Tuesday, February 25, 2020

2020.02.25 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 24

Read Psalm 24
Questions from the Scripture text: To whom does the earth belong (Psalm 24:1)? How much of the fullness of what it contains belongs to Him? What else belongs to Him? Who else belong to Him? Why—what has the Lord done to the earth (Psalm 24:2)? What questions does Psalm 24:3 ask? How does Psalm 24:4 answer? What two things does Psalm 24:5 say He receives? From whom does He receive them? What does Psalm 24:6 call the generation of those who seek God? What commands do Psalm 24:7 and Psalm 24:9 give? To whom? What questions do Psalm 24:8 and Psalm 24:10 ask? What answer do they give? 
Next week’s Call to Worship, Prayer for Help, and Song of Adoration come from Psalm 24 in order to sing God’s thoughts after Him with Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates.

In these verses, we hear the worthiness of God, and the worthiness required of those who would come near to Him.

First, the Lord is worthy of everything because He made everything. Every single thing belongs to Him. Every single person belongs to Him.

So, He is worthy of worship that is absolutely perfect. But are we worthy to give Him that worship? If we look at the criteria in Psalm 24:4, we have to answer that we are not!

The clean hands in verse 4 are not our hands. The pure heart is not our heart. The faithfully devoted soul and reliably true lips are not ours either. We know this to be true because of our Scriptural theology and personal experience, but we can also see it in the fanfare in Psalm 24:7-10.

The One who is ascending the hill of Yahweh to stand in His holy place is Yahweh of hosts, the King of glory Himself! For Him, the gates are to lift up their heads. For Him, the everlasting doors are to be lifted up. He is the Champion, returning from battle!

On this side of the cross, it is not so difficult to know how this can be. The LORD Himself became a man, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. His hands have always been perfectly clear. His heart pure. His soul faithful. His lips true.

We are His and belong to Him by faith—by seeking Christ, and in Christ seeking the very face of God. And Christ has received for us blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of our salvation.

Christ alone is worthy, and we must cling to Him alone as our worthiness!
What kind of worship does God deserve? How are you going to give it to Him?
Suggested songs: ARP24 “The Earth and the Riches” or TPH297 “Lift Up, Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates!”

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