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[0:00] Psalm 24, a psalm of David. He shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

[0:39] This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face. Selah. Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.

[0:57] Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates. Lift up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.

[1:12] Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Selah. This is the word of God for the people of God.

[1:23] Thanks be to God. Please be seated. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

[1:39] And no word from God shall be void of power. He promises this in his word. Let's pray. O Lord, in your word, you have breathed out such majestic spiritual truth that our creaturely minds have no ability to comprehend unless your Holy Spirit, the same God who breathed out Scripture, illumines your word to us.

[2:13] We ask that you will please do this, Lord. Cause us with the eyes of faith to behold our King. Amen. Well, picture a friend of yours sitting at home, tired, disappointed in himself.

[2:32] And you want to approach them and encourage them. What can you do for them? What can you say? He doesn't want to hear any more of those inspirational messages he's been playing on his phone.

[2:45] He's already heard it all. You're a warrior. You have everything you need. You, you, you. That's not going to cut it. What do you say to that friend?

[2:58] And it's not just that friend, is it? If we're honest, it's, it's our own hearts too. You and I can so quickly lose sight of Christ. We can fuss about whether we have repented enough.

[3:13] Or how much have we experienced of these blessings of the gospel? As Sinclair Ferguson has been teaching us in our midweek Bible study, he said, we often think too much about how much has been accomplished in us, forgetting that nothing is accomplished in us that wasn't first accomplished for us in Christ.

[3:39] What do you say to this brother? Well, you do what Psalm 24 does. You say, come on brother, let's go to the house of God and put our eyes on him. We all need to get our eyes off of ourselves and back on to Christ.

[3:54] We need to behold who Christ is. We need to see his work one more time. So beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, behold the King of glory.

[4:07] It's been my prayer that God would help us to do that as we walk through Psalm 24 together today. Can you picture Charles Spurgeon sitting in London, 1800s, and looking at his library and picking out a resource?

[4:21] The best biblical encyclopedia in his lifetime was put together by a pastor named John Kitto. And in this encyclopedia, Kitto wrote these words. At the time when God breathed out Psalm 24, Jerusalem as the city of God was regarded by the hearers at the time, so David's generation, as a type or a shadow of heaven.

[4:46] That's what Jerusalem was regarded as. The domain inside the walls of the city was seen as God's palace. The tabernacle was seen as God's royal court.

[4:56] And the ark of the covenant inside the Holy of Holies was seen as God's throne. You see that movement of three spheres, from the city walls to the tabernacle to the Holy of Holies.

[5:13] I think in this psalm, David walks us through those spheres, outside the walls of Jerusalem, so in the world, and then approaching the gates, and then finally in the holy place.

[5:28] It's likely that God gave this psalm for a special occasion, but then it continued to be sung for the centuries by God's people. We don't know for certain what this occasion was.

[5:40] Some have guessed that maybe it was 2 Samuel 6 when the ark is being brought, and now all the people are going to go outside the city gates and march with the ark as it ascends the hill and comes into the gates of Jerusalem and then goes into the tabernacle, and then it was carried on by those priests after the ceremonial law can carry it into the Holy of Holies.

[6:00] Certainly would require a special psalm for such a great day if that's the throne of God, the portable chariot of God being brought in to dwell in his palace. Well, even if that wasn't the occasion, we'll be moving with those three spheres as I see them in this psalm.

[6:19] And I would invite you, like me, to imagine as if you're part of that great throng, you know, that great gathered congregation, all the tribes having traveled to the capital to march up together now and watch God take his throne among his people.

[6:35] So the first movement is this. All the earth is ruled by the king of glory. All the earth is ruled by the king of glory.

[6:47] Here comes the procession approaching the city of Jerusalem. The people are marching. They're singing. God has set them apart for himself.

[6:58] But yet they're at the crossroads. People travel through Israel from all the other continents. So as they're singing, they're declaring who God is to all who have an ear to hear. Picture these foreigners and all these nations gathering around.

[7:11] They're the audience as well. I even picture some of those Philistines and Ammonites, the bad guys we've been studying about in 1 Samuel. Some of them are working, and they're in the area, and they're trading.

[7:23] They're hearing this proclaimed to them as well. Look at verse 1 of Psalm 24. Here's what the congregation sings. The earth is the Lord's in all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.

[7:38] Well, what gives this God of Israel such a claim? Why is that? Verse 2. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

[7:49] This is God's domain. All the earth is ruled by the true God, the King of glory.

[8:01] He uses language of creation. Do you pick up on that? It reminds you of Genesis 1-2. The earth was without form and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep. Verse 9 of Genesis 1 says, Then God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear.

[8:21] And so it was. The Lord established the earth. He founded it. He rose it up from the waters. It was God who caused the dry land to raise up from the watery abyss.

[8:37] Throughout Scripture, waters are a picture of chaos, death, and judgment. Think of the flood. And so creation being described initially void and dark, chaos, death.

[8:51] And it's the Lord who brings order and life and causes his creatures to flourish. So here David describes God's continued control as creator and sustainer of life on this blue planet over the waters.

[9:10] And so there we have that first movement that scene in verses 1 and 2, declaring that God rules over all the earth from heaven. He is the king enthroned above, and the earth is his footstool.

[9:24] God's rule extends over all people, even those who don't acknowledge God. We need that encouragement, don't we? This upcoming week, God still rules.

[9:36] He still sustains this earth. He rules over people, even those who don't acknowledge him as king. Well, now as this procession approaches those ancient gates, the gates of Jerusalem were built by the Jebusites.

[9:52] And then when the Lord gave that city over to the Israelites, David fortified them and made that the capital. What do gates do? Think about gates to one of these ancient cities.

[10:05] Gates protect the citizens from every harm. They keep evil out, and they keep the citizens safely inside. Gates are used to keep out those who do not belong to the kingdom.

[10:19] The gates are closed to the enemies of God. These gates of Jerusalem had withstood many attacks.

[10:30] You picture those scenes of an ancient battle and the rams, you know, trying to burst through these ancient gates to break in so the enemies could spill over and take over the city. Their hinges were likely loosened from the barrages they'd withstood.

[10:46] He speaks of them as being, needing to be lifted up. We had this old fence, you know, around the house, and the gates are just scraping on the cement and squeaky.

[10:58] They're tired. These are gates that have not withstood much. They're just cheaply made. But here we have, you know, massive wall to the city, well-built gates that are ancient, but they're sagging.

[11:10] They're battle-worn. And look at verse 7. This is the chorus that the people would likely sing in response as they march toward the Holy of Holies. Lift up your heads, O you gates.

[11:23] Be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? Verse 8. The Lord strong and mighty.

[11:34] The Lord mighty in battle. Isn't that a great chorus? You can only imagine what that will sound like being sung in heaven. So describing these gates being lifted up, you can picture a fortified citadel up on the high ground keeping the citizens safe inside.

[11:54] And the word for the doors, it's either ancient or everlasting. It can be taken both ways. Doors that will now open upward so that the King of glory can come in.

[12:05] You see the promise, even in the first two verses with the chorus, is that God the Creator, the King of glory, He is entering His creation to dwell.

[12:17] It's now the King of glory passing through these gates into the city, carrying the ark of God's covenant faithfulness to His people, His portable chariot.

[12:30] So God's people are His special kingdom on earth. For you and I, when we gather in the name of Jesus, it's the spiritual kingdom of God, of heaven, joined to earth.

[12:45] And the Lord dwells with His people. He brings us into the Holy of Holies spiritually in Christ because Christ is with us spiritually by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

[12:59] Jesus says He gives the keys to the kingdom of heaven to His church. See, heaven has gates and doors. Jesus gives those to the church, the local church, spiritual authority.

[13:15] And He encourages the church every time we gather, especially on the Lord's Day, I believe. Lift up your heads, church. Be lifted up.

[13:26] You might be tired, battle besieged. Lift up your heads for the King of glory dwells with you. He is approaching His people.

[13:36] He dwells in His holy temple. Jesus Christ, He is strong and mighty. He is the Lord who is mighty in battle.

[13:51] All the earth is ruled by the King of glory and He rules over His special kingdom, the church, in a special way. That's the first movement. Here's the second one. The presence of the King of glory is a holy place.

[14:06] The presence of the King of glory is a holy place. Look at verse 3. This could have been arranged in a number of different ways. We don't know for certain, but it's possible that the congregation as well as maybe some professional singers, which is now the church as well, they have this rhetorical question and answer.

[14:27] So I picture the chief musician perhaps asking the question, who may ascend into the hill of the Lord or who may stand in His holy place?

[14:40] Now we picture them as the procession moved inside the gates of the city, they're now approaching the tabernacle with the layers of the tabernacle getting closer and closer and closer to the holy of holies.

[14:52] Who can go in there? At what point do others have to start falling off? You can't be in, you can't be in, you can't be in. Who can get all the way in to the holy place of God?

[15:04] It's what verse 3 asks. His holy place. Verse 4 answers this. He who has clean hands and a pure heart.

[15:17] Hands refer to our outward actions and the heart refers to our inward attitudes. See, it's not enough to approach the holy of holies with good actions if your heart is impure.

[15:30] It's also not enough to have all the right intentions and then make excuses for all the ways in which our actions are sinful and fall short of the glory of God. So who's left? Who can do this?

[15:41] Who can enter into the holy place? Verse 4 goes on to add on more requirements to this criteria. One who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully.

[15:55] Who's left? Conditional access to the holy of holies requires obedience, unblemished good works, and a perfectly pure heart.

[16:09] Anyone left still? Anyone want to raise your hand? I certainly can. You see, this is setting up a reminder that to be near the presence of the holy God, every worshiper needs blood sacrifice.

[16:28] And it's the priests who now have to go through extra rituals, first for themselves, then on behalf of the people, and then only certain priests are allowed this access, and then only the chief priests at the very special day once per year is allowed access in.

[16:42] See, it's setting up the need for a better mediator than anyone in this ceremonial law could produce. And this also takes us back in connection to verses 1 and 2 at creation, how quickly man's fall is exposed.

[17:00] Think of the first federal head. Adam sets up, Adam, or I'm sorry, Paul sets up Adam and Christ, Romans 5. So with the language of verses 1 and 2 of creation, we should think the same.

[17:12] Adam dirtied his hands with the forbidden fruit. Adam made his heart impure when he trusted Satan's lies instead of God's word. Adam lifted up his soul to the idolatry of self-worship.

[17:25] He believed that taking what God forbade would make him God-like. Do you remember that temptation? Adam spoke deceitfully when he shifted the blame off of himself onto his wife, who God gave him as a helpmate.

[17:39] She made me do it. Can Adam dwell in the holy place, the holy presence of God? Certainly not. And he's the only man, apart from Christ, who didn't inherit sinfulness and have bent towards sin.

[17:54] And it's not just in Genesis where this is made clear. You're in the book of Psalms. Please turn a few pages forward to Psalm 53. One of many places we can look.

[18:04] Psalm 53. And notice at the top of the superscription, it's also a Psalm of David.

[18:21] The theology even for himself is going to be consistent here. Now look at verses 2 and 3. God looks down from heaven upon the children of man.

[18:32] There's the creator looking upon his creation to see if there is any who understand, who seek God. Every one of them has turned aside.

[18:43] Every one of them. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good. What are the next three words in yours? No, not one.

[18:57] So who can ascend and enter into the hill of the Lord and the holy place? Not one here on earth. We need this chorus sung back to us one more time, don't we?

[19:13] Verses 7, 8, 9, and 10. Oh, here comes good news for God's people. Who is this King of glory who is coming in for whom the gates and the doors open up?

[19:26] Who is this King of glory? Verse 10 says, it's the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. It's God Himself. The Lord mighty in battle is the only one who can dwell on His own hill.

[19:40] Amen? Amen? Well, the third movement promises blessing to more than just one person.

[19:51] The third movement is a generation that will receive righteousness from the King of glory. It's a promise that there will be a generation who will receive righteousness from the King of glory.

[20:07] So here the gospel is promised. We just saw how no man is qualified yet somehow God will freely give salvation. Look at verse 5. He shall receive Now we'll clarify in a moment who is this referring to that will receive?

[20:24] And if you skip to the end of that sentence at least how I have it in English. He shall receive from the God of His salvation. So the God of salvation will give two things and these are in verse 5.

[20:38] What are the two things that the God of salvation will give? This is what He promises. A blessing and righteousness from the Lord. So salvation has two parts.

[20:51] It's a blessing and righteousness. That's what God will provide. This is a little kernel a kernel seed of a gospel promised. Well now we need to unpack who is this promise for?

[21:06] Who will receive salvation blessing and righteousness? In verse 6 He uses more poetic language it's we got to work this out now. Verse 6 He says this is Jacob.

[21:20] This is Jacob. He implies that something else is not Jacob. But this that He's about to say is Jacob. Who is Jacob? Jacob was Abraham's seed.

[21:31] He's from the line of Jacob and his name got turned to be Israel. And from Israel from this one man Jacob came the twelve tribes the nation that God set apart.

[21:44] So Jacob reminds us of God's promises to Abraham that are going to turn into blessings on an entire nation. All those that come from Abraham's seed.

[21:57] And we're told now this is Jacob the generation of those who seek Him who seek your face. And then there's a very well placed pause Selah because we need help.

[22:10] We need to meditate deeply here. We need the Holy Spirit to illumine. One thing I want to point out that doesn't answer the question of who just yet but I want to point out in verse 6 do you see how it switches?

[22:25] And every time David has done this it's been helpful to pay attention and notice. He refers to God in the third person in verse 6 he says who seek Him. So he's telling the people here's the generation that will seek God but then he switches to the first person and he turns to God and says who seek your face O Lord.

[22:46] In a kernel form we have the promise that through the seed of Abraham there will be a federal head from him will come a nation true Jacob and he's among the people turning instead of bearing witness and prophesying turning and saying seeking your face God you are here among us and he's saying this is true Jacob.

[23:18] So as we're reading our Bible and we're studying God's word and we come across difficult poetry like this we have the rest of God's word we have these tools to help us understand and rightly interpret it with God's help.

[23:31] So what we want to do is pull this in. What I want to pull in for today is helpful and more familiar it's Galatians 3.16 Paul is clarifying to the church in Galatia that God's promise of a seed is in the singular.

[23:46] The singular seed Paul wrote by the inspiration of God the singular seed of Abraham is Christ and in Christ God's promises find their yes and amen they find their fulfillment in him.

[23:59] Galatians 3.26 says you speaking to this mixed church you church are the children of God through Christ. So this promised seed gives us insight into true Jacob.

[24:14] Romans 9.8 says those who are the children of the flesh are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.

[24:26] The principle is this there is a covenant head coming a Messiah and from this covenant head the Messiah will come a generation that will seek the face of God.

[24:40] God we had a family reunion this past summer and I'm going to tell you the actual names just because they're fun to say what are the chances of two people marrying each other that both have the letter X in their first name but Max married Dixie Max and Dixie had four children and to keep it confusing they named them Jay, Jan, Jeff, and Joe so when we do the family reunion it's you know these little fun games and so everybody in generation one clap and cheer and stand so JJ, and Jeff, and Joe and all their spouses clap and cheer and they try to be louder but no one can be louder than like the third generation that was the loud one well this was helpful for me as I wrestled with this verse 6 and I don't pretend I have all the answers but there is a generation that is begotten by this promised seed this covenant head and everyone begotten directly by that covenant head will seek the Lord that's the generation that receives righteousness and blessing tell me if I'm not right on this please do tell me afterwards here's how I've worked this out all those born of Christ are of the same generation no matter what century all those born of Christ are of the same generation generation one and God has no grandchildren as Spurgeon put it this is the regeneration all those who are regenerated are in this generation that he's talking about as a small aside that's not the point of Psalm 24 but in our practice as a church we apply the sign of belonging to this covenant to those who are of that generation to those who are born of God they are baptized that's it a generation will receive righteousness from the king of glory that's promised and now the rest of this

[26:41] Psalm verses 7 through 10 they make the people of Israel this time look forward to a future work of the Messiah that's the fourth and final movement for today it's the chorus maybe a double chorus the coming king of glory here's the chorus it's the coming king of glory verse 7 tells the city the gates the doors be ready the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory now look at verse 10 it's the lord of hosts we've heard that name in 1st Samuel it means Jehovah or Yahweh Sabaoth it means Yahweh of armies the lord of heaven's forces he is the king of glory do you see it's the same God who fought on behalf of Israel with the prophet Samuel it's that same God who will be entering the city gates as the lord of glory that's why we read from Matthew the lord entering and the gates opening and the palm branches welcoming him but we know spiritually

[27:49] Jesus was rejected on earth the gates of the city were closed to him the priests were the ones hunting him down to kill him oh but when he accomplished his work God himself tore the curtain open the lord of glory will enter his holy of holies not just the shadow on earth but the reality for all time and so this chorus prepares God's people to receive the Messiah the repetition is for effect and emphasis verse 8 is really praise for a king who is coming back fresh from battle that's the imagery here and picture this great military general the king himself on the front lines maybe even with the arm and a sling you know wounded from battle he's done it he's coming up to the gates of the city and secured the liberation of all the citizens inside they're gonna throw open the gates for their king and welcome him that's the anticipation built for the people for the Messiah and the work that he would do it was so interesting for me to learn this and I actually double checked it by looking at current traditional Jewish sources that in Judaism

[29:04] Psalm 24 is designated as the psalm of the day of the first day of the week which for us is Sunday and it was sung by the Levites after the offering of the regular daily sacrifice in the temple and this tradition continues in the diaspora the people who are nationally Israelites but are spread everywhere so you can go to synagogues around the world today and if they're following this traditional order of reading psalms Psalm 24 would be one of the psalms read on the first day of the week which is the Lord's Day Sunday the day of the resurrection verse 9 says lift up your heads oh you gates lift up you ancient or everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in there is one who is coming who will be worthy to stand in God's holy place this one he will be the one ascending God's holy hill the gates and the doors will be thrown open for him he will be joyfully welcomed these gates of heaven are only open for him these are the everlasting doors it's for him and because these gates will not reject him the victorious one the king of glory the lord of armies he's the one in charge of all the host of angels armies they'll joyfully sing and welcome him and these might be some of the words the angels sung to our lord jesus christ when he ascended having completed his work on earth can you imagine the sound now here's the promise for me and you the lord of hosts enters these gates of heaven and he will not be denied he will be welcomed and he will not be alone he welcomes with himself his whole army his whole army is brought in and secured and the gates and doors of heaven open for you and me who are in christ this king of glory will enter into and stand before the holy god in the holy place he stands as righteous as blessed his hands are clean his heart is pure and his soul loves god alone and he preaches to his people and his words are truth and he guarantees with his true words you my people you have entrance with me into these gates and through these doors you're safe secure with me forever these gates and these doors keep out my enemies and it's only those purified by god's grace and covered in christ's righteousness that can enter into god's holy presence no palace court would reject the king returning triumphant and we can know for certain that if you are in christ you will not be rejected either look at verse 8 one last time who is this king of glory will you pray and proclaim with me and ask the lord to reveal his majesty it's jesus christ it's been god the son prepared to accomplish the mission that god gave him all along he is the lord strong and mighty jesus christ is the lord mighty in battle at the cost of his own blood our lord jesus christ fought and won that bitter war against sin satan death and hell he proved himself mighty

[33:04] in battle he went up into heaven as the risen king of glory he lives in heaven to pray to minister for his people would you look at the order of these psalms and this is a fitting way to end our little series for the summer we're in psalm 24 turn back to psalm 21 psalm 21 promises the messiah a great victory joy and salvation psalm 22 describes the suffering of the messiah it's the psalm of the cross psalm 23 it's the lamb of god trusting and resting in the faithfulness of god and now psalm 24 it's the great psalm of the ascension of this victorious king this lion lamb entering the gates standing in the holy place notice he doesn't go in there to be passive he goes in there as the great high priest he goes in there to minister to proclaim his blood don't need the sacrificial system anymore it's his own blood shed for his people and that's what comforts you and me our lord stands in the holy of holies ministering himself to you and me you and i have entrance into heaven based on our justified standing in christ by faith in him not by anything else not by how much you and i repent not by how much you and i are even sanctified right now not based on how you and i feel our entrance into heaven is based on our union to christ alone hold on pastor are you trying to say that growth and holiness doesn't matter that sanctification doesn't matter we just live a licentious life however we please no john flavel when i'm as he's my all the way favorite puritan he wrote so in love is christ with holiness that he bought it with his own blood heaven is a holy place and it is christ's promise his work to make you and me fit body and soul to enjoy heaven when we do enter it in christ amen so brothers and sisters nothing will be accomplished in your life and mine that wasn't first accomplished for us by jesus christ because jesus christ became mediator you and i have faith in him because jesus christ lived a holy life you and i are his we have righteousness in him because jesus christ died a cursed death you and i are his and we can no longer be punished for sins that he's already paid for because jesus christ bore your sins and then he died and he was buried bearing your sins buried the stone closed you and i can trust that our sin died and was buried with him it has no more power over us because jesus christ rose victorious from the grave you who are his are made alive as a new creation in him because jesus christ lives to pray for you from heaven you who are his can be certain that he will prepare for you for all eternity he will make you fit and ready to dwell in his holy place with him and to enjoy it to be at home in his presence in his glorious kingdom so come now again

[37:05] by faith and keep coming to the house of god behold who christ is behold his work not yours behold your king of glory let's pray oh lord how majestic is your name in all the earth you rule as creator and sovereign king you are the king of glory we pray that you continue to stretch our mind our faith to behold more and more and more of you though you're incomprehensible in your goodness and majesty and holiness we can apprehend truly you in christ thank you for this wonderful gift please apply this to your people for your sake we ask amen miracle Thank you.