The Earth Is The Lord's: An Exposition Of The 24th Psalm

The Earth is the LORD’s: An Exposition of the 24th Psalm

Introduction

When I think of Handel’s Messiah, without doubt one of the greatest of all sacred music ever composed, I think of the chorus “Lift up your heads; O ye gates” which is taken from the 24th Psalm which we will be looking at today. It is part of what is called a “trilogy” of Psalms. Psalm 22 is called “the cross”; Psalm 23 is called “the crook”; and Psalm 24, “the crown.” Let us now take a deeper dive into the 24th Psalm.

Exposition of the Text

The superscript of the psalm says that it is a “Psalm of David.” This gives us some important background information to help us interpret the text. Many psalms don’t provide authorship information or reason for composition. This makes it difficult to get information from the historical context. One has to guess at thee things, and the number of opinions from scholars show the hazard. Psalms without additional information have to be interpreted more generally. But in this case, we at least know the author and can pin down the date of composition to sometime during the life of David.

The occasion for the psalm is not stated; however, we are given some clues from the text. It is important to note that the Temple in Jerusalem had not yet been built. During the entire reign of David, the Ark of the Covenant either resided outside of Jerusalem or in a tent after David brought the Ark into the city. It seems likely that the psalm was written in close conjunction to the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was a portable throne for Yahweh which was built during the time Israel was in the wilderness some four hundred years before David. Other nations had thrones for their gods as well, made of precious materials. But the Ark was different. There was no representation of YAHWEH. It symbolized His presence in a special way to Israel in a real way. It was a very holy object, and exact instructions were given concerning its care. It remained hidden behind thick curtains when Israel was encamped. When Israel moved to another location, it was to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites. We can see how Yahweh reacted when David decided to bring the Ark into Jerusalem on a cart instead. The poor driver, Uzzah, tried to steady the Ark when the oxen stumbled and paid for it with his life. Earlier, the Ark was taken to battle against the Philistines by the priests Hophni and Phineas as a good luck charm. Both of them along with thousands of others died that day and the Ark was captured. But Yahweh plagued the Philistines until it was returned to Israel. Be it enough to say then that the Ark of the Covenant was very holy, for the LORD whose presence rested between the cherubim angels is holy.

David saw that when the Gentile family to whose house the Ark was taken when Uzzah was struck down was greatly blessed. David decided the time had come to bring the Ark into the city. This time, David followed the proper protocol. It was cause for joyous celebration in Jerusalem. One can see as the Ark approached the city gate the cry would come out: “Lift up your gates and let the King of Glory come in.” This psalm would neatly fit this occasion. The cry to open up the gates for the King of Glory would be responded by those at the gate: “Who is this King of Glory?” The answer would come back: “Yahweh of Hosts; He is the King of Glory.” The Ark of the Covenant was coming into Jerusalem. The LORD of armies had arrived!

This psalm says something important to us. King David and his army took the Jebusite stronghold of Jerusalem. David was in charge of keeping Israel safe from its enemies. The book of 2 Samuel talks about these many battles. But it would be a big mistake that none of this would have been possible without the LORD of Hosts. It is the LORD, not David, who is the true king over Israel. Israel had sinned in asking for a king just like all the other nations. God gave them an earthly king. At first it was the evil Saul. But the LORD replaced him with David who was called “a man after God’s own heart.” But King David, along with Abraham and Moses stand in great honor in Israelite history was only a servant of this greater King.

Now that we have set up the context, let us look back to the beginning of the psalm. It begins with the words: “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof.” The God of Israel was not just a tribal god. Other nations had tribal gods and idols to represent their particular nation. Some of these nations were much more powerful than David. So the claim that the God of the relatively small Israel was God of the entire earth is audacious. Historians look at David and say that David rose to power because of the decline of the Egyptian and Hittite civilizations, and Assyria had not yet risen. Historians only see earthly cause and effects and do not know that everything that happens, happens by the will of Yahweh, the king of the Universe. He owns everyone and everything. Israel was not great because the nations recognized it as great. Instead, it is the LORD who made them great. King David is remembered to this day, but can anyone name the earthly monarchs of the nations around Israel today?