Advent #3 - The King of Glory

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Introduction

<<READ Ps 24>>
Week 3 in Advent/Christmas Series: Your King Has Come - looking at texts that show us how Jesus came in fulfillment of all of God’s promises to rescue the world from sin & death.
Structure - 3 stanzas (vv1-2, 3-6, 7-10). Begins & ends w/ YHWH // fourfold question: Who can ascend, who shall stand, who is this King of Glory (twice)? //
The first stanza emphasizes the LORD’s sovereignty as Creator, and the last stanza emphasizes His glory and might. In the middle, we have the questions: Who can go up the hill & dwell with Him?
The answers come in the middle of the Psalm
Week 3 in Advent/Christmas Series: Your King Has Come - looking at texts that show us how Jesus came in fulfillment of all of God’s promises to rescue the world from sin & death.
Dec 1, read from , God’s promise that the Messiah, the King, would come humbly, mounted on a donkey, righteous and bringing salvation with him. And preached from - God’s promise that on the mountain He would give us an eternal feast and He would swallow up death forever.
Last week, read from and God’s promise, fulfilled in Jesus, that God Himself would dwell with us, as the Word made Flesh, and Pastor Steve showed us from that Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God, gives us hope, even when it seems like the kingdoms of this world are triumphing, because God, the Ancient of Days, has promised to give the Kingdom to His people.
Today, with , in the coming of our King, we are promised victory. In , which we heard earlier in the service, we find out that righteousness and salvation are His to give. And says that God has promised to give them to those who seek His face.
CONTEXT
David wrote in 3 stanzas, vv1-2, 3-6, 7-10.
The Psalm doesn’t tell us when David wrote it, but it’s pretty clear that he’s singing about when he brought the Ark into Jerusalem, and looking forward to the day when the LORD would come into Jerusalem to bring salvation to the world.
Story starts way back in . Long before David, before King Saul, the Ark - the sign and symbol of the LORD’s presence & covenant w/ Israel, was taken by the Philistines in battle. And they took it back to their city, Ashdod, and for the next 7 months, the Philistines were hit by disaster after disaster. Finally, they had enough of the plagues that had struck them, and they sent the Ark back to Israel. But instead of bringing it to Jerusalem, where the LORD had determined His Name should dwell, for the next 20 years, the Israelites kept the Ark in a town called Kiriath Jearim.
But now, after David was confirmed as the King, the LORD led Israel to new victories over the Philistines and in and , we read that David brings the Ark to its home.
, (cf. , )
The Ark - the sign and symbol of the LORD’s presence & covenant w/ Israel
Victory over Philistines - the LORD victorious over Israel’s enemies
As the Ark made the ascent up to Jerusalem, David rejoiced and worshiped God the whole way. And
2 Samuel 6:14–15 ESV
14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
2 sam 6:14-15
David leapt and danced in the equivalent of his underwear. Why in the world did he do that? David, the King of Israel, the champion who slew Goliath, stripped down and made himself undignified as if to point towards heaven and say <<POINT>>, “He’s the real King. He gets all the glory.”
2 Samuel 6:17 ESV
17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
2 sam 6.17
2 Samuel 6:12–15 ESV
12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
2 sam 6.
2 sam 6:
2 Samuel 6:17–19 ESV
17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 18 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts 19 and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house.
begins and ends with the fundamental reality that the LORD reigns. It leaves no question who David thinks is the King of Glory who deserves all praise. And it raises a question:
In , David’s songs of praise hearken back to God’s covenant with Abraham and how He brought Israel out of Egypt & into the Promised Land
the Holy Spirit, who carried David along as he wrote,
In English, the basic element in poetry usually - lines of equal length, with rhyming words @ end. More advanced poetry develops more complicated rules of rhyming, similar sounding words, riffing on ideas, etc.
Question: What does God’s kingship mean for us?
In Hebrew, the basic element in poetry is parallelism - the repetition of words, ideas, sounds, imagery in complex relationships. Often two lines seem to say the same thing, requires time to wrestle w/ it. (Example? v7?)
Hebrew poetry is famous for its brevity. An idea that takes 9 words in English might only require 3 words in Hebrew, and it’s the reader’s job to wrestle with just how to put the meaning together.
In , the key idea is the Kingship of God. But the thing that held the psalm together poetically was a repetition of a cluster of sounds - the Hebrew ear hears the pleasing echoes of similar-sounding words from verses 4-9 - you might have noticed in your English Bible that there will often be footnotes that say things like “Such-and-such name sounds like the Hebrew for this”. <<POINT OR REMOVE>>
Maybe you can hear it if I try to read verse 4 in Hebrew -
Psalm 24:4lhb ESV
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.
Psalm 24:4 LHB
4 נְקִ֥י כַפַּ֗יִם וּֽבַר־לֵ֫בָ֥ב אֲשֶׁ֤ר׀ לֹא־נָשָׂ֣א לַשָּׁ֣וְא נַפְשִׁ֑י וְלֹ֖א נִשְׁבַּ֣ע לְמִרְמָֽה׃
lo-nasa lashav nafshi velo nishba lemirmah
Yisa berachah me-et Adonai utsedaQAH
Proposition: Rejoice! Your King is mighty to save!
Question:

I. Bow to the sovereign King who created (vv1-2)

<<READ vv1-2>>
Note the polemical response to both Egyptian & Canaanite religion - the whole earth is the LORD’s
Note the polemical response to both Egyptian & Canaanite religion - the whole earth is the LORD’s
<<READ vv1-2>>
These words stand in absolute opposition to the deep-seated rebellion of sinful humanity.
David’s poetry here uses parallel lines to advance his thoughts. He starts with the earth and its fulness, and then the world and is inhabitants. And in verse 2, he uses synonyms - founding and establishing.
Here in these two short verses, David aims five smooth stones at every rebellion against God.
First, he says that all these things belong to the LORD. In Hebrew, the title of the Psalm is, “Of David, a Psalm,” and then immediately after that David writes in Hebrew, “Of the LORD, the earth.” In the same way that this Psalm belongs to David, because he wrote it, the world belongs to the LORD. He spoke it into being.
Second, he says “the fullness” of the earth belongs to the LORD. This word means the full produce, the richness, the full wonderful extent of a thing.
When I was an elementary school kid, in music class, we spent a lot of time singing patriotic songs, and two that I remember were “This land is your land,” and “America the beautiful.” We sang about sea to shining sea, and amber waves of grain, and purple mountains majesty. Also the most patriotic song of all time, Texas Our Texas. David says that all of the good things that you see, all of the things to which you lay a claim, the fullness of the world belongs to God.
Third, he switches to another word for “world,” and this time he says “and those who dwell therein.” This is where things really get spicy. The people belong to Him, from toe to head. In the same way that the Psalm belongs to David, David belongs to God. And so do you. Because He spoke you into being. And that means He is the one who says what you mean.
Fourth, David says that the LORD established and founded the world. Like a king who establishes a kingdom, the LORD is the one who reigns.
And fifth, He did so upon the seas and upon the rivers. He actually kills two birds with this fifth stone. First, he points us back to , where God spoke and gathered the seas together so the dry land would appear. In other words, God governs His world and always has. He is not far from us, not distant from us. He is intimately involved in His world. This also happens to be a big thumb in the eye of all the false Canaanite religions that surrounded Israel, because they all believed that the seas and rivers were powerful forces under the authority of different gods, and David says the seas and rivers and land all belong to the LORD, and when He said “let the dry land appear,” there was no power or authority that could stand against Him.
In fact,
APPLY:
As we consider this first stanza, and the question, “What does God’s kingship mean for us?”, as the Creator, He is our rightful King. As
Revelation 4:11 ESV
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
But our experience in this fallen world is that we want to stand alone as sovereign of our own lives. If there’s anything that we think belongs to us alone, it’s our own minds and hearts. It is a shock to realize that even my mind is a product of His creative might. That even my thoughts and dreams are His by right. That my affections belong to Him and should be directed to glorify Him.
When Paul quotes in , the climax of his point comes in verse 31, when he says,
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
God’s Kingship first means that we must bow to the sovereign King who created us. And practically speaking, this means that we should not be surprised when living our own way begets chaos and alienation and spiritual and physical death. The God who made you knows what you were meant for. You were meant to reflect His glory, as a beloved child who adores Him. And this brings us to our second stanza, vv3-6 - the Kingship of God means we must believe in the Holy King who cares
In fact,
Statement: The world and its inhabitants belong to the Lord. Reason: He is the creator
Expansion: The earth and everything in it; if that’s not clear enough - the world and all its inhabitants
God’s Kingship first means that we must bow to the sovereign King who created us. And this
Expansion: Because, just as declares, He alone caused it to be

II. Believe in the holy King who cares (vv3-6)

<<READ vv3-6>>
<<READ vv3-6>>
Double question - who will ascend the hill of the LORD and who will stand in His Holy Place:
Double question:
Hill of the LORD is Mt Zion - remember in , saw the mountain as the place where we meet God, where He promises to save us from death & spread the feast of eternal life
The Holy Place - the Tabernacle, the tent that God commanded the Israelites to build in as His sanctuary - (see )
Exodus 25:8 ESV
8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.
Later in
Exodus 29:42–45 ESV
42 It shall be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.
Exodus 29:43 ESV
43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory.
To ascend & stand - a picture of worship. All of Israel commanded to come to Jerusalem for the high holy days, including Passover. All would ascend the Hill in order to worship God in the Tabernacle courts. But sins & ritual uncleanness would make them disqualified from entering the courts. Double question is a reminder: The Holy God requires His worshippers to be holy.
Courtyard - altar for burnt offerings, there LORD promised to meet w/ Israel ()
Courtyard - altar for burnt offerings, there LORD promised to meet w/ Israel ()
To ascend & stand - a picture of worship. All of Israel commanded to come to Jerusalem for the high holy days, including Passover. All would ascend the Hill in order to worship God in the Tabernacle courts. But sins & ritual uncleanness would make them disqualified from entering the courts. Double question is a reminder: The Holy God requires His worshippers to be holy.
- The priests alone could enter the Holy Place to perform their duties, including the offering of incense, but into the second place - the Holy of Holies - only the high priest, only once a year, only on Day of Atonement, only after first making atonement for his own sins, and then for the sins of his people, because even the high priest’s hands are not clean.
- The priests alone could enter the Holy Place to perform their duties, including the offering of incense, but into the second place - the Holy of Holies - only the high priest, only once a year, only on Day of Atonement, only after first making atonement for his own sins, and then for the sins of his people, because even the high priest’s hands are not clean.
No one can enter God’s presence in their sins, - the sacrifices dealt with ritual uncleanness, but were only a picture of the salvation God had planned. The blood of bulls & goats cannot take away sins, and the intercession of the priests could never suffice to save us.
- Christ the great high priest has entered by His own blood, in order to bring US into God’s presence (, 19-22)
David answers his double question first with two positive answers:
Two positive answers:
They must have clean hands, and a pure heart. Clean hands - contrasted with “hands full of blood” (), clean hands to be lifted up (). Pure heart - contrasted with a wicked heart -
Psalm 51:10 ESV
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Jeremiah 17:9 ESV
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Cf. , ,
These point to INTEGRITY & HOLINESS
, points to INTEGRITY & HOLINESS
David also answers with two denials in v4:
Does not lift up his soul to what is false, does not swear deceitfully
Starts external, goes internal; internal, goes external (hands, heart, soul, mouth) - the matter of the heart is the heart of the matter. But also demonstrates - the holiness that God requires is total. Encompasses the entirety of humanity
To lift up the soul is to devote yourself, your time, attention, to something. (cf. , ). To lift up your soul to what is false is a picture of false worship and devotion to empty things. This is why, in the very next Psalm, David says, in 25:1, “To you, o LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust.” The one who has not lifted up his soul to what is false has kept God on the throne in his heart.
To lift up the soul is to devote one’s heart, time, attention, etc. (cf. ).
He belongs on the throne of your heart, because your heart belongs to Him.
The second denial in v4 is that the person who can ascend the hill of the LORD and stand in His Holy Place “does not swear deceitfully.” Three weeks ago, Jamie Eklund preached from , in the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus takes aim at a perversion of God’s Law, where the traditions of the rabbis completely negated God’s call and command to speak the truth. God’s people are to be known by the integrity of their speech.
Matthew 5:33–36 ESV
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Matthew 5:33–37 ESV
33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ 34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
mat 5.33
There in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes aim at a perversion of God’s Law, where the traditions of the rabbis completely negated God’s call and command to speak the truth. God’s people are to be known by the integrity of their speech.
Here in verse 4, we’re starting to get a picture: No one can enter God’s presence unless they are holy on the inside and the outside. Hands, heart, soul, mouth, holy through-and-through.
Verse 5 says that this holy person, in God’s Holy Place, will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation, and verse 6 says
Psalm 24:6 ESV
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
Remember at the beginning of our series in the Sermon on the Mount, we looked at what it means to be blessed, because that’s where Jesus starts - “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied… Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
To be blessed is to be promised God’s favor, and protection, and His saving presence. And those things are promised to the ones who seek His face. Even the righteousness by which they stand in His presence is a gift from the God of their salvation.
He is the Holy King who cares for us and has made a way for our hands to be made clean, for their hearts to be made pure. Who can look at verse 4 and claim they have a right to ascend the hill of the LORD on their own terms? David himself knew he couldn’t. In , the one that begins with David saying, “To you, o LORD, I lift up my soul,” a little later in verse 6 David says
Psalm 25:6–7 ESV
6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!
And in verse 11,
Psalm 25:11 ESV
11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
David understood that his only hope, the only way his worship would be accepted by the Holy God, was if the LORD took away his sins and gave him righteousness as a gift.
Who can enter God’s presence? Who has the right to enter the Holy Place?
In Hebrews chapter 9 and 10, we read that the Tabernacle, and the priesthood, and the sin offerings, were all intended to teach us that the only way for us to be reconciled to God was for our sins to be dealt with once, and for all, and completely, by the Messiah, Jesus. He is our Great High Priest, our spotless Passover Lamb. He himself entered the Holy Places, not the earthly Tabernacle, but what calls “the greater and more perfect tent,” the very presence of God that the Tabernacle represented, and He entered God’s presence on our behalf through His own blood.
- The priests alone could enter the Holy Place to perform their duties, including the offering of incense, but into the second place - the Holy of Holies - only the high priest, only once a year, only on Day of Atonement, only after first making atonement for his own sins, and then for the sins of his people, because even the high priest’s hands are not clean.
No one can enter God’s presence in their sins, - the sacrifices dealt with ritual uncleanness, but were only a picture of the salvation God had planned. The blood of bulls & goats cannot take away sins, and the intercession of the priests could never suffice to save us.
- Christ the great high priest has entered by His own blood, in order to bring US into God’s presence (, )
In Hebrews chapter 9 and 10, we read that the Tabernacle, and the priesthood, and the sin offerings, were all intended to teach us that the only way for us to be reconciled to God was for our sins to be dealt with once, and for all, and completely, by the Messiah, Jesus. He is our Great High Priest, our spotless Passover Lamb. He himself entered the Holy Places, not the earthly Tabernacle, but what calls “the greater and more perfect tent,” the very presence of God that the Tabernacle represented, and He entered God’s presence on our behalf through His own blood.
Hebrews 9:13–14 ESV
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
heb 9.13-14
Clean hands and a pure heart. Jesus Christ ascended the hill for you and for me. He shed His blood, as the once-for-all sacrifice for sins, so we could enter God’s presence.
Hebrews 10:19–22 ESV
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
heb 10.19-22
Who can ascend the hill of the LORD? Who is acceptable to Him? Every single person who puts their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Believe in Him. Believe in the Holy King who cares for you.
So how should we respond to the arrival of our King?
We should believe in the Holy King who cares.
SO this first connection is to idolatry - doesn’t devote oneself to idols.
To lift up the soul is to devote one’s heart, time, attention, etc. (cf. , :1).
First connection is to idolatry - doesn’t devote oneself to idols. Second connection is to put one’s faith, hope, or love in that which is “worthless” by its opposition to the LORD who made heaven and earth
Second connection is to put one’s faith, hope, or love in that which is “worthless” by its opposition to the LORD who made heaven and earth
Apply: Seeking Him & His face as the heart of the Psalm for us
Note connection to Jamie’s sermon on - not to swear falsely, commitment to truth, Kingdom People are included in Christ the King by faith, given clean hands & pure heart and called to lift up his soul only to the truth & speak the truth
“lift up his soul to what is false” - What false things do we lift our souls to?

III. Behold the glorious King who is coming again (vv7-10)

x-refs: ,
<<READ vv7-10>>
Lift up your heads - When David brought the Ark to the Temple, after 20 years of Jerusalem in shame, heads previously bowed in defeat were now lifted up in joy & victory as the loud praises and rejoicing filled the streets.
heads previously bowed in shame (in defeat) now lifted up in joy & victory because you hear the triumphant tumult. “Pay attention” & open the gates. Picture the way the dog responds when it hears the garage door open, or imagine dad coming home safely from war.
because you hear the triumphant tumult. “Pay attention” & open the gates. Picture the way the dog responds when it hears the garage door open, or imagine dad coming home safely from war.
Lift up your heads - “Pay attention” & open the gates. Picture the way the dog responds when it hears the garage door open, or imagine dad coming home safely from war.
Lift up your heads - heads previously bowed in shame (in defeat) now lifted up in joy & victory because you hear the triumphant tumult. “Pay attention” & open the gates. Picture the way the dog responds when it hears the garage door open, or imagine dad coming home safely from war.
Lift up your heads = Pay attention, take note, look up & rejoice!
New question in vv8, 10 - In case there’s any doubt, when David comes in from battle, it’s the LORD that’s the King of Glory, the LORD that gave the victory
Stands as a perfect bookend for the beginning of the Psalm. We started with the LORD as the sovereign Creator, and we end with the LORD as the glorious King.
Answers the beginning of the Psalm, returns to the LORD as the One to whom the whole earth belongs
When the Ark came into Jerusalem for the first time in , and David danced with abandon before it, he commemorated the mighty things that the LORD had done in psalm 105 and Psalm 96.
1 Chronicles 16:8–12 ESV
8 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 9 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! 10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! 11 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! 12 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
1 chr 16.8-11
1 Chronicles 16:23 ESV
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day.
1 chr 16.23
and
1 Chronicles 16:31 ESV
31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
1 chr 16.
Who is the King of Glory? The LORD, strong and mighty. How could Pharaoh have stopped Israel from leaving Egypt when the LORD decided to save them? Pharaoh and all of Egypt belongs to God!
When the Philistines stood against Israel, and Goliath took his stand in the fields and mocked and reviled Israel, and all the people were afraid, and even King Saul cowered in his tent, how could Goliath have defeated little David, when the LORD went to battle with him?
Who is this KING of GLORY? The LORD of hosts, the commander of the armies of heaven and the commander of the armies of Israel, he is the King of glory.
He is still going before His people into battle.
The entire scope of history is defined by His war against the chaos, and sorrow, of sin and death, culminating in the fulfillment of His promise all the way back in that the Messiah would crush Satan under His foot. The climax of the Psalm and the climax of all history is in the glorious victory of Jesus in His death and resurrection, and in His return, which Paul speaks of
1 Corinthians 15:54–58 ESV
54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:52–58 ESV
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The victory of Israel over the Philistines is nothing compared to Jesus’s promise of victory to you and me and all who believe in Him. No Pharaoh, no Philistine can stand in His way. Not even sin, not even death. He swallowed it up in victory. That’s our King, the King of glory, the LORD. In a word, He is mighty.
That word, GLORY, refers to something’s weight, and value. Glory is God’s worth.
He is glorious because He is everything this Psalm celebrates. He is Creator. He is holy. He blesses those who turn to Him for salvation. And He has won the greatest victory and handed it to His people.
Jesus, the King, is worthy of our praise. His victory is worthy of our celebration. His might is worthy of our trust. He is mighty and able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him.
So lift up your heads, and behold the glorious King who has come, and is coming again.
Apply:
“GLORY”. This is a distinctively religious word, meaning weight, value, adoration. We tend to think of especially heroic or magnificent things as glorious. The biblical idea of glory is:
Robert Reymond: “God’s glory is the inescapable “weight” of the sheer intrinsic Godness of God.” Glory is shorthand for everything that makes Him who He is - His perfect knowledge, power, and wisdom, His eternity, His infinity, His unchangeableness, His goodness, mercy, love, justice. It's quite simply what makes God worthy of praise.
Robert Reymond: “God’s glory is the inescapable “weight” of the sheer intrinsic Godness of God.” Glory is shorthand for everything that makes Him who He is - His perfect knowledge, power, and wisdom, His eternity, His infinity, His unchangeableness, His goodness, mercy, love, justice. It's quite simply what makes God worthy of praise. The one word summary of God’s glory in is goodness. I wonder how that will help us understand why we should care about God’s glory today?
Is your head bowed today for some reason? Is your spirit heavy? Behold the King of Glory and lift your head.
Put together the descriptions of the LORD:
He saw your plight, and He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. And His own arm brought Him salvation in order to redeem you.
Strong & Mighty, mighty in battle, LORD of hosts (armies)
If your head is bowed today by the weight of your sins, if you know that you don’t have clean hands and a pure heart, then I say rejoice in this: Lift up your heads and seek the face of the God of Jacob. Hear the loud shouts of joy in the Good News that your King has come, and like the city awakened by the raucous sound of a triumphant army returning in victory, lift up your heads rejoice to behold the King of Glory, humble and riding on a donkey, on his way up the hill, the King of Glory, righteous and having salvation, he bore our sins in his body on the tree, the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And now rejoice with me as we pray <<PRAY>>
Who shall ascend? The LORD in victory -
Apply:
He is GLORIOUS and therefore worthy of our praise
He is VICTORIOUS and therefore we should celebrate
He is MIGHTY and therefore we should entrust ourselves to Him
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