(Of David. A Psalm.) The earth is Jehovah's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Everything on earth, and everyone living on it, belongs to the Lord. That claim is not a general remark about God. It opens a psalm about who will take the government of this world.
One writer roots this ownership in creation, and ties it to the Lord's claim over Israel's land at the jubilee:
This Psalm opens by acknowledging the Lord's title to the earth: it is His by creation. In the same way at the jubilee, a picture of this same coming kingdom, the Lord claimed His title to the land (Lev. 25:23). And once the Psalm has announced His title to the earth, the question arises: who will take back the dominion Adam forfeited? In other words, "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?" — for "hill" is the symbol of dominion.
The verse names "the earth" and then "the world" with its inhabitants. One commentator takes the pairing as deliberate:
"The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" (v. 1). The verse sets the earth apart from the world. This shows that "the earth," or "the land," refers to Israel, while "the world and those who dwell therein" is a wider sphere that takes in all nations. For all will bow to the authority of the Lord Jesus when He claims His kingdom.
If the earth is His, why does it not look like it? Several writers read the psalm as describing a coming day rather than present conditions, and they are careful not to let believers claim it too soon:
But we cannot yet say, in the language of Psalm 24, which belongs strictly to the coming reign of Christ, "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein." No; we are still on the ground of Psalm 23, as the sheep of Christ, in much weakness. Satan is still "the god of this world," "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." So there are many trials and sorrows along the way, and so we need the Lord's refreshing, restoring grace.
The declaration of ownership is not left hanging; it leads straight into a question, and then into the call for the gates to open:
"The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" is the fine proclamation of Psalm 24. And then the challenge goes out, "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?" — that is, who shall take the government of this earth and its fullness? The answer comes as another challenge, to the city gates, the seat of government: lift up your heads to the King of glory, the Lord of hosts. It is a passionate way of saying that the Lord alone shall have the government in the ages to come — the Lord in strength and victory, the Lord as Redeemer and Avenger — when man, the corrupter of the earth, has closed his career.
The Owner and the One who enters the gates turn out to be the same Person as the Shepherd of the previous psalm:
In Psalm 24 the earth itself is His. Then He who lived in faithful dependence and obedience enters the house of the Lord as King of glory, Jehovah of hosts. The lowly, dependent, obedient but perfect Christ of Psalm 23 is the Jehovah of glory who enters the house in Psalm 24.
If the fulness of the earth is His, then no one else holds anything outright. A study of Nabal, the wealthy man who refused David's request by calling the food "my bread" and "my water," draws the line sharply:
God alone has absolute right over all things. He says, "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine," and again, "The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof." Man is only a steward, and must give account of everything to God.
Paul quotes this line to settle a dispute about meat sold in markets that had been offered to idols. Used that way, it releases rather than restricts:
The Christian is not to go out of his way to look for difficulties. He need not ask questions for conscience' sake. Let him take the world as he finds it, and use its things with thanks to Him whose they truly are, remembering and holding to the truth that the earth and its fullness are the Lord's. And the evil uses men may make of His gifts cannot cancel His saints' right to enjoy freely whatever He has made.
- Title. The claim rests on creation: the earth and its fullness are His because He made them.
- Question. Ownership raises a question of government. Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD and take back the dominion Adam forfeited?
- Person. The answer is the King of glory, Jehovah of hosts — the same lowly Shepherd of the previous psalm.
- Reach. "The earth" and "the world" widen the claim from one land to all nations. All will bow when He takes His kingdom.
- Response. Until that day Satan is still called the god of this world. So the verse leaves us two things: nothing we hold is our own, and we may enjoy all He made with thanks.
For it was he that founded it upon seas, and established it upon floods.
Verse 2 gives the reason behind verse 1: God owns the earth because He set it in place and made it hold. Everything later in the psalm rests on this one line about seas and rivers.
The psalm does not just claim ownership. It gives the ground for that claim. One writer also points to a second ground, added later.
Its leading theme is the assertion of Jehovah's lordship over all earthly things. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness of it," and so on. Then comes a declaration of the title on which this rule is claimed. Here, and everywhere in the Old Testament, that title is creation: "For He has founded it upon the seas." The believer comes into the full enjoyment of this Psalm by knowing the One who has added redemption to His ancient title of creation.
Read as a whole, the psalm stacks up reasons why Christ may take the kingdom. Verse 2 gives the first. The next two are of a different kind.
The psalm very wonderfully sets out the threefold ground on which Christ takes possession of His kingdom. First, as Creator (vv. 1-2); second, in answer to His own intrinsic perfection (vv. 3-5); third, on the ground of His mighty work at the cross (v. 8).
The founding here is not about the globe hanging in space. It is about the dry land God lifted out of the water. One writer traces what has happened to that dividing line ever since.
We see, of course, that the psalmist is speaking of that dry land which on the third day God separated from the waters and called "earth" — not of the earth as a globe. Clearly this foundation is a separation. Ever since, the water has been working at this earth that God established. It seeks, as it were, to overthrow it, but has not been able. This struggle is a fitting picture of what happens to His people. For centuries the conflict has raged against them, to break down the barrier of God's purpose with which He has fenced them round — and could not. There is real meaning, then, in the fact that here Jehovah has founded the earth upon the seas and established it over the floods. The reckless will of man has met its rebuke from God, and what is to be fruitful for Him is rescued from the destroyer. What could be more natural than this as the introduction to the question that follows? Rampant evil has been put down.
Water is the last thing anyone would build on. That is the point. This verse shows a stability that human reasoning cannot explain, and one writer sees the same surprise in the day when the Lord Jesus is glorified.
Naturally, the sea is not a stable base for building anything. But just as God "hangs the earth on nothing" (Job 26:7), He is able to do many things we consider impossible. In the day of the glory of the Lord Jesus there will be such a change in people's relationships that the basis of them will look to us absolutely miraculous. So God sees fit to overturn all man's natural thoughts, and to show both His amazing power and His matchless grace.
Present appearances contradict the verse. Someone else seems to run the world. Yet God has never dropped that claim. He keeps pressing it, even against the one who holds the world now.
But the Lord's title to the earth of course stands unchallengeable. "The cattle on a thousand hills" are His, and "the earth, and the fullness of it." So in one way or another He has been making continual claim to it in the face of the usurper. In this way He shows His purpose of taking it into full possession again at the last. The first promise signalled this so clearly that the whole creation hopes and waits for it (Gen. 3:15; Rom. 8:19-21). And so in the day of the kingdom of our God, the hopes of creation will not be put to shame.
Because the earth is His by making, ordinary things — food, work, daily provision — belong to Him and may be enjoyed with thanks rather than suspicion. The line is quoted in the New Testament for exactly this everyday purpose.
The liberty of Christ is to be freely exercised in ordinary life. The Christian is not to go out of his way to look for difficulties. Let him take the world as he finds it, and use its things in thankfulness to Him whose they really are, remembering and maintaining that the earth and its fullness are the Lord's.
Commentators differ in emphasis: some read the founding chiefly as God's creation title to the coming kingdom, while others draw out the picture of land held firm against the sea.
- Founded — The claim of verse 1 rests on the act of verse 2: God owns the earth because He set it in place.
- Separated — The "foundation" is dry land divided from the water. The sea has pushed against it ever since and never won.
- Unlikely — Nothing steady can be built on water. That is the point: God holds firm what people expect to sink.
- Contested — A usurper holds the world now, but God keeps pressing His claim and will take full possession.
- Threefold — Creation is only Christ's first title to the kingdom. His own perfection and His work at the cross follow.