The psalm has three distinct parts. Verses 1 and 2 are about the Lord’s universal rule. Verses 3-6 are about the necessity of holiness in those who ascend the hill of the Lord. Verses 7-10 are about the entry of the Lord into his dwelling place, or, to put it differently, about the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven.
These are all familiar ideas, ideas that we have all heard expounded many times. However, we must also understand why the psalm juxtaposes these ideas and how they relate to each other.
There is here a progressive revelation of the Lord. We see him first as creator, ruler and owner of all things, infinitely exalted above us. Next, we see him as dwelling in Mount Zion, among his chosen people. Finally, we see him coming into Zion as the king of glory, victorious in battle. The Lord is the eternal king. He always has been the ruler and owner of all that is. But his entry into Zion is an historical event that took place first in a typical way when he began to live in a house among his people. This type the Lord fulfilled somewhere around the year 33 A.D. To put it in different words, part 1 shows us the eternal king. Part 2 shows us the Lord dwelling among his people in a typical way. Part 3 is prophetic and shows us the eternal king establishing his universal dominion in the person of his incarnate and victorious Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This last part of the psalm is about the ascension.
1. His Universal Dominion (v. 1-2)
The psalm begins with the assertion of two important truths. The first of those truths is that the Lord rules over all and owns all.
There is a special emphasis here on his ownership of men. The second line of the first verse narrows the focus from all that earth contains to all who dwell in it, a description of the human race to whom the Lord has given the earth.The sovereignty of the Lord extends beyond the power of any earthly king, for the Lord actually owns, not only all that is in the earth, but also the bodies and souls of men under his rule. We belong to him as fully as the clay belongs to the potter, and he has the same rights over us as the potter has over the clay.
The second truth found here is the truth that his rule and ownership rest on his creative work. All things, and all men, belong to him because he created them in the beginning. Again, there is a special emphasis here to correspond with the special emphasis of verse 1. He not only created all things, but especially he created the dry land, the place where men dwell. That’s the peculiar emphasis of that word ‘world’ in the second line of the psalm: it describes the habitable world. So, the point of verse 2 is that he created the land.
The expression “he founded it upon the seas” is a common way of depicting the land in relation to the sea. In Genesis 1:9 we read how the Lord gathered the waters together in one place and made the dry land appear. In the law the Lord talks about the heavens, the earth and the waters under the earth. In Psalm 136 we sing about the earth spread out above the waters, and in Psalm 104:6-9 how God set boundaries to the waters to keep them from flowing again over the earth. Earth’s foundations are in and above the waters.
So, he made the habitable part of the world, and because he made it and all that is in it, including men, it belongs to him. His sovereignty is absolute.
The Lord is very great, exalted above the earth and even above the heavens. He is Yahweh, not only the creator and owner of all, but also the I Am, the eternal, self-sufficient and unchangeable God.
2. His Dwelling Among His Chosen People (v. 3-6)
This mighty Lord has a dwelling place on earth, a house where he lives, his temple in Jerusalem. The psalm skips over this point, and lets it remain, at least for now, implicit. It was a truth so familiar that it did not need restating, but it is certainly present when the psalmist speaks of the hill of the Lord.
The question is, who may go up there? Who may enter his presence? Who may be with him there in that house?
This question is very much like the question of Psalm 15, and in fact the structure of these verses is similar to the structure of Psalm 15. First comes the question: in Psalm 15, Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? and here, Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Then the answer which in both psalms amounts to this, that he who comes into the presence of the Lord must be holy. Finally, in both cases there is a concluding statement that emphasizes the truth. In Psalm 15 it is: He who does these things shall never be moved. And here it is:
He shall receive blessing from the LORD,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
The question is important. The hill of the Lord is the place of blessing, the proper place for us, the place he created us to inhabit. Because of sin, no one now is there automatically, by the mere fact of his existence as a creature. The Lord is above us and lives in isolation. There must be a going there, an ascending. We do not live there by birth, or by natural growth and processes. We do not get in by brute force, by assertion of an inherent or inherited right, by being decent people, or by accepting Christ. We can get there only if we have holiness, and this holiness must match the holiness of the Lord who sits there.
The next verse gives us some details about this holiness. We must have clean hands, hands free from blood and all the dirty stains of sin, hands that have not done sinful things. That’s the external aspect of holiness. Next comes the internal: we must have pure hearts, hearts that are free from evil thoughts, evil desires and evil inclinations. The expression, who has not lifted up his soul to vanity, means that there must not be in us any love of what is empty, false or idolatrous. But this love of falsehood lies at the root of every sin. When we sin, we embrace at the very least the lie that doing sin will bring good, even if that good takes a very nebulous form. Finally, there must be no falsehood in our mouths. Our souls, then, must be inclined to the good, lifted up to God and his commandments, and our mouths given to truth. Hands, hearts, souls and mouths must be entirely consecrated to God.
Does Jesus contradict this in Matthew 25 when he teaches us the parable of the sheep and the goats? He said to those on his right hand, “Come… for you have done all these things to me.”Their response was that they had not. But when he said to those on his left, “Depart… for you have not done all these things to me,”then they claimed they had. He accepted the ones who denied that they were holy, while rejecting those who claimed it. But the truth was the opposite of their claims. Those who denied it had it by the grace of God, and those who claimed it did not.
Holiness is the only way to stand there, and he who ascends must have it or he will not enter. The Lord, who is holy, will have no unholiness in his presence.
Verses 5 and 6 reaffirm and emphasize this truth. Verse 5 parallels that last line of Psalm 15 but uses different words. He shall not be moved becomes He shall receive blessing and righteousness. The blessing is the blessing of entry into the house, ascending into the hill, and knowing, therefore, the favor of the great Lord who lives there. Righteousness is the declaration of no guilt, the recognition of the right to be there, the acknowledgement that the one qualification for being there has been met.
But this righteousness comes from the God of our salvation. It is not our own righteousness, but a gift bestowed by God’s work of salvation, which is by his rescue of us from a state absolutely contrary to righteousness.
Verse 6 identifies specifically the ones who can and do ascend. They are a generation, a people or a race of men, who have been begotten again, born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. They are a company of people united in one purpose and in one primary characteristic. They seek the Lord. They long for his presence, and for the right to come into his presence. They seek him not in the slums of their own sin, but in the holiness of his house, in the proper clothing and at the proper place.
They are Jacob. The point here is that they are the chosen seed of Abraham. Out of all the people and nations in the world at that time, God chose Abraham, and gave to Abraham, and only to Abraham, his promises. Out of Abraham’s children he chose Isaac, the seed of the promise. And out of Isaac’s children he chose Jacob, rejecting Esau. But even here his electing love did not stop, for not all are Israel who are of Israel. He separated even among the seed of Jacob, electing some and rejecting others according to his eternal good pleasure. There were many Israelites who came to the house of God in the Old Testament who were not clean of hands and pure of heart. This psalm teaches us that they were not Jacob, not the generation of those who seek the Lord, not those clean of hands and pure of heart.
So, the sum of this part of the psalm is that the Lord dwells among his people, brings into his house the true seed of Jacob, chosen of God and precious, saved, justified and sanctified by him to be worthy to have a place with him.
3. His Triumphant Entry into Zion (v. 7-10)
In verses 7-10 the scene changes dramatically. In verses 3-6 we may picture the generation of those seeking him ascending in their humble way the hill of the Lord. They are those who say:
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
But now in verse 7 a shout goes up, Lift up your heads, O you gates! Now we get a different answer to the question of verse 3: who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? It is not Jacob who comes now, but a king. There is a great sound of triumph, a tremendous exultation at the coming of this king.
He is the king of glory. He comes as the strong and mighty one. He comes as one who is victorious. He has led armies. He has defeated enemies. He has been mighty in battle. Praise comes to him, and the way opens for him to proceed to the very gates of the city and of the temple. He comes in holiness, clean of hands, pure of heart, loving and speaking only truth.
Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One,
With Your glory and Your majesty.
And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;
And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.
He comes by right. By right of absolute dominion, for he is the Lord. He is the very same Lord of whom verse 1 says, The earth is the Lord’s and all its fulness. By right of complete victory, for he has waged war against all the enemies of his God and his people and has won. By right of perfect holiness, for he is holy. He is Yahweh of armies, and he comes to claim a seat at the right hand of Yahweh. Lift up your heads, O you gates!
There are those who say that this psalm has its fulfillment in the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem. It may also be that David prepared the psalm with a view to the transfer of the ark from the tent he set up for it to the temple after Solomon had finished it. We don’t know, but the ark did represent more than anything else the presence of the Lord among his people. It was his footstool and he sat on his throne above the cherubim whose wings covered it.
The psalm also has a shadowy fulfillment in the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem just before his death. Remember what the people said:
Hosanna to the son of David Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!
Its primary fulfillment comes in the ascension of the Lord into heaven after his resurrection. There is a significant difference between Psalms 15 and 24 in this respect. The question of Psalm 15 is, Who may abide in the tabernacle, and who may dwell in the holy hill? But the question of Psalm 24 is, Who may ASCEND into the hill of the Lord? That’s an important difference. It is in his ascension that Christ enters the holy place, and claims the fruits of his victory, a place at the right hand of the majesty on high.
Finally, we fulfill it every Lord’s day as we gather for worship. We come into the presence of the Lord, into his holy place, but Christ also enters with us. The shout of a king is among us.
He is the Lord Christ who has triumphed over all enemies, who has risen from the dead, and who ascends now into heaven itself to sit down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And it is by him that we, the generation of those who seek him, come too, warriors in his army who have fought with him in the great battle and have overcome with him. There we shall dwell together in everlasting holiness and blessing, as rulers of heaven and earth, with all that is in them.