1.
The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
1. fulness—everything.
world—the habitable
globe, with
they that dwell—forming
a parallel expression to the first clause.
2.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
2. Poetically represents the
facts of Genesis 1:9.
3.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
3, 4. The form of a question
gives vivacity. Hands, tongue, and heart are organs of
action, speech, and feeling, which compose character.
hill of the Lord—(compare
Psalms 2:6, &c.). His Church—the
true or invisible, as typified by the earthly sanctuary.
4.
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
4. lifted up his soul—is to
set the affections (Psalms 25:1) on
an object; here,
vanity—or, any false
thing, of which swearing falsely, or to falsehood, is a
specification.
5.
He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
5. righteousness—the rewards
which God bestows on His people, or the grace to secure those rewards
as well as the result.
6.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
6. Jacob—By "Jacob,"
we may understand God's people (compare Isaiah 43:22;
Isaiah 44:2, &c.), corresponding
to "the generation," as if he had said, "those who
seek Thy face are Thy chosen people."
7.
Lift up your head, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
7-10. The entrance of the ark,
with the attending procession, into the holy sanctuary is pictured to
us. The repetition of the terms gives emphasis.
8.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
10. Lord of hosts—or fully,
Lord God of hosts (Hosea 12:5;
Amos 4:13), describes God by a
title indicative of supremacy over all creatures, and especially the
heavenly armies (Joshua 5:14;
1 Kings 22:19). Whether, as some
think, the actual enlargement of the ancient gates of Jerusalem be
the basis of the figure, the effect of the whole is to impress us
with a conception of the matchless majesty of God.