Gate Keepers

Psalm 24

1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.

5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?

The LORD Almighty
he is the King of glory.


I pondered long on the relationship between verses 7-10, which I talked about in my last post, and the first part of this psalm. I believe the first part is talking about the King of glory who owns the whole earth and has set into place the principles by which it operates. He created us to have a significant role on this earth, partnering with Him to rule it. But only those who have clean hands and a pure heart, only the generation of those who seek Him, will fully achieve this destiny and "receive blessing from the Lord." Only they will participate in this glorious encounter, in which the Lord marches up to their doors in majestic array and gives them the opportunity to open wide and receive him in all his splendor and might.

Does this mean that a person who is, as yet, very imperfect in character has no partnership with God? Does a small child not "help" mom and dad? But the child's true helpfulness emerges as he or she develops in reliability.

An Invitation

From Psalm 24

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.

One might wonder why, if he is the Lord of hosts, he needs to stop at the door and ask for admittance. But it is part of the greatness he put into man—dominion over the earth and the power to choose who will rule here. Just as in the Narnia Chronicles, it took representatives fro Adam’s race to determine the destiny of Narnia, so we as dscendants of Adam and children of God have the authority to open the doors of earth for heaven to come in.

Generally doors are not lifted up, they swing outward on hinges. But tonight, in a spirit of worship, I lifted my hands. I began to sense that I was also—without words—interceding for my students. My hands were receiving what heaven had determined to pour out upon them. Brother Lawrence, a 17^th-century French monk, practiced the presence of God in a very simple way—he kept his heart lifted up to You. Many times I have done that, humming to You, if possible, and Your anointing has come and brightened faces, healed differences between students, and caused lethargic students to run after me, eager to turn in an assignment which normally they wouldn’t bothered to do. So our hearts and our hands, the actual doors that welcome the King of Kings, don’t swing outward, they “lift up their heads” so that “the King of glory may come in.”

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With slight alterations, this is a journal entry I wrote in 2002 for a class on "Psalms," taught by Sandy Gulso at Midwest Bible School.