Scripture Introduction
As you drive past churches during the next weeks, you will likely see at least one sign proclaiming, “Wise Men Still Seek Him.” It is a cute wordplay on Matthew 2.1-2: “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’”
Three wise men, iconic figures in Christmas Crèches, arrive in lowly Bethlehem to present gifts to the one born to be king. And wise men still seek him – if you are wise you will seek God in Jesus, and come and worship him.
We do not know exactly how these astrologers and astronomers from the Orient read the stars. We do know that David also saw that a king would one day be born and wrote of him in Psalm 24, a joyful anthem welcoming the great and awesome King of Glory! We may not, at first, equate this Psalm with Christmas prophecy, but the hymn, “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates,” (which we sang to God earlier in worship) is based on Psalm 24, and appears in our hymnal in the Advent section. Clearly, the second coming of Christ will reveal him as the exalted ruler; but he was born to be king, and at least some wise men saw royalty through the veil of humility.
I will read Psalm 24 for us, then we will see how David prophesied a King strong and mighty enough to win the greatest of all battles, the one with sin and death, and so saved a people to find what their souls seek – to worship God in his holy place.
[Read Psalm 24. Pray.]
Introduction
Christian educators know Dorothy Sayers for her essay, The Lost Tools of Learning, a basis for the revival of classical education through its presentation of the medieval trivium. But Sayers also wrote a series of plays, the best known of which is, The Man Born to be King.
Jesus is the King of glory, but his birth hid that fact. Normally, when a son is born to the royal family and is, therefore, destined to rule, the surroundings and circumstances match the claim. His parents will themselves be obvious royalty – kings and queens living in palaces and treated to every lavish comfort. The baby will be attended by nurses and maids of the highest quality, and the baby’s bedroom will be sparkling and luxurious, filled with signs of royalty and marks of his promised future. Even the dignitaries who seek to pay their respects to the future king will be escorted by guards and servants immaculately dressed.
But Dorothy Sayers describes differently the visit of the wise men to baby Jesus, where nothing properly honored his royal blood or marked his future reign. The scene begins with a shepherd, dirty from the day’s work, coming directly from the field, leading the wise men to his home. Caspar, one of the magi, says:
Caspar: Is this the house?
Shepherd: Ay, sirs, this is the house. Pray, go in, and you’ll find the Child Jesus with his mother.
Wife: Come in, my lords, come in. Please mind your heads. I fear ’tis but a poor, lowly place.
Caspar: No place is too lowly to kneel in. There is more holiness here than in King Herod’s Temple.
Melchior: More beauty here than in King Herod’s palace.
Balthazar: More charity here than in King Herod’s heart.
Caspar: O lady clear as the sun, fair as the moon, the nations of the earth salute your son, the Man born to be king. Hail, Jesus, King of the Jews!
Melchior: Hail, Jesus, King of the World!
Balthazar: Hail, Jesus, King of the Heaven!
A king hidden under the humility of a shepherd’s house, a cow’s stall, and a sheep’s stench. What kind of king arrives that way?
The scene certainly contrasts starkly with Psalm 24, which is intended to be sung by the great choir, in the royal hall, with every inch polished and every person impeccably attired. As such, Psalm 24 especially proclaims the second advent of Jesus. But hidden in this song are clues to his humble arrival, his birth in low estate. The second verse of the hymn, “O Holy Night,” speaks well:
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by his cradle we stand;
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of king lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend;
He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King, before him lowly bend!
Behold your King, before him lowly bend!
The three parts of Psalm 24 together teach us that, when the King is present, “No place is too lowly to kneel in.”
1. The Nature of God Reveals Our Need To Worship (Psalm 24.1-2)
The Jews of Jesus’ day felt that Jehovah God, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, was really only concerned with the descendants of Abraham and the land of Israel. Jesus offended them by pointing out that Elijah was sent out of the land of Israel to a widow in Sidon during the great famine, and that Elisha did not heal the lepers in Israel but only Naaman the Syrian.
But this should not have been a surprise, for God staked his claim to all people in all lands in Psalm 24. The earth is the Lord’s – not Palestine or the East Bank or Jerusalem, but every land and nation. And the fullness is his – not the Jewish people alone, but Arabs and Africans and Azerbaijanis and Americans – all are his, because he made all things and continues to uphold the universe by the word of his power.
David saw this and sang! Through the eyes of faith, he saw the glory and greatness of God, and that compelled him to passionate and joyful worship! This is no cold, doctrinally precise, recitation of dead duty and orthodoxy. This is the praise of a lover, the song of desire, the heart drawing close to that which alone is perfectly beautiful and fully satisfying.
This is what showed C. S. Lewis that the Biblical demands for worship were not God craving praise like a vain woman wanting a complement.
C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms: “The most obvious fact about praise—whether of God or anything—strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise.… The world rings with praise—lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game.… My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value. I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”
This is why faith precedes worship. Faith recognizes that God is more to be desired than gold, more precious than silver, more beautiful than diamonds; then faith praises God to complete and consummate the enjoyment of his glory.
David did just that, and so did the wise men. They saw the signs, and refused to allow humble surroundings to rob their hearts of the delight of worshipping the baby born to be King.
2. The Nature of Us Reveals Our Need For Cleansing (Psalm 24.3-6)
The Jews imagined that a proper worshipper was set apart by race and nationality; Psalm 24 says that it is character and conviction – clean hands and a pure heart.
Clean hands: not cleansed by mere ceremony, though the washing by the priests certainly symbolized the cleanness required. But this means outward behavior consistent with moral purity and upright living. Not worshipping what is false, not speaking lies, not stealing or murdering. But more than simply the bad things we do not do, clean hands come from godly doing – care for the poor and widowed, promoting justice, serving others in the name of the Lord. Holy and godly behavior. Obedience to the law.
And more: a pure heart. Many a man and woman have kept their hands clean by careful attention to the law – the Pharisees performed admirably. But the true worshipper, the one who ascends to the holy place to obtain the fullness of joy, must have a heart devoted to God. Biblical religion is heart-work because the inner desires and thoughts are more truly who we are than the outward forms. As Charles Spurgeon noted: “There must be a work of grace in the core of the heart as well as in the palm of the hand, or our religion is a delusion.”
But who can attain this? Who has hands clean enough, or a heart perfectly pure and true?
Lest we be brought to despair by this high standard (a standard which we must admit is appropriate for the worship of the thrice holy God), notice verse 5: “he will receive blessing and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
Clean hands and a pure heart are not the works that earn God’s favor, but the results of God’s salvation and the evidence of his grace. God’s people do not ascend the hill of the Lord to give him our righteousness, but to receive his. Yes, holy living earns a sure blessing from God, but holiness must first be received as a blessing of God! Left to our own will, we fall short of the high and holy temple of the Lord. We need a salvation that gives us a righteousness not our own. This is the promise made to all who seek him.
3. The Nature of the King Reveals Our Needed Redeemer (Psalm 24.7-10)
Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? Not me – my hands are defiled and my heart dirtied. Only a perfect man can, one with hands unsullied by sinful behavior and heart unstained by selfish motives.
But suddenly the guard posted on the battlement shouts aloud. The banner, the banner, I see the King’s banner! Open up, gates! Lower the drawbridge! Raise the ancient doors! The King of glory arrives! Jehovah, mighty in battle, the Lord of Hosts, the King of glory!
Every people needs a king to lead the army into battle, to protect and deliver, to defeat the enemy and defend the land. This Psalm asks us to welcome into our hearts and lives the only King sufficiently mighty to defeat the two greatest enemies mankind faces: sin and death. By his perfect life, his sacrificial death, and his powerful resurrection, Christ triumphed over our sin and even the grave. Sin no longer has the victory; death no more can sting. The battle is won and the King rides as champion.
4. Conclusion
Once upon a time lived a mighty king, whose heart was completely smitten by a beautiful young maiden. But how could the king express his romantic desire, since she was a mere commoner? Should he descend on her cottage with the royal entourage heralding his coming with blaring trumpets? Should he dazzle her with his royal crown, kingly robe, and exalted title? Should his minions display the wealth of his throne as he kneels to ask her hand in marriage? Or, perhaps the king should simply demand her betrothal. After all, as sovereign he was entitled to the queen of his choice. But if he relied on his rightful authority, how he would know if she truly loved him?
Then the wise king (for he was very wise) decided to leave his crown, his riches, his servants, and his power at home. Alone and tattered, he arrived in the woods disguised as a beggar, seeking first her favor and love, then her hand in marriage, before he would reveal his true name.
Jesus is the King of kings, the promise of Psalm 24. Perfect in all his ways, wise beyond measure, of royal lineage, and (holding all power) able to rule his people his people while overruling all his and our enemies.
But for all his royal pedigree, King Jesus leaves his throne to woo and win hearts rather than demand the allegiance that is his right. He puts off the fullness of the royal Psalm until the final coming.
That is why verse two of the advent hymn based on Psalm 24 sings:
A helper just he comes to thee, his chariot is humility, his kingly crown is holiness, his scepter, pity in distress.
The hands that first held him were callused and dirty. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeked through the stall. The ground was hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurried across the dirt floor. There was no silk, no ivory, no hype, no party, no beauty. Could a more lowly place exist? Many refused to kneel in such squalor.
Some wise men, however, recognized the King under his tattered rags. The wise understand: “No place is too lowly to kneel in.”
The wise men responded as verse 5 of Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates suggests:
Redeemer, come! I open wide, my heart to thee: here Lord abide! Let me thy inner presence feel; thy grace and love in me reveal.
Augustine, one of the most Biblical theologian of church history, wrote: “Great are you, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is your power, and of your wisdom there is no end. And man, being a part of your creation, desires to praise you—man, who carries about with him his mortality, the witness of his sin, even the witness that you “resist the proud,” —yet man, this part of your creation, desires to praise you. You move us to delight in praising you; for you have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in you.”
As Psalm 24 makes clear, we cannot be happy until we praise the God who made and filled the earth. But his holiness demands clean hands and pure hearts for those who enter his presence. What shall we do, unless a mighty king be found who will fight for our salvation and defeat sin and Satan?
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of king lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our Friend;
He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger.
Behold your King, before him lowly bend!
Behold your King, before him lowly bend!
