BOOK OF PSALMS

PSALM : 24

The Jews had a box that they called the ark. This was not the ark that Noah made. Noah’s ark was a ship. The Jews took their ark with them everywhere. In it were things that gave them help.

David was king of the Jews. His capital city was Jerusalem. It was a very old city. Everything in it was very old. David brought the ark into Jerusalem. He wrote a special psalm. The Jews sang it as the ark came into Jerusalem. It was Psalm 24. The story is in a part of the Bible called Samuel. Here is 2 Samuel 6:12-15,17.

Verses 1 – 2: This means that God owns everything. This is because God made everything. First he made the seas. Then he made the dry land. In verse 2 the word “it” means the dry land. The waters are seas and rivers.

Verses 3 – 6: In verse 3 the hill of the LORD is Zion. It was a hill in Jerusalem. Solomon built the temple on it. He did this after David died. The holy place was the tent with the ark in it. Later it became the temple.

In verse 4 “clean hands and a pure heart” means righteous. It means God has forgiven these people. We explain “forgive” after Psalms 1 or 5 or 15. Our hearts are inside us. Only God sees inside us. Only he knows if we are clean inside.

Verses 7 – 10: When the Jews brought the ark into Jerusalem, they believed that God came in with it. God was so great that they told the gates, “Lift up your heads”. This means, “God is great. He cannot get under you. You must make more room”. The head of the gate or door is its top. The doors were very old. Jerusalem was a city long before David came. Many kings had lived there. They were not kings of the Jews.

The Jews believed that God was their king. They believed that he went everywhere with the ark. They carried the ark through the gates. This was a picture to the Jews. It was a picture of God as king of Jerusalem. The psalm calls God “the king of glory” 4 times. God had special servants. The Jews called them priests. The priests shouted, “Who is the king of glory?” All the people answered, “The LORD!”

Calling out to the entire city of Jerusalem, David cries out for the city gates to swing open so the King of glory can enter Jerusalem. In Hebrew the exact same phrasing used in verse 7 is repeated in verse 9, emphasizing the poetry and importance of that moment. This psalm describes God as strong and mighty, mighty in battle and the Lord of hosts (Psalm 24:7–10).