A Study in Psalms - Vol. III; No. 9

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

¹The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, 
the world, and all who live in it; ²for He founded it upon the seas 
and established it upon the waters. ³Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? 
Who may stand in His holy place? ⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 
who does not lift up his soul to an idol 
or swear by what is false. ⁵He will receive blessing from the LORD 
and vindication from God his Savior. ⁶Such is the generation of those who seek Him, 
who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah ⁷Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
be lifted up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of glory may come in. ⁸Who is this King of glory? 
The LORD strong and mighty, 
the LORD mighty in battle. ⁹Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
lift them up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of glory may come in. ¹⁰Who is He, this King of glory? 
The LORD Almighty--He is the King of glory. Selah

This psalm, as the last two have been, concerns specifically the Lord Jesus Christ. These three make up a trilogy of beautiful psalms concerning Christ: Psalm 22, Christ as Savior; Psalm 23, Christ as Shepherd; Psalm 24, Christ as Sovereign. This psalm begins by stating the right of sovereignty of the Lord, and consequently, the difficult requirements upon those who may dwell with Him. It ends with Christ's qualifications for a triumphant entrance in glory into the gates of heaven, which can also be read as an appeal for all to receive Christ into the gates of their hearts.

The Qualifications for the Lord's Sovereignty

¹The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, 
the world, and all who live in it; ²for He founded it upon the seas 
and established it upon the waters.

These verses establish the qualifications for the Lord's sovereignty. David states unequivocally: "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." Note the all-inclusiveness of this statement: the "earth", "everything in it", "the world", and "all who live in it" are all the Lord's. The reason for this scope and the surety of this statement is given next: "For He founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." The fact that the Lord created everything gives Him the uncontested right of ownership to everything.

David first speaks of things physical: "the earth. . . and everything in it." The Lord made not only "the earth", but also "everything in it". The Lord's role in His creation did not end with the creation of the earth, but He has a continued role in the creation and sustenance of everything. David points this out, for he states that the Lord not only "founded" the earth (signifying His initial act of creation), but He also "established it" (signifying His continued sustenance of His creation). Christ elsewhere in various places in the Bible specifically is stated to perform both of these roles. For example, His creation: "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made" (John 1:3); then, His sustenance: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word" (Hebrews 1:3).

David speaks not only of the Lord's physical possessions, but also of His human possessions: "the world, and all who live in it." The term "the world" in the Bible many times speaks of the human element on earth, often referring to the fallen nature of man. The things of the world are frequently put in contrast to the things of God. For instance, John warns us: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-- comes not from the Father but from the world" (I John 2:15-16). In any case, despite the nature of this fallen world and fallen man, they are still possessions of the Lord. In fact, in spite of the depravity of the world, God loves the world; He has proven this: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). The world belongs to Christ because He, in effect, paid for it twice: He created the world, then He redeemed the world.

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it." This fact is very important to all of us. We belong to the Lord: this fact should affect every aspect of our lives; it should be a driving force in all of our lives. Due to this fact, the worship of the Lord on earth should be universal, and obedience to the Lord should be complete. Yet, we fall so short.

The Requirements to Dwell with the Lord

³Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? 
Who may stand in His holy place? ⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 
who does not lift up his soul to an idol 
or swear by what is false. ⁵He will receive blessing from the LORD 
and vindication from God his Savior. ⁶Such is the generation of those who seek Him, 
who seek Your face, O God of Jacob. Selah

The previous verses are a prelude to the rest of the psalm. They set up these verses, which concern the requirements to dwell with the Lord. Since, the Lord created the earth, He has the right to determine who will enter into eternity with Him. David asks the questions: "Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in His holy place?" These are questions all should ponder, because the answers are of the utmost importance concerning where we spend eternity.

On earth, we have been given by the Lord some measure of control over our lives. We have the ability to make choices that affect the direction that our lives will proceed, and we can opt to put in the effort to make our lives a success. Those who work hard normally enjoy the fruits of their labor; those who live futilely will normally end up with empty lives. But what about eternity? Can we through our own labor direct what happens to us after death? Can we dictate the terms by which our life after death will be a success? The clear answer is, in and of ourselves, we have no control over eternity. How could we? Our existence did not begin until we entered this world; and we did not bring ourselves into the world. How could we in ourselves have any control over our existence after death? Clearly, our Creator is the one who has the power and the right to decide about our eternity. He is the only one who has that right. We cannot say: "If I am basically a good person, I deserve to go to heaven." What right or power have we to make such a statement?

No, the Creator is the only one who has the right to determine the destiny of His creation; and here He states through David the basis for such a determination: "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false" (vs. 4). Our destiny is based on our righteousness in the sight of God, and His standards are high--no, more than that, they are perfection. "Clean hands" denote outward holiness, purity of actions; "a pure heart" denotes inward holiness, innocence in all thoughts and desires. And then David speaks of purity in worship, in not "lift[ing] up [one's] soul to an idol"; then finally pure speech in not "swear[ing] by what is false". The requirements touch on the seats of morality: hands, heart, soul, tongue. These control the actions, feelings and speech.

Now, let me ask: Do any of you have "clean hands"? Or even more difficult: Do any of you have "a pure heart"? Have you never had idols in your life? Has your tongue uttered nothing but the truth? I'll let Paul sum up our ability to meet these requirements: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). None of us by our own efforts meets these standards; and so, none of us on our own can "ascend the hill of the Lord" or "stand in His holy place". But God has provided a way for us to have imputed to us, through faith, the righteousness of the only one who has met these requirements. As Paul teaches: "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" (Rom. 3:22). As David puts it: "Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face, O God of Jacob" (vs. 6).

Now, do not let the fact that our righteousness is imputed to us lessen the importance to seek righteousness. Righteousness is very important, and can be very valuable. As David points out, it is the righteous man who "will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior." (vs. 5).

The Entrance of the King

⁷Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
be lifted up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of glory may come in. ⁸Who is this King of glory? 
The LORD strong and mighty, 
the LORD mighty in battle. ⁹Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
lift them up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of glory may come in. ¹⁰Who is He, this King of glory? 
The LORD Almighty--He is the King of glory. Selah

This psalm ends with a picture of the entrance into the Kingdom of the only one who meets the requirements to "ascend the hill of the LORD": "Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." Jesus Christ, the King of glory, has "ascended the hill of the LORD" by His own righteousness.

In another sense, though, David could be speaking to us, with an appeal for us to open the gates of our hearts "that the King of glory may come in." In fact, it's as if David is speaking to us directly: "Life up your heads, O you gates." With this reading, David is especially speaking to those who have put off receiving Christ, "you ancient doors"--those who know they need the righteousness of Christ, know that they should come to know Christ, but have kept the ancient, rusty doors of their hearts shut.

"Who is this King of glory?" Let us be reminded: "The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle" (vs. 8). Though Christ is loving, and died for us, there will be a time when it will be too late to open the old, rusty gates. Then, Christ will return in glory and the earth will see His "strength" and "might". David repeats himself because this is important: "Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in" (vs. 9). So many put off opening those gates. Be careful: the older those gates are, the harder they are to open! And wait: if the President came to the door of your house, wouldn't you run to let him in? And yet, the King of glory is at the door of your heart, and you will not let Him in? And certainly, if the gates of heaven open for Him, the gates of our hearts should swing wide open!

"Who is He, this King of glory?" So many do not know their Savior. All of us, whether or not we have opened the gates of our hearts to let Him in--I say, all of us need to know Him better. "Who is He, this King of glory?" This is a question worthy of a life of study.

And so Lord, help us, by Your Spirit, to know You better. Quicken our hearts to desire this knowledge, enrich our understanding so that we may delight in this knowledge, increase our wisdom so that we may understand that seeking knowledge of You is the most productive way to spend our time. Free up our lives from the chains of the world, which keep us from seeking You. In the name of the our Lord, the King of Glory, Jesus Christ, we pray these things, Amen.