Good evening, everyone. This evening, I'd like to preach from Psalm 24. So if you have your Bibles, I'd like to turn to Psalm 24 with me. We'll read the passage, and then we'll pray, and then we'll look at it in detail.

So Psalm 24, a Psalm of David.

Sovereignty Over All the Earth

The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein, for

God's Order Over Primordial Chaos

he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord or who may stand in his holy place?

The Standard of Perfect Holiness

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive blessing from the Lord. and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, Selah. Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates, lift up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? the Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory, Selah. Let us pray.

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for your Word. Lord, we thank you for this passage of Scripture and the glory of our Savior Christ that it gives to us. And Lord, I pray now as we look into this psalm that you would be pleased to send your Holy Spirit among us to assist in in understanding the truth, that we would see the glory of Christ here. Lord, like the Greeks who asked Philip, Sir, we would see Jesus.

Lord, that is our prayer to you, that we would see Jesus today in this psalm, in all his glory. Glory as creator, glory as redeemer and king. and our savior so lord i pray that you would that you would bless us now open our hearts to receive these things open and and assist in in delivering the message and lord we thank you that that it is not about the wisdom of words but that it is about the the message of of our lord jesus christ and so i pray that you would bless it and i pray this in christ's name amen So

Introduction: The Ascension Psalm

Psalm 24 is often considered to be called the Ascension Psalm, and we'll see that as we get into it there. But the specific context that the psalm was written in by David is historically, the Jewish historians and others just generally, it's thought to be written when David was bringing the ark. from Obed Edom's house to the city of Jerusalem. So if you remember the history there, the story, the ark had been captured by the Philistines. And after the various plagues that had happened there, it was sent on a cart led by the cows, and the cows went back to the land of Israel.

Then the Ark was taken after the men of Beth Shemesh looked into it. Many were killed by the Lord then for looking into the Ark. And then the Ark was taken, brought to the neighboring city there of Kirjath-Jerim, and it was kept there for 20 years. So, but now, so 20 years later, David has, he's captured Jerusalem, the city, and now he wants to bring the ark into the city of David.

Now, and then he had, there was this, the first attempt that David did was a failed attempt. We know the story, you know, quite well. And it was a failed attempt because David did not take into consideration the holiness of God and that God had these specific ways by which one must deal with transporting the Ark. David put it on a cart, pulled by oxen, and we know the story now when Uzzah reached out to touch the Ark when it looked like it was going to teeter, and he was struck dead by the Lord.

It was a warning to David there to take seriously the holiness of God and how he was going to do these things. And now it's three months later, and now David is doing this again. Now he's doing things the proper way. And so if it is true then that this was, that David did write this psalm at the time of this event and was singing it at the time of this event, then we see a striking difference now between how David understands the holiness of God, as we'll see in this psalm here.

It's very different from the from the first attempt to transport this ark. So, and now if you remember the story, David was, he was just so full of praise there. He was dancing in the streets with all his might, the Bible tells us. So that was when his wife, you know, thought he was making a fool of himself, but he was just, he was overflowing with praise and praising God as the creator there.

And that's how he begins the psalm there. So

Outline of the Three Movements

the psalm basically breaks down into three main The first is the majesty of Yahweh the Creator. Now, when I say Yahweh, I'm sure most of you are familiar with that, but just to be clear, Yahweh is the Hebrew name for the Lord. Our Bibles have it written with capital L, capital O-R-D. That's the word Yahweh, and that's when I say Yahweh, that's what I'm referring to, just for those who might not be familiar with that.

So that's verse 1 and 2, the majesty of Yahweh the Creator. And then verses 3 through 6, we have the question of how to enter into his presence. And then in verses 7 through 10, we have

The Triumphal Entry of the King

the triumphal entry by the king of glory. So first, we'll then we'll look at

Yahweh the Creator

the majesty of Yahweh, the creator in verses 1 and 2. So it says, verse 1 says, the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein. So it's very clear here then, obviously, everything in the earth is Yahweh. So David is praising him as a creator and as sovereign over all things.

And that's something that I find, I think, we take for granted sometimes. Of course, yes, that's, you know, we affirm the sovereignty of God and we don't question those things. But the Old Testament, it's always reminding us, there's just constant reminders of God's universal control over all of the earth. Exodus 19 5 for all the earth is mine Deuteronomy 10 14 indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God also the earth with all that is in it Job 41 11 Psalm 50 verse 12 Psalm 89 verse 11 just if just a few of the of the the more explicit references to to the Lord as all of creation, all of the created order belonging to Yahweh.

So why all these reminders? Why does it happen so often in there? And that's because of the prevailing ancient Near Eastern thought of the nations there was that all of the various nations around the earth belonged to various other deities. So Yahweh was the god of Israel, and then the various other Baals and Elves, Chemosh, you know, all those other, Molech, all those other gods, they occupied that same position over their specific nation.

So what Yahweh was to Israel is what these gods were to their respective nations. That was the prevailing thought of the time. So when we understand that, And then now we see this constant reminder, and we see this David's reminder here, again, of this, that Yahweh is God of all the earth. He's not just limited to Israel.

He has sovereign control over everything. That their God, yes, He is the God of Israel, but He's also the God of all of the earth. And He's intimately involved with everything, not just with Israel as well. That His common grace extends towards all of all of creation.

He causes the rain to fall on the just and on the unjust. When it rains on the Canaanites, that's not a gift from Baal, that's a gift from Yahweh. And then, of course, this thought now fills David with praise to God, and rightly so, of course. We ought to be We ought to be filled with praise for that as well.

But what implication then does that have for the Jews of David's day and for us as well, of course, you know, that all things, all people on this earth belong to God? Well, the Jews understood that they were Yahweh's special people, but David points out then that all of the All of the people on the earth, they're all ultimately the Lord. So what does that mean then for Israel? And basically what it's doing is it's showing them that there's nothing different about them in and of themselves that has set them apart.

It's a reminder to the Jews of Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 6. I'll just read that for a moment for you. It's that it's that reminder here where where God says you are a you are a holy people or Moses speaking you are a holy people to the Lord your God the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth But the Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people for you are the least of all peoples but because the Lord loves you So the Jews were God's special people by virtue of the covenants, by virtue of God choosing them, not by their own virtue, not by anything in and of themselves. And of course, you know, for us as as reformed Christians, we understand that, you know, Israel here is typifying, as the people of God in the Old Covenant, is typifying the church now.

And so that same reminder then goes to us. You know, God did not choose us for anything in us. He didn't look through the tunnel of time and see something in us that made us worthy to be chosen, but rather He loved us and chose us, not because we are deserving, but because He is gracious. Basically, what the text says in Deuteronomy is that He loved you because He loved you, because He chose to do so.

It was in and of Himself. So now, often, Just as an aside, I guess, we often hear, well, that's not fair. Why would God, you know, choose them over, you know, that's not fair. But we don't want fair in this state.

Because fair, God is fair with the non-elect. God is fair with the reprobate. They get what they deserve. That's fair.

And God is gracious now to the elect, to the chosen people of God. So there's nothing unfair about the situation there. John Calvin, he agrees with this view as well here. He says, the object of the beginning of the Psalm is to show that the Jews had nothing of themselves which could entitle them to approach nearer or more familiarly to God than the Gentiles.

So David will deal with that later, like we saw in the second part of the psalm here, of how to approach to God. But now he's setting the stage. He's reminding the Jews of this fact. He's putting them in their right place before God.

And then now moving on to verse 2 then. So he says, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters, speaking of the earth. So what does that mean, that he's founded it upon the seas? Now, so David is speaking of God as creator here, of course, we've seen that.

And now when we look back at the creation account, that is what we see, the idea of the sea. So Genesis 1 tells us that the earth was formless and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep. Now, the deep there is a term that's used for a chaotic, watery abyss. It's the word tahum in Hebrew.

Just chaos, watery, and abyss. We see that word used in Jonah. When Jonah's in the belly of the fish, he's praying to the Lord from the belly of the fish that he's descending into the deep here. And, you know, so that's the idea then of this watery abyss.

And Genesis, Continues in the account of the creation account. It says the Spirit of God was hovering over over the waters So now the word translated in in verse 2 of the of Psalm 24 here is it's literally means rivers and again, it's it's that idea of turmoil of not calm and ordered but but rather a turmoil and and and using the reference to waters in this situation, so now does You know, what exactly does that look like in Genesis 1? Was it literal water? I don't think so.

We know, we understand that God created ex nihilo, we call that, out of nothing. You know, so it wasn't that there was water in existence. And then he used that and made something out of it. That's not what it means.

But the Bible often uses this idea of just a chaotic, unordered waters to refer to the creation of the earth and to see God's sovereignty over that. So it says that darkness was over this tahum, the deep. The spirit was hovering, brooding over the waters, ready to bring order to it. And then when God speaks, then he brings a cosmic order to this, and a very good creation from this unordered chaos.

And then so when we look at that throughout all of the Old Testament, we see the use of a tumultuous sea, tumultuous waters. and to show God's sovereignty over it again. And it's all there just to point us back to the creation account and to point us to God as creator. The flood narrative, for example. In Genesis, it describes a decreation, a return back to that chaotic, watery chaos.

The fountains of the deep were opened, those types of things. So it's a return back to that. But then when we look in Psalm 29 verse 10, it tells us that the Lord sat enthroned at the flood. So he was in control of it all, even the flood, the waters were raging, the Lord was in control of it all.

It says, the water saw you, O God, they were afraid. The depths also trembled. So that's that word again, the depths. And then many other places we, in the Old Testament, we see God having control over a raging sea.

And of course, this does refer to his power over the physical sea that he can control. He can control it. He's in control of all of nature. But the idea, the concept then is always used to point us back to Genesis 1, highlighting God as a creator, seeing him bring order and a very good creation out of this primordial chaos that was there.

And then again, Remember the worldview there of the ancient Near East, so that we understand the fact that God is creator, that he's sovereign over all things. You keep that in mind there. The ancient Near East, they had all these many gods that they held to. this belief. And I believe that a biblical case can be made that all of these gods of the various nations are, in fact, literal spiritual beings.

Demons, the Bible uses in some instances. Leviticus 17.7, Deuteronomy 32.17, Psalm 106.37. Those are just a few instances where it specifically labels the gods of the nations as demons, as a spiritual being so and then so now in in this context now David is is he's reminding his audience you know God is not one among many gods he's he's sovereign over over it all he's he's king of kings lord of lords that he's created all of these other spiritual beings and that that the other nations um may may worship and And the Old Testament is full of reminders like that. Exodus 15 11.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Deuteronomy 3 verse 24. What God is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like your works and your mighty deeds?

So who is like you, right? We see that over, that refrain is over and over in the Psalms and the prophets. Who is like unto our God? Who is like you?

And the response then that comes from God He says, who is God? Who formed the earth and made it? Who has established it? Who did not create it in vain?

Who formed it to be inhabited? I am Yahweh and there is no other. That's Isaiah 45 verse 6. So Yahweh is in a class on his own.

And that's Yahweh. That's what Yahweh means. It means I am. It speaks of his self-existence, of his eternality, his holiness.

And that's what David understands now as he comes here, as he writes the psalm, in contrast to the first time when he attempted to move the ark. Now he understands, by those that come near me, I must be regarded as holy, Leviticus 10.3 tells us. So now back to that theme then of bringing order to the chaotic seas. you know, as proof of God as a sovereign creator. When we trace that theme now through the Bible, when we go into the New Testament, what do we find there?

Well, that's where we find Jesus walking on the waves, you know, in the storm. Jesus calming the turbulent seas. You know, the people say, well, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the seas obey him? Because he's no ordinary man.

He is Yahweh of Israel, God in the flesh, fully God and fully man. In Matthew's account of one of these instances, then the result was that the people worshipped him and they said, truly, you are the son of God. So they understood the implications of this. Not just the fact that it was a miracle in the sense that Jesus had control over the waters, that he could walk on the water and he could calm the storms, but that it was proving him to be the creator, that he was, in fact, the holy, eternal Yahweh of Israel, God among them, Emmanuel.

So this theme then of control over the seas throughout the scripture, it points to the Lord as such, and Christ, in fact, as creator. So now we have David then praising God for his sovereign control over the created order, and not just the sea and nature, but we'll see it again later towards the end of the psalm, where he's called Lord Sabaoth, Lord of hosts. you know, or Lord of Armies, but that's typically used to refer to his control over the entire spiritual realm as well, you know, which is all part of the created order. So that, you know, including Satan, you know, the other principalities, powers, and spiritual hosts of wickedness that exist. So like I mentioned earlier, he's not one God among many, but he is God over all.

He's in a class on his own. He is holy, set apart. And now David then is filled with praise as he contemplates the greatness of his God. So if this historical understanding then that David was singing this particular psalm as he brings the ark to Jerusalem, then it's no wonder that he's dancing with all his might before the Lord in praise as he comes to understand who this Lord is, who Yahweh is, and worships him as such.

So then

Who May Enter God's Presence

we get to now the question of how to enter into Yahweh's presence? Because the question naturally arises then, how can this awesome God, so powerful, so holy, so sovereign over all things in a class completely on his own, how can he be approached? Who and how can we come into his presence? And David asks that question then in verse three, who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?

So who can ascend the hill of the Lord? Now, what does that mean, then, to ascend the hill of the Lord? Now, Jerusalem was on a hill or a mountain, and the temple would later be built on its own mountain or its own hill in Jerusalem. It actually was Mount Moriah that we've seen in the Old Testament.

So so now David is ascending this hill as he's as he's bringing the ark to the to the into the city But now to understand more about what exactly does he mean by this? you know, we need to go back back to the Garden of Eden again and And the Garden of Eden we find was on was was actually on a mountain now How how do we know well because the Bible tells us so Ezekiel 28 calls it specifically the holy of mountain of God. And then practically, we can deduce as well, four rivers flowed out of the Garden of Eden, so it had to be, you know, an elevated area so the rivers could flow out. So we see now Eden is on a mountain, and when we look at the language that's used to describe the creation account, we see the similar language when it comes to building the temple and the tabernacle, there's very many parallels between how the creation account is described versus how the temple was to be built. And in the Hebrew language, when you see that, that is very significant.

We need to take note and think, hey, there's something going on here. And so we know that the temple, the building of the temple signified the dwelling of God with his people. Exodus 29, verse 45, after it's giving all the details of how to build the temple or the tabernacle in that instance. But then God says, I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God.

So we take this subsequent revelation then of temple building. and the idea of dwelling, of God dwelling with them. And then that serves now to show us then that the mountain of Eden was a place where God dwelled in a special way with his people. And that's what is signified by the theme of mountains throughout the Bible. So throughout scripture then mountain is a place where God, where man comes into the presence of God.

So now when David asks who can ascend the hill of the Lord, He doesn't mean who can climb this hill up to Jerusalem, but rather who is worthy to approach this majestic, this holy creator and to come into his presence. And then the next statement in the verse makes that very clear again. It's a clear reference to temple and the presence of God. Who can stand in his holy place?

So David, he understands now, like I mentioned, he understands the holiness of God, the otherness of God, that he's in a class on his own. So this understanding now begs the question, who can stand in this holy place? Who can approach such a holy God? If you remember the account in Isaiah chapter 6, when he is in the in the temple, and he says, I saw the Lord high and lifted up.

And he sees the seraphim are there singing, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And what is his response? He says, woe is me, for I am undone. I dwell, I'm a man of unclean lips, dwell among a people of unclean lips.

So as he recognizes the holiness of God, he recognizes his unholiness and his And he pronounces woe on himself. He's about to be undone because of his unholiness in the presence of holiness. And now in that instance, we see how he is cleansed, how he's purified and made able to be in that presence. So the question is there then.

And then in verse four, we get the answer. So he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully, So David and the company of Israelites that he was with, they knew that there was a law that they were to obey. They knew that God had made a covenant with them and they understood what God had said in Leviticus 26 verse 4 and verse 11 and verse 12. He says, If you walk in my statutes and keep my commandments and perform them, then I will set my tabernacle among you, and I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be my people." So there's that concept of dwelling there in the tabernacle, man being in the presence of God.

But there was conditions that needed to be met in order to dwell in the presence of God. So David understands that you cannot just come into the presence of Yahweh But Yahweh has standards that must be met. And naturally, given the nature of God as a holy God, that standard is perfect holiness. So for someone to enter into the presence of Yahweh, they needed to be holy as God himself was holy.

So Habakkuk 1 verse 13 says, you are of pure eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness. So if we have one spot, one blemish, one sin, then we are not able to approach this holy God. So is David saying here in verse four, well then, you know, try your best and don't sin, have a pure heart, don't trust in falsehood or swear deceitfully. You know, if you're a good person, if you're a really good boy or a good girl, then you can approach this holy God.

And, you know, that's not what he's saying at all. He understands that we need perfectly clean hands and a pure heart. And he understood that our hearts are not pure by nature, right? Psalm 51, verse 10, he says, created me a clean heart, O God, renew a steadfast spirit within me.

So, and then David's son, Solomon, says in the Proverbs then, in Proverbs 20, verse 9, who can say that I have made my heart clean or I am pure from sin? So it becomes very obvious then that none of us can approach this holy God in and of ourselves. And the question, the question then becomes a problem. So now who then can come into the presence of Yahweh and be accepted?

And the solution is given in the next verse, in verse five. It says,

Righteousness Received by Faith

he shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. So David understands here then that it is the Lord who purifies the heart and cleanses the hands. And these are the blessings that he's talking about. Here from verse 4, it's the clean hands, the pure heart.

The Lord does that. The one who has clean hands, the one who has a pure heart has been made so by God himself. So who can ascend the hill of the Lord and not be cast out? It's one who has received these blessings from the Lord, the blessings of a pure heart and clean hands.

And the one who can ascend to the hill of the Lord has also been given a righteousness, as he says here, a righteousness from the God of his salvation, a righteousness that allows him to enter into the presence of Yahweh. Now, we understand that this righteousness, of course, is the righteousness of Christ. We'll see that more, right? Philippians 3 tells us that that righteousness comes from God by faith.

So that is the righteousness that meets the holy standards of the holy creator. So, the righteousness of Christ. And that's what it says here. So we know this righteousness comes by faith, and that's what David says here.

He says, the one who trusts in Yahweh, not who trusts in falsehood. There in verse five it says, he has not lifted up his soul to an idol or to something empty, to vanity there. So that phrase there, lifted up his soul, It means to trust or to believe. So if we look at Psalm 25 verse 1 for a second, it says, To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

O my God, I trust in you. So the lifting up of the soul means to trust. So the one who trusts in Yahweh has not lifted up his soul to something vain, something empty, something worthless, but rather to Yahweh. receives this blessing from him. There.

So what he... Sorry. I said this is why they tell young preachers not to stray from their notes. So the one who then, you know, the one who finds acceptance now is the one who trusts and who believes in the Lord, who has faith in the Lord.

So we see it very clearly here now that David, you know, he understands justification by faith. You know, by faith, one receives a pure heart and his sins are taken away. He receives, you know, clean hands, so to speak. In Psalm 32, David says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity." So David understands this. He understands that by faith, by trusting in Yahweh, the God of his salvation, he receives a righteousness that meets the standard of God's holiness. So those who trust in Yahweh have their hands cleansed, meaning the stains, the guilt of their sin is taken away, their heart is made pure, made new by the power of the Holy Spirit, and they receive a righteousness from Yahweh that makes them acceptable in His sight and able to come into His presence. Those are the blessings that they receive from the Lord when they trust in Him.

So when people tell you then that the Israelites, they didn't know about faith in Christ and they were just doing their best to obey the law and they were rewarded accordingly, no, that is wrong. They knew the Old Testament, prophets knew that the just shall live by faith. We see that in the Old Testament. So they may not have fully understood everything that we have now with the revelation of Christ, that Yahweh would come in the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth, but they knew fully and they were fully aware that they had to trust in Yahweh for their salvation.

And we've seen that already, right? That Christ is Yahweh. We saw that through the control over the seas, that Christ is Yahweh. So now we have faith in Christ again here. as a means of salvation.

And that's what David wants to remind them of that there. Now, and we see that in verse six. And now verse six, it says, this is Jacob, the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face. Now this is a difficult verse to translate, particularly the word Jacob.

The word Jacob comes at the end of the verse in the Hebrew, So, the NASB says, this is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, even Jacob. The King James Version says, who seek your face, O Jacob. Now, some think that Jacob may be just a shortened version of the God of Jacob. So if you have an ESV, in fact, it adds that.

It says, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. But I think that given the context here, that David is reminding them of their status before God, like we saw earlier. And when we look at, he understands justification by faith, then he's now addressing Jacob, or that is the Israelites, and he's calling them to take notice. So he's reminding them of this fact, that they were justified by faith.

So it's almost like he's saying, listen, listen, Jacob, this is the generation or the people group of God who seek Him, not those who are descended by Abraham, you know, by the flesh, not those who are circumcised, but it's those who have put their faith in Yahweh as the God of their salvation, and the ones who have then, through that faith, received the blessing of salvation and a righteousness from God. So, because David knew... Sorry. So David knew then that he didn't have a pure heart on his own.

He knew that he didn't have a sinless, holy life to present to God. So he knows, he understands that this righteousness that he needed could not come from himself, but he knew that there was a righteousness available from God, from the God of his salvation, that would allow him to find acceptance with God. And that righteousness was imputed to him through faith in Yahweh. And that's what he's trying to remind the Israelites of in this verse, saying, take note, this is the true Israel.

John Calvin presents this view as well. Calvin says he adds the word Jacob confirmation of the same doctrine, so what he's just taught and what he's just said in verse 4 and 5, putting it for those who were descended from Jacob as if he had said, although circumcision distinguishes all the seed of Jacob according to the flesh from the Gentiles, yet we can only distinguish the chosen people by the fear and reverence of God. So now we see them then and they're ascending this hill of Jerusalem with the Ark, David and this whole company of of people, signifying that they're coming into the presence of Yahweh. The question is posed, who can do this?

Who can come into His presence? The answer is given that only those who are those fit to do so are those who have received the blessings of a pure heart from Yahweh and a righteousness that meets His standard of holiness. So, well, then the question comes, then, well, whose righteousness is this? Because righteousness is complete obedience to the law of God.

So, who then is worthy? If David looks around, you know, at himself or his own, anyone in his company there, then there is none worthy. In Revelation, we find the Apostle John doing the same thing. The Apostle John is weeping, for there was none worthy to open the scroll. one of the elders comforts him and says, do not weep.

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and loose its seven seals. So not David himself, he wasn't worthy, but the root of David, the lion of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy. And that's now where David will take us here. He's not looking to himself or to anyone around him, but now he looks into the future and to the seed of David, to one greater than David.

And that's now where we come upon this scene now in the psalm of one coming into the presence of Yahweh. So the triumphal entry by the King of Glory. And this here is why the psalm is referred to as the Ascension psalm. In the following verses here, we have a scene of Jesus ascending to heaven to the right hand of the Father.

But it's such an incredible scene So here we see

Christ Demands Entrance at Heaven's Gate

a man marching up to the gates of heaven and calling out, lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and let the King of glory come in. So who would dare be so bold as to march up to heaven's gate and demand entrance? Who would be able to enter the holy presence, that unapproachable light of Yahweh himself without being destroyed by the brightness of his glory. And here we see it's a man declaring himself to be the king of glory.

And look at these, look at the gates. They're wondering the same thing almost. Their heads are hanging down, as it were, and they've been shut. They've been shut for a long time.

Not once have they ever opened to anyone. Never before has one come who has been worthy to be let into the presence of Yahweh Himself. So the demand now comes as a surprise here. And then we see a voice that, you know, we hear a voice call out from the wall, from the porters that are at the gate.

Who is this king of glory? And then listen to the response. It's Yahweh, strong and mighty, Yahweh, mighty in battle. So we know that this is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.

We've just seen that. It was his righteousness, right? So fully man, and yet Yahweh himself coming up to the gates of heaven and demanding entrance. So we've seen Christ in the beginning of the psalm as Yahweh the creator, the sovereign ruler over all of creation and then here again we see Christ as Yahweh but this time now he's Christ the The the warrior the the Hebrew word here is a is a Gabor so it's it can be used as an as an adjective Translated in our Bibles as as mighty or valiant which in the way, it's translated Here the the Lord strong and mighty mighty in battle but it's also it also can be used translated as a noun and and the just the idea of a of a warrior a war a war hero, so So who is this king of glory?

Well, it's Yahweh, a strong warrior, a hero, Yahweh, a hero in the battle. So

The Victory Parade of the Greater David

the scene that we have now of Christ coming up to the gates of heaven, it's one of a victory parade that was customary of the kings of that day as they return victorious from a battle. If you remember David and King Saul coming back after they defeated the Philistines, well, David did and killed Goliath. Now David was the Gabor in that story there. He was the war hero.

So as they paraded into the city, the people sang, you know, Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands. And that's what we see here in this scene, is the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ, returning victorious from the battle. So he had left his throne, In heaven, he had come to earth as a man born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. So as a man, he lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father, which gives him the right then to march up to the doors of heaven and to demand entrance into the presence of God.

And then in doing so, through his perfect life and his death, he defeats the enemies of God. So the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God himself, He became a man in order to rescue us. So the sovereign creator of the universe takes on our humanity and he died a substitutionary death in our place to pay the penalty to the father that we had incurred. So Colossians 2.15 says that through his death he disarmed principalities and powers having triumphed over them in it.

So he rescues us from the power of death. He partook of flesh and blood, Hebrews 2.14 says that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime in bondage. So the devil, the accuser, he's often called, he had the power of death in the sense that he had the law on his side. So as an accuser, he comes, he accuses lawbreakers before the Lord, and he says they're worthy of death.

And he's right in that sense. He is very right. The wages of sin is death. But then when Christ comes, Christ lives in obedience to that law, and he died to pay for those sins.

So now, when sinners through faith receive the forgiveness of sins, and their sins are washed away, and they're given a righteousness that is not their own, they're given the righteousness of Christ, then no longer does the devil have any grounds in his accusation to the Father that they are worthy of death. That power has been stripped from him. For now, the believer stands fully righteous before the Lord. So anytime the devil tries to make an accusation against a believer, there stands Jesus Christ the righteous as our advocate with the Father, and the devil can say no more.

He's silenced, so that power of death that he had is taken away from him. So here now then we see Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father. you know, returning from the battle, you know, victorious, having conquered his enemies. So, you know, Hollywood and storybooks and, you know, those kinds of things, they always portray Jesus as, you know, gentle and meek and mild. And, you know, and like, I think it's Voddie Bauckham, you know, says looking like a shampoo model, you know, but that's not how the Bible portrays him when it comes to his kingship.

You know, he's a warrior, he's a war hero. And now he's given that place of honor on his throne at the right hand of the Father. I think, turn to Daniel 7, verse 13 for a minute, where we see that same scene again. Daniel 7, verse 13 and following, I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed So that is our Savior.

As the apostles, priests, let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. So King of kings and Lord of lords. So here we see Christ, he marches up to the gates of heaven, they open wide for him and he climbs the steps to the throne and is seated at the right hand of the Father. And therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father." Now,

Ascension and the Captives Led Free

what else does the Bible say about him and his ascension? In Ephesians chapter 4, now quoting Psalm 68 verse 18, it tells us that he ascended on high, and he led captivity captive. So as he returns from the battle now, he's bringing with him a host of captives, a host that no man can number. Those who were held captive by the kingdom of darkness, in the sense that they were all deserving of death.

And he's rescued them, and now he brings them with him into the gates of heaven. And that's what, in verse six, this O Jacob, that's the generation of those who seek his face, those who have been given the blessing of clean hands and a pure heart and a righteousness from the God of their salvation, from their war hero, Jesus Christ himself. And he is our hero, brethren. He ought to be our hero.

And we ought to regard him as such because he did this for us. He died, you know, or first he lived perfect obedience to the law of God. You know, the devil took it upon himself to try and tempt him to sin. But the devil was not successful.

Jesus always kept the law of God. He always submitted to the will of his father. Even as the people were calling for his crucifixion, as he was being led away, he was always in submission to the will of his father, always in perfect obedience to him and to earn that righteousness that we are given. And then He died for you, you know, suffering an eternity of the Father's wrath on the cross for your sin.

We'll never be able to comprehend how much Christ, what that means to suffer an eternity of the Father's wrath, but Christ did that for us to rescue us from death so that we do not have any sins that need to be paid for by death. and then Christ raised from the dead victorious over it. So he's the sovereign creator, the one power over all things, the supreme one. He took it upon himself to rescue you from that kingdom of darkness. So now then back to verse 9.

So it goes on, it says, So lift up your heads, O you gates, lift up you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. So who is this King of glory, you ask? That's the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory.

And Lord Sabaoth is what says there. So again, it's another battle term. You know, the term is referring to his His sovereign control over the entirety of the created order, not just the physical realm, the spiritual realm as well, that He has sovereign control over the entire heavenly host, you know, angels, demons alike, all of the spiritual beings that there may be, they're all in His control. Daniel 4 verse 35 says, He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

None can restrain His hand. or say to him, what have you done? And what an encouragement is that? Because Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter six that our battle is not a physical one. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood.

We're not fighting with swords and guns and whatever it may be. It is a spiritual battle. We wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. So now, whether or not you believe that the gods of the ancient Near Eastern countries were actual spiritual beings, but either way, you need to appreciate then what David is doing in this psalm here, that he's affirming that Christ is Lord over all, and that we have to understand that the spiritual warfare is a reality.

And that the battle is still on, that Satan may have lost the power of death, but he is not dead. He's still going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may destroy. And he's attempting to blind the people of the world to the realities of the gospel message. in order to maintain that power over them, through all the attractions of the world, all the distractions, all the things that are going on to distract from the gospel message, that gospel that is the power of God unto salvation. So he hates the one who has taken that power from him, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ, by living a life of obedience, by dying for sin, Christ has taken that power from him, he hates him for it, and now he hates the ones who have been snatched out of his clutches, as it were, by that one.

So

Courage in the Ongoing Spiritual Battle

take courage, then, I say, because the battle may not be over, but we know the outcome. It doesn't matter, then, what the government try to do to the churches in closing them. It doesn't matter. Not in the sense that we don't care, but in the sense that we don't need to let that shake us and cause us to fear. when we see the nations of the world just seem to be collectively, you know, shaking their fist, you know, at the Lord, don't let that worry you, because we know that our hero, the war hero, our Savior, the Lord Jesus, that He wins, and that He takes us with Him to dwell in the presence of Yahweh forever.

So be encouraged, because when the Bible tells us that He ascended on high, he led captivity captive. Now those that are being led captive, they're not shuffling along in a chain gang with their heads down, but they're the ones in the company with David who are singing and dancing as they're on their way up to Jerusalem. So too should we be rejoicing in our Savior, rejoicing and celebrating his triumph over his enemies and rejoicing that he has rescued us from the power of death and darkness. And now

The New Jerusalem and Eternal Dwelling

turn to Revelations 21 to see how it all ends, the glorious ending to this. So if we look first at Revelation 21 verse 10, it tells us the location And it's just interesting to know. He says, he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. So again, now at the consummation of all things, it is on a mountain.

So we've seen that theme now all through the dwelling of man and God. Man entering into the presence of God on a mountain as we come to the final consummation of all things on a mountain. God and man dwelling together on a mountain. And now, and we see, just if you turn previously now to chapter 20, verse 20, we see the destruction of the devil, not verse 20, verse 7 and following there, that, and 10, sorry.

The devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. But now then going, jumping ahead again to 21, when we read verse one through seven there. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. So we see that concept of dwelling there again, of God and man dwelling together.

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. So this is what we have coming, brethren.

That eternal dwelling with God in His presence, with Him, based on the virtue and the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. That we are worthy to come into His presence not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ has done. And this is why we ought to share this message with the world, with those around us, because that's how we can engage in this battle. Satan wants to blind men to the gospel, but we are to teach them the gospel, because that is the means that God uses to bring people into his kingdom.

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. So

Application: Believe on the Lord Jesus

if you're here today and you are not a believer, read verse 6 again from Revelations 21. He says, at the end, he says, I will give of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. And go flip ahead to 22, verse 17. There he says, and the spirit and the bride say, come, and let him who hears say, come, and let him who thirsts come.

Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. Now this psalm speaks much of the sovereignty of Christ, Christ as the hero, the one who rescues, the one who, you know, and his sovereign control of all things. But the means that God has given, as clearly laid out in the Bible, the means to receive these blessings is through faith, through believing in him. Through faith we receive the blessings of clean hands, of a pure heart, and a righteousness from God.

You know, so clean hands and pure heart mean, you know, a regenerated heart, the forgiveness of sins, and then that righteousness that comes from Christ. So believe in the Lord Jesus, trust in Him to give you those things. So give up any hope of yourself that you might have of being able to walk up to the, you know, through those ancient doors of heaven, you know, on your own merits, because you know that you don't have clean hands and a pure heart and a righteousness that that meets that standard of holiness that God himself has. But Jesus does, and Jesus is offering that to you.

So trust in him to take you with him in that company that he's leading captive, leading on this victory march into the presence of God for eternity. As he said, in John 7, I believe, the one who comes to him, John 6, the one who comes to him, he will in no wise cast out, by no means will he cast out. So believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be part of this glorious company through all of eternity in the presence of the Lamb. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Lord, we thank you for this passage of Scripture, and Lord, I pray that that we would see the glory of Christ, of our Savior, our hero, the one who has rescued us, who came to this earth, born as a man, to live in obedience to your law and to save us, to rescue us from death that we deserve, that we had incurred by our sin. Lord, I pray that Christ would be glorified in our hearts today, that we would see him and our hearts would be filled with love, Lord, That is our prayer and our desire. And I pray that you would bless this message to us. Bless us now as we continue on in our day.

Watch over each one of us and keep us under your care. And we thank you, Lord, for your love towards us. We thank you for your promise that you will never leave us or forsake us. And Lord, we give you much praise, much glory.

And we pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Well, I'd like to close with singing as a doxology. Hymn number 380, crown hymn with many crowns. 380, we'll just sing verses one and five.

So just, I believe it's the first and the last verse of 380. So please stand and sing as a doxology, 380. I'll wake my soul and sing, Alleluia for Him. I was ♪ In the promise of life ♪ ♪ All hail, Redeemer, hail ♪ ♪ Lord God, as I formerly knew ♪ ♪ Thy praise shall ever, ever fail ♪ ♪ Throughout eternity ♪ May the God of all grace, who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Well, please be seated for a time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1
• Exodus 15:11; 19:5; 29:45
• Leviticus 10:3; 17:7; 26:4; 11-12
• Deuteronomy 3:24; 7:6; 10:14; 32:17
• Job 41:11
• Psalms 24; 25:1; 29:10; 32; 50:12; 51:10; 68:18; 89:11; 106:37
• Proverbs 20:9
• Isaiah 6; 45:6
• Ezekiel 28
• Daniel 4:35; 7:13
• Habakkuk 1:13
• John 6
• Ephesians 4; 6
• Philippians 3
• Colossians 2:15
• Hebrews 2:14
• Revelation 5; 20:7; 21:1-7; 6; 10; 22:17