"The Great King"

   Psalm 24.1-10

   Good News Translation (GNT)

   "HEBREW TITLE:

    A psalm by David."

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  1  The world and all that is in it belong to the
   Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his.
  2  He built it on the deep waters beneath the
   Lord;earth and laid its foundations in the
   ocean depths.
  3  Who has the right to go up the Lord's hill? [a]
   Who may enter his holy Temple?
  4  Those who are pure in act and in thought,
   who do not worship idols or make false
   promises.
  5  The Lord will bless them and save them; God
   will declare them innocent.
  6  Such are the people who come to God, who
   come into the presence of the God of Jacob.
  7  Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors,
   and the great king will come in.
  8  Who is this great king?
   He is the Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord,
   victorious in battle.
  9  Fling wide the gates, open the ancient doors,
   and the great king will come in.
10  Who is this great king? The triumphant Lord -
   he is the great king!

   Footnotes
   Psalm 24:3 The hill in Jerusalem on which the
   Temple was built.

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Commentary taken from 'word-on-the-web'
supplied by Scripture Union

'The Great King'

   Psalm 24.1-10

We need to enlarge and sharpen our vision of God, for too easily we reduce or tame him. He is made to fit in with our plans and almost becomes our talisman.
The psalmist will have none of it.

To see what cannot be seen we need to open our eyes. The feast of nature programmes, in recent years, has deepened our sense of wonder at our world, which of course bears testimony to its Creator. The grandeur, the lavishness, the scale, the detail, the colour all speak of someone out of our league. Having put God and ourselves in proper alignment, how do we dare approach him?

For the pilgrim people of God the journey up to Jerusalem for the great feasts were times of celebration but also for reflection, for the living God who made heaven and earth cares about our conduct and character.

The moments of reflection before a service make us glad that penitence comes early in our worship. Grubby hands, mixed motives, a distracted focus, being economical with the truth, we all know these as realities in our lives.

We pretend to be what we are not, cultivating an image that cannot stand the scrutiny of the living God. Yet we long to come to this God, because of his goodness to us. We do not come alone, for we march behind the conquering King.

Jesus is the victor over sin, death and the devil, and for him the gates swing open. No questions are asked about his right to come into his Father's presence.
Wonderfully, his acceptance guarantees the acceptance of those who trust in him.

In my tradition we often sing this psalm at our communion services, for it speaks of our hope in Christ, the King of glory.

No wonder we are moved to worship.

Other versions are available here

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