A Psalm of David
1 The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein.
2 For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place?
4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart: who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah.
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates: and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates: even lift them up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.
Prepare your hearts to worship the King.
We stand in holy awe of the great Creator of the world—the One who put the galaxies in place, the One who rules over all, the One who is perfectly holy. A feeling of deep reverence sweeps over us, far more intense than that which we would experience if we were to meet the president of the United States. When the captain of a victorious host enters the castle, nothing short of admiration and honor fills the hearts of those who crowd the streets for a view. This is the sentiment of this psalm.
Verses 1–2. The first thing that you need to know about God is that He is the Creator of everything you see around you. That, in itself, should fill your heart with awe. Unfortunately, men have removed God’s hand from establishing the continents, majestic mountains, vast oceans, fabulous river valleys, and the animal kingdom, by ascribing the cause to chance. They deny Creation. They deny a worldwide flood. They deny that God could be sovereign over every rainfall, every snow storm, every tidal wave, and every hurricane. They chip away at God’s involvement in this world by denying His Hand working in both Creation and providence. By such steadfast rebellion, these men work hard to detract from the glory of God and the worship of the living and true God. As true believers, we must vehemently oppose such devilishness, much of which has crept into the church and eroded godly worship.
If Yahweh is the Creator, then He must be the Owner of everything that He has created. If you were to create a robot, then of course you would own that robot, and you would have the right to tell that robot what to do. Of course, humans and robots are quite different in that humans have emotion and volition, yet both can be seen as created and therefore subservient to the will of the Creator. Our worship of and service to our Creator must begin with the realization that God is the Source of this planet and the vast universe that surrounds it. All five billion people on this globe belong to Yahweh and are bound to serve Him.
Verses 3–6. While all of the residents of this earth are bound to worship Yahweh, the Creator, not all are qualified to do so. Those who made the pilgrimage three times a year to the holy hill of Jerusalem came to worship God. But who was qualified to enter the presence of God? The answer comes in verses 4 through 6.
a. First, it is that person with clean hands and a pure heart that may approach God’s worship on Sunday or any other day of the week. While it may not be a bad idea to take a shower before you go to worship on Sunday morning, that is not the sort of cleansing intended by this verse. The Jews were careful to observe the cleanliness laws in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament we discover that heart cleansings and clean hands come from confessing our sins. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). You cannot come to worship with half a heart, with sins unconfessed, knowingly covering some dirty part of your heart. God’s worship does not require sinless perfection, but it does require honesty and humility before the Lord in the confession of our sins.
b. Secondly, those who worship God cannot lift their souls to vanity or swear deceitfully. That is, our lives cannot be dedicated to empty and vain purposes. If we have dedicated our lives to the god of materialism, our worship for the God of creation will be a total waste. You do not spend six days a week serving the empty god of materialism and then spend a day worshiping the true and living God! Also, if we are going to worship God we must keep our vows. The Bible warns us not to make many vows, but when we do make them, we had better keep them (Eccl. 5:4). Those who have broken their marriage vows and those who break membership vows in a church are not fit to worship unless they have repented of such treachery.
These are hearts that are fresh and open to the ministering of God’s Holy Spirit. What kind of worship can come from idolatrous hearts that harbor sins as though they were precious to us? True worship can only come from honest, sincere, and expectant hearts. These are the ones who receive a blessing from the Lord in worship. These are the ones that desire deeply to see the face of their Lord in worship. It is true, sincere, and humble sin-confessors that will make up the church of Jesus Christ, a generation of true worshipers.
Verses 7–10. The last four verses give us a call to worship. They announce the entrance of the King of kings into our presence. Here is the picture of the victorious king returning from the battle. He enters the castle gates as hundreds of thousands of citizens line the streets to give that king the glory for the victory. In like manner, our victorious Lord enters the chambers of our worship, in the congregation of His saints. He was victorious at the cross. He is victorious in history, and He has conquered our hearts as well. He is the mighty God in battle. He is the King of glory. He is worthy of all praise, honor, glory, and blessing.
If we do not learn to live the Christian life of confession, forgiveness, and repentance, our worship will be cold, and our hearts will be resistant to the Holy Spirit. There will be no blessing. We will leave church uncomfortable, distressed, or even bored, but not blessed.
1. The quality of our worship will depend on the condition of our hearts. Are we prepared for God’s worship? This is why our worship includes a time of confession of sin. We simply cannot worship with hearts that are insincere and full of unconfessed sin that we haven’t repented of, or bitterness and anger against a brother or sister.
2. Worship includes a heart perspective of reverence and awe in the presence of God. This begins with an understanding of the nature of God, and a faith in God.
1. Give several examples of Praise psalms.
2. What is the holy hill?
3. Who is qualified to worship God in the assembly of the church?
4. How do we clean our hands for worship?
5. What sort of picture does this psalm paint for us of the King we are worshiping?
6. Give several examples of Faith psalms.
7. Which psalm contains the phrase, “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength because of thine enemies”?
1. What are the ways we have seen people question God’s hand in creation and providence?
2. When you walk into worship on Sundays, do you have the same feeling you might get if you were to meet the president of the United States? How do you think we lose that sense of awe and expectation?