We who know Christ as Savior have so much to
look forward to, don't we? Would you please turn
in your Bible to Psalm 24 for our study today?
Psalms 22, 23, and 24 form a trilogy of sorts.
Each, of course, is distinctive in its messianic
tone, and yet together they form something of
an outline of Messiah's work. In Psalm 22, we
have his past work, dying and rising again. In
Psalm 23, his present work, that of leading his
people. In Psalm 24, his future work, that of
reigning as sovereign. In Psalm 22, we have his
work as prophet. Psalm 23, his work as priest.
Psalm 24, his work as the king. In Psalm 22,
we see the Savior's cross. In Psalm 23, we see
the shepherd's crook. And in Psalm 24, the sovereign's
crown. And it is Psalm 24 that we look at today.
The earth is the Lord's and all it contains,
the world and those who dwell in it. For He has
founded it upon the seas and established it upon
the rivers. who may ascend into the hill of the
Lord, and who may stand in his holy place, he
who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has
not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not
sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God
of his salvation. This is the generation of those
who seek him, who seek thy face, even Jacob,
or perhaps even like Jacob. Lift up your heads,
O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that
the King of glory may come in. Who is the King
of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates,
and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King
of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. and
historical background which centers most probably
upon the Ark of the Covenant. You may remember
from Exodus chapter 25 that the Ark of the Covenant
was the focal point of the whole tabernacle that
God ordered the Israelites to build. The Ark
of the Covenant was a box made of acacia wood
that was overlaid with pure gold. It was a box
three feet nine inches by two feet three inches
by two feet three inches. The top or the lid
of the box was made of pure gold. On the ends
beaten out of that gold lid were two seraphim,
with their wings spread out and with their faces
looking down upon the top of the box, which was
called the mercy seat. Within the box were to
be placed certain contents. The two tablets of
the Law of Moses were there, the rod that Aaron
used, which budded, and a pot of manna, that
miracle food that God provided for His people
in their wilderness journey. But as too often
happens, that which God gave to represent Him
to the people became the object of worship itself.
Their faith began to be placed in this relic
rather than in the Lord We see this for example
in first Samuel chapters 3 & 4 when the Israelites
after they had gotten into the land Got into
a war with Philistines and were beaten badly
And they said we need to get the ark of the Lord
and bring it down thinking that that ark had
some kind of power They were rather superstitious
about it And so they brought the ark down to
Shiloh, or from Shiloh, to the battle. But the
ark was taken from them by the Philistines. The
Israelites were beaten back and they got their
hands on this religious object. And yet God honored
that object and you may recall the story, some
of it rather humorous in fact, about how God
plagued the Philistines because they had in their
possession this ark of the covenant. Finally,
the Philistines decided the best thing they could
do with it was to get it back to the Israelites
because it caused nothing but problems for them.
And so they arranged that. And the ark ended
up in the house of Abinadad, according to 1 Samuel
chapter 7 and verse 1. And there it was kept
for many years, until the days of David, when
he reigned as king. And it was in his heart that
he might return or take the ark of the covenant
from where it had rested for those years in the
house of Abinadab up to the city of Jerusalem,
which was now to be the capital city of his united
kingdom. We read about that in 2 Samuel chapter
6, and I'd like for you to look at that with
me. Because I think this was probably the occasion
that caused the writing of Psalm 24. 2 Samuel
chapter 6, and we look in verse 12. Now it was
told King David, saying, The Lord has blessed
the house of Obed -Edom, that's the same one
as a benedab, and all that belongs to him on
account of the ark of God. And David went and
brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed
-Edom into the city of David with gladness. And
so it was that when the bearers of the ark of
the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an
ox and a fatling. And David was dancing before
the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing
a linen ephod." And you can go on and read about
how the celebration occurred as the ark arrived
at the city, the city walls. Now if you think
about the language of Psalm 24, you can almost
see the procession arriving there. and the people
on the walls perhaps shouting out, who is the
king of glory? And those bringing the ark saying,
the Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory. Quite
a dynamic and dramatic moment as the ark of God
arrived in the city of Jerusalem. But Psalm 24
has also a prophetic significance beyond David's
day. We want to talk about that at least in part
this morning. As we think about the King of Glory,
who is the King of Glory? The answer to that
question is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the
victorious King of Glory. And in Psalm 24 we
have three works of the King of Glory. First
we see the King of Glory is the Creator, verses
1 and 2. His is the work of creation. His title
deed of ownership embraces what is called here
the world and the earth. The earth refers to
the vastness of the created planet and all that
it contains, taking into account its resources
of water and fuels, minerals and all of the essential
elements, the riches of its precious gems and
metals. The varieties of its plant and animal
life, its sea creatures, its insects, everything
that could be a part of the earth is embraced
here in the first part of verse 1 as belonging
to Him. But also included is the world and those
who dwell in it. The word world refers to the
civilized inhabited parts of the planet with
all of the peoples. that dwell anywhere on the
globe that make up a part of its population.
This verse says that the king of glory is the
owner of all. All of the earth and all of its
peoples belong to him. Before I go any further,
there are two observations that I would make
regarding this. Number one, man is a steward
of what belongs to God. We have deeds that say
a certain piece of ground might belong to us.
Or we may have registration titles to certain
pieces of the planet or certain gems or a certain
amount of gold or silver. But the fact is that
when we die that belongs to somebody else. And
when they die it belongs to somebody else. The
ultimate owner of all things is the Lord. However
you look at it, A person, a man or a woman, is
but a steward, and that's all that we are. We
have it for a period of time to use it, and then
we pass it on to others. We are stewards, but
we are stewards. I don't know that I've ever
preached a message On our responsibility as God's
creation for this to be good stewards of the
resources of this planet I'm not sure that's
worth a whole message. Maybe it would be in the
right context But the fact is that we are to
be good stewards of the resources that God has
put into this planet We are to remember that
the environment as it is is given to us and that
we ought not to pollute it And yet we are very
well known for that, especially in our society
where we have so much throw away and we have
so much excess. We are stewards of that which
belongs to God. But then there is a second observation
I would make and that is that every person, every
person has the brand of the eternal, infinite
God upon him. That gives value to all of life.
However early that life be in the womb, however
old that life be in some home or hospital, however
far off that life may be from what we call civilization,
every life has value because it has the brand
of God upon it. The world is the Lord's and all
of those who dwell in it. That has a lot of practical
application to some of the issues that we're
facing today. We have to go on. I want you to
notice that His ownership of all is based upon
His rights as the Creator. For He has founded
it upon the seas and established it upon the
rivers. It is God who caused the dry land and
the water to be separated and who set the boundaries
for them in the laws of nature that He established.
Because he is the creator of all that is, he
is the owner of it. It is his by right of creation.
And so we see that the King of Glory is the creator
and he is to be worshiped as the creator. He
has not created himself, nor is he in creation
in the sense of pantheism or the New Age theology,
if I can use that term. Philosophy is a better
word. He is separate from the creation, but he
brought it into existence. And because he is
its creator, it all belongs to him ultimately.
And we are stewards of the material world in
which we live. And we ourselves have the brand
of the eternal God upon us in our spirit. A second
work that I see in Psalm 2 of the King of Glory
is that of salvation. The King of Glory is the
Savior. This great Creator that is described
in verses 1 and 2 is also holy. He dwells in
His holy place according to verse 3. And the
question is asked, who is qualified to come into
His presence? Now, as David penned these words,
he may have had in mind Uzziah, or rather, Uzzah.
Uzzah. For you'll recall that just previous to
the bring of the ark that we read about in 2
Samuel 6, there was another attempt on David's
part to bring the ark, which resulted in disaster.
The first time, there was not care taken as to
how the ark was to be transported. And one Uzzah
was involved in bringing the ark on a cart. And
at one point he thought the ark was going to
fall off the cart and he reached up and touched
that holy object and God struck him dead on the
spot. Now it may be that that incident was in
David's mind as he asked the question, who is
qualified to ascend to the hill of the Lord?
Who can stand? in this holy place. That means
who can stand there without being ashamed? Who
can stand there without being embarrassed? Without
being afraid? Who is acceptable to God? That's
the question. Well, the response is very clear.
He who has clean hands and a pure heart. In other
words, the only one who is acceptable To come
into the presence of this Holy Creator is one
who is morally free of sin. I do not take these
phrases in verse 4 to be a complete catalog of
the qualities, but these are suggestions of the
virtues that represent sinfulness, or sinlessness
rather. Sinlessness. Who is able to stand before
the Great Creator unashamed? The answer is only
one who has clean hands and a pure heart. In
other words, one who externally is without fault.
He has clean hands. Outwardly, there's the virtue
of deeds that are good and not sinful. His hands
have not been fouled. By some sinful enterprise,
he has clean hands. But more than that, he has
a pure heart. Here we go inside, internally.
Not the virtue of the deeds, but the virtue of
the Spirit. Not only must the hands be unpolluted,
but the heart must not be fouled by sin if one
would stand before the Holy Creator God and be
accepted of Him. He explains further what he
means by a pure heart in verse 4, as someone
who takes no delight in what is false, someone
who has complete sincerity about him, nor does
he depreciate what is holy. He is not sworn deceitfully.
He has complete reverence for the name of God
and the things of God, something that Uzzah failed
to demonstrate when he touched. the ark of the
covenant. And so who may stand before this God?
Only one who is without sin. And I submit to
you that there is only one who is so qualified
to stand before God and be accepted of Him. And
that is this King of glory, Jesus Christ. He
is the only one who may stand before God and
be accepted, and He has been. For he was raised
from the dead, he ascended back to heaven, and
is seated at the right hand of God the Father
there, proving that he has been fully accepted
by the great Creator God, the one who is holy
in his dwelling place. Jesus Christ, the God
-man, has been accepted by God. That's wonderful,
but it leaves us in a rather bleak position,
except for the wonderful truth of the Gospel.
The good news of God is that Jesus Christ lives
and is in heaven today, that He might save completely
and cleanse every sinner who comes to Him in
faith. All of the disqualifying impurities about
us in deed and in heart can be removed by Jesus
Christ, the King of glory who is the Savior.
God who is holy demanded in his holiness that
a price for our sin be exacted. And that price
was exacted upon Jesus at the cross, wasn't it?
When he died there, he died as a substitute in
the place of sinners. Christ died for sinners.
Christ died for you and for me. So that God's
holiness is satisfied. And when we trust in the
Savior, then we are found acceptable to God.
because we are identified with the one who is
pure and holy and righteous and able to stand
in the presence of the Lord. Turn over to the
New Testament with me to the book of Romans,
the third chapter. Let's read some scripture
that undergirds what I've just said. The main
part of the first three chapters of Romans is
devoted to proving that all have sinned. and
that there is no one who is righteous in the
eyes of God. But in verse 21, it says, Now apart
from the law, the righteousness of God has been
manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets, even the righteousness of God through
faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Now
stop to think about that for a moment. Paul is
not just saying that God Himself is righteous
as an attribute, but he is saying that God gives
the kind of righteousness that He demands of
people who would stand before Him. He makes it
available to sinners. Who can stand before God?
Only one who is sinless. Only one who is righteous.
God then gives that righteousness to the sinner.
who believes, going down to verse 24, being justified
as a gift by His grace through the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus. This righteousness
is not a righteousness that we earn by even our
religious works, the meritorious deeds that we
think we do. No. This righteousness comes as
a gift from God. He comes to us because of what
Jesus did, verse 25, whom God displayed publicly
as a propitiation in his blood through faith.
In other words, the blood of Jesus satisfies
the holiness of God. He goes on to say, this
was to demonstrate his righteousness because
in the forbearance of God, he passed over the
sins previously committed. For the demonstration,
I say, of His righteousness at the present time,
that He might be just and the justifier of the
one who has faith in Jesus. On the one hand,
God is just and God is holy and He demands retribution
for sin. On the other hand, God loves the sinner.
How can God save the sinner from His just retribution?
by what he's done through Jesus Christ, and paying
the price on the behalf of the sinner. So that
when the sinner believes on the Savior, all of
his sin, all of his impurity is washed away and
wiped away from the record, and God gives to
the sinner perfect righteousness and unites him
to Jesus Christ. So that when God sees that individual
from that point on, He sees Him in Christ. He
sees Him as perfect as Jesus Himself is perfect.
What a wonderful standing God gives by justification.
And that's what Paul talks about in the next
chapter 2 of Romans. In chapter 5 verse 1 he
says, Therefore having been justified or declared
righteous by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have
obtained an introduction by faith into this grace
in which we stand. Who is it that can stand in
the presence of the Holy God, the Creator, the
one who has been saved by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ? The one who has believed on the
Savior who died and rose again 2 ,000 years ago.
The one whose sins have therefore been washed
away and who has received the righteousness that
comes from God as a gift. The one who has identified
with Jesus Christ. That one can stand before
the God of the universe and be unashamed. because
He stands there in the righteousness of Christ,
not His own righteousness. The King of glory
is the Savior. And the second work that I believe
is brought to our attention in this Psalm 24
is that of salvation. The wonderful salvation
that the King of glory has provided for all of
those who seek Him in faith. But let's go on
to the third part of the psalm, where we see
a third work of the King of Glory. The King of
Glory is the Creator, the King of Glory is the
Savior, and now we see that the King of Glory
is also the Ruler. Again, I invite you to think
back to that procession in David's day, when
the ark arrived to the gates of Jerusalem. David
himself, the King, in the common clothing of
a servant, coming to the gates of the city, bringing
that ark, and saying, Lift up your heads, O gates.
Be lifted up, you ancient doors." What does he
mean by that? Well, remember now, he's a poet.
He's speaking in a poet's language. In the first
place, these doors of the fortress city of Jerusalem
are ancient doors. These doors have seen King
Melchizedek enter through them, who was the king
of Salem, this very city, in the days of Abraham,
a thousand years before this. So these are old
doors, ancient gates. They have seen many royal
kings come through them. But now there is one
who is coming in such majesty that they have
to be lifted up. Jack up those gates. Broaden
them. Open them up because the King of Glory
is entering in. That's His point. God Himself
is entering the city in this ark that represents
His presence. Gates have to be enlarged to accommodate
such majesty as his. This one who is the Lord
of hosts, that is the Lord of the armies, one
of the most glorious of all of the Old Testament
names for the Lord. He comes to rule over his
people. He comes to dwell in the city of Jerusalem.
that place that he has chosen out of all of the
earth. But think ahead with me as well. Think
ahead prophetically with me to that day when
our Lord, the King of Glory, will yet again return
to the city of Jerusalem. To do that, I would
like you to turn to the book of the Revelation.
at the end of the New Testament. And to the fifth
chapter, where we have a scene in heaven, not
upon the earth, but in heaven. This is where
the action starts. Chapter 5 of Revelation, verse
1, And I saw in the right hand of him who sat
on the throne a book, or a scroll, written inside
and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
Now the one who is seen upon the throne here
is God, God the Father. He has in His hand a
book or a scroll with seven seals on it. And
John says, I saw a strong angel proclaiming with
a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book
and to break its seals? You can almost hear the
echo of Psalm 24. Who may stand in the presence
of the Holy One? No one in heaven or on the earth
or under the earth was able to open the book
or to look into it. And I began to weep, says
John, weep greatly, because no one was found
worthy to open the book and to look into it.
And one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping.
Behold, the lion that is from the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, has overcome, so as to open
the book and its seven seals. And I saw between
the throne with the four living creatures and
the elders a lamb standing, as if slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven
spirits of God sent out into all of the earth."
There is some symbolic use of language, obviously,
in verse 6. But John, as he sees this scene,
sees a lamb that has been slain. Not just one
that has died, but one that has actually been
sacrificed is the point. And that lamb is identified
as also the one who is the lion of the tribe
of Judah, who is the root of David, or the king
of glory, Jesus Christ. And we see that he came
and he took it, the scroll, out of the right
hand of him who sat on the throne. And after
taking that scroll, he begins to open it. And
the book goes on to record what happens when
the first seal is opened, and the second seal,
and the third, and so on. And it leads to the
whole book of the Revelation, which is a record,
a prophetic record, events that are yet to come,
of the pouring out of God's judgment upon the
Christ -rejecting earth. The movement begins
with the Lamb taking this scroll, which represents,
by the way, His title deed that He is the Creator
and He owns the earth. And He has also, because
of that, the right to rule it. And so he begins
to pour out judgment upon those who reject his
rule. Let's skip ahead in the book to Revelation
chapter 16 where we come to one glimpse of the
culmination of this judgment. Judgment leads
ultimately to a gathering of the armies of the
nations for battle against the Lord. They are
led by Antichrist, chapter 16 of Revelation,
beginning in verse 13, and I saw coming out of
the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth
of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for
they are spirits of demons, performing signs,
which go out to the kings of the whole world
to gather them together for the war of the great
day of God the Almighty, verse 16, and they gathered
them together in the place which in Hebrew is
called Har -Mageddon. Armageddon, the place of
Megiddo, the great valley of Ezdralon in the
land of Israel. What is described here and is
described in other places as well is the gathering
of the armies of the world. for battle. As they
gather for battle, their attention is focused
suddenly and dramatically to the skies. For there
appears in the skies a sign of the Son of Man,
and suddenly they see Him coming down out of
heaven upon a white stallion. and his name emblazoned
across his chest on a ribbon, and with him this
Lord of hosts, Lord of the armies, the armies
of the heavens behind him. And there is a clashing
of these two armies and the defeat of the forces
of the world, of Antichrist. I'm summarizing
what happens in chapter 19. And then, following
that, Our Lord will return to the city of Jerusalem.
And I'd like to go to the Old Testament for a
picture of this, to the book of Zechariah. If
you have trouble finding it, just go to Matthew
and start backing up and you'll get there fairly
quickly. Book of Zechariah, chapter 14. Behold,
the day is coming. For the Lord when the spoil
taken from you will be divided among you says
the writer a day is coming for I will gather
all the nations against Jerusalem to battle and
The city will be captured in the houses plundered
and the women ravished and half of the city exiled
But the rest of the people will not be cut off
from the city then the Lord Will go forth and
fight against those nations as when he fights
on a day of battle, a day that I've briefly described
to you a moment ago. And it says, in that day,
his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which
is in the east, or the front of Jerusalem, on
the east. And the Mount of Olives will be split
in its middle from east to west by a very large
valley, so that half of the mountain will move
toward the north and the other half toward the
south. He describes the change of the topography
in Jerusalem when Jesus' feet touch that mountain.
Verse 9 goes on to say, And the LORD will be
king over all the earth. In that day the LORD
will be the only one, in His name the only one.
Verse 16, Then it will come about that any who
are left of all the nations that went against
Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship
the King, the Lord of hosts. to celebrate the
feast of booze. In other words, some of the Old
Testament feasts are going to be reestablished
during His reign upon the earth as a memorial
to His victory. Now just briefly, we have surveyed
some of the Scriptures that cause us to think
ahead. Psalm 24 causes us to think back to that
time when the ark was brought to the city of
Jerusalem. But that is not the end of that psalm.
It looks ahead when the king of glory will rule
on the earth when he will return and subdue his
enemies and Will come victoriously to that city
and once more the question will be asked Who
is this king of glory the Lord of hosts? Strong
and mighty in battle. He is the king of glory
open up you gates Broaden yourselves everlasting
doors that the King of Glory may come in. And
on that day, yet to come, He will enter Jerusalem
and reign over the earth. And all of the earth
will come to worship the King. The one who will
rule is the same as the one who created and who
saves. He is Jesus Christ, the King of Glory.
As He will one day enter Jerusalem, He this day
would enter your life. The alternative is to
remain at war with Him and to someday receive
the punishment that is meted out to all of those
who refuse Him. He would enter your life. But
if He would enter your life, He must enter not
only as your acknowledged Creator and your Savior.
But he must enter your life as your sovereign
too. For when you invite him into your life,
no area of life can be knowingly withheld from
his rule. You must receive him as the victorious
one who has conquered you and to whom you now
submit yourself. But please. Understand that
He does this not to subjugate you. He conquers
you not to enslave you. He conquers you that
He might lift you to reign with Him on His throne
of glory. No one ever opens his heart to receive
this Savior sovereign. to become the loser. But
there is only gain, an eternal gain, to receive
Him. What a privilege to give yourself to the
King, the King of glory, and to be able to look
into His face and know that He is your Creator
and your Savior and the Sovereign, the Lord of
your life. Let's pray together. Wherever you
be today in your spiritual need, how would you
respond to the message this morning? At least
in the closing part, I've aimed it directly toward
those who need to receive Christ. Understand
that rejecting him is not a game. It's very serious
business. Today, he comes to the gate, as it
were, of your heart, desiring to enter in. Will
you receive him as your conqueror? Submit yourself
to Him in trust and in faith. You say, I would
like to do that. I would like to talk to somebody
about it. I'm not sure what it all entails. As
you fill out your registration form a little
later, I invite you to check that part of it
that says, I would like to talk with someone.
And we'll have someone be in touch with you,
to talk with you personally, to answer any questions
you may have. But the fact is you need not wait
till then, for even where you're seated, if you
understand the message, you can receive it. Lord
Jesus, King of Glory, we worship you. We acknowledge
you. You are the Creator, you are the Savior,
you are the Sovereign. We rejoice in your victory.
A victory that you invite us to share when we
trust you.