And he hath it established Upon the floods to stay. 3 Who is the man that shall ascend Or who within his holy place Shall have a firm abode? 4 Whose hands are clean, whose heart is pure, And unto vanity Who hath not lifted up Nor sworn deceitfully. his soul, 5 He from th' Eternal shall receive And righteousness, ev'n from the God Of his salvation. 6 This is the generation That after him enquire, Verse 3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? &c. Having a bove asserted Messiah's claim to the world, and its final recovery to his glory, David here proposes a question respecting the character of the priest and people, who would have the honour to enjoy his presence in his sanctuary. Moses employs a similar argument, Deut. x. 14-16. which applies, with additional force, to Christians. Verse 4. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart; &c. Though the character drawn here, and in Psalm 15. applies only to Messiah in its full perfection; yet belongs it to all his faithful people in their measure. Cleanness of hands refers to a holy life, and though put before purity of heart, as what the Church hath a right to require in all her members; yet in the order of grace the latter precedes. Vanity denotes an idol, and chiefly the world; to lift up the soul to which, is to trust in it; and to swear deceitfully, is to do this under the mask of a religious profession, by allowing the creature, in any form, that room in the heart, which ought to be sacred to God alone. Verse 5. He shall receive the blessing &c. Christ received the blessing by virtue of his own sinless obedience; and we receive this, and righteousness from him, as the God of our salvation. Verse 6. This is the generation, &c. As all the priests were supplied with sacred vestments from the wardrobe in the temple; so are the whole generation of the righteous. Ps. xxii. 30. The elipsis is sup plied on margin, whence the clause thus reads, that seek thy face, O God of Jacob. He so designs himself, as well as the God of Israel, to intimate he will not cast off his people, who have not yet arrived at the degree of priaces. O Jacob, who do seek thy face 7 Ye gates, lift up your heads on high; 8 But who of glory is the King? Ev'n that same LORD, that great in might 9 Ye gates, lift up your heads; ye doors, Be lifted up, that so the King Verses 7-10. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, &c. As this psalm, and also the 68th, were sung while the grand procession of the whole Jewish church ascended mount Zion, (1 Chron. xv.) here a demand of access to the tabernacle, and afterwards into the temple, is made by the Levites, who bore the ark, in his name, the symbol of whose presence it was. The porters made the reply in the 8th verse, asking who this King of glory was, for whom they demanded entrance. The Levites reply, Jehovah strong and mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle. The 10th verse is the chorus.- When Solomon dedicated his temple, solemn was the procession, and sublimely grand the performance in all its parts, 1 Kings viii. The whole applies in a sense inconceivably more sublime and magnificent to our Lord's ascension to the holy place, not made with hands, in the highest heaven. As the dedication of Solomon's temple, preceded by the feast of tabernacles, was, in all its glory, but a shadow of good things to come, we may expect that the substance will be realized under Christ in due time; when all nations shall bear part in celebrating the most joyful festival, and Messiah, like his type Solomon, shall preside over the grand assembly, and conclude the whole service with his royal and priestly benediction. Then the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, shall be with them all, and continue so without end, when all this must be realized. The call of the gospel addresses every individual to whom it comes, in a similar manner, demanding access for Christ to the human heart; and will the call in any case always return void, and at no period answer the end for which it is made?-We here have an irrefragable proof of Messiah's proper deity, as he and not the Father was typified by the ark, and so immediately intended in the prophecy. He is Jehovah the King of glory,-Jehovah strong in battle; whose mystical throne of old was between the cherubims, and over the mercy seat; Jehovah of hosts, as he 10 But who is he that is the King The LORD of hosts, and none but he, PSALM XXV. 1 To thee I lift my soul: 2 O LORD, I trust in thee: But those that without cause transgress, 4 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; Thy paths, O teach thou me: For thou art God that dost To me salvation send, Thy tender mercies, LORD, 7 My sins and faults of youth is also called, Isa. liv. 6. To attempt, deny, or explain away, a truth so clearly revealed, and so fully confirmed, is to lay the axe to the root of the tree of divine revelation.-While he deigns to address us, My son, give me thy heart; let us individually reply with Laban,-Come in thou blessed of the Lord, take entire possession of my heart, and make me thine for ever! 8 GOD good and upright is: The way he'll sinners show. 9 The meek in judgment he will guide, And make his path to know. 10 The whole paths of the LORD To those that do his cov'nant keep, 11 Now for thine own name's sake, To pardon mine iniquity; 12 What man is he that fears The LORD, and doth him serve? Him shall he teach the way that he Shall choose, and still observe. 13 His soul shall dwell at ease; And his posterity Shall flourish still, and of the earth Inheritors shall be. 14 With those that fear him is The secret of the LORD; The knowledge of his covenant He will to them afford. 15 Mine eyes upon the LORD Continually are set; For he it is that shall bring forth My feet out of the net. 16 Turn unto me thy face, And to me mercy show; Because that I am desolate, And am brought very low. 17 My heart's griefs are increas'd: Me from distress relieve. 18 See mine affliction and my pain, 19 Consider thou my foes, Because they many are, Which they against me bear. 20 0 do thou keep my soul, And let me never be asham'd, 22 Redemption, Lord, to Israel Another of the Same. THIS psalm also, is ascribed to David, and contains his prayer of faith, for various blessings, and the confidence in God with which he was thence inspired. Messiah may be viewed as presenting the same prayer, but still as inclusive of his people, for each of whom the precatory part is adapted. The promises which occur in it are ratified in Christ, and to be fulfilled by him in the course of his administration. 1 To thee I lift my soul, O LORD: Notes on Psalm XXV.-Verses 1-5. Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul, &c. True prayer is a lifting up of the soul to God. Those who trust in him, for what he hath promised, will not be ashamed of their confidence, nor will their enemies be permitted to triumph over them. He prays that none who wait upon God may be ashamed, but that those may be ashamed who transgress without cause; all which may be viewed as a prediction, which secures the final conversion and repentance of Messiah's enemies, like those of David, included in their being ashamed. Those that wait upon God in the use of means, and in the way of his judgments, shall be blessed with the knowlege of his ways, taught his paths; he will lead them in his truth, and teach them, as prayed for, ver. |