Psalm 24: "Who Gets Through Yahweh's Gates?"

(24:1) Of/For David. A Psalm. For Yahweh, The earth is, and its fullness. The world, and the ones dwelling in it, Everything in this world belongs to Yahweh, and exists for Him. Yahweh is the focal point; He is the end goal. We have a tendency to lose sight of this. We get caught up in everyday life; we start to think that we are the end-all be-all. That the world revolves around us. But we, along with the rest of the world, are "for Yahweh." In verse 2, the psalmist explains why this is the case: (2) because He upon the seas has laid a foundation, while upon the rivers he is establishing it. In science class, you maybe learned that beneath the world's crust, there is extremely hot magma, and different layers of this and that. I'd say more, but science class was a long time ago. But in biblical times, they understood how the world was made very differently. If you asked the psalmist what was underneath the earth, the answer you'd get, was the primordial sea/waters (Gen. 1:6; 7:11; Exod. 20:4; Deut. 33:13). The world, at the beginning of God's creating it, was a watery, soupy, dark mess (Gen. 1:1-2). And Yahweh separated out these lower waters and seas, from the upper waters (Gen. 1:6). And then Yahweh, like a skilled engineer, carefully built the world on top of it. The picture is something like an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He drove the foundations down deep, making the earth secure (Ps. 104:5; Job 38:4ff). ------------------------------------------------------------------- H. Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 313: "Verse 2* takes up conceptions of ancient Near Eastern cosmogony. Below the world lies the primal sea, which is here indicated by the words ימים and נהרות (on the conception, cf. Gen. 1:6*; 7:11*; Exod. 20:4*; Deut. 33:13*). Like a house on stilts, the earth has been built on piles in the water (cf. Ps. 104:5*; Job 38:4ff.*). The verbs יסד and כון (polel) describe the founding and securing of the structure of the earth. The OT praises Yahweh as the creator who through his work gave the world a firm solidity (Psalm 93)." -------------------------------------------------- So why does the world belong to Yahweh? Why does everything revolve around Him? It's because Yahweh is a Master Engineer. Everything exists, securely, because Yahweh is a Skilled Builder. Let me just pause here, and say that this should be an encouragement to you. Lots of people worry that this world is all going to fall apart, for one reason or another, at any moment. A supervolcano will go off. A meteor will hit. There will be global warming, and kill us all. Or global cooling, and kill us all. Lots of people "know" we are all going to die, sooner than later. If you picture the world like an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, you might think that all of life is a little iffy. You wonder how big of a hurricane the world can ride out. But the world was put together, and is being held together (and maybe that's why an imperfective/open-ended verb is used for the second line?), by Someone who knows what He's doing. So at this point, we should have this picture of God in our heads. God is the One who skillfully established the world, and continues to uphold it. And it's for this reason that everything on earth, including us, exists "for Yahweh." This brings us to verse 3: (3) Who may go up on the mountain of Yahweh?, and who may stand in his holy/dedicated place?: The entire world belongs to Yahweh. But Yahweh, in the OT, designated one particular place as being dedicated to Him-- Mount Zion, and the temple in Jerusalem. This was the place you'd pray toward. This was the place you'd seek God's face. This was the place you'd worship (1 Kings 8; contrast John 4:21-24). Given God's glory, and majesty, who is allowed to enter Yahweh's special place? Approaching God is a serious business. And we expect God to be picky about who He will allow to be close to Him. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The second line talks about "standing" in his holy place. What does this mean? Four possibilities (based on a quick and dirty search of "to stand"): (1) The posture for worship (Exod. 33:10). (2) The normal posture for requesting (1 Sam. 25:41; Mic. 6:1; Job 30:28; Esther 8:4; contrast 1 Kings 6:54). This is the one Goldingay adopts. (3) The posture for demonstrating respect. You don't worship sitting; you don't stay seated when someone important enters a room (Job 29:8; Esther 5:9). (4) Maybe Daniel 1:19-20? "And they stood before the king." (also 2:1?). I think I like #4 a lot. The idea is that you have special access to the king, and a unique, ongoing relationship with him. (Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16; 10:19-22). The first two, in particular, would fall nicely under #4 as well. Don't think #3 works. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- So imagine that you are at the gate to God's holy place. And someone stands at the gate, inside, and asks, why should I let you in (cf. Rev. 22:14-15)? How do you get past the bouncer at the gate? Verse 4 is how you'd answer. [And it's still how you'd answer-- "the works produced out of allegiance to Jesus ="from/by faith," through the Holy Spirit" (Gal. 6:8-9; Matt. 25:31-46). Or, if it's less of a struggle, "faithfulness to Jesus," not "belief in Jesus"]. Let's break down verse 4, line by line: (4) The one innocent of hands, We humans can sin in lots of ways with our hands. We can steal (Gen. 44:10). We can take bribes. We can be abusive. We can murder (and the word is most commonly used in connection with murder; Isaiah 59:7; Jer. 26:15). Sometimes when people sin with their hands, it's obvious. Everyone knows that you killed someone, or abused your wife, or stole from your employer. Everyone sees your hands, and knows that they are dirty from sin. Other times, it's more secret-- maybe it looks like you got away with it. But God can tell. God knows. So when you find yourself wanting to enter into God's dedicated place, before you get in, God inspects your hands (Matt. 5:30). Are they innocent, or not? There's a second thing God looks for, when He lets people into his holy place: The innocent of hands, and pure of heart, What does it mean to be "pure of heart"? The answer is found in Psalm 73. I'm going to explain this just a little. But I'm totally going to teach on Psalm 73 next, so I don't want to explain it too well :) Psalm 73:1: "Surely, good to Israel, God is, to the pure of heart, while I, my feet nearly spread out, my steps almost slid. In Psalm 73, the psalmist begins by comparing himself to the pure of heart. He, unlike the pure of heart, went through an internal struggle. What was this struggle? The psalmist will go on to say to explain this: There was a time when he was envious of the arrogant. Life seemed to be so good, and so easy, for them. It seemed like the arrogant ones lived however they wanted-- lived for themselves, completely-- and God didn't care. They were proud, oppressive, blasphemous, violent. And this was working out for them. They had shalom-- peace, prosperity. Life was good for them. The psalmist saw all of this, and it almost made him think that people are better off living for themselves, than trusting and obeying God. His feet almost slipped in this; he almost stumbled and lost sight of the truth. And so the psalmist found himself struggling with all of this in his heart, struggling to be faithful, struggling to trust-- struggling to be pure in heart. To be pure in heart means to be completely committed to God. God is your refuge-- not anything, or anyone, else (Ps. 73:28). And it's the pure in heart who can enter into God's dedicated place (Matt. 5:8). The third thing God looks for, is this (KJV does a nice job with this, rendering it more broadly than modern translations which translate "vanity/worthlessness/futility" as "idolatry."): who hasn't lifted up to a worthless thing his soul/inner being, This is a confusing line, right? Modern English Bibles clean it up, but they do so in a way that probably misses the point. What does it mean to "lift up your inner being to something"? ----------------------------------------- Goldingay: "'Lifting up the self to someone/something' can suggest making oneself dependent (Ps. 25:1; 86:4; 143:8) or setting one's heart on something (cf. Prov. 19:18; Hosea 4:8), and either connotation is appropriate here. The phrase 'to emptiness' suggests the purpose of their act; so does the parallel reference to swearing 'to/for deception' (l, but b-- contrast Gen. 27:35; 34:13). They swear oaths in order to achieve a deceptive end, in order to cheat and defraud. LXX makes the point explicit: 'and have not sworn to the deception of their neighbor'" (Psalms 1-41, 359). ----------------------------------------------------- Proverbs 19:18: "Discipline your children while there is hope, while/and to/for his death you shall not lift up your inner self. [Choosing not to discipline your children, means committing your heart/self to their death.] Hosea 4:8: The sin of my people they eat, while/and to/for iniquity/guilt they lift up his (their?) inner self. [A firm commitment to sin.] Psalm 25:1 To you, Yahweh, I lift up my inner self, my Elohim, in you I have trusted. May I not be ashamed. What does it mean to lift up your soul/self/inner being? It means to make a conscious decision to trust and commit to something or someone. And so the question is, what have you committed yourself to? Let's reread the line: who hasn't lifted up to a worthless thing his soul/inner being, The people who get in to God's holy place, are the ones who haven't lifted up their inner beings to a worthless thing. They haven't committed themselves to money, or power, or social connections, or pleasure, or any other idol. Instead, they've lifted up their inner beings to God alone (Ps. 25:1). When God sees you, He knows if you are sincere or not in your commitment to him. You may come to church, and do and say a lot of things that look right, but God knows if you truly trust him, or if it's all just lip service. The last thing God looks for (at least in this psalm) in people who He will allow to stand in his holy place, is this: "and he hasn't sworn to/for deception." The foundation of every kingdom, ancient or modern, is truth. People have to be honest with each other, and upright in how they relate to each other. If you sign a business deal with someone, you have to keep your end of it. If you tell someone something, they have to be able to believe you. You need to be able to trust the person you are dealing with. Sometimes in life, people do bad things. In OT times, if someone wronged you, you'd take your complaint down to the elders at the town gate, and tell them your story. The elders would call the accused person to hear their side, and then, most importantly, they'd listen to any witnesses. How can the elders decide if you have a legitimate case? Often times, it's only through witnesses. And if the witnesses are lying, terrible things can happen. So what you can't do-- what can't happen, for society to work the way it should-- is swear for the purposes of deception. You can't falsely accuse someone of stealing, or murder, or adultery, or blasphemy. God's people need to be truth-tellers. And God doesn't let liars into his holy place (Rev. 21:8). So let's start from the top, and reread what we've done so far: Of/For Yahweh, The earth is, and its fullness. The world, and the ones dwelling in it. (2) For He upon the seas has laid a foundation, while upon the rivers he is establishing it. (3) Who may go up on the mountain of Yahweh?, and who may stand in his holy place?: (4) The one innocent of hands, and pure of heart, who hasn't lifted up to a worthless thing his soul/inner being, and he hasn't sworn to/for deception. The psalmist then continues: (5) He shall lift up a blessing from Yahweh, and righteousness from the Elohim of his salvation. (6) This is the type of people pursuing him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob [is]. Selah. What type of people does God bless? Who does God act rightly/faithfully toward? Who does God rescue? God blesses people who chase after Him. Who pursue him wholeheartedly. Who earnestly seek his face. So at this point, how are you feeling? This psalm is meant to be an encouragement. We, as God's faithful people, are supposed to hear ourselves in these verses. This is how we live-- we chase after God, and we hunger and thirst for righteousness. What if we've failed? What if we hear these words, and know this isn't us? We confess our sin, and we turn back to God. We repent. In verse 7, the psalmist changes focus, to give us a picture of God entering his temple/throne room: (7) Lift up, O Gates, your heads, and be lifted up, O Eternal Doors, and the King of Glory shall enter. (8) Who is this King of Glory?: Yahweh, strong and mighty/warrior, Yahweh, mighty/warrior in battle. (9) Lift up, O gates, your heads, and lift up, O Eternal Doors, and the King of Glory shall enter. (10) Who is He, this King of Glory? Yahweh of Armies; He is King of Glory. There are many Elohim. Which of them has the right to sit on the heavenly throne? Which of them is God Most High? Who is King? Who do the doors open for? Yahweh. Yahweh is our Glorious King. Yahweh is strong. He is mighty. He is a great Warrior. He is the one who commands the heavenly army. He is the King of Glory. So let us, today, seek God. Let's place our trust, and confidence, in Him. Let's lift up our inner beings, and choose to place our faith in our Glorious King-- the one who has anchored the world, and continues to uphold it. And let's be the type of people who receive God's blessings, and who get to enter God's holy place. Translation: (1) Of/For David. A Psalm. Of/For Yahweh, The earth is, and its fullness. The world, and the ones dwelling in it. (2) For He upon the seas laid a foundation, while upon the rivers he is establishing it. (3) Who may go up on the mountain of Yahweh?, and who may stand in his holy place?: (4) The one innocent of hands, and pure of heart, who hasn't lifted up to a worthless thing his soul/inner being, and he hasn't sworn to a deception. (5) He shall lift up a blessing from Yahweh, and righteousness from the Elohim of his salvation. (6) This is the type of people pursuing him, the ones seeking your face, Jacob is. Selah. (7) Lift up, O Gates, your heads, and be lifted up, O Eternal Doors, and the King of Glory shall enter. (8) Who is this King of Glory? Yahweh, strong and mighty/warrior, Yahweh, mighty/warrior in battle. (9) Lift up, O gates, your heads, and lift up, O Eternal Doors, and the King of Glory shall enter. (10) Who is He, this King of Glory? Yahweh of Armies; He is King of Glory. 11