Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 24:1 and following. Indeed, in Ps 22 we find a Savior. It is the past, the cross where everything begins. Ps 23 corresponds to the present: it is from a Shepherd that we experience. Ps 24, finally, opens the future for us: we admire the King of glory. All of these psalms are of David, a man who experienced rejection and suffering, but who was also a shepherd of Israel (2 Sam 5:1-5) and a glorious king in Zion. Psalm 24 begins with the affirmation of Jehovah’s rights on earth. The cross was erected there (Ps 22). It is currently a dark valley (Ps 23). But soon The Lord will establish his throne there. “The world and those who inhabit it” will then have to recognize the One to whom they belong and submit to his domination. Some will decide only under the effect of coercion, “by concealing”, as announced in Ps 18:40-45. As far as we are concerned, may we give back to the Lord Jesus today the obedience of love. To be part of the Kingdom, citizens must possess its characters (verses 3 to 6). Jesus promulgated them early in His ministry (Mat 5:3-12). He was the King, the Messiah of Israel. But his people rejected him, so he went out, carrying his cross (John 19:1-18). Let us now contemplate him entering as The Lord himself, the King of glory, in his reign of blessing.
Just as the previous psalm showed us the way of the Lord Jesus (and the one whom every believer follows in spirit in his company) to his dwelling in the house of Jehovah, so he shows us his way to the throne of glory. For he had the two things before him, as we have them before us, namely the house of the Father and the throne of the kingdom; and these psalms make us see respectively these two paths with their end in this sojourn of happiness and glory. At the beginning of the psalm, Jehovah’s right to possess the earth is recognized: it is his because he created it. Similarly on the day of the Jubilee, the type of this same kingdom to come, Jehovah asserted his right to the land (Lev 25:23). And after Jehovah’s rights on earth have been proclaimed, the question arises: who will take over her the dominion that Adam lost? in other words, “Who will ascend to the mountain of the Lord?” For the “mountain” is the symbol of dominion (Isaiah 2). And it is from Zion that Jehovah will exercise his millennial domination, still future, of this holy mountain where the king according to the heart of God will hold the scepter of universal government (Ps 2).
The answer to this question is in terms that immediately remind us of Jesus; his saints, that is, his generation, are associated with him. His title to the throne of glory and dominion in Zion being thus established, he appears, at his second coming, to take possession of it. He was ready to sit on this throne when he was here on earth (Mat 21). And it should be noted that before entering through the gates of Zion, on this occasion, our Lord exercised His rights as Lord of the earth and all that it contains (according to the theme of this psalm) when He had the donkey sent to Himself by His master, by virtue of this right: “the Lord needs it” (Mark 11:3). But, as we know, his fellow citizens did not want him to rule over them. Then, in His Second Coming, He will claim His right in the judgment of those who once denied Him in this way (Luke 19:27).
Thus, Psalms 23 and 24 are interpreted in a way, themselves: we find in it the perfect trust in the Shepherd, the Eternal, based on the experience of what he is in all circumstances (Ps. 23), then the character of those who will have a share with Jacob (Ps. 24): two principles that Ps 16 and 17 have highlighted in relation to Christ, and that we find in many other Psalms: to know the trust in the faithfulness of the Lord, and the practical justice that characterizes those who will stand in the holy abode of the Lord in the time of his millennial glory. But the Lord takes his place there, as King of glory. This gives us the divine side, in all its perfection, of the path followed by the Lord and the result manifested in earthly glory, in relation to the residue, to Christ, and to the Lord. We find, moreover, the precious witness for us that, on the one hand, Christ has his place and his share with the faithful in the path that God has traced for them, and that, on the other hand, he has it with Jehovah, for he was really man, and really Jehovah. But let’s get into a little more detail.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
The Lord enters the temple:
· Divine property of the natural world
Ex 19:5 Now, if you listen to my voice, and if you keep my covenant, you will belong to me among all peoples, for the whole earth is mine; Lev 25:23 The lands will not be sold in perpetuity; for the land is mine, for you are at home with me as strangers and as inhabitants. 1 Ch 29:14 For who am I and who is my people, so that we may willingly make these offerings to you? Everything comes from you, and we receive from you what we offer you. Ps 24:1 Psalm of David. To the Lord the earth and what it contains, the world and those who inhabit it! Ps 50:10 For all the animals of the forests are mine, All the beasts of the mountains by the thousands;
· Sacred places
Dt 12:5 But you will seek Him in His abode, and you will go to the place where Jehovah your God will choose from among all your tribes to place His name there. Dt 14:23 And thou shalt eat before jehovah your God in the place he chooses to make his name reside there, the tithe of thy wheat, must, and oil, and the firstborn of thy fat and small cattle, that you may learn to always fear Jehovah, your God. Josh 9:27, but he intended them from that day to cut the wood and draw water for the congregation, and for the altar of the Lord in the place that jehovah would choose: what they still do today. Ps 78:68 He preferred the tribe of Judah, the Mountain of Zion that he loved.
· Convicted perjury
Lev 19:12 You will not swear falsely by my name, for you would desecrate the name of your God. I am the Lord. Zec 5:4 I pour it out, says the Lord of hosts, that it may enter the house of the thief and of the one who falsely swears in my name, that it may establish its abode there, and consume it with wood and stones. Ml 3:5 I will approach you for judgment, And I will hasten to testify against enchanters and adulterers, Against those who swear falsely, Against those who withhold the salary of the mercenary, Who oppress the widow and the orphan, Who harm the stranger, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 1 Tim 1:10 the shameless, the infamous, the thief of men, the liars, the perjurers, and all that is contrary to sound doctrine,
· King of Kings
1 Tim 6:15 that will manifest in his time the blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings, and the Lord of lords, Rev 1:5 and on behalf of Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth! To the one who loves us, who has delivered us from our sins by his blood, Rev 17:14 They will fight against the lamb, and the lamb will defeat them, because he is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and the called, the elect, and the faithful who are with him will also defeat them. Rev 19:16 He had on his garment and on his thigh a written name: King of kings and Lord of lords.
From all the above, we note that Ps 24, presents us with the second aspect of the condition of the residue with regard to the good, of what grace produces in them (Ps 23:1). The Lord was the Shepherd all along the way; in the end, the earth and all that it contains, the world and those who inhabit it, are his. The sky is not directly introduced on the stage, neither along the way, nor at its end; but Jehovah has on earth a special place in his dwelling, a mountain which is particularly his inheritance. Who will go up to that place? – Those whose word gives us character: – the man who has innocent hands and a pure heart; who does not attach himself to idols; who does not swear falsely to his neighbor. – These will be blessed; they are the generation and have the true character of those who seek Jacob, for God has established in Jacob the place of his abode. They seek Jacob as the Lord’s blessed people; but if they ascend to the mountain of Jehovah and enter his holy abode, the crown of their blessing is that Jehovah himself enters through the open doors in order to dwell there. The victorious Lord, the Lord of hosts, enters. Christ himself, who took the place of his sheep to walk before them, then occupies the place of the Lord, who belongs to him by right, and in which he is recognized when the fullness of the blessing is introduced and revealed. This closes the development of Christ’s position in relation to the residue, as presented to us by the Psalms we have just studied, starting from Psalm 16, the first one that formally introduces this subject, and we now have to deal with the position of the residue from a new point of view and on a new ground. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the trust of the rest of the people in the God of Jacob.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.