Expositions of Holy Scripture: PsalmsMaclaren, Alexander
Religion
Expositions of Holy Scripture: Psalms
Maclaren, Alexander
Bible. Psalms -- Commentaries
But that is not all, for the psalm goes on: 'This is the generation of
them that seek Him, that seek Thy face.' Yes; couched in germ there lies
in that last word the great truth which is expanded in the New
Testament, like a beech-leaf folded up in its little brown sheath
through all the winter, and ready to break and give out its green
plumelets as soon as the warm rains and sunshine of spring come. 'They
that seek Him'--'if thou seek Him He will be found of thee.' The
requirement of righteousness, as I have said, is not abolished by the
Gospel, as some people seem to think that it substitutes faith for
righteousness; but it is made possible by the Gospel which through faith
gives righteousness. And what the Psalmist meant by 'seeking' we
Christian people mean by 'faith.' Earnest desire and confident
application to Him are sure to obtain righteousness. To these there will
never be returned a refusing answer. 'I have never said to any of the
seed of Jacob, seek ye Me in vain.' So, brethren! if we seek we shall
receive; if we receive we shall be holy, if we are holy we shall dwell
with God, in sweet and blessed communion, and be denizens of His house,
and sit together in heavenly places with Him all the days of our lives,
and then shall pass, when 'goodness and mercy have followed us all the
days of our lives,' and 'dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.'
THE GOD WHO DWELLS WITH MEN
'Lift up your heads, O ye gates: and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 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.'
--PSALM xxiv. 7-10.
This whole psalm was probably composed at the time of the bringing of
the ark into the city of Zion. The former half was chanted as the
procession wound its way up the hillside. It mainly consists of the
answer to the question 'Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?' and
describes the kind of men that dwell with God, and the way by which they
obtain their purity.
This second half of our psalm is probably to be thought of as being
chanted when the procession had reached the summit of the hill and stood
before the barred gates of the ancient Jebusite city. It is mainly in
answer to the question, 'Who is this King of Glory?' and is the
description of the God that dwells with men, and the meaning of His
dwelling with them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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