A Psalm of David
1. To Yahweh the earth and its fulness belong,
The world and those who dwell in it.
2. For He on the seas has founded it,
And on the floods He will establish it.
3. Who will ascend into the hill of Yahweh,
And who will rise up in the place of His holiness?
4. The one clean of hands and pure of heart,
Who has not lifted up to vanity his soul,
And has not sworn for deceit.
5. He will lift up blessing from Yahweh,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6. This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Of those who look for Your face, of Jacob. Selah.
7. Lift up , O gates, your heads!
Be lifted up, O doors everlasting,
And the King of glory will come in!
8. Who is this King of glory?
Yahweh strong and mighty,
Yahweh mighty in battle.
9. Lift up, O gates, your heads!
Lift up, O doors everlasting,
And the King of glory will come in!
10. Who is He, this King of glory?
Yahweh of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah.
Psalm 24 is another obviously Messianic psalm. His ascension into heaven revealed our Lord Jesus Christ as Yahweh of hosts, the King of glory. He went to battle in the world, won a great victory over the enemies of His kingdom, and now comes in triumph to be enthroned. In strong metaphorical language, the psalm summons the gates of heaven to open before Him, so that He may enter and take His place as sovereign of the world. Crowds stand to observe inquiring eagerly, “Who is He?” And they receive the answer: “It is Yahweh Himself, ‘strong and mighty, mighty in battle.'”
The occasion for the psalm may well have been the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem. “So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses would say, “Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You” (Num. 10:35). When the Lord marched before His people through the wilderness (Ps. 68:7), He was the captain of a mighty host gathered for the conquest of His enemies and the taking possession of their lands. And when David brought the ark to Jerusalem, that was a sign that He had finished the work of conquest and was now ready to enter His rest (Ps. 132:8). All of that was typical of Jesus’ conquest of the world for His Father.
But if the last part of the psalm is about Christ the king, then so is the first part. The earth, its fulness and its inhabitants belong to Him. He founded them, and will found them again in the new creation. He is the Word by Whom all things were made (John 1:1-3), the beginning of the new creation (Rev. 3:14), and the firstborn over it (Col. 1:15).
Furthermore, He is the one who ascended the hill of the Lord and rose up in His holy place, because He is the one clean of hands and pure of heart. He received blessing from Yahweh and righteousness from the God of His salvation.
Yet there is a generation that seeks His face, the generation of Jacob, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people” (1 Pet. 2:9). He builds them as living stones into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices of praise to Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Psalm 24 is the song of every Christian who rejoices in the Lord who has conquered the world by righteousness, ascended Zion in holiness, and taken a seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is Yahweh of hosts, through whom we are more than conquerors.