Lift up your heads, ye gates; yea, lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.
Verse 7 gave this same command, and here it returns almost word for word. Twice the gates hear the call to open. Twice the same question comes back: "Who is this King of glory?" The next verse gives the name — Jehovah of hosts.
One writer sees wonder behind the delay, and a King who will not be refused.
The appeal is made again. But from the gates the question comes yet again: "Who is He, this King of glory?" Long ago, in the presence of the risen Lord, the disciples did not believe for joy, and wondered. So here too the wonderful truth is too great to be taken in at once. It is not easy for the gates to lift themselves so high. But it must be: His grace will take no denial. With the magnificence of His universal title He will put down all resistance to His will.
Another writer sees the repeated question as a challenge to the reader.
The reason for asking the question is that men might be challenged to recognise that the Lord Jesus is no less than Jehovah. In fact, the psalm makes the declaration a second time and asks the same question again (vv. 9-10). The matter is of the greatest importance. If people will not face this, they are guilty of insulting Jehovah. Such unbelief must end in eternal destruction.
One writer explains how far the title "Jehovah of hosts" reaches.
Scripture reveals that there is a mighty heavenly host, and principalities and powers in the unseen world. God is the God of them all, as well as God of all the elements of nature, which He has often used to punish His enemies... In Psalm 24:10 the Lord Jesus is shown to be "Jehovah of hosts: He is the King of glory."
This King is a fighter as well as a sovereign, and that links Him to other pictures of Him in Scripture.
This King of glory is also "mighty in battle." He is the same Victor seen in Psalm 45 with a sword strapped to His thigh. He is none other than "the Word of God" (Revelation 19:11-16).
One writer takes the gates as those of Jerusalem, and of hearts long closed to the King. Where the ESV reads "ancient doors," older translations read "everlasting doors," and he builds on that word.
For centuries the hearts of men have stayed closed to the true King of Israel. Israel as a nation has been especially guilty in this. What a change will take place when the Lord Jesus comes to claim His own rights! At that time the gates of Jerusalem will open wide to receive Israel's true Messiah. And the doors are called "everlasting." Why? Because He will take His place of supreme authority for eternity. Nothing can ever again challenge this King of God's appointment.
The city that opens to Him is the same city that once drove Him out.
What a welcome awaits Him inside those gates, outside of which they once put Him to death. With what joy and triumph will He enter the place where He was once led out in sorrow and shame.
Commentators differ over whether this entry has already happened. Some read it strictly of the future.
Here we have the glorious appearing and entry of the King into His House and dwelling place. It is a most magnificent description. It has nothing to do with the ascension of our Lord. This is His glorious return and entry into the earthly Zion, to fill it once more with His visible glory.
Others allow the wider use while holding the same primary sense.
Many take the passage as an application rather than an interpretation. They make it refer to our Lord's entrance into heavenly glory. This is quite permissible, no doubt. He has been glorified "at once" in the presence of God, in keeping with His own words in John 13:32. Still, the public glory that is yet to come is strictly the point here... And He must be abundantly glorified in the very scene of His public dishonour.
His entry rests on work already finished, not only on who He is.
Wherever He enters, the gates open wide to receive the "King of glory." This holds for His earthly city, and for the heavenly Jerusalem which the earthly city pictured. He enters by His own blood into the glory. The welcome He is given there, as King of glory, rests on this: He has accomplished an eternal redemption, and He has glorified God.
- Repeated — The call comes twice because the truth is too great to take in at once. The gates hesitate, but "His grace will take no denial."
- Named — The second answer removes all doubt: the King is Jehovah of hosts, God of angels, armies and all created power.
- Armed — He is mighty in battle, the same Victor of Psalm 45 and Revelation 19, so no resistance can hold the gates shut.
- Everlasting — The doors are called everlasting because His authority is settled for eternity. Nothing can challenge this King again.
- Purchased — He enters by His own blood, into the very scene of His shame. The welcome rests on an eternal redemption already accomplished.
Who is he, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
The psalm ends by asking a second time who this King of glory is. This time the answer is a name, not a description. The name settles who He is and what He is coming to do.
Older translations print this name as "Jehovah of hosts," where the ESV has "the LORD of hosts." The name has a history in Scripture, and a reach wider than armies.
We do not meet with this name until 1 Samuel 1:3. It came in with prophetic testimony, faith laying hold of Jehovah's glory when Israel had corrupted themselves and were in a weak and low estate. Scripture reveals that there is a mighty heavenly host, and principalities and powers in the unseen world. God is the God of them all, as well as God of all the elements of nature... In Psalm 24:10 the Lord Jesus is shown to be "Jehovah of hosts: He is the King of glory," compare Ephesians 1:20-21; Colossians 1:16. The same title occurs in the New Testament as the LORD OF SABAOTH, Romans 9:29 (in a quotation from Isaiah 1:9), and James 5:4.
The Hebrew word behind "hosts" is used broadly across the psalms, of armies, of angels, and of sun, moon and stars.
The answer names Him. The One at the gates is God Himself.
The Psalms teach His deity clearly. Psalm 24:7-10 declares "the King of glory" to be "Jehovah of hosts." But this King of glory is also "mighty in battle." He is the same Victor we see in Psalm 45 with a sword strapped to His thigh, and He is none other than "the Word of God" (Revelation 19:11-16).
One writer takes the repeated question as a challenge to people who avoid answering it.
The question is asked to challenge people to recognise that the Lord Jesus is no less than Jehovah. In fact the psalm declares it a second time, and asks the same question again (vv. 9-10), because the matter is of the greatest significance.
Another writer hears wonder in the repeated question, not resistance.
Long ago the disciples saw the risen Lord, and their joy was so great that they could not believe it, and they wondered. It is the same here. The wonderful truth is too great to be taken in at once, and it is not easy for the gates to lift themselves so high. But it must be... Listen: "Jehovah of hosts! HE is the King of glory."
A commander of hosts brings others with Him.
He is the Lord of hosts, for others are joined with Him. Revelation 19:14 shows us that He will come out as a Warrior to judgment. The armies of heaven will follow Him — His heavenly saints, who are to wear His likeness and share His triumphs. In them, and in others too, He will see the fruit of the suffering of His soul.
One writer traces the same Person from the cross, through the wilderness, into the kingdom.
He is the One strong and mighty who maintained the holiness of God and won a great victory for His people at the cross. As the Shepherd, He led His people through the wilderness journey. As the King of glory and the Lord of hosts, He will bring His people into the millennial blessing of the kingdom.
Commentators differ on the scene. Some hold the psalm speaks only of Christ's future entry into Jerusalem.
Here we see the King appear in glory and enter His house and dwelling place... It has nothing to do with the ascension of our Lord. It is His glorious return and entry into the earthly Zion, to fill it once more with His visible glory... He who was forsaken on the cross is now crowned with many crowns.
Others allow a wider use of the words. The strict sense, they hold, is still the public glory on earth.
Many take the passage as an application rather than an interpretation, and read it of our Lord entering heavenly glory. That is quite fair, no doubt, for God has glorified Him at once in His own presence, as the Lord said in John 13:32. Still, the point here is the public glory that is yet to come... And especially, He must be richly glorified in the very place of His public dishonour.
For one writer, the call to the gates is a question about who will govern the earth.
The challenge goes out: "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?" That is, who shall take the government of this earth and all that fills it? The answer comes as another challenge to the city gates, calling them to lift up their heads to the Lord of hosts, the King of glory. It is a fervent way of saying that the Lord, in strength and victory, the Lord as Redeemer and Avenger, will take the government.
- Named. The answer is a name, not a description: Jehovah of hosts. The New Testament carries the same title over as Lord of Sabaoth.
- Divine. The name settles who He is. The King of glory is God Himself, the Victor of Psalm 45 and the Word of God in Revelation 19.
- Won. The glory rests on a battle already fought: the One crowned with many crowns is the One who was forsaken on the cross.
- Shared. He does not come alone. The armies of heaven follow Him, and His saints wear His likeness and share His triumph.
- Governing. When the gates open, rule changes hands. The earth's government passes to the Redeemer, in the very place where men dishonoured Him.