Thursday, July 25, 2024
Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors! Then the King of glory will come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord of Armies, he is the King of glory.Selah. Psalm 24:7-10 CSB
Who Is This King of Glory?
At the beginning of this psalm we see the soverign majesty and glory of God as David praises the master of the universe. The earth and everything in it belongs to Him. He created it and He is the Lord of all. Next David speaks of what God requires of us to stand before Him – clean hands, a pure heart, pure devotion (no idols), and pure speech. Near the end of Psalm 24 David speaks about the King of Glory and poses the question Who is this King of Glory?
This psalm gives us a picture of The King of Glory entering Jerusalem. Possibly a time of celebration because it is possible this Psalm was written to mark the entrance of the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem. This symbolized the presence of God returning. Psalm 24 also foreshadows the coming of the King of glory, Jesus Christ, centuries later.
Who is this King of Glory – the strong and mighty? The one who is mighty in battle? The Lord of the Armies? This King of Glory is Jesus. Jesus is The King of Glory who came to earth as a baby, and died on the cross for you and me, giving us clean hands, and a pure heart so we can come before God. He is the King of Glory who was crucified and rose from the grave defeating sin, death, and the grave. He is the King of Glory who gives mercy, grace, and salvation to all who will believe and receive. This is the King of Glory who will come back again one day. And through this King of Glory, we can see the encompassing glory of God. Through our relationship with The King of Glory, we reflect this glory to a lost and dark world.
He fights our battles for us – am I worthy of fighting for? Is the risk too great? Have I already cost him too much? Is he tired of my flailing and ready to give up on me? Did he ever want to fight for me? Does he think I deserve the defeat I fear and feel sometimes? These feelings come from forgetting who Jesus really is and instead focusing on our circumstances.
Our view of God gets covered up by the mountains of difficulty. We allow them to rise up and wipe out our view and forget that He truly is The King of Glory. Jesus is our righteousness, and he alone meets the righteous requirements of the law. Only through him can we be made righteous enough to come before holy God.
Ultimately, we all have to answer this question of who is this King of Glory? Who is Jesus to you? Is He your King of Glory? Will you surrender and let Him be that King – to let Him come in and let Him fight your battles?
