Who Is This King of Glory?

Text:

Psalm 24 ESV

A Psalm of David. 1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of 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 this 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

David, in this Psalm, looks and lingers with a poet’s eye. Much of our lives does not lend themselves to observation and meditation, and we are the poorer for it. But if you look and be still you will see glory and artistry and majesty–your mind will turn over questions of creation and purpose and how your every breath is sustained and how this world is warmed by a explosion 93 million miles away and whether massive or miniscule, the stamp and all of our world is resplendence and glory.

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

The vast and painted sky and all those who draw their breath from it. Holder of billions of gallons of water that the Lord takes and waters where He wants.

The depths of the ocean filled with marvels–gardens of coral, creatures of grand design

The soil covered in green and gold, shoots of flowers and trees and mountains and men.

The fullness of the earth — fruit and food and children and love and grace and forgiveness and song.

The earth, though bearing the stain of sin, is still magnificent in its glory.

David, in Psalm 8 proclaims,

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8, ESV)

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!”― Abraham Kuyper

If you aren’t interested in God, what are you interested in? There are things here that you love and enjoy. But the earth is the lords and the fullness therein — it belongs to Him.

How much greater is the builder of the house than the house itself - Heb. 3:3

Don’t worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator - Romans 1

We are made to worship — we are made to value and praise and enjoy — and we do, but we worship small things that leave us mildly and briefly entertained, yet utterly unsatisfied.

If God is to give us the greatest thing, what is it that He will give us? What is the greatest thing in the universe? Himself. And this is what He has done, at great cost and glory.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

Psalm 24:3–5 (ESV) — 3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

David’s eyes see that not only is there a stark difference between the mighty Creator and His creation, which humbles him enough to declare seeing the heavens, “what is man that you are mindful of us”, but he also sees the holiness of the Lord. That God is a consuming fire, radiant in perfection, prompting him to ask: “Who can approach Him? Who can stand before Him?”

There is an answer: He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully (v.4).

Someone whose...

Hands: Their actions serve always to do good, protecting and providing.

Heart: Their motives are clean and right. Their thoughts are pure.

Soul: Their worship is true, aimed at God alone and not at idols.

Tongue: Their word is true and never mixed with lies and falsehood.

For, as Hebrews says, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." - Heb. 12:14

And so David describes the situation as one in which there are gates and ancient doors which bar us from ascending the hill of Lord.

If there can be no sin where God is, than I certainly cannot be there.

What a world we live in where those who pay attention can see this predicament —

Does this fill you with despair? The tension here is tight and many at this point go on to blame God for the audacity of his holiness–that He would separate himself from man. They redefine love and mercy to mean pardon with no justice because the mercy of the wicked is cruel — it does not actually deal with sin.

The true question is, what does God do with such tension? So far from Him in glory and in purity, where does our help come from? Our help comes from the Lord!

Open The Gates For The King of Glory (v.7-10)

A remarkable scene is painted for us: The psalmist calls for the gates to be thrown open because there is one who is able, one who is qualified, a King of glory who is coming to ascend the hill of the Lord

The call back from the watchtower is this: “Who is this king of glory?” What are His credentials? What gives Him the right?

The answer: “The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates that the King of glory may come in.

Christ is this king! The Lord of glory who now is ascended and sits at the right hand of the father.

He is the Lord strong and mighty, who has conquered sin and death and hell, who rose from the grave!

He is the one with the clean hands and a pure heart

He lives up to the name king of glory in every way — Creator and sustainer and redeemer.

God delights in obedience more than sacrifice. God delights in Jesus’ life more than the cross. His life, his works, his righteousness is now given to us. We can now ascend the hill of the Lord, through him --

we don’t merely have a pardon; we have Christ and his righteousness. As John 17 says it, we are now one– us in the son and the son in the father.

Not only is He the lord of creation and of angels and oceans, but He is also the Lord of re-creation and life and redemption.

“All true glory is concentrated upon the true God, for all other glory is but a passing pageant, the painted pomp of an hour” – Spurgeon