PART SEVEN: THE KING OF GLORY AS YAHWEH BECOME MAN (A STUDY IN THE MESSIANIC NATURE OF PSALM 24)

Finally, let’s consider the last and third section of Psalm 24. Again, this is my translation based on a more strict reading of the original. 

Third Section:

Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in. (v. 7)

Who is this King of Glory? Yahweh, strong and mighty, Yahweh, mighty in battle! (v. 8)

Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O everlasting doors, that the King of glory may come in. (v. 9)

Who is this King of glory? Yahweh of hosts! He is the King of glory. (v. 10)

As we consider the third section as a continuation of the thought of the second section, we see the ultimate coronation of the God-Man: Yahweh become Man. This coronation happens after Christ's resurrection from the dead. In that state, Christ appeared to many witnesses, gave instructions to His apostles, and then ascended to Heaven while His apostles and others looked on. Among the things He said during the time prior to His ascension is that all authority in Heaven and on earth had been given to Him. His ascension took Him to heaven where, no doubt, the words of this third section were perfectly fulfilled if not followed like a script.

One commentator says the following about this section:

"When the King of England wishes to enter the city of London, through the Temple Bar, the gate being closed against him, the herald demands entrance. 'Open the gate.' From within a voice is heard, 'Who is there?' The herald answers, 'The King of England!' The gate is at once opened, and the king passes, amidst the joyful acclamations of his people. This is an ancient custom, and the allusion is to it in this Psalm. 'The Lord ascended with a shout;' he approached the heavenly portal — the herald in his escort demanded an entrance, 'Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be lifted up, you everlasting doors that the King of glory may come in.' The celestial watchers within ask, 'Who is the King of glory?' The heralds answer, 'The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.' The question and answer being repeated once more, the gates lift up their heads, and the everlasting doors are lifted up. The Prince enters his Father's palace, greeted with the acclamations of heaven, all whose inhabitants unite in one shout of joy ineffable: 'The Lord of Hosts, he is the King of glory!'" 

Notice as well that after Christ is thus crowned King of glory at God's right hand, Scripture says that He must reign until all His enemies are made a footstool for His feet.

What we see, therefore, in both sections two and three, is that the basic, underlying question remains the same: "Who shall ascend the mountain of Yahweh?" Moreover, in the light of the coming of Jesus Christ into the world we know something else about Psalm 24 that is implied there but not explicitly stated: Yahweh first descended from the mountain of Yahweh before He ascended it as prophesied in Psalm 24. Again, this is obviously not true of God's people and reinforces the need for us to both begin and end directly with Jesus Christ (Yahweh become Man) in understanding the second section (verses 3-6) instead of directly beginning with ourselves and indirectly ending with Him as an afterthought — even if a very blessed afterthought.

Consider with me two other passages of Scripture.

In Romans 10:6, Scripture expressly says, "For the righteousness based on faith says, 'Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven?" How are we to understand this in view of Psalm 24? That is, in Romans Paul is informing us that the gospel which declares we are saved by faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone forbids us to ask, "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?," if by asking that question we mean, "What righteousness (in part or whole) can we contribute to salvation to make going to heaven (or having heaven in our hearts) a reality?" Then Paul says, "that is to bring Christ down." Paul equates Christ with salvation, and he sees any effort to be justified by works of law (trusting in one's own righteousness or being good enough) as an attempt (again, in part or whole) to be one's own savior. To "bring Christ down" is to believe or act as if Christ has not already fully and completely finished the work of salvation once and for all. It is to believe or act as if something else on our part needs to be done for us to be able to ascend the hill of the LORD.

Notice as well that in Ephesians 4:8-10, Scripture says: "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men. In saying, 'he ascended,' what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things." Based on this passage, then, "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?" is properly answered with, "The One who descended from the hill of the LORD." Moreover, now that this One, this Messiah, has ascended the hill of the Lord — far above all the heavens — he is filling his people with all good things from heaven (as Ephesians 1:3 says).   

As I have been saying in these posts, there is a sense in which the question, "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?," if heard as a call to look to ourselves for righteousness becomes a snare, a temptation for us to turn away from the Gospel, take the yoke of law upon ourselves, turn back to our own efforts to be good enough to gain access to a holy God. We are told not to ask that question from a disposition to justify ourselves through our own efforts or law-keeping. Again, alluding to Romans 10:6, "Do not say in your heart who shall ascend the hill of the LORD." The "Who?" of Psalm 24:3 and in this context, then, has one answer: Not me or you (no matter how hard we have worked to have clean hands and pure hearts) — not even Jesus plus me or you, but Jesus alone has ascended the hill of the LORD — no one else. 

Jesus plus nothing is the only basis for our righteousness. Jesus Christ, for the sake of counting us righteous by his own representative work, obeyed the law in our stead, died for our sin as our substitute, took the wrath of God due us, was raised on the third day for our justification, and has ascended the hill of the LORD to fill us with all heaven's good things.

"Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?" Beloved, let us come to this great and glorious gospel reality: There is now for us in Christ Jesus no hill of the LORD to be ascended, for Jesus of Nazareth — Yahweh become Man — has already done it for us as our representative. I repeat: We are now seated on the hill of the LORD with Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). We have already entered heaven by God's reckoning. We have the Spirit of God in our hearts as a down payment, an earnest, a deposit from God which assures us that we belong to God forever, that heaven has already begun as our eternal inheritance.  Our future is secure and the evidence of that secure future is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in our hearts.

Put differently, there is no place at the Father's right hand to be filled: It has already been filled by Jesus Christ. There is no righteousness of the law yet to be finished so we can go to heaven: It has already been accomplished perfectly and completely for us by Jesus Christ. God considers those of us who are in Christ as already home, already rescued, already ascended and seated in heaven with Christ.

But since we know that as Christians we are not perfect yet what about the need on this side of glory for us to be more sanctified, to have cleaner hands and purer hearts? Is what I am saying about how Psalm 24 is to be understood to be taken as some kind of implicit justification for Christians to neglect the pursuit of holiness? Not at all. In fact, my motive is just the opposite of that. The only genuine growth in holiness comes from receiving (on an ongoing basis) Christ's perfect sacrifice for our sin through faith. Though we are saved once and for all, holiness is a matter of becoming more and more like what God already considers us to be in Christ. That is, in Christ we are holy in our standing with God, and God calls us, therefore, to be holy in our walk or way of living before Him. 

Consequently, as Christians we are not called by God to make ourselves holy in order to ascend toward or have access to God; rather, saved by the mercies of God and accepted by Him on that basis in Christ, we yield our bodies to God by the Holy Spirit for increased levels of holy living precisely because Yahweh Himself descended from and ascended to Heaven in the person of Jesus Christ on our behalf as our representative to bring us to God. 

He who alone had clean hands and a pure heart offered His clean hands and pure heart as our substitute for our unclean hands and impure hearts. His clean hands and pure heart (because He is our representative) were credited to us. Put differently, we do not ascend the hill of the Lord but rather the Lord has descended that hill to come for us — even going to the lowest pit to get us out — and take us to Heaven. He is the first one up and in, our forerunner, our surety, our Man in Heaven. 

In sum, the only way we truly make progress in having clean hands and a pure heart is by Heaven's descent, by receiving Yahweh's Mountain in our hearts. Truly, we have come to Mt. Zion because Mt. Zion came to us first. Therefore, it is only as we focus on Jesus Christ as our high priest and all sufficient sacrifice for our sins that we will find ourselves increasingly changed or sanctified — having cleaner hands and purer hearts. 

PART SIX: THE KING OF GLORY AS YAHWEH BECOME MAN (A STUDY OF THE MESSIANIC NATURE OF PSALM 24)

Now let's proceed to section two of Psalm 24 (vss. 3-6), and, again, I will translate it, attempting to be as literal as possible:

Second Section:

Who is this? He is one who shall ascend to the mountain of Yahweh. 

Who is this? He is one who shall rise and stand in the holy place. (v. 3)

His hands are innocent [of transgression], and his heart is pure.

Who is this? He is one who did not raise my hopes for nothing [or set me up only to let me be put to shame] or swear deceitfully [concerning my salvation]. (v. 4)

He shall obtain blessing from Yahweh and righteousness from the God of his salvation. (v. 5)

This is the generation of this One thus asking of [and receiving from] God — [they will be] those [who will be] asking of Him, those [who will be] seeking your face, O Jacob. (v. 6)

As I said at the end of my last post, if we really understand the declaration of verses one and two of Psalm 24 — if we really appreciate the terrible plight we are in as condemned sinners in Adam — the question, "Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?," should bring silence. It should create a silence followed by loud weeping like the apostle of John in the book of Revelation. And it should make us weep because no one is worthy, no one can have hands clean enough or heart pure enough, to ascend the hill of the LORD even as no one is worthy to take the scroll and open it. 

Moreover, if we fail to see this, if we think we can keep our hands clean and hearts pure enough to ascend the hill of the LORD, we set ourselves up for pride, self-deceit, and the sin which legalism or self-righteousness always causes. For us to do that would be like joining the Israelites in their glib response to Moses, "Whatever the LORD commands we will do." (We know how that turned out.) Or, more to the point, it is like being there with John and stepping toward the throne to take the scroll, when the question comes, "Who is worthy to take the scroll?" How foolish and presumptuous it would be for any of us to do that — for any of us to think that we could somehow be good enough to walk up there and take the scroll from the right hand of him who sits upon the throne — open it, and be part of what it takes (or, more properly, who it takes) to make that story of redemption happen! We can no more ascend the LORD's hill with our righteousness (our clean hands or pure heart) than the apostle John or anyone else in heaven or on earth could take that scroll and open it.   

This silence broken only by John's loud weeping also resonates with what God says in Isaiah: "I looked, but there was no one to help" (63:5). In that context, there was a need for blood to satisfy God's wrath. But God looked around, and, again, there was silence. There was no one worthy. There was a need and no one in heaven or on earth was able to meet that need. Then God says, "So my own arm brought me salvation" (63:5). Again, He says, "I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me" (63:3). This has messianic implications. He means that God's blood would be shed (Acts 20:28), the blood of His own Son was the price of His people's redemption. Isaiah says, It was "the will of Yahweh to crush him" (53:10). The winepress He tread, the grapes he crushed, symbolized the crushing of His Son. God's wrath for sin was spent upon own His dearly beloved Son. God alone did this. No one helped Him. No one was worthy. No one was a part-savior in this work. It is by grace alone, Christ alone, faith alone.

Notice, though, that as John was weeping, one of the elders said to him, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals" (5:5). In the same way, in this second section of Psalm 24, David by the Spirit answers this question of "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?," with "He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully" (v. 4). That is, I am suggesting that David is not talking here primarily about God's people — not even His saved people — but of the Messiah who was to come. Yahweh in the flesh. God alone, is the One, the answer to the "Who?" As Isaiah says of the Messiah, "there was no deceit in his mouth" (53:9). And Paul says that in Jesus Christ we have a "hope that does not put us to shame" (Romans 5:5).

PART FIVE: THE KING OF GLORY AS YAHWEH BECOME MAN (A STUDY OF THE MESSIANIC NATURE OF PSALM 24)

Now that we've looked at a more literal translation to substantiate the messianic nature of Psalm 24, let me see if I can reinforce this interpretation by going through the psalm  again. This time I will use "Yahweh" instead of "LORD" (the word used by translators for "Yahweh") and try to convey through a translation of my own as well as letting Scripture interpret Scripture what this psalm is getting at.

Section One (Vs. 1-2):

To Yahweh [belongs] the earth and everything in it,

the world and those who live in it. 

For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

Now vss. 1 and 2 are an announcement of a great truth. A proclamation even — light bursting forth in a dark world. But we must also bear in mind what was true both then when David wrote it and now as we read it — viz., that the truth that God in His sovereignty owns everything and everyone by virtue of creation (thus providing for and ruling over all things), raises some significant problems. Compare, for example, a similar text found in Psalm 8:4-6, where David says,

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.

What we see here is a strong affirmation of the divinely delegated reign of Man over all things in the earth. But listen to what the writer of Hebrews says in 2:8 about this passage:

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 

That is, the writer of Hebrews sees things that are not subject to Man in this prophetic and messianic vision of a world created by God to be under Man's dominion. In the same way, when we read the first two verses of Psalm 24 which declare God's ownership and rule over His creation we see things that challenge that picture of things. We find ourselves asking questions. What about sin and death, evil and suffering, and the general abnormality of things after the fall of Man? That is, what about the separation between God and Man due to sin, evil-producing conditions which make it seem as if God is not present or in charge of His creation? What about all the animal sacrifices under the law of Moses which made the exercises of propitiation for God's wrath associated with the sanctuary seem like a blood factory? That is, what about the fact that Israel and the whole world is under the wrath of God apart from the covering of the coming Messiah? And what about the devil, who is in some sense "the god of this world"? The apostle John says, "The whole world lies under the power of the evil one." Also, what about the many people who are not God's covenant people (whether in David's time or ours), the "uncircumcised" who resist His rule, have nothing to do with His covenant, don't care anything about ascending "the Lord's hill," and who are, instead, working night and day against God's purposes and seemingly intent on descending into hell?  Who are in effect saying to one another, "Who shall descend into the pit of hell? He who has unclean hands and an impure heart." That is, what about the Biblical revelation that in our ourselves we have a sinful flesh, a sinful nature possessed both by those who are in covenant with God and those who are not? John says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). This means that Scripture teaches that both Christians and non-Christians have a sinful nature which Paul says does not keep God's law and indeed "cannot" do so (Romans 8:7-8)? 

Now let's return to the writer of Hebrews and the passage we were considering. Notice that when he sees things that don't square with the picture Psalm 8 provides of God's purpose for Man to reign, he points to a Man who is a forerunner for a new race, one who represents us, who is reigning in heaven in fulfillment of Psalm 8. He puts it this way in 2:9,

But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

In the same way, I am suggesting, when we read vss. 1-2 of Psalm 24 we should acknowledge: Yes, God is creator, ruler, and owner of everything; however, there was in David's time and ours a great need for redemption. There is a chasm between Man's valley or pit of sin and Yahweh's mountain of righteousness, too great for anyone to escape, to get across or ascend to that mountain. Apart from a Savior, therefore, the distance between sinners on earth and the glories and pleasures of fellowship with God in a pure, high, and holy heaven would remain throughout eternity. In short, I am proposing that verses 1 and 2 give us a statement which is, on the one hand, a refreshing, overwhelming, powerful reality. But it is both a reality and a prophetic, messianic vision — a reality as a promised future in Christ. 

Its declaration raises the problem of how fallen humans can enter into God's ownership or kingship over the earth — how there can be a story of redemption for a fallen world in which fallen sinners live who are not honoring God as creator. As with the writer of Hebrews, we must say, "At present we do not yet see everything in subjection to him" (2:8).  That everything and everyone is His raises this question for sinners: Do I who am a sinner and in bondage to evil belong to Him, does my heart belong to Him, I with all my sin? Can I belong to Him? Are we as the human race, we who were banished from the Garden of Eden, from intimate fellowship with God, His people still? No, certainly not in the same sense as then. As Isaiah says, "your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you" (59:2). There is great separation now. There is death — being banished or cut off from the presence of  God — which is the wages of sin," as Paul says (Romans 6:23). 

God is at a distance. He is not here like He was in the garden. Things are not okay between us and Him. We don't see Him anymore. He is invisible. We don't walk with Him the way Adam and Eve did. He is in heaven, which in Psalm 24 is being metaphorically presented as a really high mountain. We can't ascend that mountain no matter how good we are. We are on earth or more accurately (and again): in the pit. So how do we get up there to be with Him? How do we get out of the pit? How can we, sinners that we are, ever hope to see His face? 

The question implicit then in Psalm 24 is, "Who shall get out of the pit? Who will deliver us from the pit?" Hence, I am suggesting that verses 1 and 2 should make us ask: How can any of us pit-dwellers go to heaven? How can we be saved? We are undone — lost eternally. No one is righteous. No one is worthy to be accepted by God. God is up there and we are down here. We can't get out of the pit much less ascend "the hill of the LORD" or see His face without certain death. He is holy and we are unholy.

Please note that if this interpretation I am suggesting is correct that means there is something unsaid between the first section and the other two sections of Psalm 24.  But it is something unsaid which God's Spirit who led David to write this pslam expects us as readers to know based on everything else God's Word says. We are expected not to read this passage or any other passage of Scripture out of context or as if it were an island disconnected from the rest of Scripture. (Remember Arthur Pink's last words: "The Scriptures are self-interpreting.") We are also expected to understand that this ideal picture, as is true of Psalm 8, is messianic in nature and was given to be fulfilled in time through Jesus Christ. Put differently, vss. 1 and 2 put us in a similar position to what John experienced as related in Revelation 5:1-5,

Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?"

This "who?" resonates with the "who?" of Psalm 24. At a minimum this scroll signifies the history of the redemption of God's people, that there would be such a redemption, that a world at enmity with God would be reconciled to God. In the moment of silence following this question, however, it becomes evident that "no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it" (v. 3) and therefore, John "wept loudly" (v. 4).

PART FOUR: THE KING OF GLORY AS YAHWEH BECOME MAN (A STUDY OF THE MESSIANIC NATURE OF PSALM 24)

These three sections, then, taken in order have to do with: 

(1) Verses 1-2: What Yahweh is in relationship to His world (He is creator and owner of everything); 

(2) Verses 3-6: What Yahweh is as blemishless Lamb or sin offering, a man (the Messiah) with clean hands and pure heart who lays down his life for the sheep, taking upon himself the wrath of God due them, and thus worthy to ascend the hill of Yahweh; 

(3) Verses 7-10: What honor Yahweh rightly deserves (with the purity and obedience spoken of in verses 3-6) as the King of Glory in His triumphal entry into heaven as both God and man. 

How did I arrive at this interpretation? 

Let's begin with the original Hebrew. I will write below what a literal (admittedly awkward) reading of the Hebrew translated into English looks like. Seeing the original helps us see what translators are looking at. Notice, particularly, two things which I believe support the interpretation I am proposing: 

(1) The emphasis (I have it in bold) in this text on the question, "Who?" It occurs in both sections two and three and has to do with the same reference: Yahweh. Importantly, the "Who?" of the third section (vss. 7-9), I am suggesting then, is the same "Who?" spoken of in the second section (vss. 3-6). 

(2) Notice as well in verse 4, the use of the third person singular and first person singular, when it says, "he" and "soul-of me" or "my soul." Two different persons are spoken of there. That is: Someone ("he") is doing something on behalf of someone else (the "soul-of-me" or "my soul").  Now, with that in mind, let's read it in its more literal form.

First Section:

to-Yahweh the-earth and-fullness-of-her habitance and-ones-dwelling-of in-her (verse 1):

that he on seas he-founded-her and-on streams he-is-establishing her (verse 2)

Second Section:

who? he-shall-ascend in-mountain-of Yahweh and

who? he-shall-rise in-place-of holiness-of-him (verse 3):

innocent-one-of palms and-pure-one-of heart

who not he-lifted-up to-futility

soul-of-me and-not he-swears to-deceit (verse 4)

he-shall-obtain blessing from Yahweh and-righteousness from-Elohim-of salvation-of-him (verse 5)

this generation-of one-inquiring-of-him ones-inquiring-of-him ones-seeking-of faces-of-you Jacob (verse 6):

Third Section:

lift-up-you! gates heads-of-you and-be-lifted-up-you! portals-of eon and-he-shall-enter king-of the-glory (verse 7)

who? this king-of the-glory Yahweh strong and-masterful Yahweh masterful-of battle (verse 8)

lifting-up-you! gates heads-of-you and lift-up-you! portals-of eon and-he-shall-enter king-of glory (verse 8)

who? he this king-of the-glory Yahweh-of hosts he king-of the-glory (verse 9):

Again, as we look at the original, more literal rendering of the Hebrew, it is evident that this psalm is focused throughout on the "who?" — on this one, Yahweh. The "who" or the "he" who has clean hands and a pure heart, who alone is worthy to ascend "the hill of the LORD" (or, literally, "Yahweh's mountain") is Yahweh Himself.  As I have been suggesting, what is indicated here is that there will come a Messiah who is both God and man and this man will be without sin. He will be a lamb without blemish, be offered as such for the sin of the world. He will do a great work, live and die valiantly like a mighty warrior to redeem His people from their sins. For all who trust in that Messiah there will be reconciliation between themselves as sinful humans and the holy God.

Yahweh as Man who is thus worthy of ascending "the hill of the LORD" — or thus qualified by his conquest of sin and death to enter the presence of God — is, in the third section, the same one who presents Himself for entry into heaven as the King of Glory. "Who is this King of Glory?," is answered with great enthusiasm, "He is Yahweh!," the original says. That is, this is an awesome thing! What He has accomplished in this triumphal entry (what we find in verses 7-9) is the redemption of a people who trust in Him (what we find in verses 3-6). He is their representative and forerunner. He brings them to glory, the presence of the Father, by his obedience, death, and resurrection. All of the blessings His people enjoy come because of what He has earned for them. They don't deserve any of them. They come entirely as a gift. This is what wins them to God so as to love and serve Him with all their hearts both now and for eternity.