Psalm 24
Psalm 24 is divided into three sections, which are meditations on three of man’s relationships with God.
Section one, verses 1-2, deal with God’s ownership of the world.
Consider what it means that God owns the earth and the seas and “those who dwell therein.” God is not an absentee landlord who has no care for what happens on earth. Verse one indicates that God not only owns all things, but is involved in that ownership. Verse two teaches why God cares, because He founded and established the earth by His creating word. The ancient believers were fascinated with the fact that God held the great bodies of water in check so that they did not wash over all the earth. Verse 2 speaks of God’s second day of creation when God separated the land from the waters. He created deep basins for the seas and he established the dry land (or crust) to “float” on the mantle, which lies miles below the crust of the earth. What does it mean that God own’s us?
The second section, verses 3-6, deals with man’s spiritual relation to God. The Law’s answer to the question “who may stand in His Holy place?” is “no one!” For no one has clean hands or a pure heart. But the Gospel’s answer is “everyone who believes in the righteousness of their Savior!”
Christ’s “righteousness from the God of his salvation” is given to all those who believe on Him. With this righteousness given by faith, we are able to stand before God with clean hands and a pure heart because we are washed with the blood of Christ. Consider, has God given us a pure heart to stand before Him?
The third section, verses 7-10, deals with Christ, who is coming to establish that righteousness for us. The psalm personifies the gates of Jerusalem, telling them to rise up in honor to their King who enters them. Here Christ is identified as the “King of glory” and “the Lord of hosts.” These are descriptions of God Himself. Christ enters Jerusalem as the Lord God, “strong and mighty” because He comes to do battle with the sinner’s enemies— sin, Satan, and death. This psalm is read on Palm Sundays because on that day Jesus, the Lord of glory, entered Jerusalem to win salvation and righteousness for all.