Psalm 24
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Recap:
Recap:
Psalm 1: Jesus is Lord
Psalm 8: He is the only Lord
Psalm 23: He is all we need
Intro:
Intro:
I’ve told the story before on how we have titles around our house
I’m the king......
One day my daughter said but dad you aren’t the king
I responded with, “Go to your room and think about what you just said.” No I said, “Is that right?”
She said, “Yeah you can’t be the king.” Now it was getting serious
She said, “Because God is the King.”
One thing that happens when you get married is, you go from being “king of your life” to now having to sacrifice for someone else
You have kids and now I have 3 little people who think they are the king. That they get to call all of the shots. That they get to bark out orders from their thrones and everyone just has to do what they say.
Our Psalm today is going to take us through a journey of showing us what a real king looks like and then asks the question, Who is this King, and then answers the question it poses.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. 3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. 5 They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob., 7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory.
See Him clearly V 1-2
See Him clearly V 1-2
David begins His Psalm by reminding us of who God is
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it
The world is the Lord’s and all who live in it
We talk about this a lot but one of the most important distinctions you can ever make in your life is deciding that the God of the Bible is in fact God and that you are not.
We can’t possibly make sense of the world if we are God
But if God is God then we can trust that He can see what we can’t, He knows what we don’t, and He is in complete control
The earth is completely His
Everything belongs to the Lord
From land to sea
From nation to individual
All people, all things are His
This means for us, you were created by God
You are His!
The earth is completely His and the Earth is Rightly His
Verse 2 explains why verse 1 is true
Why is the earth His?
Because He created it
Out of nothing, God created it all.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
These first few verses look back to Genesis 1 & 2
The text that sets the stage and pulls back the curtains on how all of it was done and why.
David is reminding His readers of the God they serve
Of the God that they worship
In case you have forgotten our God is the creator God
He is King over it all
He is alpha and omega
He is beginning and end
He created it and controls it
From the largest of planets to the smallest of molecules
Our God, Yahweh, is the King of the world.
And with that in mind David begins to show us this:
Approach Him carefully
Approach Him carefully
Such an awesome, powerful, and sovereign God may not be approached lightly or irreverently.
He’s not just one of our buddies
He’s not a spiritual santa clause waiting to meet our list of demands
No this is the God of the Bible
Holy and righteous
Habakkuk 1:13 (NIV)
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Revelation 1:17 (NIV)
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last
9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.
How can we approach Him? How do we?
Charles Spurgeon - There should be some preparation of the heart in coming to the worship of God, and to the hearing of the gospel. Consider who He is in whose name we gather, and surely we cannot rush together without thought. Consider whom we profess to worship, and we shall not hurry into his presence as men run to a fire.
What preparation must we make?
Come Cleanly
vs 3&4 have 2 rhetorical parallel questions
Firstly, “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?”
This is in reference to Mount Zion, the place the Lord has installed his Messiah, His anointed, as King.
Second, “Who may stand in his holy place?”
The questions being asked are: Who can come into His presence? And who can remain there?
These are the questions David asks and then he continues on and answers the questions.
And he answers by saying that there are 4 requirements
1st: You must have “clean hands.”
You must be free from sinful actions and clean from all you do
“innocent, free from guilt”
Actions
2nd: You must have a “pure heart”
Blameless and free from impure motives, thoughts, and emotions
Attitude
3rd: You must not “trust in an idol.”
You must not disgrace God or dishonor him by being hypocritical
By choosing something over Him
Actions
4th: You must not swear “by a false god.”
No false motives may fill your heart or soul.
You must know nothing of dishonesty or deceit.
So, remember, the questions are: Who can come into His presence? And who can remain there?
And these are the requirements.
So here is what David has done up to this point.
He has shown us who God is
He is our creator who is sovereign over all
He is our purposeful designer who is the only One who can sustain us
He is what you need
But then He goes, but be careful in your approach to Him
Because of how great and grand and set apart that God is, not just anyone can approach Him
There are requirements and the requirements he lays out for us are impossible to meet.
Dorie picking up TGI Friday’s but not bringing me any
David has essentially said: Here is what you need, but you can’t have it.
You were made to enjoy the presence of God, the problem is, you can’t on your own.
Charles Spurgeon: “It is uphill work for the creature to reach the Creator. Where is the mighty climber who can scale the towering heights?”
Who can perfectly meet these 4 requirements?
There is only 1
There is only one who had such clean hands that it is said in Acts 10:38
Acts 10:38 (NIV)
38he went around doing good
There is only one whose heart is pure
John 8:29 (NIV)
29 for I always do what pleases him.”
There is only one so devoted to the Glory of God that He can truthfully say in John 17:4
4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.
There is only one whose words were spoken with such truthfulness and integrity that Scripture says in 1 Peter 2:22
22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
There is only one who can ascend the mountain of the Lord
There is only one who can stand forever in his holy place.
That one is Jesus!
And by His perfect atoning sacrifice, we can be found in Him
We can be found able, not because of our own righteousness but His righteousness that has been imputed to us by faith.
And now, in Him, you can come to the Lord clean, pure, loyal, and with integrity.
You can approach the Lord, you can enter into His presence and you can stay.
Know Him closely
Know Him closely
It says in vs 5 they will receive blessing from the Lord
This is: gift, enrichment, favor
This is a promise that God will look down on your with favor as a son or daughter
You will receive vindication from God
Other translations may say “righteousness or even victory.”
This is to say the God who saves pronounces us to be in right character and conduct
We have been vindicated to stand in His presence
Then it says, the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.
David specifically uses God of Jacob here to remind his readers of the time Jacob wrestled with God
Jacob’s response from that altercation was “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
If we seek the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart, we will see Him
We can know Him. Think about the implications of that.
You can personally, know God and know Him closely!
Worship correctly
Worship correctly
7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory.
David speaks about the gates leading to the sanctuary
He’s commanding them to raise up, to throw the doors open as wide as possible.
Because the “King of glory” has arrived.
This great King is described with power and might
“strong and mighty.” “mighty in battle.”
He is a warrior who is strong.
The worship that is being given to God is to say
The battle may be raging, but when the dust settles, it is the Lord who will be victorious!
Over our enemies, over death, over hell, over the grave.
Make way! Make room! Worship the One who came and is mighty to save!
When I am unclean, when I have impure motives, when I worship creation, when I deceive
When I look to the Lord and see the distance and space between, knowing there is nothing I can do to ascend the hill.
There is a King of Glory who lifts me up
Who’s power is unmatched
It is His strength that we praise
It is His might that we adore
It is His victory that we get to partake in
Who is this King of Glory?
It is Jesus of Nazareth who is the King of Glory
It is He alone who is worthy of our praise, of our worship
And it is He who draws us near
That we may enter the presence of God and we may dwell there
How do we live a live of praise?
With grateful hearts to the King of Glory
That He would take our place and invite us to know Him
We live a life of praise by recognizing that this is the goal of our life.
The goal of your life is to bring honor and glory to God
The goal of creation is to bring glory to the Creator, this is what Psalm 24 teaches us
The goal of your life is not get the best job you can
The goal of your life is not have a million dollars in the bank
The goal of your life isn’t even get married, have a beautiful family, go to church, build a house, become religious
The goal of your life is to worship and glorify God with all that He has given you
Can you glorify God with a good job? sure
Can you glorify God with a million dollars? sure
your marriage? Your kids? Your church? Your house?
Of course!
But in order to do that we have to understand that those things don’t belong to you.
You may have them in your possession
But your life is not your own
Your kids future is not your own
Your spouses future is not your own
The churches future is not your own
Everything belongs to God
Therefore everything should be used as an instrument to bring Him praise
This is what Psalm 24 teaches us