That the King of glory may come in!

Psalm 24 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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.

Today’s text is a Psalm of David. David’s psalms give us a look into the heart of God because God spoke of David saying: 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.' (Acts 13:22)  David begins saying:  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.   It is a simple and logical assessment and acknowledgment that the One who created the earth and all that it contains; the One both established it and maintains it, also has ownership of it. Yet many do not acknowledge God’s sovereignty over the earth. In order to take His ownership away they hypothesize and theorize that rather than there being a creator, all the earth and all that it contains formed itself through multiple of unrelated occurrences; a series of random accidents. A heart after the heart of God looks at creation and knows there must be a creator. Just as a child who was abandoned or adopted has within them a desire to know their parents, so too does a heart after the heart of God want to know their creator.

David was not only a man after the heart of God. While he was an ancestor of Jesus, he is recognized as an Old Testament type of Christ. Because he was after God’s heart, he saw and expressed by faith the things that God would do through Jesus. In today’s text he says:  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.   Hebrews 4:14-16 says: Since 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 One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  By God’s grace and mercy we are seen as righteous in Christ. We are those who can come boldly into the holy presence of God. We are blessed with grace for whatever we need. God says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)  Ephesians 2:8-10 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   Our salvation is through Him, by His righteousness not ours. Yet because we are recreated in Him our hearts are made pure. We too can have a heart after the heart of God. We can live righteously and do the good works God prepared beforehand. Like David we can be those who will do all of the will of God.

David 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. Selah.   In Revelation 3:20-22Jesus says: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 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.”  In Revelation 22:7;12-13;16 He says:  “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book…  behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last…  I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”  

May our response also be: “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Heavenly Father, like David, may I have a heart after Your heart to do all Your will through Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.