Year A. 4th Sunday of Advent Psalm 24
December 23, 2001
Title: “Presence and awareness are the twin keys to blessing, righteousness and peace.”
The Ark of the Covenant, said to have been built by Bezalel for Moses in the desert of Sinai according to Exodus 37: 1-9, symbolized God’s presence in the midst of his people. The Philistines had captured it according to 1Samaul 4: 11 and, after bringing bad luck to any town that would house it, it ended up in the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite. From there David had it brought to his new capital, Jerusalem, where, after the building of the Temple by Solomon, it was placed in the Holy of Holies. It was Israel’s most cherished symbol of God’s presence among them. In the early days, it was carried into war as a protection from harm and a guarantee of victory. The return of the Ark and its enthronement in Jerusalem was so cherished a memory for Israel that she very, probably, re-enacted that event every year, possibly at the autumnal festival. Psalm 24 would have been sung at that yearly occasion, a renewal of loyalty to the God of the Covenant.
Even though the historical basis for the psalm was the entrance of the Ark into Jerusalem, the psalm evolved into an entrance liturgy for the people as well. Verses one and two, acknowledge God as creator and sustainer of the world. The Israelites thought of the Exodus, the event starting the process leading to the Covenant, as God’s second act of creation, creating God’s people. Verses three to six, give a summary of the conditions of the Covenant, that is, the commandments, as well as, the conditions for entrance into the Temple, God’s presence. Verses seven to ten, acclaim the Lord as the glorious king who showed his might by guaranteeing the Israelite victory in battle, just as he was victorious over the cosmic forces of chaos, the enemy of order another term for “creation”.
In verse one, the earth is the Lord’s and all it holds, Israel’s God was no local god ruling over a limited turf. He is the God who created everything, owns it all, and sustains it all in being.
In verse two, God founded it on the seas…rivers, Canaanite mythology imagined creation as the result of a victory, by Baal, over chaos, pictured as Sea, also called River, establishing order in nature and law in human society. The Hebrews were influenced by this story and described creation in similar terms. The cosmology of the day envisioned earth as a sort of saucer floating atop the waters but anchored by pillars, like a house near the sea built on stilts.
In verse three, who may go up to the mountain of the Lord? The “mountain,” was considered the place where the gods dwelt. Yahweh would dwell on Mount Zion where the Temple was later built. By the time this psalm was sung at an annual liturgy it would be part of a formal entrance into the Temple. Outside, the question would be asked, much like the “Who goes there?” question of a sentinel, by a priest. In this context it seems to be more of a choir-to-choir dialogue, either a person or group rotating the questions and answers from this verse on through to verse ten, The first two verses may well have been sung by all. Remember they would be marching in procession at this point.
Who can stand in his holy place? Typical of Hebraic poetry where the ideas rhyme, the question is repeated in another key. The “holy place,” refers to the now built Temple.
In verse four, the clean of hand and pure of heart…not devoted to idols…not sworn falsely, the answer reflects the Ten Commandments of the Covenant. The “clean of hand,” would mean those who had not killed. The “pure of heart,” would be those who had not committed adultery or coveted someone’s wife or goods. The “not devoted to idols,” would be those who kept the first three commandments. The “not sworn falsely,” would be those who kept the commandment against perjury. Yet, these are more than external conditions. One’s actions, done by the hands, reflect one’s attitudes, motives, done by the heart. One not only does what is right, clean of hand, but does it for the right motives, pure of heart. The requirement for authentic worship, cult, was always moral purity, conduct. This would not necessarily mean a perfect observance in actual fact, but the desire the hungering and thirsting for righteousness” of Matthew 5: 6. The “true Israel,” subordinates daily life to the demands of the Torah. These characteristics are among those, the list is representative, not exhaustive, that identify the Covenant community.
In verse five, they will receive blessings …and justice, in poetic parallelism, these two terms are used synonymously. “Blessing,” means the privilege of enjoying God’s presence and the consequences of that- a prosperous and happy life. “Righteousness,” means a right relationship with God and, so, much the same as blessing. Whatever is functioning, as it should is “righteous.” There is righteousness or “justice,” in court when the right person prevails. There is righteousness when honesty prevails in daily dealings and when success prevails for the faithful one. As such, righteousness is not only synonymous with “blessing, “ but also with “peace.”
In verse seven, lift up your heads, O gates, the procession moves forward and reaches the gates of the Temple. By now they either are old or are considered old, metaphorically stooped with age. The processors give a “Heads up,” to the gates, really symbolizing, by personalizing the gates, what they are about to do by entering. Just as the King of Glory, the victorious Warrior, took possession of his city, the whole earth, by entering Jerusalem in the form of the Ark when David had it transferred there, so now the people enter into his residence and presence, knowing full well into whose presence they are being admitted. “Lift up your heads,” is really an address to themselves to heighten their awareness of who really is present.
In verse eight, who is this king of glory? There are few themes more central to Old Testament faith than the kingship of God. Rooted in the first creation and proven in the second creation, the Exodus and forming of the Covenant and covenant people, the kingship of Yahweh links nature and history under the experience of salvation, God’s delivering them from all forms of chaos, ordering their lives through natural laws and the Law of Moses. His “glory,” is not merely the “glory,” of earthly kings who “glory,” in their exploits, but the “glory or making visible,” of his invisible presence through acts of loving kindness in fulfillment of his covenant promises. Without him the Israelites are nothing.
A mighty warrior…mighty in battle. God’s love and mercy are not weaknesses. He can be as strong, even stronger and mightier than any warrior. This military image connects God’s cosmic battle with chaos to the historical battles Israel fought and won because God led them, often along with the Ark of the Covenant being carried at the head and as the head of the human army.
In verse nine, lift up your heads, O gates. While this would literally mean “Open up,” its metaphorical meaning is the predominant one. In fact, the box containing the two stone tablets of the Covenant was only about six feet long. Yet, the towering stature of the unseen God, which it represented, would require that the tops of the frame of the gates be lifted up to accommodate his entrance. Even more metaphorically, this was a call to pay attention to the entering of God into the human heart, a God far bigger than that heart, requiring the heart to be stretched, by moral attitudes and actions, in order to hope to make any room at all for so great a presence. It is a “Heads up,” call to say “Do not miss or mistake who is here or who is coming.”
In verse ten, the Lord of hosts. This phrase has three levels of meaning. “Hosts,” seba’ot in Hebrew and often simply transliterated as “sabaoth,” can mean the human armies of Israel. Thus God would be their commander in earthly battles. It can mean “heavenly armies,” a meaning the prophets would give it, that is, angels or spiritual powers. It can even mean “God, Almighty,” as an abstract or intensive plural. All three levels seem to be implied here.
Sermon
Becoming conscious of God’s hidden but real presence is a big deal and the Israelites knew it and made it so. It is the beginning of everything good. Unless we are aware of this invisible, all-permeating, all-penetrating presence we have no hope of living anything close to a life. We may exist, function, co-exist with others, but we will not live, truly live, reap and enjoy the benefits of living in the presence of life itself. Without that awareness we may live in the presence of responsibility or the ghost of failing to meet responsibilities, or we may live in the presence of functions to be performed, jobs to be done, chores to be accomplished. However, we will not know life and cannot know it until and unless we live in the presence of life, of God, who is joy, joyful and enjoyable.
The psalmist was not really talking to the gates of the Temple when he said, “Heads up.” He was talking to himself and to the assembly. Even though the King of Glory is there whether we acknowledge his presence or not, he is not there to and for us unless we do so. Then, great things start to happen and continue happening. It is simply wonderful to experience life with God alongside us and us knowing that he is. It gives a totally different perspective on everything. It changes nothing externally, since God was already there before we realized it, but internally it is powerful, moving, mood-changing and mind-altering. Remember that realization means to make real and we must realize, make real God’s presence in our own lives, to have God’s presence in our lives. Later, when there was no longer a Temple, the Jews assigned this psalm to be sung at the synagogue morning prayer service on the first day of the week as a reminder of the beginning of creation. The Church sings this psalm on the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year A and on the Feast of All Saints as a reminder of the final coming and presence of God with us in the eternal Temple of the heavenly Jerusalem. However, it makes a great morning prayer for everyday along with Psalms 15 and 95. If “Well begun is half done,” is true, then making a big deal of beginning the day aware of the presence of God, having entered not only all of creation but our hearts as well, cannot but help make us victorious in the daily battles of life and joyous even in the fighting of them.
We know that living in the awareness of God’s presence makes us even more aware of sin, that is, failures to acknowledge and live consistently in that presence. We know that sin really results when we ignore the presence of God, do not consult him at every turn of events and insist on being our own “Lord of hosts.” We also know that the forgiving and infinitely patient God does not hide his face from us when we sin, even though we do. So, a brief apology for being rude or worse, and then a return to focusing on him gets us back in his “good graces,” and we experience “blessings,” all the joys and benefits that come from his companionship, and live righteously, in a right relationship with him, which lets us do right by others. As a result, things do not merely “appear” right, they are “seen” as right. We see right because we see from the divine perspective. No violence or abuse comes from our hands or mouths. Our hearts are clean because the “clean one,” has made them so by his very presence. Presence and awareness are the twin keys to blessing, righteousness and peace.
Yet, for all the routine discipline required to be aware, become aware and remain aware of the presence of God, it is still a gift, a grace, from God to be able to do so. To realize that hidden within everything and all is its creator and sustainer is a grace, but to realize that this creator and sustainer is friendly towards us, humans, wants to enter into a relationship of love, a mutual relationship, a covenant, is a grace beyond imagining and a grace with no end or ending to it. It is pure love, purity of heart, on God’s part transforming the work of our hands and the love of our hearts into something beautiful, worthwhile and eternal. When we become aware of his constant presence, always and everywhere, we learn to look for it in every moment. Then, the agenda of our lives is no longer the mere doing of deeds, but the discovery of the divine within all of them.
Becoming aware of God’s presence has a positive effect on one’s behavior.
Being aware of God’s presence has a positive effect on one’s attitudes, moment by moment.
Being in a right relationship with God, valuing what he values, brings peace and joy to every moment.
Keeping one’s consciousness focused on God is the key challenge of life.
Divine Sovereignty and human morality: We have no idea how many other worlds God has created. We do have an inkling now, based on our scientific understanding of just our own universe, a relatively meager and elementary understanding at that, that there may well be other intelligent life forms in our own galaxy and or in other galaxies we do not yet know even exist, let alone possibly have intelligent life forms, or their equivalent, within them. Our “universe,” is great and grand, but it may not be the only one. Nor must other “worlds,” be material, as is ours. We certainly know something of the “spirit world,” a world that exists both within and without our own material world. That “world” or dimension exists in our physical world, encompassed by time and space, yet in and of itself does not take up space and is not limited or bound by time. God has so ordained it that humans live in the physical world by necessity and in the spiritual world by choice. He has told us that the spirit world, the eternal dimension, is the one where we will live forever and that this earthly dimension is temporary. All of this spells God’s sovereignty over all- over this and any other world(s)there may be. Nothing and no one can best God. Even humans to whom God has given free will, the power to reject or deny God, cannot thereby really best God. They can fool themselves and dupe themselves into thinking so, but not really. The sovereignty of God, or awareness of it, prompts worship, obedience, and a constant desire to be on the right side of God. In other words, it motivates morality. It is a free-choice morality, not an enslaving one, for humans can make a conscious and concerted effort to ignore God. Nonetheless he remains sovereign after all.
Liturgical song and gesture: Singing, in and out of liturgy, is stylized speech, speech in a different key, poetic speech. Gestures, in and out of liturgy, are stylized behavior, rituals. Both are intended to express the truth that there is always more, to reality, than what meets the, physical, eye. Both stylized speech and behavior lift us out of the routine, the boring, the mundane, into another realm or dimension of living. Singing cheers us up, not down. Even dirges have their soothing effects on the aching human heart. Song belongs to the spirit world. It is the ordinary “speech,” means of communication, of the spirit world. In heaven we will sing our speech. When we sing we make non-singers nervous and uncomfortable. They do not know how to react. Singing does not “fit,” the routine world. Neither do gestures, gestures like flowers and candy to a loved one, like birthday cards, gifts and cakes, like marches and demonstrations for a cause, etc. Stylized behavior enables us to express the otherwise inexpressible, values of the spirit world. Thus, liturgy, besides expressing the inexpressible in human sounds and gestures, also teaches us how to do just that. It is vital to the wholesome human being that he or she or we can express on the physical level of our existence the spiritual experiences we are having. That requires “enfleshing,” them, just as the Word of God became flesh so we could relate to him. Liturgical behaviors, such as processions, have more symbolic of the spirit world meaning, than they do physical meaning. Processions are not so much going from one physical place to another as expressing that we are always on the move from one level of consciousness of eternity to another. Thus, humans can even have a “procession,” in their minds without physically moving. Amen.
