Psalm 24 appears to be a victory parade after a battle with the Canaanites up to the Temple in Jerusalem, carrying the Ark of the Covenant.
1 – 2
The ancient Israelites felt that the earth rested on the waters. But there is more here than meets the eye. The words “seas” and “rivers” are two very specific Hebrew words which coincide with two of the Canaanite gods Prince Sea (“Yam”) and Judge River (“Nahar”). So here the psalmist is declaring God’s victory and dominance over the Canaanite gods.
But it is also generally a truth we need to keep in mind. Despite all of the “stuff” that man has done and that we acquire, everything and everyone belongs to God. Now not everyone belongs to God in a relationship way, but He is sovereign over all.
3 – 6
Here the worshippers approach the Temple and wonder who can enter into God’s presence? This echoes what we found in Psalm 15. The response is the requirements of the Law – perfection. Of course, the worshippers here knew they were not perfect so they must offer the sacrifices that accompany the approach to God.
The wonderful thing for us who belong to Jesus, His once-for-all sacrifice allows us to come into God’s presence at any time. We have received His righteousness, and indeed we are blessed!
7 – 10
Here the worshippers have offered their sacrifices and are entering into the sanctuary to praise God. The idea of “lift up your heads, you gates! Rise up, ancient doors!” could be like saying “make sure the king doesn’t have to stoop to enter in”. There is also an interesting parallel to an ancient Canaanite battle poem that uses similar wording to tell the gods to “lift up, O gods, your heads” as the River god and the Sea god have won the victory. So the psalmist is turning their victory poem around on them because they were no match for Yahweh.
I want to go back to verse 4. It says that in order to approach God you cannot “set your mind on what is false.” Many in our culture today have done just that. They have heard in the culture many false things—about the relative nature of truth, about the changing nature of what is good and what is not, and have gotten ideas of what Jesus is like that are false.
God is all good; He is the source of goodness and light and joy and peace and relationships. But you cannot approach Him if you swallow the lies of this culture. My encouragement is to focus on the expression of God’s mind that He gave us in His Word and let that tell you what is true.
Secondly I wanted to mention again verse 1. We tend to think we have ownership over the “stuff” we’ve acquired, and this age certainly encourages us to get as much “stuff” as we can. Having things is not bad, but when things have you—that’s when trouble starts. Let us not forget that we are simply stewards and not owners!
Psalm 25
Psalm 25 is a wonderful psalm to read if you have messed up. When you want to obey the Lord and live a good life, sometimes temptations come along, or the old nature just seems to take over and “bam” you find yourself rebelling against God. We all fail in many small ways all the time, but sometimes we fail in giant “how’d that ever happen” kind of ways. In those cases, it is most helpful to read this psalm, as David begs the Lord to remember His great love and forget David’s great sins!
1 – 3
What’s the first thing you think of when you fall for a temptation? You are ashamed and like Adam and Eve you want to hide yourself from God. David does the right thing here and at the start he turns to the Lord and trusts in the Lord. No failure is too big to overcome what God has already done for you—but when you turn away from Him you decouple yourself from His wonderful hand reaching out to you in love.
Like David, we worry that we will be disgraced. We worry that the enemy, or those pre-Christians watching us, will mock God because of our weakness. But David knows that if you rely and trust in the Lord you will not be disgraced because the Messiah Jesus was disgraced for us. David didn’t understand all the ins and outs of that, but He knew the source of His restoration was in a relationship with Yahweh, not avoiding Him!
However, if you try to fool others or even God into thinking you are “perfect” when you aren’t, that will lead to disgrace!
4 – 7
What a wonderful section here! David knows he’s blown it and so he wants to know God’s ways; he wants to be taught. Being moldable in God’s hands is the key to letting the Holy Spirit do that renovation work to change us into the character of God. David knows his salvation comes from God and no other and so no matter how long it takes, David will wait on the Lord until he understands what God is like.
I love how David asks the Lord to forget his sins and remember His great love. We can hold on to that prayer as well. God promises that He will “remember your sins no more” but His faithful love will never fail, even when we fail!
8 – 11
David knows that the God he serves isn’t a vengeful God who seeks to destroy humans for “messing up.” But for those that realize their weaknesses, confess them to God, seek His forgiveness, then open up their lives to His transformation—there awaits celebration, not judgment.
12 – 15
David here extolls the benefits of having a close relationship with God. His life will be “good.” It doesn’t mean the kind of worldly “good” like wealth or power but “good” in terms of knowing the God of the universe! There is also an inheritance, a security, and an influence on coming generations that will benefit all others who also choose a relationship with God. There are also “secret” benefits—knowledge that only comes when you are close to someone. In verse 15 David declares that by focusing his life and life course on the Lord that no net can hold him. It doesn’t mean the absence of trouble but the presence of the Lord in trouble and ultimate victory!
16 – 22
Basically David says: “I’m in a jam of my own doing, Lord. Take away my sins and rescue me because I’m holding on to you with all my might!” I also love verse 21—the idea that integrity, the idea of being the same inside and out, and “what is right” would be the driving forces of David’s life!
Psalm 26
David appears to be in a jam in this psalm (what else is new?). Some think that this psalm is related to Psalm 25—that the same situation is going on. It appears to be a revolt by the ruling class who are taking “bribes” (vs 10) and not acting in integrity in their relationship with God, David as king, or the people. It’s a great psalm for us when our motivations are being challenged by powerful people in our lives and it calls us back to the basics—our relationship with Yahweh.
