Psalm 24
POET'S TIMES AND INFLUENCES
Not long before David had been born, the people of Palestine and Nubia had freed themselves from Egyptian control. Soon after, the Philistines conquered Canaan. At about 1020 BC, Samuel, a judge and prophet, convinced the Israelite tribes to unify behind a single king. This brought to an end the rule of the Hebrew confederation of 12 independent tribes of Israel by "judges,” and brought forth the period of the united Jewish kingdom or United Kingdom of Israel. It was during the reign of the first king, Saul, that David was born.
David, as a teenager, became involved with the Philistines attempts to bring down Saul and his kingdom, through the action of killing the Philistine champion. He became quite famous for doing so. And, under David’s rule, the Israelites defeated the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites, creating a sizeable Israelite kingdom in Palestine/Jordan. By 1000 BC, nearly all the Philistines had been assimilated into the kingdom of Israel.
From that time onwards, the Israelites temporarily controlled the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt to the upper Euphrates River area. Their forces defeating the Ammonites, the Edomites, and the Moabites, among others.
Most historical events that occurred in his lifetime occurred because of him. Thus, the two main things that would have influenced David’s poetry, from his life, would likely be his God and his duties as a king.
Psalm 24 was likely written towards the end of David’s rule, when he considered the role of God in his life more deeply, though many believe it was written upon the occasion of the entrance of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, about 3000 years ago. David wrote seventy-three of the 150 psalms, themed as either praise, history, friendship, anger, confession, messiah or worship psalms. They were written to show God’s people how to talk to and worship Him.
PSALM 24
Of David. A psalm.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. 3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. 5 They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Selah. 7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory. Selah. New International Version (NIV)
(King of Glory – Melekh Ha’kavod)
POEM ANALYSIS
A psalm is a sacred song or hymn, which is usually associated with of those contained in the biblical Book of Psalms and used in Christian and Jewish worship. Psalm 24 can be divided into three primary stages: - The God (verses 1, 2) - Received by the God (verses 3-6) - Receiving the God (7-10) The poem starts begins with David talking to his people as a prophet, and then, after a thoughtful pause, David talks to Jerusalem, telling the city to let God in. He praises God with a tone of authority, making it clear that, although he is the most powerful among his people, his God has much more power than he.
Verse 1 declares that the whole world belongs to God: 1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; David was the successful king of a rather small and insignificant kingdom. He knew that the covenant God of Israel, Yahweh, was ruler of all the earth. He wrote that everything was God’s. It is apparent that God’s ownership of the earth also extends to people. There is a sense in which the world belonged to Satan. But even the devil himself can only do anything at God’s allowance, thus referencing God’s absolute ownership. This verse also makes it clear that nothing belongs to the false gods invented by humans. The technique of assonance is used vaguely in this verse, through the use of “in it” twice.
Verse 2 recognizes God as the creator: 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. David subtly references the creation of land in the midst of earth’s waters, instead of the waters in the midst of the earth’s land. It is emphasized through the use of parallelism, making it very clear that his God established the earth upon the waters. David may have been fixated by this beautiful and powerful concept.
Verse 3 asks the question, “Whom does God receive?” 3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The mountain David refers to is the Mount Zion, found in Jerusalem, where he planned to build a temple for the Ark of the Covenant. David wondered who had the privilege to stand before God. He then clarified his question through the use of parallelism. Unlike today, this question used to concern much of mankind, as they wondered what was required to make themselves right with God. In the time of David, the question “Who has the right?” would have been one of the most important questions to ask. David’s questions were, in a sense, rhetorical, but more so followed the lines of the apostrophe poetry technique.
Verse 4 answers the question asked in verse 3: 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. He or she who is pure in both their actions and intentions can be right with God. It makes clear that having one but not the other is useless. The human person must have clean hands connected with a pure heart. The verse also suggests that God rules the earth on a moral foundation, being also concerned with mankind’s moral conduct. The God of Israel did not have a physical idol, unlike the gods of other countries. Because of this, God is said to despise those who commit idolatry, in human actions and especially in the human soul, and those who make deceptive promises. The verse proposes that the conduct of one’s life is an expression of their fellowship with God. Because the ending two lines of this verse are quite similar, it would not be wrong to assume that a parallelism technique has been used here.
Verse 5 promises blessings to those who are righteous: 5 They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. This verse states that God rewards those who honor Him with their actions and intentions. David speaks in idiom of the Old Covenant, where the ability to stand right before God might be granted from a life of obedience. This being a product of the received righteousness acquired by faith.
Verse 6 describes the blessed and righteous ones: 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob. Selah. The referred blessed and righteous ones pursue, or seek, God continually. The idea is intensified through parallelism, as seeking His face is even closer than seeking Him. Specifying his “face” is use of the poetry technique, anthropomorphism. In this text, “God of Jacob” refers to the Israelites, God’s covenant people. The verse finishes with a thoughtful delay.
Verses 7-8 calls to welcome God, ruler and creator of earth: 7 Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. The opening of the gates is an allusion recalling an ancient custom as to how a King would enter a city. For example, if the King of England were to enter the city of London, the herald would demand entrance. An inside voice would ask who was there, and the herald would answer that it was the King of England. The gate is opened and the king enters London, his people joyous. This verse indicates to the reader that God will meet with man when approached correctly, the doors open unto Him, as it is assumed that when God is welcomed, He will come in. That when the people draw near to God, God draws near to the people. The demand to open the gates is repeated twice, displaying the parallelism technique. David also refers to the gates as though they had heads, using personification. David then asks, “Who is this King of Glory?” and answers saying, “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” The answer is yet another example of parallelism. The verse makes it clear that God’s openness to man does not decrease his glory or might. The same God that has a fellowship with man is the same God mighty in battle.
Verses 9-10 repeat the message of verses 7-8 for emphasis: 9 Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory. Selah. These verses make it apparent that the ideas presented in the previous verses were important enough to repeat. Almighty is used to describe God as omnipotent, implying that God rules over both heaven and earth. The poem ends on a contemplative pause, as it is no small thing that God comes down to receive and be received by humans.
Psalm 24, in its original language (Hebrew), would likely have had rhythm, and perhaps rhyme. But because Hebrew was an inflected language, that may not be the case. Instead of rhyme, Hebrew poetry favoured a kind of repetition of meaning, called parallelism. Because the Old Testament is an ancient text, written in an ancient language, there are numerous challenges in reading its poetry. The sound/pronunciation, where the accents might have fallen, the original vowel system, syllabification, and some vocabulary, are all problems when trying to interpret and understand ancient poetry.
CONCLUSION
David began his life as a shepherd and grew up to be a king. He was deeply effected by the wars he had to fight and the God who led him to success. Psalm 24, was a poem written to discuss who God was, who was worthy to stand before Him, and to celebrate the coming of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.
In a sense, the poem tells of the event of the Ark of the Covenant’s entry into Jerusalem. As the Ark entered the city, David demanded the gates to be lifted and for the King of Glory to enter. It was believed that God resided in the Ark, and David felt so unbelievably humbled for Him to be entering his city. Although David is the king, the most powerful among his people, God has much more power than he. For the God of all creation to come into his city must’ve been overwhelming for David, causing him to question who might stand before God.
I related to the poem because I share a belief in the same God. I myself have been in awe of God’s almighty power and wondered who had the right to stand before Him. In the context of how I live, I speak to my home to open the doors and let the King of Glory come in. Though I do pray that my suburb, even my city, would let God come through the gates also.
In addition, I truly admire David as a historical figure. He showed unfailing mercy towards Saul, who was continually trying to kill him. Although David was a king, he was undoubtedly human, as he made numerous bad choices. His skills as a king, soldier, politician, musician, dancer and poet would have been something to behold.
Likewise, I admire the Hebrew language and its poetry.