Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!
One of my professors was happy to announce that his birthday was the only date that was a command — “March 4th”. Because of that I’ll never forget Lynn Gardner’s birthday! As I was reading Psalm 24 this morning, March 4th, and I saw David’s liturgy for the entrance of the King in a new light. David wrote the psalm as a processional song on the occasion of the Ark of the Covenant being brought up from the field to the city, Jerusalem, the nation’s new capital. The Ark of the Covenant was thought of as the very throne of God on earth, and David rightly wanted to place that throne on the hill above the city to signify that Yahweh was not only the King of Israel but the one Sovereign over the earth and its inhabitants (verse 1). As the Ark approached the city, borne on the shoulders of the priests, the worship leader cried out, “Lift up your heads, O gates! Lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.” The gates of the city were flung open and the procession of thousands of worshipers entered the city. Again the worship leader cried out, “Who is this King of glory?” And the congregation answered in one loud voice, “The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle.”
This is the language of a military parade as the King entered the city having triumphed over the nation’s enemies in battle. David had no doubt been a participant in some of those parades in the past, perhaps lifting high the trophy head of Goliath before the cheering crowd. The Ark itself was often carried into battle before the army as a talisman of the LORD’s presence and power as commander of the angel armies. In fact, the liturgy continues as the worship leader shouts, “Who is this King of glory?” and the crowd responds, “the LORD of hosts, he is the king of glory!” The LORD of hosts, LORD Sabbaoth, the commander of the angel armies. One angel can do a lot of damage (remember the angel of death in Egypt?). Imagine an army of angels. This is the type of overwhelming power that the LORD commands.
That overwhelming power was never on display more convincingly than when Jesus crushed the head the Adversary in one weekend on that very hill nearly one thousand years after David’s victory celebration. Jesus is the great commander who defeated the two ancient enemies of mankind -- sin and death. This same Jesus leads us in triumphal procession (2 Corinthians 2:4) having disarmed the rulers and authorities, putting them to open shame by triumphing over them (Colossians 2:15). This is the picture of Jesus that is often lost on our culture who prefers to see him as just a moral teacher with a child on his lap, a teacher that we might respect like Ghandi but who does not command our obedience. David’s triumphant procession commemorated in the 24th psalm is a prophetic snapshot of the victory parade that we share with Jesus today and every day. Live today in the awareness of the mighty power and overwhelming victory of God. No matter what comes your way, nothing can change this truth. Jesus has defeated sin and death and you march with him in victory. March forth!