Psalm 24: King of Glory

Psalm 24 reads like a script with stage directions implied. The likely setting is a processional entry into the temple, possibly tied to the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6. Picture the scene at the city gates: priests carrying the Ark, the king dancing before it, Levitical singers and instruments, the people lining the streets. The psalm opens with cosmic claim: 'The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.' In a region where every hill had its local god and every nation its national deity, this was a startling line. The God of tiny Judah is named owner of the whole earth.

Then the question, 'Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?' Jerusalem sits on a ridge; the temple mount is its high point. To go up to the temple meant a literal climb. The answer, '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,' is moral, not ritual. It is not asking whether the worshiper has performed the right washing; it is asking whether the worshiper has dealt honestly with neighbors and stayed clear of idols. Pilgrims sang this on their way up, examining themselves in real time.

The drama climaxes at the gates. Sung antiphonally, a leader cries, 'Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in!' The chorus answers, 'Who is this King of glory?' The leader replies, 'The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.' This was high drama at the city gates, possibly with the Ark physically present, the doors swung open as the words were sung. The Jewish liturgical tradition still uses Psalm 24 on Sunday in synagogue, and the line 'the earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof' opens older treatments of the Mishnah's Pirkei Avot. A psalm written for a procession into a stone temple has kept opening doors ever since.