Psalm 24 is a confident psalm, full of assurance and clarity. It comes in three parts. The first part, verses 1 and 2, is about the foundation of the earth; the second part, verses 3 to 6, is to do with true holiness, and the third part, verses 7 to 10, is a twice-stated triumphant assertion that the Lord will come in, in all his glory, when the gates are lifted up to admit him.

The opening statement is one about complete spiritual perfection. Spiritually, the ‘earth’ means the states of truth which come into being from turning to the Lord, and ‘its fulness’ means all truths in their entirety. The ‘world’ refers to the states of good which come from turning to the Lord, and ‘those who dwell in it’ mean all good in its entirety. The ‘seas’ stand for all knowledges and understandings which our states are based on, and the ‘waters’ – more accurately ‘rivers’ – stand for the flowing nature of truths coming into and affecting our lives. (See Apocalypse Explained 741 and Arcana Caelestia 6297)

The middle section of this psalm follows on from the first. What are the spiritual qualities which such a foundation of truth and good entails? It is clear that the most important of these are truthfulness and purity, above all, in our actions. If we practice them, the Lord blesses us and leads us in our lives. In verse 6, Jacob is mentioned. He represents the Lord’s natural mind, for Jacob began as a deceiver and fugitive, but was reformed into a faithful servant of the Lord. (Arcana Caelestia 4538)

The third section of this psalm is great oratory and acclaim. The same phrase, “Lift up your heads, O you gates!” and the words which follow, come twice, with slight differences at the end. The first set is linked with the Lord’s truths which are mighty in battle; the second set is linked with the Lord of hosts, a phrase which carries the enormity of the Lord’s love and goodness. (Apocalypse Explained 785)

Another spiritual meaning in the order of things, in this third section, is the truth that in regeneration, the first thing is to shun evils as sins against the Lord. This relates to the idea of the Lord being mighty in battle. Only when we have shunned evils as sins can we begin to do genuine good (which is the Lord’s, not ours) because the Lord has introduced the affection of what is good and of heaven into our hearts. In this way, the Lord truly is the king of glory.

650. 'Length' means the holiness, 'breadth' the truth, and 'height' the good, of the remnants described by the numbers. This cannot be confirmed so easily from the Word because every single thing has reference to the particular subject or thing under discussion. For example, when 'length' applies to time it means perpetual and eternal, as in 'length of days' Psalms 23:6; 21:4, but when it applies to space it means consequent holiness. The situation is the same with 'breadth' and 'height'. All earthly objects are three-dimensional, but no such dimensions can be used in reference to celestial and spiritual things. When they are used to refer to these they mean the degree of perfection, greater or less, independent of the dimensions given, as well as identity and quantity. In this case they are identified as remnants, which are few in quantity.