The King of Glory Enters His Holy Place

Psa 24:1-6 Jahve, whose throne of grace is now set upon Zion, has not a limited dominion, like the heathen deities: His right to sovereignty embraces the earth and its fulness (Psa 50:12; Psa 89:12), i. e. , everything that is to be found upon it and in it. For He, הוא, is the owner of the world, because its Creator. He has founded it upon seas, i. e. , the ocean and its streams, נהרות, ῥέεθρα (Jon 2:4); for the waters existed before the dry land, and this has been cast up out of them at God’s word, so that consequently the solid land, - which indeed also conceals in its interior a תּהום רבּה (Gen 7:11), - rising above the surface of the sea, has the waters, as it were, for its foundation (Psa 136:6), although it would more readily sink down into them than keep itself above them, if it were not in itself upheld by the creative power of God.

Hereupon arises the question, who may ascend the mountain of Jahve, and stand above in His holy place? The futures have a potential signification: who can have courage to do it? what, therefore, must he be, whom Jahve receives into His fellowship, and with whose worship He is well-pleased? Answer: he must be one innocent in his actions and pure in mind, one who does not lift up his soul to that which is vain (לשּׁוא, according to the Masora with Waw minusculum ).

(ל) נשׂא נפשׁ אל, to direct one’s soul, Psa 25:1, or longing and striving, towards anything, Deu 24:15; Pro 19:18; Hos 4:8. The Kerî נפשׁי is old and acknowledged by the oldest authorities. Even the lxx Cod. Alex . translates: τὴν ψυχὴν μου; whereas Cod. Vat. (Eus. , Apollin. , Theodor. , et al.) : τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. Critically it is just as intangible, as it is exegetically incomprehensible; נפשׁי might then be equivalent to שׁמי.

Exo 20:7, an explanation, however, which does not seem possible even from Amo 6:8; Jer 51:14. We let this Kerî alone to its undisturbed critical rights. But that the poet did actually write thus, is incredible. In Psa 24:5 (just as at the close of Psa 15:1-5), in continued predicates, we are told the character of the man, who is worthy of this privilege, to whom the question in Psa 24:3 refers.

Such an one shall bear away, or acquire (נשׁא, as e. g. , Est 2:17) blessing from Jahve and righteousness from the God of his salvation (Psa 25:5; Psa 27:9). Righteousness, i. e. , conformity to God and that which is well-pleasing to God, appears here as a gift, and in this sense it is used interchangeably with ישׁע (e. g. , Psa 132:9, Psa 132:16). It is the righteousness of God after which the righteous, but not the self-righteous, man hungers and thirsts; that moral perfection which is the likeness of God restored to him and at the same time brought about by his own endeavours; it is the being changed, or transfigured, into the image of the Holy One Himself.

With Psa 24:5 the answer to the question of Psa 24:3 is at an end; Psa 24:6 adds that those thus qualified, who may accordingly expect to receive God’s gifts of salvation, are the true church of Jahve, the Israel of God. דּור (lit. , a revolution, Arabic dahr , root דר, to turn, revolve) is used here, as in Psa 14:5; Psa 73:15; Psa 112:2, of a collective whole, whose bond of union is not contemporaneousness, but similarity of disposition; and it is an alliteration with the דּרשׁיו ( Chethîb דרשו, without the Jod plur .)

which follows. מבקשׁי פּניך is a second genitive depending on דּור, as in Psa 27:8. Here at the close the predication passes into the form of invocation (Thy face). And יעקב is a summarising predicate: in short, these are Jacob, not merely after the flesh, but after the spirit, and thus in truth (Isa 44:2, cf. Rom 9:6; Gal 6:16). By interpolating אלהי, as is done in the lxx and Peshîto, and adopted by Ewald, Olshausen, Hupfeld, and Böttcher, the nerve, as it were, of the assertion is cut through.

The predicate, which has been expressed in different ways, is concentrated intelligibly enough in the one word יעקב, towards which it all along tends. And here the music becomes forte . The first part of this double Psalm dies away amidst the playing of the instruments of the Levitical priests; for the Ark was brought in בּכל־עז וּבשׁירים, as 2Sa 6:5 (cf. 2Sa 6:14) is to be read.

Psa 24:7-10 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; Zec 2:4), i. e. , lift up their portals (lintels); the doors of antiquity are to open high and wide. 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.

Psa 24:7-10 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; Zec 2:4), i. e. , lift up their portals (lintels); the doors of antiquity are to open high and wide. 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.

Psa 24:7-10 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; Zec 2:4), i. e. , lift up their portals (lintels); the doors of antiquity are to open high and wide. 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.

Psa 24:7-10 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; Zec 2:4), i. e. , lift up their portals (lintels); the doors of antiquity are to open high and wide. 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.

A question similar to the question, Who may ascend the mountain of Jahve ? which Psa 24:1-10 propounded, is thrown out by Ps 25, <, Who is he that feareth Jahve ? in order to answer it in great and glorious promises. It is calmly confident prayer for help against one’s foes, and for God’s instructing, pardoning, and leading grace. It is without any definite background indicating the history of the times in which it was composed; and also without any clearly marked traits of individuality.

But it is one of the nine alphabetical Psalms of the whole collection, and the companion to Ps 34, to which it corresponds even in many peculiarities of the acrostic structure. For both Psalms have no ו strophe; they are parallel both as to sound and meaning in the beginnings of the מ, ע, and the first פ strophes; and both Psalms, after having gone through the alphabet, have a פ strophe added as the concluding one, whose beginning and contents are closely related.

This homogeneousness points to one common author. We see nothing in the alphabetical arrangement at least, which even here as in Ps 9-10 is handled very freely and not fully carried out, to hinder us from regarding David as this author. But, in connection with the general ethical and religious character of the Psalm, it is wanting in positive proofs of this.

In its universal character and harmony with the plan of redemption Ps 25 coincides with many post-exilic Psalms. It contains nothing but what is common to the believing consciousness of the church in every age; nothing specifically belonging to the Old Testament and Israelitish, hence Theodoret says: ἁρμόζει μάλιστα τοῖς ἐξ ἐθνῶν κεκλημένοις. The introits for the second and third Quadragesima Sundays are taken from Psa 25:6 and Psa 25:15; hence these Sundays are called Reminiscere and Oculi .

Paul Gerhardt’s hymn “Nach dir, o Herr, verlanget mich” is a beautiful poetical rendering of this Psalm.

Psa 25:1-2 The Psalm begins, like Psa 16:1-11; Psa 23:1, with a monostich. Psa 25:2 is the ב strophe, אלהי (unless one is disposed to read בך אלהי according to the position of the words in Psa 31:2), after the manner of the interjections in the tragedians, e. g. , oo'moi, not being reckoned as belonging to the verse (J. D. Köhler). In need of help and full of longing for deliverance he raises his soul, drawn away from earthly desires, to Jahve (Psa 86:4; Psa 143:8), the God who alone can grant him that which shall truly satisfy his need.

His ego, which has the soul within itself, directs his soul upwards to Him whom he calls אלהי, because in believing confidence he clings to Him and is united with Him. The two אל declare what Jahve is not to allow him to experience, just as in Psa 31:2, Psa 31:18. According to Psa 25:19, Psa 25:20; Psa 38:17, it is safer to construe לי with יעלצוּ (cf. Psa 71:10), as also in Psa 27:2; Psa 30:2, Mic 7:8, although it would be possible to construe it with אויבי (cf.

Psa 144:2). In Psa 25:3 the confident expectation of the individual is generalised.

Psa 25:3 That wherewith the praying one comforts himself is no peculiar personal prerogative, but the certain, joyous prospect of all believers: ἡ ἐλπίς ου ̓ καταισχύνει, Rom 5:5. These are called קויך (קוה participle to קוּה ot elp, just as דּבר is the participle to דּבּר). Hope is the eye of faith which looks forth clear and fixedly into the future. With those who hope in Jahve, who do not allow themselves to be in any way disconcerted respecting Him, are contrasted those who act treacherously towards Him (Psa 119:158, Aq.

, Symm. , Theodot. οἱ ἀποστατοῦντες), and that ריקם, i. e. - and it can only mean this-from vain and worthless pretexts, and therefore from wanton unconscientiousness.

Psa 25:4 Recognising the infamy of such black ingratitude, he prays for instruction as to the ways which he must take according to the precepts of God (Psa 18:22). The will of God, it is true, lies before us in God’s written word, but the expounder required for the right understanding of that word is God Himself. He prays Him for knowledge; but in order to make what he knows a perfect and living reality, he still further needs the grace of God, viz., both His enlightening and also His guiding grace.