The King of Glory

Edwards Hall - guest rooms where I'm staying, and student lounge/eating areas

From Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO:

In November, I posted a journal entry from my day of solitude called Who Shall Ascend?.  It was the reflection of my thoughts on Psalm 24:

The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?  And who shall stand in his holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.  He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.  Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, O gates!  And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!  Lift up your heads, O gates!  And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The LORD of hosts, he is the King of Glory!

 This morning I happened to pray through this Psalm.  As I was reading through it, I noticed that when I wrestled with this Psalm several months ago I really focused in on verses 3-6 (the second paragraph above) and separated them from the Psalm as a whole.  I realized today that the overarching theme of this Psalm is clearly God as the King of Glory.  So I went back and reinterpreted this passage looking at my previous conclusions.

Previously, I was wrestling with how to ascend the hill.  I noted that apart from Christ I can do nothing, but that Scripture calls me to strive for personal holiness and through such I come closer and closer to the Almighty.  I am not minimizing the call of a Christian to pursue holiness.  After all, in 1 Timothy 4:7 Paul (the master of justification by faith alone) says "train yourself for godliness."  Rather, what I have realized this morning is that I tend to read scripture always thinking "What does this mean for me?"  Certainly looking for personal application in Scripture is good, but the Bible is not about each of us individually.  The Bible is about God and man (corporately).  It is a beautiful story from Genesis to Revelation of God's redemption of all Creation to bring glory to Himself.  It is easy to put blinders on and read Scripture only seeking personal application when our culture (and our messed up hearts) tell us constantly that the world revolves around us.

As I read this Psalm again with this individual perspective, I struggled as to understand what v. 1-2 and 7-10 meant.  All this talk about the King of Glory, what does that have to do with my personal pursuit of holiness?  As I prayed through the portion about ascending the hill through clean hands and a pure heart, without lifting your soul up to what is false I could not stop thinking,

'This is impossible!  Every step I take towards God the next step seems to be away from Him, chasing some false idea down a dead-end alley.  If clean hands and a pure heart and never lifting my soul up to what is false is how to ascend the hill to see the face of God, I will never get one foot above sea-level!'

That is the point at which the LORD gently confirmed my conclusion, yet opened my eyes to realize that is why all this talk about the King of Glory means everything in this Psalm.  "Who is this King of glory?  The LORD, strong and mighty...mighty in battle!"

The only way we can ascend the holy hill and see the face of God is through perfect obedience, by never stepping astray, and never once lifting our souls up to anything other than Him.  If I ever think I could do that for one second, I am fooling myself.  But I have not need for despair, because the King of glory, strong and mighty, picks me up and carries me up the hill Himself!  The King of glory, mighty in battle, fights my battles for me.  That is why this Psalm is saturated with talk about how mighty God is, and how He has established the earth!

This Psalm is first and foremost about God; about His incredible dominion over all things, and His immense desire to fight our battles for us.  He has already won the war over death.  He has already defeated our enemy, and the way to ascend the hill and see the beautiful face of the God of Jacob is to lay hold of the victory won through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Who is this King of Glory?  The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!

Rayburn Chapel (named after Robert Rayburn, founder and brother of Jim Rayburn - founder of Young Life) and Founders Hall - home of the majority of classes, recently built in 2008 (built on a hillside, so it is actually 3 stories)