein are the Lord’s, it
is plain that the church is not confined within the limits of one
region, or glued, as it were, to one seat only. The Donatists in old
time, would tie the church only to Cartenna in Africa, the Papists in
our time to Rome in Italy; but the Scriptures plainly affirm that the
golden candlesticks are removed from one place to another, and that the
kingdom of God is taken away from one nation and given unto another
country that brings forth the fruit thereof; in every region he that
feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him. Acts x.
35.—_John Boys._
_Verse 1.—“The earth is Jehovah’s.”_—The object of the beginning of the
Psalm is to show that the Jews had nothing of themselves which could
entitle them to approach nearer or more familiarly to God than the
Gentiles. As God by his providence preserves the world, the power of his
government is alike extended to all, so that he ought to be worshipped
by all, even as he also shows to all men, without exception, the
fatherly care he has about them.—_J. Calvin._
_Verse 1.—“The earth is the Lord’s.”_ It is Christ’s by creation (verse
2; John i. 1, 2), and it is his by resurrection (Matt. xxviii. 18), and
by his glorious ascension into heaven, where he is enthroned King of the
world in his human nature. This Psalm takes up the language of the first
Ascension Psalm (Psalm viii.)—_Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. in loc._
_Verse 1._—St. Chrysostom, suffering under the Empress Eudoxia, tells
his friend Cyriacus how he armed himself beforehand: εἰ μὲν βούλεται ἡ
βασίλισσα ἐξορίσαι μέ, etc. “I thought, will she banish me? ‘_The earth
is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof._’ Take away my goods? ‘_Naked
came I into the world, and naked must I return._’ Will she stone me? I
remembered Stephen. Behead me? John Baptist came into my mind,” etc.
Thus it should be with every one that intends to live and die
comfortably: they must, as we say, lay up something for a rainy day;
they must stock themselves with graces, store up promises, and furnish
themselves with experiences of God’s lovingkindness to others and
themselves too, that so, when the evil day comes, they may have much
good coming thereby.—_John Spencer._
_Verse 1.—“The earth is the Lord’s.”_ As David, in his youthful days,
was tending his flocks on Bethlehem’s fertile plains, the spirit of the
Lord descended upon him, and his senses were opened, and his
understanding enlightened, so that he could understand the songs of the
night. The heavens proclaimed the glory of God, the glittering stars
formed the general chorus, their harmonious melody resounded upon earth,
and the sweet fulness of their voices vibrated to its utmost bounds.
“_Light_ is the countenance of the Eternal,” sung the setting sun: “I am
the hem of his garment,” responded the soft and rosy twilight. The
clouds gathered themselves together and said, “We are his nocturnal
tent.” And the waters in the clouds, and the hollow voices of the
thunders, joined in the lofty chorus, “The voice of the Eternal is upon
the waters, the God of glory thundereth in the heavens, the Lord is upon
many waters.”
“He flieth upon my wings,” whispered the winds, and the gentle air
added, “I am the breath of God, the aspirations of his benign presence.”
“We hear the songs of praise,” said the parched earth; “all around is
praise; I alone am sad and silent.” Then the falling dew replied, “I
will nourish thee, so that thou shalt be refreshed and rejoice, and thy
infants shall bloom like the young rose.” “Joyfully we bloom,” sang the
refreshed meads; the full ears of corn waved as they sang, “We are the
blessing of God, the hosts of God against famine.”
“We bless thee from above,” said the gentle moon; “We, too, bless thee,”
responded the stars; and the lightsome grasshopper chirped, “Me, too, he
blesses in the pearly dew-drop.” “He quenched my thirst,” said the roe;
“And refreshed me,” continued the stag; “And grants us our food,” said
the beasts of the forest; “And clothes my lambs,” gratefully added the
sheep.
“He heard me,” croaked the raven, “when I was forsaken and alone;” “He
heard me,” said the wild goat of the rocks, “when my time came, and I
brought forth.” And the turtle-dove cooed, and the swallow and other
birds joined the song, “We have found our nests, our houses, we dwell
upon the altar of the Lord, and sleep under the shadow of his wing in
tranquillity and peace.” “And peace,” replied the night, and echo
prolonged the sound, when chanticleer awoke the dawn, and crowed with
joy, “Open the portals, set wide the gates of the world! The King of
glory approaches. Awake! Arise, ye sons of men, give praises and thanks
unto the Lord, for the King of glory approaches.”
The sun arose, and David awoke from his melodious rapture. But as long
as he lived the strains of creation’s harmony remained in his soul, and
daily he recalled them from the strings of his harp.—_From the “Legend
of the Songs of the Night,” in the Talmud, quoted in “Biblical
Antiquities.” By F. A. Cox, D.D., LL.D., 1852._
_Verse 1._—The pious mind views all things in God, and God in all
things.—_Ingram Cobbin, 1839._
_Verse 2.—“He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the
floods.”_ This _founding the land upon the seas_, and preparing it _upon
the floods_, is so wonderfully wonderful, that Almighty God asked his
servant Job, “Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?” Job
xxxviii. 6. Xerxes commanded his soldiers to fetter the waters of
Hellispontus; and so God bindeth, as it were, the floods in fetters, as
St. Basil plainly, _Ligatum est mare præcepto Creatoris quasi
compedibus_; he saith unto the sea, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no
further, there shall it stay thy proud waves.” “He gathereth the waters
of the sea together as an heap; he layeth up the depth in storehouses”
(Job xxxviii. 11; Psalm xxxiii. 7); so that without his leave not so
much as one drop can overflow the land.—_John Boys._
_Verse 2. (New translation.)—“For he hath founded it upon the seas, and
upon streams doth he make it fast.”_ The reference is no doubt to the
account of the Creation, in Genesis, the dry land having emerged from
the water, and seeming to rest upon it. (Comp. cxxxvi. 6; Prov. viii.
29.) It would, however, be quite out of place to suppose that in such
language we have the expression of any theory, whether popular or
scientific, as to the structure of the earth’s surface: Job says (xxvi.
7), “He hangeth the earth upon nothing.” Such expressions are manifestly
poetical. See Job xxxviii. 6.—_J. J. Stewart Perowne._
_Verse 2.—“Upon the seas:”_ that is, upon the great abyss of waters
which is under the earth, enclosed in great hollow places, whence the
heads of rivers do spring, and other waters bubble out upon the
earth.—_John Diodati._
_Verse 2.—“Above the floods he hath established it.”_ Both the words עַל
(Al) in the two clauses of this verse mean either “above” as we have
rendered it, and refer to Gen. i. 9, 10, denoting that Jehovah hath
called forth dry land from the midst of the seas, and established it
above the floods, and hath set a boundary to the latter never to turn
and overflow it (see Job xxxviii. 8; Psalm civ. chronologically Psalm
vii. 9); or “by, or at,” as they often denote, and refer to the same
subject of the omnipotence of God in relation to the same quoted
passages, _i.e._, that though our globe is situated at or by the
floods—is surrounded with mighty waters whose single wave could bury it
for ever, still the Lord has so established it that this never can
happen. This is a mighty reason why the earth and all its fulness and
inhabitants belong to Jehovah.—_Benjamin Weiss._
_Verse 2._—Hereby is mystically meant, that he hath set his church above
the waters of adversities, so that how high soever they arise, it is
kept still above them in safety, and so shall be for evermore; or it may
agree thus—he will take in all nations to be his in grace, because all
be his creatures; he made them so admirable an habitation at the first,
and upholds it still, showing hereby how much he regards them; therefore
he will now extend his favour further towards them, by taking them in to
be his people.—_Augustine, quoted by Mayer._
_Verse 3.—“Who shall ascend?”_ Indeed, if none must ascend but he that
is clean and pure, and without vanity and deceit, the question is
quickly answered, None shall, for there is none _so_: dust is our
matter, so not clean; defiled is our nature, so not pure; lighter, the
heaviest of us, than vanity, and deceitful upon the balance the best of
us; so no ascending so high for any of us. Yet there is One we hear of,
or might have heard of to-day, that rose and ascended up on high, was
thus qualified as the Psalmist speaks of, all clean and pure, no chaff
at all, no guile found in his mouth. 1 Pet. ii. 22. Yea, but it was but
One that was so; what’s that to all the rest? Yes, somewhat ’tis. _He_
was our _Head_, and if the Head be once risen and ascended, the members
will all follow after in their time.—_Mark Frank._
_Verse 3.—“The hill of the Lord,”_ can be no other than a hill of glory.
His holy place is no less than the very place and seat of glory. And
being such, you cannot imagine it but _hard to come by_, the very petty
glories of the world are so. This is a _hill_ of glory, hard to climb,
difficult to ascend, craggy to pass up, steep to clamber, no plain
campagnia to it, the broad easy way leads some whither else (Matt. vii.
13); the way to this is narrow (verse 14); ’tis rough and troublesome.
To be of the number of Christ’s true faithful servants is no slight
work; ’tis a fight, ’tis a race, ’tis a continual warfare; fastings and
watchings, and cold and nakedness, and hunger and thirst, bonds,
imprisonments, dangers and distresses, ignominy and reproach,
afflictions and persecutions, the world’s hatred and our friends’
neglect, all that we call hard or difficult is to be found in the way we
are to go. A man cannot leave a lust, shake off bad company, quit a
course of sin, enter upon a way of virtue, profess his religion or stand
to it, cannot ascend the spiritual _hill_, but he will meet some or
other of these to contest and strive with. But not only to ascend, but
to _stand_ there, as the word signifies; to continue at so high a pitch,
to be constant in truth and piety, that will be hard indeed, and bring
more difficulties to contest with.—_Mark Frank._
_Verses 3, 4._—The Psalm begins with a solicitous enquiry, subjoins a
satisfactory answer, and closes with a most pertinent but rapturous
apostrophe. This is the enquiry, “_Who shall ascend into the hill of the
Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?_” This is the answer, “_He
that hath clean hands, and a pure heart_;” “_he shall receive the
blessing_” of plenary remission “_from the Lord, and righteousness also
from the God of his salvation_:” even that perfect righteousness which
is not acquired by man, but bestowed by Jehovah; which is not performed
by the saint, but received by the sinner; which is the only solid basis
to support our hopes of happiness, the only valid plea for an admission
into the mansions of joy. Then follows the apostrophe: the prophet
foresees the ascension of Christ and his saints into the kingdom of
heaven. He sees his Lord marching at the head of the redeemed world, and
conducting them into regions of honour and joy. Suitably to such a view,
and in a most beautiful strain of poetry, he addresses himself to the
heavenly portals. “_Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up,
ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory_,” with all the heirs of his
grace and righteousness, shall make their triumphant entry; “_shall
enter in_,” and go out no more.—_James Hervey._
_Verses 3, 4._—It is not he who sings so well or so many Psalms, nor he
who fasts or watches so many days, nor he who divides his own among the
poor, nor he who preaches to others, nor he who lives quietly, kindly
and friendly; nor, in fine, is it he who knows all sciences and
languages, nor he who works all virtuous and all good works that ever
any man spoke or read of, but it is he alone, who is pure within and
without.—_Martin Luther._
_Verse 4.—“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart.”_ Shall I tell
you, then, who is a moral man in the sight of God? It is he that bows to
the divine law as the supreme rule of right; he that is influenced by a
governing regard to God in all his actions; he that obeys other commands
spontaneously, because he has obeyed the first and great command, “Give
me thy _heart_.” His conduct is not conformed to custom or expediency,
but to one consistent, immutable standard of duty. Take this man into a
court of justice, and call on him to testify, and he will not bear false
witness. Give him the charge of untold treasures, he will not steal.
Trust him with the dearest interests of yourself or family, you are
safe, because he has a living principle of truth and integrity in his
bosom. He is as worthy of confidence in the dark as at noonday; for he
is a moral man, not because reputation or interest demands it, not
because the eye of public observation is fixed upon him, but because the
love and fear of God have predominant ascendancy in his heart.—_Ebenezer
Porter, D.D., 1834._
_Verse 4._—Conditions that suit none but Christ. [Bellarmine.] “_He that
hath clean hands_;” “the clean of hands,” Marg.:—those hands from which
went forth virtue and healing; hands ever lifted up in prayer to God, or
in blessing to man; hands stretched forth on the cross for the cleansing
of the whole world.—_Isaac Williams, in loc._
_Verse 4.—“Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,”_ is read by
Arius Montanus, “He that hath not received his soul in vain.” Oh! how
many receive their souls in vain, making no more use of them than the
swine, of whom the philosopher observes, _cujus anima pro sale_, their
souls are only for salt to keep their bodies from stinking. Who would
not grieve to think that so choice a piece should be employed about so
vain a use!—_George Swinnock._
_Verse 4.—“Nor sworn deceitfully;”_ or inured his tongue to any other
kind of the language of hell’s rotten communication, to the dishonouring
of God, or deceiving of others. Perjury is here instanced for the rest,
as one of the most heinous. But Peraldus reckoneth up four-and-twenty
several sins of the tongue, all which every burgess of the New Jerusalem
is careful to avoid, as the devil’s drivel, no way becoming his pure
lip.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 4._—Now we come to the four conditions requisite to render such
an ascent possible. 1. Abstinence from evil doing: “_He that hath clean
hands._” 2. Abstinence from evil thought: “_and a pure heart_.” 3. Who
does that duty which he is sent into the world to do: “_That hath not
lift up his mind unto vanity_;” or, as it is in the Vulgate, “_Who hath
not received his soul in vain_.” And, 4. Remembers the vows by which he
is bound to God: “_nor sworn to deceive_.” And in the fullest sense,
there was but One in whom all these things were fulfilled; so that in
reply to the question, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?” he
might well answer, “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” John iii. 13.
“Therefore it is well written,” says St. Bernard, “that such an High
Priest became us, because he knows the difficulty of that ascent to the
celestial mountain, he knows the weakness of us that have to
ascend.”—_Lorinus and Bernard, quoted by J. M. Neale._
_Verse 4._—Heaven is not won with good words and a fair profession. The
doing Christian is the man that shall stand, when the empty boaster of
his faith shall fall. The great talkers of religion are often the least
doers. His religion is in vain whose profession brings not letters
testimonial from a holy life.—_William Gurnall._
_Verse 5.—“He shall receive the blessing;”_ as before, “Thou shalt set
him to be a blessing.” Psalm xxi. 6. His name is never without blessing.
In him shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. On the mount of
his beatitudes, on the heavenly Mount Sion, crowned as “the Son of the
blessed.” “_From the Lord_;” even the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Eph. i. 3.—_Isaac Williams._
_Verse 5.—“He shall receive ... righteousness.”_ As for our own
righteousness which we have without him, Esay telleth us, “it is a
defiled cloth;” and St. Paul, that it is but “dung.” Two very homely
comparisons, but they be the Holy Ghost’s own; yet nothing so homely as
in the original, where they be so odious, as what manner of defiled
cloth, or what kind of dung we have not dared to translate. Our own then
being no better, we are driven to seek for it elsewhere. “_He shall
receive his righteousness_,” saith the prophet; and “_the gift of
righteousness_,” saith the apostle. Phil. iii. 8, 9; Rom. v. 17. It is
then another, to be _given us_, and to be _received_ by us, which we
must seek for. And whither shall we go for it? Job alone dispatcheth
this point (chap. xv. 15; iv. 18; xxv. 5.). Not to _the heavens_ or
_stars_, they are _unclean in his sight_. Not to the _saints_, for in
them _he found folly_. Not to the _angels_, for neither in them found he
_steadfastness_. Now, if none of these will serve, we see a necessary
reason why Jehovah must be a part of this name, “the LORD our
righteousness.” Jer. xxiii. 6.—_Lancelot Andrewes._
_Verse 6.—“This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy
face.”_ Christians must be seekers. This is _the generation of seekers_.
All mankind, if ever they will come to heaven, they must be a generation
of seekers. Heaven is a generation of finders, of possessors, of
enjoyers, seekers of God. But here we are a generation of seekers. We
want somewhat that we must seek. When we are at best, we want the
accomplishment of our happiness. It is a state of seeking here, because
it is a state of want; we want something alway. But to come more
particularly to this _seeking the face of God_, or the presence of
God.... The presence of God meant here is, that presence that he shows
_in the time of need, and in his ordinances_. He shows a presence in
need and necessity, that is, a gracious presence to his children, a
gracious face. As in want of direction, he shows his presence of light
to direct them; in weakness he shows his strength; in trouble and
perplexity he will show his gracious and comfortable presence to comfort
them. In perplexity he shows his presence to set the heart at large,
answerable to the necessity. So in need God is present with his
children, to direct them, to comfort them, to strengthen them, if they
need that.—_Richard Sibbes._
_Verse 6.—“This is the generation.”_ By the demonstrative pronoun
“_this_,” the Psalmist erases from the catalogue of the servants of God
all counterfeit Israelites, who, trusting only to their circumcision and
the sacrifice of beasts, have no concern about offering themselves to
God; and yet, at the same time, they rashly thrust themselves into the
church.—_John Calvin._
_Verse 6.—“That seek thy face, O Jacob.”_ In Prov. vii. 15, and xxix.
26, we have “_seeking the face of_” in the sense of seeking the favour
of, or showing delight in. Their delight is not in Esau, who got “the
fatness of earth” (Gen. xxvii. 39) as his portion. And those writers may
be right who consider Jacob as a name for Messiah, to whom belong the
true birthright and blessing.—_Andrew A. Bonar._
_Verse 6.—“That seek thy face, O Jacob.”_ He is “the seed of Jacob;” he
is “the Holy One of Israel;” “the face of thine Anointed” is the face of
him who is both God and man; for “we shall see him as he is.”—_Isaac
Williams._
_Verse 6.—“O Jacob,”_ or, O God of Jacob. As the church is called
_Christ_ (1 Cor. xii. 12), so God is here called “_Jacob_;” such a near
union there is betwixt him and his people. Or, _this is_ Jacob. So the
true _seekers_ are fitly called, first, because Israelites indeed (John
i. 47; Rom. ix. 6); secondly, because they see God face to face, as
Jacob did at Peniel (Gen. xxxii. 24-30); thirdly, because they also, as
he, do bear away a blessing (Hos. xii. 4), even “righteousness from the
God of their salvation,” as in the verse aforegoing.—_John Trapp._
_Verse 7.—“Lift up your heads, O ye gates.”_ The gates of the temple
were indeed as described, very lofty and magnificent, in proportion to
the gigantic dimensions of that extraordinary edifice. But the phrase,
“_Lift up your heads_,” refers not so much to their loftiness, as to the
upper part being formed so as to be lifted up; while the under portion
opened in folding doors.—_Robert Jamieson, in Paxton’s “Illustrations of
Scripture.”_
_Verse 7.—“Lift up your heads, O ye gates.”_ At the castle of Banias, in
Syria, are the remains of an ancient gate which was drawn up, like a
blind, the gate fitting in grooves. This will fully explain the
term.—_John Gadsby._
_Verse 7.—“Lift up.”_ A phrase or term taken from triumphal arches or
great porticoes, set up, or beautified and adorned for the coming in of
great, victorious, and triumphant captains.—_John Diodati._
_Verse 7.—“Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory
shall come in.”_ Some interpret this of the doors of our heart,
according to that (Rev. iii. 20), “Behold, I stand at the door, and
knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to
him,” etc. In the gospel history, we find that Christ had a fourfold
entertainment among men. Some received him into house, not into heart,
as Simon the Pharisee (Luke vii. 44), who gave him no kiss nor water to
his feet; some into heart, but not into house, as the faithful centurion
(Matt. viii. 8), esteeming himself unworthy that Christ should come
under his roof; some neither into house nor heart, as the graceless
Gergesites (Matt. viii. 34); some both into house and heart, as Lazarus,
Mary, Martha. John iii. 15; Luke x. 38. Now that Christ may dwell in our
hearts by faith, and that our bodies may be temples of his Holy Spirit,
we must as our prophet exhorts here, _lift up our souls_, that is, in
the words of St. Paul (Col. iii. 2), our affections must be set on
things which are above, and not on things which are on earth: if we
desire to lift up our hearts unto Christ’s verity, we may not lift them
up unto the world’s vanity; that is, we must not fasten our love too
much upon the things of this life, but on those pleasures at God’s right
hand which are evermore; that as we have borne the image of the first
Adam, who was earthly, so we should bear the image of the second Adam,
which is heavenly. 1 Cor. xv. 49. The prophane worldling sings a _Nunc
dimittis_ unto Christ, and saith as the devils, “Ah! what have we to do
with thee, thou Jesus of Narazeth?” (Mark i. 24); and as Job reports his
words, “Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.”
Job xxi. 14. On the contrary, the religious soul, enjoying the
possession of the Saviour, chanteth a merry _Magnificat_, and a pleasant
_Te Deum_: she saith unto Christ, as Ruth unto Naomi (Ruth i. 16),
“Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee.”
Nay, death itself shall not part us, for when I am loosed out of my
body’s prison, I hope to be with Christ; as Ittai then unto David, I say
unto Jesus, “As the Lord liveth, and as my Lord the king liveth, surely
in what place the lord my king shall be, whether in death, or life, even
there also will thy servant be.” 2 Sam. xv. 21. O Lord, which art the
God of my salvation, I lift my heart to thee, desirous to seek thee,
both in the right _ubi_—where thou mayst be found, and in the right
_quando_—while thou mayst be found. Psalm xviii. 47; xxv. 1. Open my
dull ears and hard heart, that thy Son my Saviour may come in and dwell
with me. Grant me grace that I may still hear while he calleth, open
while he knocketh, and hold him also when I have him; that I may both
_ascend thine hill_, and _stand in thine holy places_; that I may not
only sojourn in thy tabernacle, but also rest and dwell upon the
mountain of thine holiness.—_John Boys._
_Verse 7.—“Everlasting doors.”_ Heaven’s gates are called
“_everlasting_,” because they shall endure for ever, or because they be
the doors unto the life which is everlasting.—_John Boys._