The Pulpit Commentary — Psalms — Volume 1 — Section 176

Vers. 1-10.-Th~ King of glory. Christ as the King of glory is represented here in three aspects. I. As THE LORD OF THE EARTH. (Vers. 1, 21.) The king,loms of this world are limited. Some are larger than other~ but the largest has its bounds (Esth. t 1 • Dan. iv. 1). Christ's kingdom is unlimiterl. Go where you will, pass from on~ country to another, visit different peoples, with different customs and laws, you can never get beyond its bounrls. Like the sky, it covers all-'' the earth, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." The grounds of this universal Lord- ship are absolutely just and sufficient (ver. 2). He is the Proprietor, because he is the Maker; he is the Ruler, because by him all things subsist. While this belief should call forth our admiration and trust, it should also quicken our humility, and excite us to watchfulness and care as to the use we make of all things committed to us. We are occupants, not owners; we are stewards, not proprietors; we are servants, not lords. II. THE SuPREME JuDGE OF MANKIND. The question asked here is one of trans- cendent importance. ",vho shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" It comes home to each of us. It demands consideration. It presses for a reply. Who is fit for this high honour? Who is worthy of this holy fellowship? Who is capable of enterin" upon this transcendent service? The qnestion relates to character; anu. the answer i'; given by him who alone can rightly judge as to character. In the deepest sense the description can be applied only to Christ Jesus. But the words hold good also of all who are Christ's (ver. 6), the true community of Israel, who have been redeemed and sanctified for the service· of the Holy One. As Dean Stanley had said, " The answer is remarkable, as expressing, in language so clear that a child may understand it, the great doctrine that the only service, the only character, which .can be thought worthy of such a habitation, is that which conforms itself to the laws of truth, honesty, humility, justice, love. Three thousand years have passed; Jerusalem has fallen; the Jewish monarchy, and priesthood, and ritual, and religion have perished; but the words of David still remain, with hardly an exception, the rule by which all wise and good men would measnre the worth and value of men, the greatness and the strength of nations." III. Tim SovEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE. (Vere. 7-10.) Under the grand imagery of this passage we may finrl some important truths. 1. That Ohrut is the King of glory. He has vinu.icated his right to this title on earth and in heaven, He is the highest Manifestation of the Divine Majesty. 2. That as the King of gloi·y he claims admu- sion to the heart of man. In his Word and by the proyidence of his Spirit he comes to all. He offers himself in the plenitude of his grace and power as a Saviour. If we are overawed by his greatness, we are conquered by his love. Ho will not force an entrance nor will he come in secretly or by stealth. If we are to receive him, it must be willi~"lY, and with all honour and welcome as our Lord and King, 3. 'l'hat as the King ~f glory he is destined to reign everlastingly over his peopk. "Of his kingdom there shall be no end."-W. F. Ver. 3.-This psalm breathes the spirit of aspiration. It speaks of the earth as the Lord's; but we are not to rest with the earth. The call is," Who will ascend?" Ae one of our own poets has said- " Not to the earth eonflnod, ascend to l1ea ven." Aspiration is an instinct of the heart. The young man is foll of hope. Nothing seems to him imposRible. His spirit leaps within hiru, longing to tako part with others in the struggle of life. "Jlfon, my brothers, men the workers, ever reaping something new, That which they have done but earnest of the things that they sllllll do." Often such aspirations come to little. Work is bard. Progress is difficult. Thinga turn out so different from what was expected. Some fail. Others falter and lose heart. Others sink down to the dull routine of business, and the bright vision that charmed their youthful fancy fades away. But there are some who succe~d. They have had ambitions, and they have stuck to them. They have had purposes, anrl have rs. XXIV. 1-10.] THE BOOK OF PSALMS. 179