That the King of glory may come in!

Psalm 24 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible 

The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,
The world, and those who live in it.
² For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.
³ Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ One who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to deceit
And has not sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He will 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, you gates,
And be lifted up, you 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, you gates,
And lift them up, you ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in!
¹⁰ Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of armies,
He is the King of glory. 

The psalmist declares: The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains,
The world, and those who live in it. For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers. As creator, God is also the owner of all the things He created. That includes us. As creator, He determines the rules regarding creation. He founded and established the heavens and the earth with precision and perfection. In Psalm 139:14-16 it says: I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.  Like the heavens and earth, we too were created in perfection, awesomely and wonderfully made. Just as the awesome creation did not come to be through a series of accidents, neither did we. Some may be conceived as a surprise to their parents, but it was no accident or surprise to the Father in heaven. Our days were ordained before we were born.

The psalmist asks and answers a question: Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? One who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to deceit And has not sworn deceitfully. He will receive a blessing from the Lord And righteousness from the God of his salvation.  Our righteousness is not our own. We were created in perfection but, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Our righteousness is a blessing from God, given to us through the sacrifice of Christ His Son. Hebrews 4:14-16 says: 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. In the righteousness of Christ, we can ascend into the very presence of the Holy God. In Him and Him alone, we are made clean and pure. In John 14:6 Jesus says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” 

This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face—Lift up your heads, you gates, And be lifted up, you 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, you gates, And lift them up, you ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of armies, He is the King of glory.  Not only can we, in the righteousness of Christ enter into the presence of God, but also in John 14:15-17;21;23-24  Jesus says: “If you love Me, keep My commandments And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you… He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest 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 home 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.”  God and Christ and the Holy Spirit are with us and in us.

In Revelation 3:20-22 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 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.”Revelation 22:17;20-21 says: “Let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely”… He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.