The King of Glory

Psalm 24 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The King of Glory Entering Zion.   A Psalm of David.

The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,
The world, and those who dwell in it.
² For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.
³ Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He shall receive a blessing from the Lord
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face—even Jacob. Selah.

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in!
⁸ Who is the 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 heading of the psalm today is The King of Glory Entering Zion.  Zion refers to the Jewish people, the Jewish homeland but perhaps even more it refers to the ideal society envisioned in the Jewish faith and so in the Christian faith as well. The psalmist says:  The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.    After the resurrection, in Matthew 28:18, Jesus says:  “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”   Jesus was present and active in creation. John 1:1-3 says:  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.    Colossians 1:16 says:  By Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.

The psalmist asks and answers a question:  Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully.  Several times in Leviticus, God’s law for His people, God says: Be holy for I am holy. Leviticus 20:26:  Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.  Even Moses, who spoke with God, was told:  “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” (Exodus 3:20)  Through Jesus, who appeared as a man and was seen in the flesh, who died for our sins on the cross, we also are made holy and righteous before God. We can ascend to His presence and see Him. In Matthew 27:50-51, when Jesus was on the cross, it says:  Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.    The veil of the temple was torn because there was no longer a barrier between man and God. On the cross Jesus paid the price for sin, once for all. John 19:30 tells us what it was that Jesus cried out:  “It is finished!”  When God created Adam and Eve, they walked and talked with God. Then, through their disobedience, their sin, that intimacy was lost. The finished work of the cross, restored what sin had cost. Hebrews 4:14-16 says:  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.   We have clean hands and a pure heart in Christ, through the finished work of the cross. The psalmist says:  He shall receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face.

The psalmist says:  Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is the 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.    In Revelation 3:20-22 Jesus says:  “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”    It’s not the gates or doors of a city which the Lord desires to enter. It is the gates and the doors of our heart which must be opened to Him. He is the Lord strong and mighty. He is the King of glory, the Lord of hosts, the Lord mighty in battle. Yet in John 14:16-24 Jesus says:   “ I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”… “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”    The King of glory lives in us!

The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it. For He has founded it upon the seas And established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord  And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face.  Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for the blessing of salvation and the righteousness of Christ, through the finished work of the cross. I love You and open my heart wholly to You. Thank You that as I seek Your face, at the throne of grace, I have all I need.   Amen.