The King of Glory

Psalm 24 (NIV): The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. "Selah" Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you 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 you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty-- he is the King of glory.

It should change our attitudes to realize that the earth and everything in it belongs to God. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills – and he owns the hills too. And he owns us. We belong to him and live on his planet at his mercy. We breathe his air, drink his water, and are able to stand on the ground because of his gravity. How differently should we live our lives today when we realize that we are God's guests here?
Make no bones about it, the Bible teaches that God created the universe. Genesis 1:1, the very first verse, tells us this, and David repeats it here. Some people believe we are incredible accidents of evolution, the Bible teaches that we are designed by an intelligent, loving creator. Can we believe that Jesus rose again for our sins if we don't believe God created us? Either the Bible is true or it is not.
David was a worshiper. He wasn't perfect, but he loved God and expressed that in the psalms he wrote. He knew, though, that only the righteous had the privilege of entering into God's presence. “Who may ascend” may be a reference to going to heaven, or David may have meant worshiping God in his temple. Either way, he understood that only those “with clean hands” could enter into God's holy presence. “Clean hands” means the righteous. Righteous people don't worship idols. Righteous people don't swear by what is false. Jesus said those who are pure in heart will see God (Matthew 5:8).
So, how do we become righteous? How do we have clean hands and a pure heart? Paul says it this way: We die to ourselves and allow Jesus to live through us (Galatians 2:20). We cannot be righteous by our own efforts. We trade our lives for Christ's and his righteousness covers us.
David ends this psalm with a charge for the gates of the city to open wide so the King of Glory may come in. This is a picture of Christ entering his kingdom. When Jesus was here before, he entered Jerusalem on a donkey, humble, and about to become a sacrifice for us. When he returns, he will enter as a victorious King, destroying his enemies and all falsehood and injustice.