John Calvin Commentary Psalms 24:7

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors: And the King of glory will come in." — Psalms 24:7 (ASV)

Lift up your heads, O ye gates! Since the magnificent and splendid structure of the temple, which had more outward majesty than the tabernacle, was not yet erected, David here speaks of its future building. By doing this, he encourages the pious Israelites to engage more willingly, and with greater confidence, in the ceremonial observances of the law.

It was no ordinary token of the goodness of God that he condescended to dwell among them by a visible symbol of his presence, and was willing that his heavenly dwelling-place should be seen on earth. This doctrine ought to be useful to us today; for it is an instance of the inestimable grace of God that, as far as the infirmity of our flesh will permit, we are lifted up even to God by the exercises of religion.

What is the design of the preaching of the word, the sacraments, the holy assemblies, and the whole external government of the church, but that we may be united to God? It is not, therefore, without good reason that David extols so highly the service of God appointed in the law, since God exhibited himself to his saints in the ark of the covenant, and thereby gave them a certain pledge of speedy help whenever they should call upon him for aid.

God, it is true, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, nor does he take delight in outward pomp. But as it was useful, and as it was also the pleasure of God, that his ancient people, who were unrefined and still in their infancy, should be lifted up to him by earthly elements, David does not here hesitate to present to them, for the confirmation of their faith, the sumptuous building of the temple. This was to assure them that it was not a useless theater; but that when they rightly worshipped God in it, according to the appointment of his word, they stood, as it were, in his presence and would actually experience that he was near them.

The sum of what is stated is that, in proportion as the temple which God had commanded to be built for him on Mount Zion surpassed the tabernacle in magnificence, it would be a correspondingly brighter mirror of the glory and power of God dwelling among the Jews.

Meanwhile, as David himself burned with intense desire for the building of the temple, so he wished to inflame the hearts of all the godly with the same ardent desire, that, aided by the rudiments of the law, they might make more and more progress in the fear of God.

He terms the gates, everlasting, because the promise of God secured their continual stability. The temple excelled in materials and in workmanship, but its chief excellence consisted in this: that the promise of God was engraved upon it, as we shall see in Psalm 132:14, This is my rest for ever. In terming the gates everlasting, the Psalmist, at the same time, I have no doubt, makes a tacit contrast between the tabernacle and the temple.

The tabernacle never had any fixed dwelling place but, being transported from time to time from one place to another, was like a traveler. When, however, Mount Zion was chosen and the temple built, God then began to have a certain and fixed dwelling place there. By the coming of Christ, that visible shadow vanished, and it is therefore not surprising that the temple is no longer to be seen on Mount Zion, since it is now so great as to occupy the whole world.

If it is objected that at the time of the Babylonian captivity the gates which Solomon had built were demolished, I answer, God’s decree stood firm, despite that temporary overthrow; and by virtue of it, the temple was soon after rebuilt, which was the same as if it had always remained intact.

The Septuagint has, from ignorance, corrupted this passage. The Hebrew word ראשים, rashim, which we have rendered heads, is no doubt sometimes taken metaphorically for princes; but the word your, which is here added to it, sufficiently shows that we cannot derive any other sense from it than this—that the gates lift up their heads. Otherwise, we must say, Your princes.

Some, therefore, think that kings and magistrates are here admonished of their duty, which is to open the way and give entrance to God. This is a plausible interpretation, but it is too far removed from the design and words of the prophet.

Above all, from the natural sense of the words, we may perceive how foolishly and basely the Papists have abused this passage to confirm the gross and ridiculous notion by which they introduce Christ as knocking at the gate of the infernal regions to obtain admission. Let us, therefore, learn from this to handle the holy word of God with sobriety and reverence, and to hold Papists in detestation, who, as it were, make sport of corrupting and falsifying it in this manner by their execrable impieties.