Deeper Commentary

Psa 24:1 A Psalm by David- This Psalm may have been used when David brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the sanctuary on Zion (2 Sam. 6:12). Perhaps the Levites who carried it sung this, or it was sung by a choir of Levites at this time. Maybe these were the words of final blessing said by David at the time of 2 Sam. 6:18 "When David finished sacrificing... he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of Hosts". It has been suggested that Psalm 68 relates to the setting out of the procession, Psalm 24 to the entrance up to Zion and Psalm 87 to the joy of the entrance with dancings and shouting.

The earth is Yahweh’s, with all its fullness; the world, and they who dwell in it- The fact that "the earth is the Lord's" is used to highlight the wonder of the fact that therefore how much moreso do His people belong to Him, and are cared for by Him with such sensitivity (Ex. 19:5; Dt. 10:14; Ps. 50:12; 89:11). Just as the eretz / earth / land promised to Abraham is Yahweh's, so is in fact the entire planet, and His purpose was perceived by David as incorporating the entire planet and not just Israel.

If this Psalm was composed when the ark was brought to Zion, then "Unto Yahweh belongs the land / earth" is an example of David's emphasis that Yahweh is the true king of Israel, not David of himself; the land is Yahweh's not David's. Ps. 89:11 is a commentary on the promises to David, and comments that the "heaven and earth", i.e. Israel, are Yahweh's. The people of the earth / land may have been under David, but they were really Yahweh's people more than David's. David's correct attitude at this point in bring the ark to Zion (2 Sam. 6) was therefore commended by Yahweh in 2 Sam. 7, when He explains that David's kingdom and "son" were to be His Kingdom and Son.

Psa 24:2 For He has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods- The eretz in view in :1 was the territory promised to Abraham, greater Israel. It is presented as founded upon the seas and rivers ("floods") of Gentile nations; for as noted on :1, the eretz is paralleled with the entire world. David perceived God's intention was that the Gentiles should also come to Israel's God.   

Psa 24:3 Who may ascend to Yahweh’s hill? Who may stand in His holy place?- This rhetorical question is given in the context of having implied that people well beyond Israel had a place in God's Kingdom. But that Kingdom was not just for any Israelite; it was for anyone who kept His ways as later defined in the Psalm. And it seems David is saying that the sanctuary on mount Zion, God's holy hill, was open to all regardless of ethnicity. And even entrance into the holy place was no longer just for Levites, but for whoever was spiritually qualified. David himself was not a Levite but at times acted as one.

In the context of bringing the ark to Zion, this may be David's reflection on how the sons of Eli and Uzzah were destroyed for wrongfully handling the ark. The rhetorical question "Who may...?" echoes the spirit of David's words after Uzzah had been killed, and the words of the men of Bethshemesh about the ark in 1 Sam. 6:20: "Who can stand in attendance on the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?”. David says that those who have the ark must be "He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood" (:4). He clearly refers to himself. But his later behaviour with Bathsheba showed him to be none of those things. And yet the ark remained with him, along with the Shekinah glory of Yahweh; but he would have perceived that this abiding presence of Yahweh with a man of unclean hands and heart, famed for his falsehoods, was by grace alone.

Psa 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully-

David may have in view how Uzzah was slain the first time he tried to bring the ark to Zion. The hands he stretched forth to touch the ark were not "clean" and [seeing others touhed the ark without dying], his heart was clearly not "pure". Possibly Uzzah was an idolator and deceiver and intended to make the ark stay on that threshing floor- and threshing floors are often associated with idolatry. Clearly something more than well intentioned touching of the ark was concerned.

Throughout David’s Psalms in Ps. 1-72, he repeatedly asks for torture upon the sinners and blessing upon himself as the righteous. He speaks of how sinners should be “contemned” in the eyes of the righteous (Ps. 15:4), the gatherings of sinners should be “hated” and sinners should not be fellowshipped (Ps. 26:4-6; Ps. 31:6) and how God’s uprightness is shown to the upright and His judgment to the judgmental (Ps. 18:25,26; Ps. 33:22). He invites God’s judgment upon himself and others according to their and his works (Ps. 28:4).  Frequently he alludes to Saul as “the violent man”- even though David committed his share of violence- and asks judgment upon him (Ps. 18:48). Only those with clean hands and pure heart like himself could have fellowship with God (Ps. 24:3,4). Psalm 37 doesn’t indicate any desire to convert the sinners but rather an expectation of their judgment and destruction. God and David laugh at the wicked because their day is coming (Ps. 37:13). There’s no spirit of grace here at all- perhaps that’s why Zech. 12:10 specifically says that the spirit of grace will have to be poured out upon the house of David in the last days. This attitude changed after the sin with Bathsheba, but still something of the old self righteousness and judgmental attitudes are to be found in David in Psalms written after that.

In describing his feelings after the Bathsheba experience, David comments that he was "as a man that hears not [the taunts of others against him], and in whose mouth are no rebukes" (Ps. 38:14). The pre-Bathsheba Psalms present David as a man who was so easily hurt by the taunts of others, and whose mouth was indeed full of rebuke of others. Psalms 24, 25 and 26 are full of David explaining that fellowship with God was dependent upon a man's "integrity", walking in truth, hating sinners, personal innocence, "uprightness", clean hands and pure heart. And throughout these Psalms, David holds up himself as the great example.

Psa 24:5 He shall receive a blessing from Yahweh, namely righteousness from the God of his salvation-

It was Obed Edom who received a blessing from Yahweh for looking after the ark. So possibly he is the one in view in :4 who had clean hands and a pure heart.

The priests clothed with righteousness in Ps. 132:9 parallels them being clothed with salvation in Ps. 132:16. This reflects the Pauline teaching that salvation is brought about by being counted righteous by God's grace. And that is the basis for the joy of the saints. Ps. 24:5, like Ps. 132, is also in the context of the ark coming to Zion, and the same point is made- those who have salvation have received the gift of righteousness from God. And quite possibly it is the Gentile Obed Edom who is in view- making it sound even more like Paul's argument in Romans.

This passage implies that our purity is not so much from forsaking sin, but rather from the imputation of God's righteousness to us. The letter to the Romans makes it clear that such imputation depends upon faith, not works (e.g. rectifying marriage problems). It is God's righteousness which is credited to us, not our own (2 Cor. 5:21). And as noted on :3, David is open to the idea that all people, regardless of ethnicity, could partake of this imputed righteousness by grace through faith.

 

Psa 24:6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face- We are frequently reminded in the prophets that the spiritual way of life is one which is seeking God. We are to seek His face (Ps. 24:6; 27:8)- which it is impossible to behold (Ex. 33:20). Actually finding God in the ultimate sense is therefore unattainable in this life; but our whole mortal life must be lived in this spirit of seeking ultimate perfection. Seeking God is often defined in the prophets as forsaking our sins and desiring to be righteous (Amos 5:5,8,14,15). None of us are completely successful in our seeking of God, and therefore it follows that none of is completely forsakes all our sinfulness.

"Face" is 'presence'. David seems to reason that those who seek God's presence will come to the ark. But in his wilderness years, driven away from the ark and from the tabernacle, his Psalms express his sense that he had found the presence of God out in the desert, without the ark. He even felt he dwelt beneath the cherubim wings on the mercy seat, covered with the blood of atonement. But now he is slipping from that to the idea that God's presence is only mediated through the ark and tabernacle system. He has slipped from the spiritual back to the religious. 

 

Even that of the God of Jacob. Selah- Every reference to "the God of Jacob / Israel" is effectively saying: 'I'm the God that stuck with mixed up, struggling Jacob. And I'll stick with you too, through spiritual thick and thin, and bring you through in the end'. This is the love of God for Jacob. So close is the association between God and Jacob that there are times when the name 'Jacob' becomes a synonym for 'the God of Jacob'. Ps. 24:6 is an example: "The generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob" (cp. other examples in Is. 44:5; Jer. 10:16; 51:19). The name of Israel therefore was paralleled with the name of God- Joshua feared that the name of Israel would be cut off, “and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?” (Josh. 2:9).   

Psa 24:7 Lift up your heads, you gatekeepers! Be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in- As noted on :1, the immediate reference was to the ark entering Zion. The mercy seat over which the glory of the shekinah was seen was understood as enthroned there. In this sense God was king there. And yet His entry into the sanctuary is parallel with the entry of righteous people into it, of all ethnicities (see on :1-5). The gatekeepers are being exhorted to lift up their heads and open the gates- both to God in the ark, and to all righteous people. This mention of gates, walls and gatekeepers reflects David's fantasy even at that stage for a temple to be built to house the ark.

Psa 24:8 Who is the King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle- "Who is...?" matches the same rhetorical question in :3. The entry of God and that of His people is paralleled. Note the word play- Yahweh is the "mighty", the izuzah, and smote Uzzah for mishandling the ark. David's Psalms for bringing the ark to Zion often mention Yahweh as the King, victorious against His enemies. Yet bringing the ark to Zion was part of David's establishment of himself as king after his victories over his enemies. He is to be commended for stressing that actually, Yahweh is Israel's true king and not himself. Despite his bad motives and trust in human strength, David still has spirituality at one and the same time. 

Psa 24:9 Lift up your heads, you gatekeepers; yes, lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in- This states that when the gatekeepers of Zion lift up their heads [to God in truth], then the King of glory will come in. And the Lord applies these words to His true people of the last days in Lk. 21:28- they are to likewise lift up their heads [so that] their redemption will draw nigh, or be hastened. Israelite repentance is a condition for the Lord’s return.

The "everlasting doors" may reflect David's fantasy that the temple he would build for the ark would last eternally. God corrects this in the promises to him in 2 Sam. 7- God would build an eternal house for David in the sense of a people, not a building. And of course Yahweh eventually destroyed the physical temple, with the record emphasizing the destruction of the walls and gates [and the record of their rebuilding stresses the need to rebuild the destroyed walls and gates]. David's fantasy was misplaced, and so we likewise can read his claims that God loved Zion more than anywhere else in Israel as likewise his assumptions about God's positions. When in fact he seriously misunderstood God's grace. Even when God showed him the huge grace of the unconditional promises of 2 Sam. 7 about David's house and seed, he is still ultimately unmoved by them and presses on with his plan to enable Solomon to build a physical house. To my mind that stands heavily against David.

Psa 24:10 Who is this King of glory? Yahweh of Armies is the King of glory! Selah-

Using the title Yahweh of Hosts recalls how this is the title used to describe Yahweh enthrned between the cherubimin the record of bringing the ark to Zion: "Then David and all the troops that were with him set out from Baale of Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God to which the Name was attached, the name Yahweh of Hosts, enthroned on the Cherubim" (2 Sam. 6:2).

The entry of the ark into Zion looked forward to the final entry of God's glory into Zion in the person of the Lord Jesus in the last day. Christ's approach to Jerusalem is described in Ps. 24:10: "Who is this King of glory? The Lord of Hosts (Angels), he is the King of glory". Thus Christ, the Lord of glory, will be especially clearly associated with the Angels as He approaches Jerusalem. He comes with all the Holy Angels with Him, with “saints”, i.e. Angels, to relieve the invasion of the latter-day Sennacherib.