That the King of glory may come in!

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.

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. 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.   In Exodus 33:18-23 there is an interchange between Moses and God which says:  “Please, show me Your glory.”  Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”  But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”  And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.  So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.  Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”   God is the one who Himself makes the way that we can see His glory; that we can stand in His Holy place. For Moses, He covered him and hid him in the cleft of the rock. That Moses could see the Lord’s back is perhaps a prophetic indication of our own ability to see the glory of God; to stand in His presence and to see His face. Revelation 13:8 refers to the Lord as:  The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.   The Lord’s back bore the stripes of His sacrifice. Moses saw the future glorification of the Lord. In John 17:1, just before He was arrested, Jesus said:  “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.”  Because of the sacrifice of Christ, because He was glorified in the cross, we can see the glory of God. Hebrews 4:16 says:  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. We who are not ourselves holy and righteous can come to God because of the grace that we have in Christ. Galatians 4:6-7 says:  Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.  Our inheritance is more than the Promised Land of Moses. Ours is all of the riches and goodness of the kingdom of God. We are heirs of all that God has promised. We are no longer far off. Not only can we see His glory and His face, but we also know Him as “Abba,” Daddy.

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 3:20-21 the Lord 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 will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.”

Come in King of glory. Thank You that through Your sacrifice I can come boldly to Your throne and even more You have restored me to what You intended for me from the foundation of the world. Genesis 1:26 says:  “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  I have a place with You on Your throne in all of Your glory. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, both in and through my life. Amen.