Psalm 24 A Psalm of David

A Psalm of David. 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.

We have seen Christ as the suffering Messiah as He was crucified and then raised from the dead in Psalm 22. Psalm 23 portrays Christ as the Great Shepherd who guides, provides for and protects His own. Now in Psalm 24 we see Christ triumphant. He has risen from the dead, ascended into Heaven and in His High priestly role is now interceding for His own. He is the true redeemer who has opened the way for His chosen to live and reign eternally with Him.
The Psalm begins by stating that God owns everything because hPrCHrie made it; He has "founded it" and "established it" from one generation to the next it is God who upholds and preserves it. He has universal dominion over everything, and we belong to Him, and more so if we own the Lord as our Saviour. God is the God of everyone; and we therefore need to be careful how we treat others. These verses also tell us that we need to treat the earth with care because again it belongs to God and we are tenants of it and caretakers of everything in it for Him.

Only those who have clean hands and a pure heart can ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place (v 3-4). But how does one achieve clean hands and a pure heart? It is nothing that we ourselves can do, but it is by grace alone. Our hearts need to be cleansed by his sanctifying Spirit so that we may imitate God and his holiness and learn to hate sin as He does. We need to live with our eyes focused on eternity. To the one who seeks the face of the God of Jacob he shall be sanctified and justified, and be saved because God himself will be the God of their salvation.

In verses 7 - 10 we see prophetically Christ's ascension into heaven and the welcome He received after He, by his death on the cross, made atonement for sin. He comes at the rapture for his own, and after judging the world, He will reign as king over all the earth as the King of glory and Lord of hosts. For those who know the Lord as Saviour we have the great hope of looking forward to a more secure world, a world not founded upon unstable seas and rivers, but upon the consistency of a faithful redeemer, because He will bring his people into the millennial blessing of His kingdom.
Note the word 'Selah', used twice. One meaning is to pause and to reflect on what has been said; it is now time to do just that.

Questions for reflection

1. This psalm sets out that fact that this earth and everything in it belongs to God. Reflect on this fact and your role in the stewardship of His creation.
2. The crucial question asked is: 'Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?' Reflect on this question – if you don't know whether you will be able to do these two things ask someone at church to explain to you how you too can be saved.
3. Can you truly answer the final question of the psalm: 'who is the King of Glory?' Is he your king?