Psalm 24
Domini est terra
1 The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein;
2 For it is he who founded it upon the seas *
and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.
3 “Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? *
and who can stand in his holy place?”
4 “Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, *
who have not pledged themselves to falsehood,
nor sworn by what is a fraud.
5 They shall receive a blessing from the Lord *
and a just reward from the God of their salvation.”
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, *
of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
8 “Who is this King of glory?” *
“The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle.”
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 “Who is he, this King of glory?” *
“The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.”
The Ark of the Covenant was a gold chest, and allegedly contained the tablets upon which were written The Ten Commandments and the Israelites treated the Ark of the Covenant as a special and holy item. They believed that God’s Spirit lived in that item and spoke to them through that item. This is why David felt like he needed to bring it back and put it in the temple in Jerusalem. This way their beliefs about that object would be aligned with the stature of its dwelling.
Psalm 24 doesn’t mention the ark of the covenant but it is believed by many that it was written for the occasion of bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. Others believe that it was written after that event commemorating David’s legendary dance procession into the city.
It is not uncommon for us today to have beliefs about certain objects having special abilities to house the spirit of God, and speak to us. Maybe it’s a cross that we wear around our neck or perhaps we believe churches are holier places than any other. But why can’t our workplace or our home be just as holy. Why can’t we see them as just as valid a place where God’s presence is felt every day. Perhaps we believe that the communion meal is a more special and devoted meal than any other. Well what about when we share food with our neighbors and loved ones. Isn’t that just as holy of a meal and doesn’t Jesus promise he is there. (Mat. 25:32)
Our beliefs are about our artifacts are not sinful and wrong. Perhaps they hold some value. Perhaps it held value for Israelites, and gave them a stronger awareness of God with them and more of a determination to strive for holiness. That’s never a bad thing. And perhaps this psalm helps us understand how we should approach the things we view as holy.
I love how it starts out with creation. The message: everything was created by God therefore everything is holy. Not just the things that we place special meaning on but the whole world…in all its fullness. Everything! All of creation. Every person! “The Fullness” the love we share, the beauty, the colors, the tastes and how we experience it is a gift from God. Then he seems to go on to say that there is an idea that what is holy is not really artifacts. It’s not really this ark of the covenant. It’s not really the city that it’s going to be in. Those things are holy because they’re created by God not because some item is there.
The psalm then turns to us. We try to make ourselves holy by being devoted to holy items and following holy commandments. He says that is not what makes us holy. It is our hearts that make us holy. Our desire to love our neighbor. Not being a fraud by being devoted to following the laws that are contained in that ark of the covenant rather than following the Lord. Clean hands and a pure heart. That is holiness. “Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? Who can stand in His place?” Well no one can if it is all about following the law and having the right artifacts. But if it is about loving our neighbor, we can all then stand in the place of the Lord.
Our reverence for what is holy is then pointed to the creator. As we approach Him, our creator comes to us and says, “lift up your head”. Focus on me don’t focus on what you think is a holy city and a holy item. Focus on me and the host of angels with me and all of creation. Perhaps when we do that our understanding of God expands. When we’re willing to let go of the values that we place on things and the meaning that we give things and let God enter our world we step back and say, “who is this is mighty powerful and good king and creator of the world?! He approaches me?! He is not who I thought He was!”
Maybe that revelation was so strong that day for king David that he felt overwhelmingly safe to strip off his royal garments and come before the true king as just a man.