Psalm 24 Sermon Notes

Psalm 24 Sermon Notes

Psalm 24 (LSB) The King of Glory

Of David. A Psalm.

MT Psalm 24 = LXX Psalm 23 (superscription counted as v. 1, so English v. 1 = LXX 23:2, and so on one ahead through the psalm).
The True God The Earth Is Yahweh’s

Psalm 24:1–6 (LSB)

1 The earth is Yahweh’s, as well as its fullness,

The world, and those who dwell in it.

2 For He has founded it upon the seas

And established it upon the rivers.

V. 1 “The earth is Yahweh’s, as well as its fullness” – OT kin: Exodus 9:29; Deuteronomy 10:14; Psalm 50:12:
Exodus 9:29 (LSB) 29 And Moses said to him, “As soon as I go out of the city, I will spread out my hands to Yahweh; the thunder will cease, and there will be hail no longer, that you may know that the earth is Yahweh’s.
Deuteronomy 10:14 (LSB) 14 Behold, to Yahweh your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.
Psalm 50:12 (LSB) 12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, as well as its fullness.
It’s His – and He has made it full. Think of it. The Sea, FULL of life. The Air, full, and everything breathes from the same supply. Mankind, the animals, the plant life, FULL.
He’s the land owner, we are all tenants.
Cf. Job 41:11 (God’s ownership of “whatever is under the whole heaven”); alluded to in Romans 11:35 (LSB sets it in small caps as a formal OT citation), though the LSB wording there tracks a Hebrew-line tradition rather than matching LSB’s own rendering of Job 41:11 – worth checking against the MT/LXX of Job 41 [?]:
Job 41:11 (LSB) 11 Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
Romans 11:35 (LSB) 35 who has first given to Him that it might be repaid to him?
Quoted in 1 Corinthians 10:26 (LSB sets it in small caps) – series anchor; wording follows the LXX (Psalm 23:1 LXX, τοῦ κυρίου ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς) almost verbatim, with the standard LXX practice of κύριος for the Tetragrammaton (“the Lord’s” for “Yahweh’s”) and the second line dropped:
1 Corinthians 10:26 (LSB) 26 For the earth is the Lord’s, as well as its fullness.

1 Corinthians 10:23–27 (LSB)

23 All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things build up.

24 Let no one seek his own good, but that of the other person.

25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake.

26 For the earth is the Lord’s, as well as its fullness.

27 If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake.

Interesting thought from Spurgeon on Psalm 23 dwelling with the Lord forever - “While I am here I will be a child at home with my God; the whole world shall be his house to me; and when I ascend into the upper chamber I shall not change my company, nor even change the house; I shall only go to dwell in the upper storey of the house of the Lord for ever.” (Spurgeon)
It’s not only that one day we will live in His house, it’s all his already and you have already been welcomed in here. The gift of life itself is to be invited into His Creation. He has CREATED you. You were no accident.

Psalm 89:11–12 (LSB)

11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and its fullness, You have founded them.

12 The north and the south, You have created them;

Psalm 24:2 For He has founded it upon the seas

And established it upon the rivers.

The reason for it all belonging to Him? He created all of it, and everything in it.
Think of this insecure foundation. It’s miraculous in the description. Founded upon… the seas?
Order from Chaos, Psalm 23, you spread for me a table… in the midst of my enemies.
Spurgeon – “Founded on the seas! Established on the floods! Blessed be God the Christian has another world to look forward to, and rests his hopes upon a more stable foundation than this poor world affords. They who trust in worldly things build upon the sea; but we have laid our hopes, by God’s grace, upon the Rock of Ages; we are resting upon the promise of an immutable God, we are depending upon the constancy of a faithful Redeemer. Oh! ye worldlings, who have built your castles of confidence, your palaces of wealth, and your bowers of pleasure upon the seas, and established them upon the floods; how soon will your baseless fabrics melt, like foam upon the waters! Sand is treacherous enough, but what shall be said of the yet more unstable seas?”

Psalm 104:1–9 (LSB)

1 Bless Yahweh, O my soul!

O Yahweh my God, You are very great;

You are clothed with splendor and majesty,

2 Wrapping Yourself with light as with a cloak,

Stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain.

3 He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;

He sets up the clouds to be His chariot;

He walks upon the wings of the wind;

4 He makes His angels the winds,

His ministers flaming fire.

5 He founded the earth upon its place,

So that it will not shake forever and ever.

6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment;

The waters were standing above the mountains.

7 At Your rebuke they fled,

At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away in alarm.

8 The mountains went up; the valleys went down

To the place which You founded for them.

9 You set a boundary that they may not pass over,

So that they will not return to cover the earth.

We do not belong to the world, we belong to Him
We should never be out of step with his commands, as he is the Chief Architect of everything that we are made of, and the entire world we live in.
The True People Of God

Psalm 24:3 Who may ascend into the mountain of Yahweh?

And who may rise in His holy place?

Since God lives in unapproachable light… and No one knows the way to his house…
Who is the person who God allows into His presence? High, Holy, and above? This is a good question to consider.
“without holiness no man shall see the Lord.”
This is, the all-important question.

Psalm 65:4 (LSB)

4 How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You

That he would dwell in Your courts.

We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,

Your holy temple.

Psalm 24:4 He who has innocent hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness

And has not sworn deceitfully.

Vv. 3–4 “innocent hands … pure heart” – entrance-liturgy twin to Psalm 15; echoed in Matthew 5:8:
Notice the connection between outward morality and the inward purity. It all matters here.
Psalm 15 (LSB) 1 O Yahweh, who may sojourn in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy mountain? 2 He who walks blamelessly, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart. 3 He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, But who honors those who fear Yahweh; He swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 He does not put out his money at interest, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.
Matthew 5:8 (LSB) 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
So then the question – How does a man get clean hands? How does he get a clean heart?
Psalm 51:10 (LSB) Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Truth is that a clean heart needs to be created, and is a gift.
Philippians 1:29 (LSB) For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

Psalm 24: 5 He shall lift up a blessing from Yahweh

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation of those who seek Him,

Who seek Your face—pay heed O Jacob. Selah.

He, that person will raise a blessing and righteousness FROM the God of His Salvation.
Folks, salvation is a gift, given.
Who is it given to? The generation of those who SEEK HIM. (Said twice, Who SEEK His Face)
This is another spot really worth considering. Do I seek Him?
Spurgeon – “To desire communion with God is a purifying thing. Oh to hunger and thirst more and more after a clear vision of the face of God; this will lead us to purge ourselves from all filthiness, and to walk with heavenly circumspection. He who longs to see his friend when he passes takes care to clear the mist from the window, lest by any means his friend should go by unobserved.”
I think of how many things we let get in the way of our view of Him. The world and our flesh has thousands of other places to put our focus. And as often as we let our vision/thinking be shaped by it is as often as we witness our own lack of Seeking Him, Seeking His Face.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus… look FULL in His wonderful Face, and the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace. – SO SO True.

Next, we see Who it really is, who has innocent hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to worthlessness

And has not sworn deceitfully.

Who by His OWN merit has ascended into the mountain, has risen to His holy place…

The True Savior Who Is This King of Glory?

Psalm 24:7–10 (LSB)

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?

Yahweh strong and mighty,

Yahweh mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O gates,

And lift yourselves up, O ancient doors,

That the King of glory may come in!

10 Who is He, this King of glory?

Yahweh of hosts,

He is the King of glory. Selah.

We are told to LIFT UP OUR HEADS!
Lift up your heads, as if all our efforts were not high enough.
Lift up to honor and address this King and his coming.
Gates/Doors – almost a hint, that in order to open to Him, they must open facing up to greet Him from above.
If speaking of our hearts, Notice we have gates, things that get in the way.
Notice that we need TO lift, and also BE lifted. So that HE may come in.
Vv. 7–10 “King of glory” – cf. “Lord of glory” in 1 Corinthians 2:8; James 2:1 (shared-formula parallel, not a direct quotation – LSB does not small-cap either):
1 Corinthians 2:8 (LSB) 8 which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Folks, remember that the gates are wide open, to any an all believers, He invites us to ascend with him, with a vindication for us, given as a gift.
Let’s lift our eyes to HIM.
He is MIGHTY. STRONG in battle. He has WON.
No wonder He is called the KING OF GLORY.
Spurgeon – “Dear reader, it is possible that you are saying, “I shall never enter into the heaven of God, for I have neither clean hands nor a pure heart.” Look then to Christ, who has already climbed the holy hill. He has entered as the forerunner of those who trust him. Follow in his footsteps, and repose upon his merit. He rides triumphantly into heaven, and you shall ride there too if you trust him. “But how can I get the character described?” say you. The Spirit of God will give you that. He will create in you a new heart and a right spirit. Faith in Jesus is the work of the Holy Spirit, and has all virtues wrapped up in it. Faith stands by the fountain filled with blood, and as she washes therein, clean hands and a pure heart, a holy soul and a truthful tongue are given to her.”[1]

[1] Spurgeon, C. H. The Treasury of David: Psalms 1-26. Marshall Brothers, p. 378.