Lift Up Your Heads: The King of Glory

Psalm 24 opens by putting the whole world in the hands of the King of glory: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” The text does not let any soul brag too long about what belongs to man, because nothing is really his. The Lord gave it, the Lord can take it away, and naked man came into the world and naked he shall return.

The King of glory stands from creation to judgment and on unto coronation. John declares that the Word was in the beginning with God, that all things were made by him, and that without him was not anything made that was made. The fish with the coin, the colt tied in the city, the seas, the floods, the world, and they that dwell therein all testify that everything belongs to him.

The question of Psalm 24 presses deeper: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?” The answer is clean hands and a pure heart, but the truth of the matter is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. John’s first epistle says that if sin is denied, the soul deceives itself, but if sin is confessed, God is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness. The cleansing begins now, but its fullness waits until mortality puts on immortality and corruption puts on incorruption.

The cry, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates,” moves the text from holiness into power. The King of glory is the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. The King has power to save from the guttermost to the uttermost, whether John Newton in his wretchedness, Saul in his persecution, or any soul that seems too far gone. The King has power to subdue, as Nebuchadnezzar found out when God did not take his stuff, but took his mind. The King also has power to sentence, dividing sheep from goats and saying either “Come” or “Depart from me.”

The Lord of hosts is not only majestic Creator, but military Commander and mighty Conqueror. Satan tried to quote the Word to the Word, but Jesus answered, “It is written,” and put him in his place. Death stung him at Calvary, but when death stung him, he took the stinger out. Therefore the grave has no final victory over the one who belongs to King Jesus.

The confession comes down to this: there is no king but Jesus. Pilate’s crowd cried for Caesar, but faith bows before the one whose birth had a star, whose death conquered hell, and whose risen glory names him King of kings and Lord of lords.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Everything belongs to the Lord. The earth is not man’s possession with God added on as an afterthought. Psalm 24 begins by stripping away the false pride that says, “This is mine,” because death itself proves that nothing can be carried out of this world. True stewardship begins when the soul stops bragging over borrowed goods and blesses the name of the Lord who gives and takes away. [85:15]
• 2. Clean hands require divine cleansing. Psalm 24 names clean hands and a pure heart, but honest hearts know that sin has touched both action and affection. Confession is not spiritual decoration, but the appointed way by which God cleanses what man cannot clean. The hope of standing before God rests not in self-improvement, but in the faithful and just mercy of the Lord. [89:21]
• 3. The King saves the wretched. The power of Christ is not limited to respectable sinners or cleaned-up lives. The King of glory saves from the guttermost to the uttermost, arresting the cruel, the profane, the persecutor, and the undone. Grace is most amazing where the soul has stopped pretending that its own righteousness is anything more than filthy rags. [95:27]
• 4. God can subdue proud power. Nebuchadnezzar’s fall shows that the Lord does not have to take a throne, money, or influence in order to humble a man. The Lord can touch the mind, and all the stuff in the world becomes useless to the one who cannot enjoy it. Pride forgets the Giver, but God knows how to bring the high down low. [102:18]
• 5. Death has lost its sting. Calvary did not merely show Jesus suffering under death, but conquering death by taking its stinger away. The grave still opens, but it no longer holds final victory over the one who belongs to Christ. The risen King turns the terror of death into a defeated enemy under his feet.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [69:39] - Prayer for God to Speak
• [72:32] - Psalm 24 Reading
• [75:15] - The King of Glory
• [79:30] - The Earth Is the Lord’s
• [86:25] - Who Can Stand Before Him?
• [89:21] - Confession and Cleansing
• [94:11] - Lift Up Your Heads
• [95:08] - Power to Save
• [102:18] - Power to Subdue
• [106:25] - Power to Sentence
• [109:32] - Preeminence of the King
• [111:12] - The Lord of Hosts
• [115:15] - The Mighty Conqueror
• [123:23] - No King But Jesus

Bible Reading

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!” [01:12:32]

1 John 1:8-9
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

John 1:1-3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Romans 3:23
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”

Matthew 25:31-46
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'”

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 24, what parts of creation and human life are said to belong to the Lord, and how wide is that claim? [01:19:30]
2. According to Psalm 24, what kind of person can ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place? [01:26:25]
3. In 1 John 1:8-9, what two different responses to sin are set beside each other, and what result comes from each one? [01:29:21]
4. What titles and descriptions are given to the King of glory in Psalm 24, especially in the closing verses? [01:51:12]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 24 says the earth is the Lord’s, and John 1 says all things were made through the Word. What does that mean for the way a person should think about ownership, success, possessions, and even life itself? [01:25:15]
2. Psalm 24 requires clean hands and a pure heart, yet Romans 3:23 says all have sinned. How do those two truths fit together, and why is confession necessary instead of denial? [01:29:21]
3. Psalm 24 presents the King of glory as strong, mighty, and mighty in battle. How does that help explain both Christ’s power to save sinners and his authority to judge the world? [01:46:25]
4. Matthew 25 shows the King saying either “Come” or “Depart.” How should that shape the way a person hears the title “King of glory”? Is it only comforting, or is it also searching and weighty? [01:46:25]

Application questions

1. “The earth is the Lord’s” challenges the heart wherever it says, “This is mine.” Where is that struggle showing up most right now—in money, time, plans, family, abilities, or reputation? What would it look like to hold that area as a steward instead of an owner? [01:25:15]
2. Clean hands and a pure heart are not produced by pretending sin is small. Is there any sin that has been excused, hidden, or renamed instead of confessed? What would honest confession to God look like this week? [01:29:21]
3. The King of glory saves from the guttermost to the uttermost. Is there anyone who seems beyond hope in your eyes—or are you tempted to think that way about yourself? How does Christ’s power to save challenge that way of thinking? [01:35:08]
4. God knows how to humble pride, even without taking away a person’s outward success. Where might pride be growing quietly right now? How would you recognize that you are enjoying God’s gifts while forgetting the Giver? [01:42:18]
5. Jesus has taken the sting out of death for those who belong to him. When thoughts of death, loss, or the grave rise up, what fears tend to surface? How does Christ’s victory need to be brought into those fears more plainly? [01:59:07]
6. There is no king but Jesus. What voices or pressures most compete for that place in daily life—approval, politics, comfort, fear, ambition, or something else? What would it mean to bow more openly to Christ in that area? [02:03:23]
7. The King will finally divide sheep from goats. Does that truth produce indifference, fear, urgency, gratitude, or something else in the heart? How should that affect the way a person responds to Christ today? [01:46:25]