Psalms 24:7 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Lift up your heads, O ye gates The questions, Who shall ascend God's hill, namely, to worship? and, Who shall stand in his holy place, to minister before and serve him? being answered, the psalmist proceeds to speak next of the introduction of the presence of him into that place whom they were to worship, namely, the great and glorious Jehovah. For what would it signify that they were prepared to worship, if HE whom they were to worship were not present to accept and bless his worshippers? David speaks here of the gates and doors, either, 1st, Of his royal city Zion, through which the ark was now to pass to the tabernacle which he had built for it. And he calls these doors everlasting, either on account of the durableness of the matter of which they were made; or from his desires and hopes that God would make them everlasting, or of long continuance, because he loved the gates of Zion, Psalms 87:2. Or, he speaks, 2d, Of the gates of the court of the tabernacle, or of the tabernacle itself, into which the ark, the emblem of the divine presence, was now to be brought. Or, 3d, When composing this Psalm, he might look forward in a spirit of prophecy to the temple, beholding it as already built, and accordingly might address his speech to the gates and doors of it, terming them everlasting, not so much because they were made of strong and durable materials, as in opposition to those of the tabernacle, which were removed from place to place; whereas the temple and its doors were constantly fixed in one place; and, if the sins of Israel had not hindered, would have abode there for ever, that is, as long as the Mosaic dispensation lasted, or until the coming of the Messiah, as the phrase, for ever, is very commonly taken in the Old Testament. These gates he bids lift up their heads, or tops, by allusion to those gates which have a portcullis, the head of which, when it is lifted up, rises conspicuous above the gates, and accordingly makes the entrance higher, and more magnificent. But though this be the literal sense of the place, yet it has also a mystical sense, and that too designed by the Holy Ghost. And as the temple was a type of Christ, and of his church, and of heaven itself; so this place may also contain a representation, either of Christ's entrance into his church, or into the hearts of his faithful people, who are here commanded to set open their hearts and souls for his reception: or, of his ascension into heaven, where the saints, or angels, are poetically introduced as preparing the way, and opening the heavenly gates to receive their Lord and King, returning to his royal habitation with triumph and glory. The King of glory The glorious King Jehovah, who resided in the Shechinah, or glory, over the ark, the symbol of his presence, and between the cherubim. Or, the Messiah, the King of Israel, and of his church, called the King, or Lord of glory, 1 Corinthians 2:8; James 2:1, both for that glory which is inherent in him, and that which is purchased by him for his members.