Psalm 24:7 Kommentar

This psalm is concerning the kingdom of Jesus Christ, I. His providential kingdom, by which he rules the world (Psa 24:1, Psa 24:2). II. The kingdom of his grace, by which he rules in his church. 1. Concerning the subjects of that kingdom; their character (Psa 24:4, Psa 24:6), their charter (Psa 24:5). 2. Concerning the King of that kingdom; and a summons to all to give him admission (Psa 24:7-10). It is supposed that the psalm was penned upon occasion of David's bringing up the ark to the place prepared for it, and that the intention of it was to lead the people above the pomp of external ceremonies to a holy life and faith in Christ, of whom the ark was a type. A psalm of David.

What is spoken once is spoken a second time in these verses; such repetitions are usual in songs, and have much beauty in them. Here is, 1. Entrance once and again demanded for the King of glory; the doors and gates are to be thrown open, thrown wide open, to give him admission, for behold he stands at the door and knocks, ready to come in. 2. Enquiry once and again made concerning this mighty prince, in whose name entrance is demanded: Who is this King of glory? As, when any knock at our door, it is common to ask, Who is there? 3. Satisfaction once and again given concerning the royal person that makes the demand: It is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle, the Lord of hosts, Psa 24:8, Psa 24:10. Now, I. This splendid entry here described it is probable refers to the solemn bringing in of the ark into the tent David pitched for it or the temple Solomon built for it; for, when David prepared materials for the building of it, it was proper for him to prepare a psalm for the dedication of it. The porters are called upon to open the doors, and they are called everlasting doors, because much more durable than the door of the tabernacle, which was but a curtain. They are taught to ask, Who is this King of glory? And those that bore the ark are taught to answer in the language before us, and very fitly, because the ark was a symbol or token of God's presence, Jos 3:11. Or it may be taken as a poetical figure designed to represent the subject more affectingly. God, in his word and ordinances, is thus to be welcomed by us, 1. With great readiness: the doors and gates must be thrown open to him. Let the word of the Lord come into the innermost and uppermost place in our souls; and, if we had 600 necks, we should bow them all to the authority of it. 2. With all reverence, remembering how great a God he is with whom we have to do, in all our approaches to him. II. Doubtless it points at Christ, of whom the ark, with the mercy-seat, was a type. 1. We may apply it to the ascension of Christ into heaven and the welcome given to him there. When he had finished his work on earth he ascended in the clouds of heaven, Dan 7:13, Dan 7:14. The gates of heaven must then be opened to him, those doors that may be truly called everlasting, which had been shut against us, to keep the way of the tree of life, Gen 3:24. Our Redeemer found them shut, but, having by his blood made atonement for sin and gained a title to enter into the holy place (Heb 9:12), as one having authority, he demanded entrance, not for himself only, but for us; for, as the forerunner, he has for us entered and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. The keys not only of hell and death, but of heaven and life, must be put into his hand. His approach being very magnificent, the angels are brought in asking, Who is this King of glory? For angels keep the gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev 21:12. When the first-begotten was brought into the upper world the angels were to worship him (Heb 1:6); and accordingly, they here ask with wonder, "Who is he? - this that cometh with dyed garments from Bozrah? (Isa 63:1-3), for he appears in that world as a Lamb that had been slain." It is answered that he is strong and mighty, mighty in battle, to save his people and subdue his and their enemies. 2. We may apply it to Christ's entrance into the souls of men by his word and Spirit, that they may be his temples. Christ's presence in them is like that of the ark in the temple; it sanctifies them. Behold, he stands at the door and knocks, Rev 3:20. It is required that the gates and doors of the heart be opened to him, not only as admission is given to a guest, but as possession is delivered to the rightful owner, after the title has been contested. This is the gospel call and demand, that we let Jesus Christ, the King of glory, come into our souls, and welcome him with hosannas, Blessed is he that cometh. That we may do this aright we are concerned to ask, Who is this King of glory? - to acquaint ourselves with him, whom we are to believe in, and to love above all. And the answer is ready: He is Jehovah, and will be Jehovah our righteousness, an all-sufficient Saviour to us, if we give him entrance and entertainment. He is strong and mighty, and the Lord of hosts; and therefore it is at our peril if we deny him entrance; for he is able to avenge the affront; he can force his way, and can break those in pieces with his iron rod that will not submit to his golden sceptre. In singing this let our hearts cheerfully answer to this call, as it is in the first words of the next psalm, Unto thee, O Lord! do I lift up my soul.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 24 A Psalm of David. This psalm is thought by some of the Jewish writers (d) to have been wrote when the ark was brought from the house of Obededom to the city of David, and put into the place prepared for it by him, Sa2 6:17; to which reference is supposed to be had in Psa 24:7; or after that David had built an altar in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and had knowledge of the hill Moriah, as the place where the sanctuary was to be built; called the hill of the Lord, and his holy place, Psa 24:3; however, it was certainly written by David, under the inspiration of the spirit of God; and is a prophecy of Christ, and of the Gospel church, and describes the members of it. (d) Aben Ezra & Kimchi.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates,.... By which the gates of hell are not meant; nor are the words to be understood of the descent of Christ thither, to fetch the souls of Old Testament saints from thence; who the Papists dream were detained in an apartment there, as in a prison, called by them "limbus patrum"; seeing these, immediately upon their separation from the body, were in a state of happiness and glory, as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus shows; and since Christ, at his death, went, in his human soul, immediately into heaven, or paradise, where the penitent thief was that day with him: nor do the words design the gates of heaven, and Christ's ascension thither, shut by the sins of men, and opened by the blood of Christ, by which he entered himself, and has made way for all his people; though this sense is much preferable to the former. The Jewish interpreters understand the phrase of the gates of the temple, which David prophetically speaks of as to be opened, when it should be built and dedicated by Solomon, and when the ark, the symbol of Jehovah's presence, was brought into it, and the glory of the Lord filled the house; so the Targum interprets this first clause of "the gates of the house of the sanctuary"; though the next of "the gates of the garden of Eden"; but the words are better interpreted, in a mystical and spiritual sense, of the church of God, the temple of the living God, which is said to have gates, Isa 60:11; and is itself called a door, Sol 8:9; where the open door of the Gospel is set, or an opportunity of preaching the Gospel given, and a door of utterance to the ministers of the word, and the doors of men's hearts are opened to attend to it; and indeed the hearts of particular believers, individual members of the church, may be intended, or at least included in the sense of the passage; see Rev 3:20; and it may be observed, that the new Jerusalem is said to have gates of pearl, through which Christ, when he makes his glorious appearance, will enter in his own glory, and in his father's, and in the glory of the holy angels; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; or "the doors of the world" (n); which some understand of the kingdoms and nations of the world, and of the kings and princes thereof, as called upon to open and make way for, and receive the Gospel of Christ into them, and to support and retain it; but it is best to interpret it of the church and its members, whose continuance, perpetuity, and duration, are here intimated, by being called "everlasting doors"; which may be said to be "lifted up", as it may respect churches, when those things are removed which hinder communion with Christ; as their sins, which separate between them and their God, and the wall of unbelief, behind which Christ stands; and sleepiness, drowsiness, coldness, lukewarmness, and indifference; see Isa 59:2; and when public worship is closely and strictly attended on, as the ministration of the word and ordinances, prayer to God, which is the lifting up the heart with the hands to God, and singing his praise: and as it may respect particular believers; these doors and gates may be said to be lifted up, when their hearts are enlarged with the love of God; the desires and affections of their souls are drawn out towards the Lord, and the graces of the Spirit are in a lively exercise on him; and when they lift up their heads with joy in a view of Christ coming to them. This must not be understood as if they could do all this of themselves, any more than gates and doors can be thought to open and lift up themselves; and the King of glory shall come in; the Lord Jesus Christ, called the Lord of glory, Co1 2:8; who is glorious in himself, in the perfections of his divine nature, as the Son of God; being the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person; and in his office as Mediator, being full of grace and truth, and having a glory given him before the world was; and which became manifest upon his resurrection, ascension to heaven, and session at God's right hand; and particularly he is glorious as a King, being made higher than the kings of the earth, and crowned with glory and honour; and so the Targum renders it , "the glorious King"; and he is moreover the author and giver, the sum and substance, of the glory and happiness of the saints: and now, as the inhabitants of Zion, and members of the church, are described in the preceding verses, an account is given of the King of Zion in this and the following; who may be said to "come into" his churches, when he grants his gracious presence, shows himself through the lattices, and in the galleries of ordinances, in his beauty and glory; takes his walks there, and his goings are seen, even in the sanctuary; and where he dwells as King in his palace, and as a Son in his own house; and he may be said to come into the hearts of particular believers, when he manifests himself, his love and grace, unto them, and grants them such communion as is expressed by supping with them, and by dwelling in their hearts by faith, (n) "ostia mundi", Gejerus, Schmidt.

Solomon was not the Lord of hosts. But, when our Christ arose from the dead and ascended into heaven, the heavenly princes chosen by God were ordered to open the gates of heaven that the King of glory might enter and sit at the right hand of the Father until he makes his enemies his footstool. Now, when these heavenly princes saw that he was in appearance without beauty, honor or glory, and not recognizing him, they asked, “Who is this King of glory?” And the Holy Spirit, either in his own name or in the Father’s, answered, “The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory.” But I am sure that everyone will admit that none of the gatekeepers of the temple at Jerusalem ever said of Solomon (though he was ever so glorious a king) or of the ark of testimony, “Who is this King of glory?”

God spared not his own Son for you, letting him become a curse for us; for “cursed is he who hangs on a tree”; … that he might redeem us from our sins. The sun was darkened on the day of our redemption; hell lost its right to us, and we were enrolled for heaven. The eternal gates were lifted up that the King of glory, the Lord of might, might enter in, and humankind, born of the earth, destined for hell, was purchased for heaven.

He comes to the heavenly gates: angels accompany Him: and the gates of heaven were closed. For He has not yet ascended into heaven. Now first does He appear to the powers of heaven as flesh ascending. Therefore to these powers it is said by the angels, who are the couriers of the Saviour and Lord: "Lift up your gates, ye princes; and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in.

It was not the Word himself that needed an opening of the gates, being Lord of all; nor were any of his works closed to their maker; but we it was that needed it, whom he carried up by his own body. For as he offered it to death on behalf of all, so by it he once more made ready the way up into the heavens.

The Word, being the image of the Father and immortal, took the form of a servant, and as man he underwent death for us in his flesh, that thereby he might offer himself for us through death to the Father. Likewise also, as man, he is said because of us and for us to be highly exalted, that as by his death we all died in Christ, so again in Christ himself we might be highly exalted, being raised from the dead and ascending into heaven, “where the forerunner Jesus has entered for us, not into the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” But if no Christ has entered into heaven itself for us, even though he was previously and always Lord and Framer of the heavens, then it is for us, therefore, that the present exaltation is written. And as he himself, who sanctifies all, also says that he sanctifies himself to the Father for our sakes, not that the Word may become holy but that he himself may in himself sanctify all of us, in like manner we must take the present phrase, “He highly exalted him”—not that he himself needed to be exalted, for he is already the highest, but that he may become righteousness for us, and that we may be exalted in him and may enter the gates of heaven, which he has also opened for us, the forerunners saying, “Lift up your gates, O you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.” For here also the gates were not shut on him who is the Lord and Maker of all, but because of us this too is written, to whom the door of paradise was shut. And therefore in a human relation, because of the flesh that he bore, it is said of him, “Lift up your gates,” and “shall come in,” as if a man were entering; but in a divine relation on the other hand it is said of him, since “the Word was God,” that he is the “Lord” and the “King of glory.” Such our exaltation the Spirit foreannounced in the eighty-ninth psalm, saying, “And in your righteousness shall they be exalted, for you are the glory of their strength.” And if the Son is Righteousness, then he is not exalted because he himself was in need, but it is we who are exalted in that Righteousness, which is he.

If he ascend up into heaven, ascend with him. Be one of those angels who escort him or one of those who receive him. Bid the gates be lifted up, or be made higher, that they may receive him, exalted after his passion. Answer to those who are in doubt because he bears up with him his body and the tokens of his passion, which he did not have when he came down, and who therefore, inquire, “Who is the King of glory?” that it is the Lord strong and mighty, as in all things that he has done from time to time and does, so now in his battle and triumph for the sake of humankind. And give to the those who doubt the question the twofold answer. And if they marvel and say as in Isaiah’s drama who is this that comes from Edom and from the things of earth? Or how are the garments red of him that is without blood or body, as of one that treads in the full winepress? Set forth the beauty of the array of the body that suffered, adorned by the passion and made splendid by the Godhead, than which nothing can be more lovely or more beautiful.

As our Lord ascends to the Father in triumph, he issues commands to the angels saying, “Open to me the gates of justice; I will enter them and give thanks to the Lord.” These are the gates of which in the twenty-fourth psalm the angels were speaking while they were preparing for the entrance of the Lord: “Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the King of glory may come in!” Aptly are the gates commanded to lift up high and raise aloft their portals, since, in accordance with the dispensation and mystery of the flesh and in conformity with the victory of the cross, he reenters heaven mightier than he had come down on earth. “This gate is the Lord’s; the just shall enter it.” Through this gate, Peter has entered, and Paul, and all the apostles and martyrs, and today the saints continue to go in; through this gate, the thief was the first to pass with the Lord. Have faith, therefore, and be hopeful for your own entrance.

"Take away your gates, you princes" [Psalm 24:7]. All you, that seek rule among men, remove, that they hinder not, the entrances which you have made, of desire and fear. "And be lifted up, you everlasting gates." And be lifted up, you entrances of eternal life, of renunciation of the world, and conversion to God. "And the King of glory shall come in." And the King, in whom we may glory without pride, shall come in: who having overcome the gates of death, and having opened for Himself the heavenly places, fulfilled that which He said, "Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." [John 16:33]

Let no one wonder, I ask you, on hearing of the ignorance of the invisible powers: they have neither advance knowledge nor complete knowledge—only the divine nature has that knowledge. Angels and archangels, however, and the other companies of the invisible powers know as much as they are taught, for which reason the divine apostle also, speaking of them, said, “So that to the principalities and authorities in the heavenly places the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known through the church.” Now, if they came to learn the divine wisdom more precisely through the life of the church, there is nothing out of order for the powers on high to be ignorant even of the mystery of Christ’s ascension when they see the human nature and do not perceive the divinity concealed in it.… No human being had ever passed through [the eternal gates]; but when God the Word became human and took up our first fruits, he both led the way up to heaven and took his place at the right hand of majesty in the highest places, above every principality, authority, dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.

Learn what our temple is, if you would know; It is one that no artisan has built, A structure not of riven fir or pine, Nor reared with blocks of quarried marble fair. Its massive weight no columns high support Beneath the arches of a gilded vault. By God’s Word it was formed, not by his voice, But by the everlasting Word, the Word made flesh. This temple is eternal, without end, This you attacked with scourge and cross and gall. This temple was destroyed by bitter pains. Its form was fragile from the Mother’s womb, But when brief death the Mother’s part dissolved, The Father’s might restored it in three days. You have beheld my saving temple rise On high, surrounded by an angel throng. The everlasting gates uphold its roof; Through lofty towers the glorious stairs arise, And at the top appears a shining path.

Now it is said to that one: Open the gates for your leaders. Cast away the example of Adam who is your leader according to the flesh, and lift up the eternal doors holding the powerful and mighty king of glory, powerful in battle, overcoming faults and their offsprings, worthless of spirit. Therefore, lift up the gates for your leaders. “Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man.”

Gabriel, who is called the strength of God, is also sent to Mary. For he came to announce him who deigned to appear humble to conquer the powers of the air. Of whom it is said through the Psalmist: "Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." And again: "The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory." Therefore, he who was the Lord of hosts and mighty in battle, coming to wage war against the powers of the air, was to be announced through the strength of God.

"Lift up." This is the third part of the Psalm: in which he foretells how it was to come about that God would be worshipped in the whole world, as the literal sense explains. God is said to dwell in man through faith: Eph. 3: "That Christ may dwell through faith in your hearts": and through charity: 1 Jn. 4: "He who abides in charity abides in God, and God in him." Likewise, he is said to enter who begins to be where he was not before. God therefore enters into us when we begin to have faith in him. Once the whole world did not have faith in God: and this happened because of a twofold impediment: namely, because of the decrees of rulers, and because of ancient custom. The first happened because individual cities proposed to themselves laws of idolatry, and established particular gods: and this worship was, as it were, deeply rooted; the demons also fostered this. Likewise the angels were worshipped, whom they called the host of heaven: and these impediments were the gates or doors that, being shut, prevent entry into the house. He does three things. First he foretells what is to come. Second, he poses a question. Third, he gives the answer. He says therefore: "You rulers," that is, O evil men, or O demons, "lift up your gates," that is, raise up the impediments which you place so that men may not approach God. Jerome has "raise up"; as if to say, remove them, etc. Ps. 9: "You exalt me from the gates of death, that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion." "And you, eternal gates," that is, the eternal and ancient impediment: "be lifted up," that is, be removed: Ps. 75: "You shine wonderfully from the everlasting mountains"; as if to say: you ancient impediments, remove yourselves from the hearts of men: and then he who is the "king of glory shall enter" into the world through faith and charity and worship. Or it can be said that there are twofold gates: some that are evil, which close the way to life; others that are good, by which the way of life is opened. Ps. 117: "Open the ways of life," that is, of justice, etc. The evil gates are sins; the good ones are virtues. He says therefore: O rulers, lift up your gates, that is, open them, and remove sins: and acquire the "eternal" gates, that is, the eternal gifts from the eternal God: "be lifted up," in your hearts, and the king of glory shall enter. He speaks prophetically, because from the beginning not all believed at once, but they doubted; as if to say: whom do we want to believe, and whom do we want to obey? The God of the Jews? Ex. 5: "I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go." And therefore he shows this when he says, "Who is this king of glory?" And he answers: "The Lord, strong and mighty." A king appears glorious for three reasons. Because first he acquires great things by strength; hence he says "strong": Prov. 12: "The hand of the valiant shall rule": Job 9: "If strength is sought, he is most mighty." Second, because of his power; and he shows this when he says "the Lord, mighty," because he is most powerful to rule: Job 36: "God does not cast away the mighty": Dan. 7: "His power is an everlasting power," etc. Third, because he is a good warrior; hence he says "the Lord, mighty in battle," by which he conquered death and the Devil in all things: Rev. 5: "The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered." Or "strong" in his own nature, "mighty" in jurisdiction over his own, and "mighty" against adversaries. Now what he says a second time, "Lift up," etc., can be called a repetition: and this so that the hearers may not delay in learning who this mighty one is. Or the first is addressed to the rulers, that is, to the demons; but what he says here is addressed to the good angels, who also by their own dignity, though not by their own effort, were previously worshipped by men who venerated them: 2 Kgs. 17: "They worshipped all the host of heaven": as if to say, remove the impediments on account of which men worship you. And therefore here he says, "The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory." In the Gloss, however, there is another exposition. Christ descended to hell and ascended into heaven: and here he foretells both of these. And first he admonishes the infernal powers to open up; hence he says, "Lift up," etc. O infernal rulers, open your gates: "and be lifted up," etc. "And the king of glory shall enter." But when the demons asked, "Who is this king of glory?" he answers: he who was "strong and mighty in battle" against you. Second he admonishes the citizens above us to open the gates of Paradise. Hence Christ, responding as if with the voice of a herald and acting in that role, directing his voice toward heaven, says: O heavenly rulers, "lift up," that is, open, "your gates," etc. "And he shall enter," etc. And to those asking, he says, "The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory." Now it should be known, as Dionysius says, that this is not to be understood as though the angels were ignorant of the mystery of the incarnation; but in wonder they said, "Who is this king of glory?" because the glory of Christ surpasses all knowledge. For sometimes Christ himself teaches about himself through Scripture, as it says in Is. 63: "I who speak justice," etc. But here not he himself, but others concerning him, namely the angels, respond, "The Lord of hosts," etc.; because some angels receive illumination immediately from God, as it says in Is. 6: "I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and it was full," etc. Others receive it from those angels, such as the middle and lowest orders: and to these the answer is given here by other angels.

God's supreme sovereignty requires a befitting holiness of life and heart in His worshippers; a sentiment sublimely illustrated by describing His entrance into the sanctuary, by the symbol of His worship--the ark, as requiring the most profound homage to the glory of His Majesty. (Psa 24:1-10) fulness--everything. world--the habitable globe, with they that dwell--forming a parallel expression to the first clause.

The entrance of the ark, with the attending procession, into the holy sanctuary is pictured to us. The repetition of the terms gives emphasis.

The festal procession has now arrived above at the gates of the citadel of Zion. These are called פּתחי עולם, doors of eternity (not "of the world" as Luther renders it contrary to the Old Testament usage of the language) either as doors which pious faith hopes will last for ever, as Hupfeld and Hitzig explain it, understanding them, in opposition to the inscription of the Psalm, to be the gates of Solomon's Temple; or, what seems to us much more appropriate in the mouth of those who are now standing before the gates, as the portals dating back into the hoary ages of the past (עולם as e.g., in Gen 49:26; Isa 58:12), the time of the Jebusites, and even of Melchizedek, though which the King of Glory, whose whole being and acts is glory, is now about to enter. It is the gates of the citadel of Zion, to which the cry is addressed, to expand themselves in a manner worthy of the Lord who is about to enter, for whom they are too low and too strait. Rejoicing at the great honour, thus conferred upon them, they are to raise their heads (Job 10:15; Zac 2:4), i.e., lift up their portals (lintels); the doors of antiquity are to open high and wide. (Note: On the Munach instead of Metheg in והנּשׂיאוּ, vid., Baer's Accentsystem vii. 2.) Then the question echoes back to the festal procession from Zion's gates which are wont only to admit mighty lords: who, then (זה giving vividness to the question, Ges. 122, 2), is this King of Glory; and they describe Him more minutely: it is the Hero-god, by whom Israel has wrested this Zion from the Jebusites with the sword, and by whom he has always been victorious in time past. The adjectival climactic form עזּוּז (like למּוּד, with ı̆ instead of the ă in חנּוּן, קשּׁוּב) is only found in one other passage, viz., Isa 43:17. גּבּור מלחמה refers back to Exo 15:3. Thus then shall the gates raise their heads and the ancient doors lift themselves, i.e., open high and wide; and this is expressed here by Kal instead of Niph. (נשׂא to lift one's self up, rise, as in Nah 1:5; Hos 13:1; Hab 1:3), according to the well-known order in which recurring verses and refrain-like repetitions move gently onwards. The gates of Zion ask once more, yet now no longer hesitatingly, but in order to hear more in praise of the great King. It is now the enquiry seeking fuller information; and the heaping up of the pronouns (as in Jer 30:21, cf. Psa 46:7; Est 7:5) expresses its urgency (quis tandem, ecquisnam). The answer runs, "Jahve Tsebaoth, He is the King of Glory (now making His entry)." צבאות ה is the proper name of Jahve as King, which had become His customary name in the time of the kings of Israel. צבאות is a genitive governed by ה and, while it is otherwise found only in reference to human hosts, in this combination it gains, of itself, the reference to the angels and the stars, which are called צבאיו in Psa 103:21; Psa 148:2 : Jahve's hosts consisting of celestial heroes, Joe 2:11, and of stars standing on the plain of the havens as it were in battle array, Isa 40:26 -a reference for which experiences and utterances like those recorded in Gen 32:2., Deu 33:2; Jdg 5:20, have prepared the way. It is, therefore, the Ruler commanding innumerable and invincible super-terrestrial powers, who desires admission. The gates are silent and open wide; and Jahve, sitting enthroned above the Cherubim of the sacred Ark, enters into Zion.