The King of Glory

INTRO

While Psalm 23 is a beloved psalm, Psalm 24 paints a picture of the Messiah that coincides with the larger theme of Revive School. Wiersbe notes Psalm 22 can be viewed as the first part of a trilogy with Psalm 23 and 24. In Psalm 22, the Good Shepherd died for His sheep. In Psalm 23, the Great Shepherd cared for His sheep. In Psalm 24, the Great Shepherd returned and rewarded His sheep.¹ F.B. Meyer observes Psalm 23 tells of the cross, Psalm 24 tells of the crook, and Psalm 25 tells of the crown.²

Psalm 24 could have been written when the ark was brought to Jerusalem. The early church designated Psalm 24 as an ascension psalm.³ Wiersbe notes that the psalm opens with the people speaking in verses 1–2, the leader asking questions in verses 3, 8a, and 10a, and the people answering the leader’s questions in verses 4–6, 8b, and 10b. This psalm was sung every Sunday in Herod’s temple. The church assigned this psalm to be read on Ascension Day (Acts 1:9), 40 days after Easter. Christians understood Jesus to be “the Lord of Glory” who returned to heaven after the resurrection and who will return to establish His kingdom.⁴

Colossians 2:15 says, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; He triumphed over them by Him.” The ascension carried with it the idea of triumph. Ephesians 4:8–10 says, “For it says: ‘When He ascended on high, He took prisoners into captivity; He gave gifts to people.’ But what does ‘He ascended’ mean except that He descended to the lower parts of the earth? The One who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.”

TEACHING

Psalm 24:1-2: MacArthur divides Psalm 24 into stages. The first two verses contain stage one: “Worship of the Creator through Contemplation.”⁵ David knew the Lord owned everything in the world. The Lord had “universal ownership”⁶ over all of creation. Exodus 19:5 says, “‘Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine.’” Psalm 50:12 says, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is Mine.”

Psalm 24:3–6: “Worship of the Savior” was MacArthur’s second stage of the psalm (vv. 3–6).⁷David outlines two qualifiers for those who would worship God: they must have clean hands and pure hearts (v. 4). Nelson’s Commentary notes, “Clean hands refer to a person’s actions; pure heart refers to inner attitude.”⁸ Clean hands and a pure heart became a description of David: “He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; He brought him from tending ewes to be shepherd over His people Jacob—over Israel, His inheritance. He shepherded them with a pure heart and guided them with his skillful hands”(Psalm 78:70–72). MacArthur notes, “These sample qualities do not signify sinless perfection, but rather basic integrity of inward motive and outward manner.”⁹ David knew that righteousness was received from his Savior (v. 5).

Psalm 24:7–10:In stage three of the psalm, MacArthur entitled “Worship of the King,”¹⁰ David instructed the city gates to “lift up your heads” and for doors to “rise up” (v. 7). MacArthur points out, “These are bold personifications indicating that the city gates needed to stretch themselves to make way for the entrance of the great King.”¹¹ Constable notes, “Normally people bowed their heads as majesty passed, but in this figure the gates did the reverse.”¹²

The King of Glory was victorious over His enemies (v. 8). Constable equated the “King of Glory” with Yahweh and notes, “The Lord is glorious because He is omnipotent, as seen in His victory over His enemies and His provision of salvation. Israel’s divine King was fully glorious because He was unconquerable.”¹³

Verse 9 repeats verse 7, once again calling the gates to participate in the worship of the King. Similarly, verse 10 repeats the idea of verse 8, identifying the Lord as the King of Glory.

Wiersbe proposes that the gates were addressed twice to reference Jesus. When Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, this psalm had probably been sung that morning, but it wasn’t applied to Him. Instead, just a few days later Jesus was crucified on Golgotha. However, after His crucifixion and resurrection, He was received into heaven as the conquering King of Glory. Later, Jesus will return to earth to fight against the armies of the world, He will win and establish His kingdom on earth.¹⁴ Revelation 19:11 describes this picture: “Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and He judges and makes war in righteousness.”Zechariah 14:9 says, “On that day Yahweh will become King over all the earth—Yahweh alone, and His name alone.””

CLOSING

How do you get ready for the return of the King of Glory? Steven Cole outlines three ways to be ready for Jesus’ return.¹⁵

1. To be ready for Jesus’ coming, He must be your Master.

“On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!” (Matthew 7:22–23)

To be ready for Jesus’ coming, you must be His servant.

To be ready for Jesus’ coming, you must live in expectation of His return.

“Blessed will be those servants the master finds alert when He comes . . . You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:37a, 40)