The Return of the Warrior God - Psalm 24

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Psalm 24

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

 
 

Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark? The Nazis want to get their hands on the Ark of the Covenant so that they will be victorious in battle, and only Indiana Jones stands in their way.

In real life, however, the Israelites did march into battle behind the Ark of the Covenant, and it seems that Psalm Twenty-Four was used as the victorious armies of Israel brought the Ark back up Mount Zion to the Temple—it is an entrance liturgy.

It’s a great psalm!

Of David. A psalm.

Like most of the psalms, Psalm 24 was used for hundreds of years in Israelite worship. So, though it comes from the time of David (before the Temple was built), it also clearly references the physical building of the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. A later poet must have adapted David’s original poem for use in Temple worship.

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.

The claim is total: every square inch belongs to the Lord, because he made it all.

The Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper put it this way: “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!’”

Remember that the Israelites pictured Creation beginning with the waters of chaos, out of which the Lord brings order and life, which is what the psalmist is talking about in verse 2.

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

 If this Lord—who made everything—is present in the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem (“the hill of the Lord”), then how could anyone possibly come close to him? The psalmist says that the people who should approach the Temple are ones who are morally upright.

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

Now the perspective shifts to a procession entering the Temple gates.

The priest at the head of the procession shouts: “You gates, lift up your heads and be proud!”

The priest who is inside the Temple gates replies: “Who is the King that’s entering?”

The call and response continues until we know the answer:

“The Lord of hosts!”

(Remember, “hosts” is just an old-fashioned word for “armies.”)

 

P.S. There is a great hymn based on this psalm: “Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates.” [Hymn starts at the 1:00 minute mark.]

 

 

Darkness

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My Morning Routine

Starting on April 13, 2020, I’ve read one psalm a day, every day. When I get to the last psalm in the Bible—Psalm 150, I just start the next day with Psalm 1; every 150 days I read through the entire psalter, and then begin again.

There is something attractively simple about this plan; I use a countdown app on my iPhone to remind me each morning of that day’s psalm. I do our church reading plans, too, but reading a psalm a day has been a constant.

Today I’m on Psalm 88. If you’d like to join in, my friend Fred has put together a list for the Psalms reading plan I’m currently in. When we get to Monday, May 2, I’ll start over again.

The Psalms teach us how to pray because they give us words for all the emotions of life; today’s psalm—as we will see below—is bitter and dark, but tomorrow’s will be more hopeful and joy-filled.

 

Mark Begins Wednesday!

Our Lenten reading plan through the Gospel of Mark begins Wednesday, and since our Ephesians plan concluded on Friday, I thought I’d write a post for today and again for tomorrow on each day’s psalm.

 
 

The Bitterest Psalm in the Bible

Today, I read Psalm 88—a psalm without hope or joy or peace: it is an anguished cry of bitter despair.

When you visit Jerusalem, one of the places you go is the high priest’s residence, which was built over a dungeon. When we were there, we went down into the pit and read this psalm. The idea is that it’s possible that Jesus might have been held in that dungeon as Caiaphas waited to transfer him to Pilate’s custody, late Thursday night/early Friday morning.

 

How to Read Psalm 88 Today

If you are in a pit of despair yourself, then use this psalm to shape your cries to the Lord today. The psalms give us the language of prayer, and since life include both misery and joy, so do the psalms.

If you are in a good place today—and I hope you are—then the way to read this psalm is to think of Jesus being held by the Temple soldiers, having been interrogated and humiliated by the Jewish authorities, waiting to be transferred to Pilate’s custody, knowing what will befall him.

This is a dark psalm, but the Passion of the Christ was a dark thing, and it’s good for us to remember that today.

 
 

Psalm 88

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
    I cry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
    incline your ear to my cry!

3 For my soul is full of troubles,
    and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one set loose among the dead,
    like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
    for they are cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in the depths of the pit,
    in the regions dark and deep.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
    and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

8 You have caused my companions to shun me;
    you have made me a horror to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
    I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
    Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
    or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness,
    or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13 But I, O Lord, cry to you;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?
    Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
    I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
    your dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They surround me like a flood all day long;
    they close in on me together.
18 You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
    my companions have become darkness.

 
 

The Return of the Warrior God [Psalm 24]

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Remember Raiders of the Lost Ark? The Nazis want to get their hands on the Ark of the Covenant so that they will be victorious in battle, and only Indiana Jones stands in their way.

In real life, however, the Israelites did march into battle behind the Ark of the Covenant, and it seems that Psalm Twenty-Four was used as the victorious armies of Israel brought the Ark back up Mount Zion to the Temple—it is an entrance liturgy.

It’s a great psalm!

 
 
 

Of David. A psalm.

Like most of the psalms, Psalm 24 was used for hundreds of years in Israelite worship. So, though it comes from the time of David (before the Temple was built), it also clearly references the physical building of the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. A later poet must have adapted David’s original poem for use in Temple worship.

 
 

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.

The claim is total: every square inch belongs to the Lord, because he made it all.

The Dutch theologian Abraham Kuyper put it this way: “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!”

Remember that the Israelites pictured Creation beginning with the waters of chaos, out of which the Lord brings order and life, which is what the psalmist is talking about in verse 2.

 
 

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

If this Lord—who made everything—is present in the Temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem (“the hill of the Lord”), then how could anyone possibly come close to him? The psalmist says that the people who should approach the Temple are ones who are morally upright.

 
 

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

Now the perspective shifts to a procession entering the Temple gates.

The priest at the head of the procession shouts: “You gates, lift up your heads and be proud!”

The priest who is inside the Temple gates replies: “Who is the King that’s entering?”

The call and response continues until we know the answer:

“The Lord of hosts!”

(Remember, “hosts” is just an old-fashioned word for “armies.”)

 
 

P.S. There is a great hymn based on this psalm: “Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates.” [Hymn starts at the 1:00 minute mark.]

 

Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates Sanctuary Choir Dr. Terry Morris, Director of Traditional Music John Gearhart, organist Jonathan Saint-Thomas, pianist Fir...

Jesus's Sorrow Over Jerusalem

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Jesus is here predicting both Israel's rejection of him in Jerusalem and the subsequent destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. He implies that if the Jews had received him as Messiah, then the Temple would not have been destroyed. As it was, Jesus was crucified around AD 30, and the Romans destroyed the Temple in AD 70. I've seen the ruins of the Temple with my own eyes.

Today’s Scripture:

Luke 13:31-35

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