1. The earth is the Lord’s,
and the fulness thereof. How very
different is this from the ignorant Jewish notion of God which prevailed in our
Saviour’s day. The Jews said, “The holy land is God’s, and the seed of Abraham
are his only people,” but their great Monarch had long before instructed them
that the whole round world is Jehovah’s, and that God is not the God of the
Jews only, but of the Gentiles also. The meanest of men is a dweller in the
world, and therefore belongs to Jehovah. Jesus Christ has made an end to the
exclusiveness of nationalities.
Man lives upon the earth, and parcels out its soil
among his mimic kings and autocrats; but the earth is not man’s. He is but a
tenant at will, a leaseholder upon most precarious tenure, liable to
instantaneous ejection. The great Landowner and true Proprietor holds his court
above the clouds, and laughs at the title-deeds of worms of the dust. The fulness
of the earth may mean its harvests, its wealth, its life, or its worship; in
all these senses the Most High God is Possessor of all. The earth is full of God;
he made it full and he keeps it full, notwithstanding all the demands which
living creatures make upon its stores. The sea is full, despite all the clouds
which rise from it; the air is full, notwithstanding all the lives which
breathe it; the soil is full, though millions of plants derive their
nourishment from it. We look also for a sublimer fullness when the true ideal
of a world for God is reached in millennial glories.
The term world indicates the habitable regions,
wherein Jehovah is especially to be acknowledged as Sovereign. He who rules the
fish of the sea and the fowl of the air should not be disobeyed by man, his
noblest creature. Men are not their own, nor may they call their hearts, or
their substance their own; they are Jehovah’s rightful servants. This claim
especially applies to us who are born from heaven. We do not belong to the
world or to Satan, but by creation and redemption we are the Lord’s. Paul uses
this verse twice, to show that no food is unclean, and that nothing is really
the property of false gods.
2. Here we
have the reason why the world belongs to God, namely, because he has created
it. The world is Jehovah’s because from generation to generation he preserves
and upholds it, having settled its foundations. Providence and Creation are the
two legal seals upon the title-deeds. They who trust in worldly things build
upon the sea; but we have laid our hopes, by God’s grace, upon the Rock of
Ages.
3–6. Here we
have the true Israel described. Those who stand as courtiers in the palace of
the living God are not distinguished by race, but by character; they are a
people purified and made fit to dwell in the holy hill of the Lord.
3. It is
uphill work for the creature to reach the Creator. Where is the mighty climber
who can scale the towering heights ? Whose eye shall see the King in his beauty
and dwell in his palace? God has made all, but he will not save all; there is a
chosen company who shall have the singular honor of dwelling with him in his
high abode. These choice spirits desire to commune with God, and their wish
will be granted. The solemn inquiry of the text is repeated in another form.
Who shall be able to stand or continue there? He casts away the wicked;
who then can abide in his house? Certainly none may commune with God upon the
footing of the law, but grace can make us fit to behold the vision of the
divine presence. With careful self-examination let us enquire, “Is it I?”
4. He that hath dean hands. Outward, practical holiness is a very precious mark of
grace. To wash in water with Pilate is nothing, but to wash in innocency is
all-important. Many have perverted the doctrine of justification by faith in
such a way as to treat good works with contempt; if so, they will receive
everlasting contempt at the last great day. It is vain to prate of inward
experience unless the daily life is free from impurity, dishonesty, violence,
and oppression. If our hands are now unclean, let us wash them in Jesus’
precious blood. But clean hands would not suffice unless they were connected
with pure heart. True religion is heart-work. The very life of our being
lies in the inner nature, and hence the imperative need of purity within. There
must be a work of grace in the core of the heart as well as in the palm of the
hand, or our religion is a delusion. May God grant that our inward powers may
be cleansed by the sanctifying Spirit, so that we may love holiness and abhor
all sin. The pure in heart shall see God.
The soul must be delivered from delighting in the groveling
toys of earth; someone who is born for heaven hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity. All men have their joys, by which their souls are lifted up;
the worldling lifts up his soul in carnal delights, which are mere empty
vanities; but the saint loves more substantial things. He who is content with
the husks will be reckoned with the swine. Does the world satisfy you? Then you
have your reward in this life; make much of it, for you will know no other joy.
Nor sworn deceitfully. False speaking will shut anyone out of heaven. A
false declaration, a fraudulent statement, a cooked account, a slander, a
lie—all these may suit the assembly of the ungodly, but are detested among true
saints: how could they have fellowship with the God of truth, if they did not
hate every false way?
5. It must
not be supposed that those who are thus described by their inward and outward
holiness are saved by the merit of their works; but their works are the
evidences by which they are known. The present verse shows that in the saints
grace reigns and grace alone. The saints need salvation; they receive
righteousness as a boon from God their Saviour. They do not ascend the hill of
the Lord as givers but as receivers. Holy living ensures a blessing as its
reward from the thrice Holy God, but it is itself a blessing of the New
Covenant and a delightful fruit of the Spirit. God first gives us good works,
and then rewards us for them.
6. These are
the legitimate offspring. Yet they are only seekers; hence learn that true
seekers are very dear in God’s esteem, and are entered upon his register. To
desire communion with God is a purifying thing. Oh to hunger and thirst more
and more after a clear vision of the face of God; this will lead us to purge
ourselves from all filthiness. Really awakened souls seek the Lord above
everything, and as this is not the usual desire of mankind, they are despised
by men but loved by God. The expression O Jacob is a very difficult one,
unless it be true indeed that the God of Jacob here condescends to be called
Jacob, and takes upon himself the name of his chosen people.
Let the merely nominal Christian, reading these verses,
listen to the voice which says, “without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”
7. The last
verses reveal to us the great representative man who answered to the full
character laid down and therefore by his own fight ascended the holy hill of
Zion. Our Lord Jesus Christ could ascend into the hill of the Lord because his
hands were clean and his heart was pure, and if we by faith in him are
conformed to his image we shall enter too. We have here a picture of our Lord’s
glorious ascent; as the cloud receives him, angels reverently escort him to the
gates of heaven.
The ancient gates of the eternal temple are personified and
addressed in song by the attending rejoicing spirits. They are called upon to lift
up [their] heads as though with all their glory they were not great enough
for the all-glorious King. He who, fresh from the cross and the tomb, now fides
through the gates of the New Jerusalem is higher than the heavens.
8. The
watchers at the gates, hearing the song, look over the battlements and ask, Who
is this King of glory? The question is worth the meditations of eternity.
Who is he in person, nature, character, office and work? What is his pedigree,
his rank, his race? The answer is, The Lord
strong and mighty, the Lord mighty
in battle. We know the might of Jesus by the battles he has fought, the
victories he has won over sin, and death, and hell.
9. Doors
were often taken from their hinges when eastern people wanted to show welcome
to a guest, and some doors were drawn up and down like a portcullis, and may
possibly have protruded from the top, thus literally lifting up their heads.
The picture shows how wide heaven’s gate is set by the ascension of our Lord.
Blessed be God, the gates have never been shut since. The opened gates of
heaven invite the weakest believer to enter.
It is possible that you are saying, “I shall never enter
into the heaven of God, for I have neither clean hands nor a pure heart.” Look
then to Christ, who has already climbed the holy hill. He has entered as the
forerunner of those who trust him. Repose on his merit. He rides triumphantly
into heaven, and you shall ride there too if you trust him. “But how can I get
the character described?” say you. The Spirit of God will give you that. He
will create in you a new heart and a right spirit. Faith in Jesus is the work
of the Holy Spirit, and has all virtues wrapped up in it.
10. All true
glory is concentrated upon the true God, for all other glory is but a passing
pageant, the painted pomp of an hour. The ascended Saviour is here declared to
be the Head and Crown of the universe, the King of Glory. Jesus of Nazareth is
Jehovah Sabaoth.
Excerpt from:
The Treasury of David
By Charles H Spurgeon
