Psalm 24 – God is coming – Are you ready?

Are you ready? God is coming. We don't know when, but He will be here. At any moment. So it's not even a question of "will you be ready". No. It's a question of "are you ready". Now.

<span class="wgs-Bible">Psalm 24 

Of David. A psalm. 

Ps 24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and everything in it, 
the world, and all who live in it; 

Ps 24:2 for he founded it upon the seas 
and established it upon the waters. 

Ps 24:3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? 
Who may stand in his holy place? 

Ps 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 
who does not lift up his soul to an idol 
or swear by what is false. 

Ps 24:5 He will receive blessing from the LORD 
and vindication from God his Savior. 

Ps 24:6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, 
who seek your face, O God of Jacob. 


Selah 


Ps 24:7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
be lifted up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of glory may come in. 

Ps 24:8 Who is this King of glory? 
The LORD strong and mighty, 
the LORD mighty in battle. 

Ps 24:9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; 
lift them up, you ancient doors, 
that the King of glory may come in. 

Ps 24:10 Who is he, this King of glory? 
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.


Selah </span>

Background on Psalm 24

I do not know if Psalm 24 has a setting in any event we know of from the Old Testament. But if there is a historical setting, I suppose it is the occasion on which David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem from its temporary resting place in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite (2 Sam. 6). Symbolically, the God of Israel was understood to dwell between the outstretched wings of the two cherubim mounted on the lid of the ark. So when the ark was taken to Jerusalem, it would have been appropriate to have composed a hymn like Psalm 24 for the occasion. Twice over it intones,

Lift up your heads, O you gates …
that the King of glory may come in (vv. 7, 9).

The title of Psalm 24 identifies it as a psalm “Of David,” which also means that David may himself have composed it for the ceremony.
Yet I am not entirely happy with this explanation. At least I am not willing to stop with it. The reason is that, however important and moving the transport of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem by David may have been, it is not nearly as significant as the single occasion on which, much later, the true “King of glory” actually did enter the holy city. I am referring, of course, to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on the day we call Palm Sunday.
Interestingly, the ancient rabbinical sources tell us that, in the Jewish liturgy, Psalm 24 was always used in worship on the first day of the week. The first day of the week is our Sunday. So, putting these facts together, we may assume that these were the words being recited by the temple priests at the very time the Lord Jesus Christ mounted a donkey and ascended the rocky approach to Jerusalem. The people who were outside the walls, who were approaching Jerusalem with him, exclaimed:

Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest! (Matt. 21:9).

Inside the priests were intoning:

Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory. Selah (Ps. 24:9–10).