time for him to bid such a messenger welcome, and to open his heart for
the receiving his God. Hear what he saith to his own heart and others:
“_Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in._” And because the door of
men’s hearts is locked, and barred and bolted, and men are in a deep
sleep, and will not hear the knocking that is at the gate, though it be
loud, though it be a king; therefore David knocks again, “_Lift up, ye
everlasting doors_.” Why, what haste, saith the sinner? What haste? Why,
here’s the King at your gates; and that not an ordinary king neither; he
is a glorious King, that will honour you so far, if you open quickly, as
to lodge within, to take up his abode in your house, to dwell with you.
But the soul for all this doth not yet open, but stands still
questioning, as if it were an enemy rather than a friend that stood
there, and asks, “_Who is this King of glory?_” Who? He answers again,
“_It is the Lord of Hosts_;” he, that if you will not open quickly and
thankfully too, can easily pull your house down about your ears; he is
the Lord of hosts, that King who hath a mighty army always at his
command, who stand ready for their commission, and then you should know
who it is you might have had for your friend; “Lift up, therefore, your
heads, O ye gates.” Open quickly, ye that had rather have God for your
friend than for your enemy. Oh, why should not the soul of every sinner
cry out, Lord, the door is locked, and thou hast the key; I have been
trying what I can do, but the wards are so rusty that I cannot possibly
turn the key? But, Lord, throw the door off the hinges, anything in the
world so thou wilt but come in and dwell here. Come, O mighty God, break
through doors of iron, and bars of brass, and make way for thyself by
thy love and power. Come, Lord, and make thyself welcome; all that I
have is at thy service; O fit my soul to entertain thee!—_James
Janeway._
_Verse 7._—He hath left with us the earnest of the Spirit, and taken
from us the earnest of our flesh, which he hath carried into heaven as a
pledge that the whole shall follow after.—_Tertullian._
_Verse 7._—Christ is gone to heaven as a victor; leading sin, Satan,
death, hell, and all his enemies in triumph at his chariot wheels. He
has not only overcome his enemies for himself, but for all his people,
whom he will make conquerors, yea, “more than conquerors.” As he has
overcome, so shall they also overcome; and as he is gone to heaven a
victor, they shall follow in triumph. He is in heaven as a Saviour. When
he came from heaven it was in the character of a Saviour; when on earth
he obtained eternal salvation; in heaven he lives as a Saviour; when he
comes again from heaven he will come as a Saviour; and when he will
return, he will return as a Saviour. He is also gone to heaven as the
rightful heir. He is not gone to heaven as a sojourner, but as “the heir
of all things.” He is the heir of heavenly glory and happiness, and
believers are “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.”—_Henry
Pendlebury, 1626-1695._
_Verse 7._—“O clap your hands together, all ye people; sing unto God
with the voice of melody. God is gone up with a merry noise, and the
Lord with the sound of the trump.” Psalm xlvii. 1, 5. This Ark, which
has saved the world from destruction, after floating on a deluge of
blood, rests at length on the mountain. This innocent Joseph, whose
virtue had been oppressed by the synagogue, is brought out of the
dungeon to receive a crown. This invincible Samson has carried away the
gates of hell, and goes in triumph to the everlasting hills. This
victorious Joshua has passed over Jordan with the ark of the covenant,
and takes possession of the land of the living. This Sun of
righteousness, which had gone down ten degrees, returns backward to the
place which it had left. He who was “a worm” at his birth, a Lamb in his
passion, and a Lion in his resurrection, now ascends as an Eagle to
heaven, and encourages us to follow him thither. This day heaven learns
to endure man’s presence, and men to walk above the stars; the heavenly
Jerusalem receives its rightful King, the church its High Priest, the
house of God its Heritor, the whole world its Ruler. “O sing praises,
sing praises unto our God: O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.”
Psalm xlvii. 6-8. “God reigneth over the heathen, God sitteth upon his
holy seat.” “The princes of the people are joined unto” him; “he is very
highly exalted” above them.—_From “The Life of Jesus Christ in Glory,”
translated from the French of James Nouet._
_Verses 7, 8._—Christ being now arrived at heaven’s doors, those
heavenly spirits that accompanied him began to say, “_Lift up your
heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King
of glory shall come in!_” to whom some of the angels that were within,
not ignorant of his person, but admiring his majesty and glory, said
again, “_Who is the King of glory?_” and then they answered, “_The Lord
strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle_;” and thereupon those
twelve gates of the holy city, of new Jerusalem, opened of their own
accord, and Jesus Christ with all his ministering spirits entered in. O
my soul, how should this heighten thy joy and enlarge thy comforts, in
that Christ is now received up into glory? Every sight of Christ is
glorious, and in every sight thou shouldst wait on the Lord Jesus Christ
for some glorious manifestations of himself. Come, live up to the rate
of this great mystery; view Christ as entering into glory, and thou wilt
find the same sparkles of glory on thy heart. Oh! this sight is a
transforming sight: “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor. iii. 18.—_Isaac Ambrose._
_Verses 7, 8._—Ye that are thus the living temples of the Lord, and have
already entertained his sanctifying Spirit into you, do you lift up your
hearts in the use of holy ordinances through faith, in joyful desires
and assured expectation of him; yea, be you abundantly lift up by faith
in the use of holy means, who are the everlasting habitation of an
everlasting God, with a joyful and assured welcome of him; for so shall
you invite and undoubtedly entertain the high and mighty Potentate, the
Lord Christ into your souls, with the glorious manifestation and
ravishing operation of his love, benefits, and graces. And know, O all
ye faithful and obedient ones, for your courage and comfort, who, and of
what quality this glorious King, the Lord Jesus is, whom the world
despises but you honour. Why, he is the Almighty God, of power
all-sufficient to preserve and defend his people and church, that in
trust of him do love and serve him, against all the strength and power
of men and devils that do or shall malign or oppose themselves against
them, and to put them to the foil, as we his Israel in the letter have
found by experience for your instruction and corroboration that are his
people in spirit.—_George Abbot, in “Brief Notes upon the whole Book of
Psalms,” 1651._
_Verses 7-10._—Oh, what tongue of the highest archangel of heaven can
express the welcome of thee, the King of glory, into these blessed
regions of immortality? Surely the empyreal heaven never resounded with
so much joy: God ascended with jubilation, and the Lord with the sound
of the trumpet. It is not for us, weak and finite creatures, to wish to
conceive those incomprehensible, spiritual, divine gratulations, that
the glorious Trinity gave to the victorious and now glorified human
nature. Certainly, if, when he brought his only-begotten Son into the
world, he said, “Let all the angels worship him;” much more now that he
“ascends on high, and hath led captivity captive, hath he given him a
name above all names, that at the name of Jesus all knees should bow.”
And if the holy angels did so carol at his birth, in the very entrance
into that state of humiliation and infirmity with what triumph did they
receive him now returning from the perfect achievement of man’s
redemption? and if, when his type had vanished Goliath, and carried his
head into Jerusalem, the damsels came forth to meet him with dances and
timbrels, how shall we think those angelical spirits triumphed in
meeting of the great Conqueror of hell and death? How did they sing,
“_Lift up your heads, ye gates! and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in_.” Surely as he shall come, so he
went; and, “Behold, he shall come with thousands of his holy ones;
thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand thousands stood
before him;” from all whom, methinks I hear that blessed applause,
“Worthy is the Lamb that was killed, to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and praise: praise and
honour, and glory, and power, be to him that sitteth upon the throne,
and to the Lamb for evermore.” And why dost not thou, O my soul, help to
bear thy part with that happy choir of heaven? Why art not thou rapt out
of my bosom, with an ecstacy of joy, to see this human nature of ours
exalted above all the powers of heaven adored of angels, archangels,
cherubim, seraphim, and all those mighty and glorious spirits, and
sitting there crowned with infinite glory and majesty?—_Joseph Hall._
_Verses 7-10._—In the twenty-fourth Psalm, we have an account of the
actual entrance of Christ into heaven. When the King of England wishes
to enter the city of London, through the Temple Bar, the gate being
closed against him, the herald demands entrance. “Open the gate.” From
within a voice is heard, “Who is there?” The herald answers, “The King
of England!” The gate is at once opened, and the king passes, amidst the
joyful acclamations of his people. This is an ancient custom, and the
allusion is to it in this Psalm. “The Lord ascended with a shout;” he
approached the heavenly portal—the herald in his escort demanded an
entrance, “_Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in_.” The celestial
watchers within ask, “_Who is the King of glory?_” The heralds answer,
“_The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle_.” The question
and answer being repeated once more, the gates lift up their heads, and
the everlasting doors are lifted up. The Prince enters his Father’s
palace, greeted with the acclamations of heaven, all whose inhabitants
unite in one shout of Joy ineffable: “_The Lord of Hosts, he is the King
of glory!_”—_Christmas Evans._
_Verses 7-10._—If we follow our Redeemer in his ascension and session at
the right hand of God, where he is constituted Lord of all, angels,
principalities, and powers being made subject to him, and where he sits
till his enemies are made his footstool, we shall observe the tide of
celestial blessedness rise higher and higher still. The return of a
great and beloved prince, who should by only hazarding his life, have
saved his country, would fill a nation with ecstacy. Their conversation
in every company would turn upon him, and all their thoughts and joys
concentrate in him. See then the King of kings, after having by death
abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light; after
spoiling the powers of darkness, and ruining all their schemes; see him
return in triumph! There was something like triumph when he entered into
Jerusalem. All the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” And the
multitude answered, It is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth; and the very
children sung, Hosannah to the Son of David: blessed be he that cometh
in the name of the Lord; hosannah in the highest! How much greater then
must be the triumph of his entry into the heavenly Jerusalem! Would not
all the city be “moved” in this case, saying “_Who is this?_” See
thousands of angels attending him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
come forth to meet him! The entrance of the ark into the city of David
was but a shadow of this, and the responsive strains which were sung on
that occasion would on this be much more applicable.—_Andrew Fuller._
_Verses 7-10._—Why is the song repeated? Why are the everlasting gates
invited to lift up their heads a second time? We may not pretend here,
or in any place, to know all the meaning of the divine Psalms. But what
if the repetition of this verse was meant to put us in mind that our
Saviour’s ascension will be repeated also? He will not indeed die any
more; death can no more have any dominion over him; “there remaineth no
more sacrifice for sin.” Neither of course can he rise again any more.
But as he will come again at the end of the world, to judge the quick
and the dead, so after that descent he will have to ascend again. And I
say, this second ascension may be signified by the Psalmist calling on
the everlasting doors to lift up their heads a second time, and make way
for the King of glory. Now observe the answer made this second time,
“_Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty
in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory._” Before, it was
“_the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle_;” now it is
“_The Lord of Hosts_.” Christ ascending the first time, to intercede for
us at his Father’s right hand, is called “_The Lord mighty in battle_.”
But Christ, ascending the second time, after the world hath been judged,
and the good and bad separated for ever, is called “_the Lord of
hosts_.” Why this difference in his divine titles? We may reverently
take it, that it signifies to us the difference between his first and
second coming down to earth, his first and second ascension into heaven.
As in other respects his first coming was in great humility, so in this,
that he came, in all appearance, alone. The angels were indeed waiting
round him, but not visibly, not in glory. “He trode the winepress alone,
and of the people there was none with him.” He wrestled with death, hell
and Satan, alone. Alone he rose from the dead: alone, as far as man
could see, he went up to heaven. Thus he showed himself “the Lord mighty
in battle,” mighty in that single combat which he, as our champion, our
David, victoriously maintained against our great enemy. But when he
shall come down and go up the second time, he will show himself “the
Lord of hosts.” Instead of coming down alone in mysterious silence, as
in his wonderful incarnation, he will be followed by all the armies of
heaven. “The Lord my God will come, and all his saints with him.” “The
Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints.” “The Son of Man will come
in the glory of his Father, and all the holy angels with him.” “Thousand
thousands will stand around him, and ten thousand times ten thousand
will minister unto him.” Instead of the silence of that quiet chamber at
Nazareth, and of the holy Virgin’s womb, there will be the voice of the
archangel, and the trump of God accompanying him. Thus he will come down
as the Lord of hosts, and as the Lord of hosts he will ascend again to
his Father. After the judgment, he will pass again through the
everlasting doors, with a greater company than before; for he will lead
along with him, into the heavenly habitation, all those who shall have
been raised from their graves and found worthy. Hear how the awful sight
is described by one who will doubtless have a high place in that day
near the Judge. The great apostle and prophet, St. Paul, says, “The Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout; and the dead in Christ
shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.”—_John Keble, M.A._
_Verses 7-10._—
In his blessed life
I see the path, and in his death the price,
And in his great ascent the proof supreme
Of immortality. And did he rise?
Hear, O ye nations! hear it, O ye dead!
He rose! He rose! He burst the bars of death.
Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates!
And give the King of glory to come in.
Who is the King of glory? He who left
His throne of glory for the pangs of death.
Lift up your heads, ye everlasting gates!
And give the King of glory to come in.
Who is the King of glory? He who slew
The ravenous foe that gorged all human race.
The King of glory, he whose glory filled
Heaven with amazement at his love to man,
And with divine complacency beheld
Powers most illumined ’wildered in the theme.
_Edward Young._
_Verses 7-10._—
Lift up your heads, ye gates, and, O prepare,
Ye living orbs, your everlasting doors,
The King of glory comes!
What King of glory? He whose puissant might
Subdued Abaddon, and the infernal powers
Of darkness bound in adamantine chains:
Who, wrapp’d in glory, with the Father reigns,
Omnipotent, immortal, infinite!
_James Scott._
_Verse 8.—“Who is the King of glory?”_ Christ in two respects is “_the
King of glory_.” 1. For that all honour and glory belong properly to
him—his is “the kingdom, the power, and the glory” (Matt. vi. 13),
called in this regard, “The Lord of glory.” 1 Cor. ii. 8. 2. For that
Christ maketh us partakers of his glory, termed in this respect our
glorious Lord Jesus. James ii. 1. If the Lord of hosts, strong and
mighty in battle, be the King of glory, then Christ, (having conquered
all his enemies, and made them his footstool, triumphing over death, and
the devil which is the founder of death, and sin which is the sting of
death, and the grave which is the prison of death, and hell itself which
is the proper dominion of the devil and death) is doubtless in himself,
“_the King of glory_.” And for as much as he died for our sins, and is
risen again for our justification, and is ascended on high to give gifts
unto men—in this life grace, in the next glory—what is he less than a
“_King of glory_” towards us, of whom and through whom alone we that
fight his battles are delivered from the hands of all that hate us, and
so made victors (1 Cor. xv. 57), yea, “more than conquerors.” Rom. viii.
37.—_John Boys._
_Verse 8.—“The Lord strong and mighty.”_ “_Strong and mighty,_” in
subduing all adversaries; and overcoming death and the devil who had the
power of death.—_Ludolphus, quoted by Isaac Williams._
_Verse 10.—“Jehovah of hosts,”_ or, as the Hebrew is, _Jehovah
Tsebaoth_, for so the word is used by the apostles, untranslated in the
Greek, _Sabaoth_. Rom. ix. 29. It signifieth _hosts_ or _armies_
standing ready in martial order, and in battle array, and comprehendeth
all creatures in heaven and in earth, which are pressed to do the will
of God.—_Henry Ainsworth._
HINTS TO PREACHERS.
_Verse 1._—The great Proprietor, his estates and his servants, his
rights and wrongs.
_Verse 1.—“The earth is the Lord’s.”_ I. _Mention other
claimants_—idols: pope, man, devil, etc. II. _Try the suit._ III. _Carry
out the verdict._ Use our substance, preach everywhere, claim all things
for God. IV. _See how glorious the earth looks when she bears her
Master’s name._
_Verse 1 (last clause)._—All men belong to God. His sons or his
subjects, his servants or his serfs, his sheep or his goats, etc.
_Verse 2._—Divine purposes accomplished by singular means.
_Verse 2.—Founded on the seas._ Instability of terrestrial things.
_Verse 3._—The all-important question.
_Verse 4 (first clause)._—Connection between outward morality and inward
purity.
_Verse 4 (second clause)._—Men judged by their delights.
_Verse 4.—“Clean hands.”_ 1. How to get them clean. II. How to keep them
clean. III. How to defile them. IV. How to get them clean again.
_Verses 4, 5._—Character manifested and favour received.
_Verse 5 (second clause)._—The good man receiving righteousness and
needing salvation, or the evangelical meaning of apparently legal
passages.
_Verse 6._—Those who truly seek fellowship with God.
_Verse 7._—Accommodate the text to the entrance of Jesus Christ into our
hearts. I. There are obstacles, “_gates_,” “_doors_.” II. We must will
to remove them: “_lift up_.” III. Grace must enable us: “_be ye lift
up_.” IV. Our Lord will enter. V. He enters as “_King_,” and “_King of
glory_.”
_Verse 7._—The ascension and its teachings.
_Verses 7-10._—I. His title—the Lord of hosts. II. His victories,
implied in the expression, The Lord strong and mighty in battle. III.
His mediatorial title, The King of glory. IV. His authoritative entrance
into the holy place.—_John Newton’s “Messiah.”_
_Verse 8._—The mighty Hero. His pedigree, his power, his battles, his
victories.
_Verse 10._—The sovereignty and glory of God in Christ.
PSALM XXV.
TITLE.—A Psalm of David. _David is pictured in this Psalm as in a
faithful miniature. His holy trust, his many conflicts, his great
transgressions, his bitter repentance, and his deep distresses are all
here; so that we see the very heart of “the man after God’s own heart.”
It is evidently a composition of David’s later days, for he mentions the
sins of his youth, and from its painful references to the craft and
cruelty of his many foes, it will not be too speculative a theory to
refer it to the period when Absalom was heading the great rebellion
against him. This has been styled the second of the seven Penitential
Psalms. It is the mark of a true saint that his sorrows remind him of
his sins, and his sorrow for sin drives him to his God._
SUBJECT AND DIVISION.—_The twenty-two verses of this Psalm begin in the
original with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in their proper order.
It is the first instance we have of an inspired acrostic or alphabetical
song. This method may have been adopted by the writer to assist the
memory; and the Holy Spirit may have employed it to show us that the
graces of style and the arts of poetry may lawfully be used in his
service. Why should not all the wit and ingenuity of man be sanctified
to noblest ends by being laid upon the altar of God? From the
singularity of the structure of the Psalm, it is not easy to discover
any marked divisions; there are great changes of thought, but there is
no variation of subject; the moods of the writer’s mind are
twofold—prayer and meditation; and as these appear in turns, we shall
thus divide the verses. Prayer from verses 1 to 7; meditation, verses 8,
9, 10; prayer, verse 11; meditation, verses 12-15; prayer, verses 16 to
end._
EXPOSITION.
Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine
enemies triumph over me.
3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed
which transgress without cause.
4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou _art_ the God of my
salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
6 Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for
they _have been_ ever of old.
7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions:
according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O
LORD.
1. “_Unto thee, O Lord._”—See how the holy soul flies to its God like a
dove to its cote. When the storm-winds are out, the Lord’s vessels put
about and make for their well-remembered harbour of refuge. What a mercy
that the Lord will condescend to hear our cries in time of trouble,
although we may have almost forgotten him in our hours of fancied
prosperity. “_Unto thee, O Jehovah, do I lift up my soul._” It is but
mockery to uplift the hands and the eyes unless we also bring our souls
into our devotions. True prayer may be described as the soul rising from
earth to have fellowship with heaven; it is taking a journey upon
Jacob’s ladder, leaving our cares and fears at the foot, and meeting
with a covenant God at the top. Very often the soul cannot rise, she has
lost her wings, and is heavy and earth-bound; more like a burrowing mole
than a soaring eagle. At such dull seasons we must not give over prayer,
but must, by God’s assistance, exert all our power to lift up our
hearts. Let faith be the lever and grace be the arm, and the dead lump
will yet be stirred. But what a lift it has sometimes proved! With all
our tugging and straining we have been utterly defeated, until the
heavenly loadstone of our Saviour’s love has displayed its omnipotent
attractions, and then our hearts have gone up to our Beloved like
mounting flames of fire.