Psalm 24

 A Psalm of David. 

1 The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, [and all that fills it] the world and those who dwell therein,

2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

This verse always reminds me of Abraham Kuyper’s famous words, “There is not one square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Jesus, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’” God is everywhere and everything belongs to him by virtue of his creating it. Similar to the legal concept of copyright, once you have made something it becomes yours in that moment and that reality is protected and enforced by law. The psalmist asserts the creative power of God to make the earth and every person living on it (including those growing in the womb). All life is his and is therefore defined by him. He declares in the whole of scripture that human life is sacred, and every human being is his image bearer. Even though that image can get twisted and deformed by man’s will, it is always there, always redeemable. God founded the earth on the seas. He created order from chaos, traded the fluidity of water for the the stability of land, the inhospitable depths of the ocean for the lush garden of the earth. He made a beautiful, wonderful world for us to inhabit and shape as we reflect his image. His words were the instruments of his creative power. The same is still true today. His written words and his incarnate Word are his final and perfect words to create life today. Paul will quote this first verse in I Corinthians 10:26, reminding us that everything is good. Enjoy the things of this world that God has made while recognizing that it all belongs to him. Love the people of this world and as you live out the image of God, follow his example of bringing order out of chaos. That may be creating art, engineering and design, or redeeming souls who don’t know whose they are. 

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?

The song asks a question in true catechetical form, “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?” and then proceeds to answer that question with a four part answer. The legal answer to the question is spelled out in the Law of Moses. It’s very clear, only levites may enter the sacred tent where God reigns between the cherubim, and only those who are without defect, physically or ceremonially. Only they may enter the holy place, that space outside the holy of holies. And of those who are able, only those whose names are drawn by lot may actually enter and perform the rites of worship on behalf of the people. The most holy place may only be entered once a year by the high priest. There are only a handful of men that have had that experience. However, this psalm is not a catechism for priests but for every human being. The earth is the LORD’s and everyone in it, and the opportunity to meet the God who made each one of us is available to all. Do you want to meet with God? Do you have any questions for him? Is there anything you want to say? This opportunity is implied by the very question asking who is able to have such an experience. As we’ll see, the requirements are not impossible to meet or they wouldn’t have been stated. Clearly the LORD wants his creation to be in relationship with him, and while we can’t (and shouldn’t) go to a special tent or building these days, there’s no doubt the truth of the psalm is in play. We can ascend the hill of the LORD; we can stand in his holy place. Otherwise this is just a sad tease to remind us how unworthy we are. How much do you desire to climb up and meet with God? Enough to wake up a little early, crack open your Bible and listen for his voice? Enough to take a sentence or two of His word and memorize it, carrying it with you throughout the day? The choice is clearly all yours. The invitation has been offered. 

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

This is the kind of person who has a close relationship with his Creator. They have clean hands and a pure heart. First, “hands” represents actions, things that they do in their lives from day to day. Their actions are good, kind, beyond accusation. Second, the pure heart represents what is inside a person and unseen. They not only do what is good and right, but they do so with pure motivation. It’s possible that we can do the right thing for the wrong reason. Pride, selfishness, concern for what others think, fear -- these are all motivators, but these are not what activates a person with a close relationship with God. Nor are they hiding secret sins of the heart -- lust, anger, greed, covetousness, envy -- all things that we can indulge in while maintaining a picture perfect outward appearance. Third, they don’t lift up their souls to what is false. In other words, they don’t pray to false gods. They don’t seek from false gods what can only come from the Real One. We may not erect idols and temples to false gods, but there are plenty of false things that we pursue in the name of happiness. Our consumer culture has done a great job of selling us on the idea that if we just had X, then we would be happy. This is true not only in the realm of marketing products, but even in the arena of ideas. The one who has a relationship with God can discern the false gods from the True One because he knows him so well. He’s not fooled by the imitation gods. Finally, the person with a relationship with God does not swear deceitfully. This could be a reference to previous praying to false gods, as in swearing by the the name of false god as if it were real. Or it could mean that in their dealings with others, the godly person is absolutely trustworthy. There is no trickery or hint of deception. We always want to make ourselves look better than we are. This is human nature. But the godly person is so shaped by their closeness with God that, like George Washington, they cannot tell a lie. God is truth and anyone who spends time with God will find it more difficult to practice deception. The knowledge that God knows and sees everything has a way of keeping one honest. This list of four attributes of the godly person seems pretty daunting. However, we must remember that these become natural actions and attitudes when we live in close relationship with our Creator. The more we spend life in communion with him, the more we come to resemble Him. Try it. 

5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.[who seek your face, Jacob] Selah

The person who desires to live with God will be blessed by Him and will be justified, declared innocent by the LORD, the God of his salvation. Because no one can perfect the life described in the previous verse, this blessing and vindication must be the gift of God’s grace, not something that is due us. This is a promise that cannot be earned, but is genuinely given by God to those who seek him. This is what we can refer to as “gospel rest”. We can rest from our striving to merit God’s favor and trust in His promise to bless and justify us. Such is the generation of those that seek the face of God, who desire to live in his house and experience relationship with him. The word generation today suggests a certain demographic. We’re accustomed to speak of Boomers, and Generations X, Y, and Z. However, in this context it’s not the age of the people but the kind of people. These are the kind of people, people of all ages, who seek the face of God, who desire to know him. This is what it means to seek the face of someone -- to search for them and when you’ve found them, never take your eyes off them. Your face is your identity. It is the one distinguishing feature that makes us identifiable through the ages of life. Remove a face and it’s pretty hard to identify someone by body alone. God’s face in a sense is his identity, it reveals who he is. Paul considered everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8-11). Jesus said that eternal life was “knowing God (John 17:3). David says in Psalm 27:4 that the one singular focus of his life is dwelling in the house of God and beholding his beauty. Receiving God’s blessing and vindication is not something we earn by our merit. No it is the gift that is borne out of a relationship with Him. These flow to us naturally, in the day to day, as we walk and talk with Him, and seek to know him more. These are the kind of people who seek the face of the God of our ancestors. We are privileged to be counted among their number when we do the same. 

7 Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

In its original setting the gates and doors here were likely referring to the entrance to Jerusalem and perhaps also the temple. God was moving into the city, coming in to set up a house in the midst of the people and “entered” through the open gates. David led the procession bringing the ark into Jerusalem and later Solomon led the dedication of the temple and God showed up in a glory cloud. This was the liturgy that was used for those occasions. The song is a welcome song, an invitation for God to come into the community and rule. He’s God so he can come in anytime and anywhere he wants, but it’s always nice to get an invitation. He’s not just an out of town guest. He is the king of glory, the one who founded the world upon the seas and established upon the waters, the one who gives blessing and vindication to his covenant people. He is the king of unspeakable beauty, majesty, power, and brilliance that a house built by human hands cannot contain him. Nor can a gate or a door be wide enough or tall enough for him to enter, hence the necessity of lifting them up. Jesus entered those same gates a thousand years after this psalm was first sung. Riding on a donkey, he was proclaimed to be the son of David, the messiah. He later exited those gates of the city carrying a cross, for we really didn’t want a king who would tell us anything we didn’t want to hear. How welcoming is your heart to the king of glory? Have you opened wide the gates of your heart to allow Jesus to come in and take residence, filling every room of your life? Are you only letting him in the entryway, content to keep him at a distance from your private things? Israel threw a big party when God moved in, but eventually they forgot about him. His presence ceased to affect change in their lives, and they resented the idea that He would tell them things they didn’t want to hear. He moved out and they didn’t even realize it until the temple fell to the Babylonians less than 400 years after its construction. This verse follows naturally upon the covenant language that preceded it. Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? We enter into a relationship with God, and he moves in and sets up his home in us as the king of our heart. 

8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!

9 Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! Selah

The catechism continues. The first question was “who may ascend the hill of the LORD?” The second is “who is this King of glory”, referring to the one for whom the gates and ancient doors are opened. The answer is stated in stair-step parallelism, each line added to the previous, “the LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.” This suggests a military parade of sorts, a triumphant return of the King to his city after leading victoriously in battle. David had led those parades no doubt and here he is stating that it is in fact the LORD who leads in battle and accomplishes the victory. This is a consistent theme of David’s life (think of his prayer before defeating Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 or Psalm 20:7 - “some trust in chariots, some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” The same is true of those who follow Jesus. He is the great commander who defeated the two forever enemies of mankind -- sin and death. He leads us in triumphal procession (2 Corinthians 2:4) after He disarmed the rulers and authorities, and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them (Colossians 2:15). Jesus is the king of glory, strong and mighty in battle. The entire catechism is repeated for emphasis with one slight change. The second answer to the same question is that he is the LORD of hosts, LORD Sabbaoth (think A Mighty Fortress is our God -- LORD Sabbaoth his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle). This title of God refers to his command of armies of angels. One angel can do a lot of damage (think of the angel of death). Imagine what an army of them could do! Jesus leads the victory parade, commanding an army of angels, securing our victory over sin and death as he ascends to take his place on the throne of heaven. This is the picture of Jesus that is often lost on our culture who prefers to see him as just a moral teacher with children on his lap, a teacher that we might respect but do not agree with or obey. David’s vision of Jesus is foreshadowed by an event a thousand years earlier. How could he have known that his victory parade enthroning God in Jerusalem would become a snapshot of the greatest event in human history? 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. How appropriate that I am writing this on March 4 -- the only date that is a command!