How do you greet a champion? What is a fitting celebration for the hero returning home? In the present season, we have seen several such festivities. DC adorned itself with pomp and galas for the inauguration. Columbus spilled into the streets for their Buckeye champions. Yet, what makes the party tasteful verses out of line? There is always what the Philly fans do. When their team loses, they climb the lampposts and tear up the streets. And when their team wins, they climb the lampposts and tear up the streets. Not the best example. Instead, a great victory celebration honors the moment; it fuels the joy but prevents it from becoming chaotic and crazy. And it keeps the winner center stage while including the fans. Psalm 24 is one of these victory celebrations, and with a holy joy, it keeps it classy unto forever.
This psalm feels like it belongs to a very specific context, but what that is exactly is not immediately evident. It is like the left-over Lego piece; this goes somewhere, but where? Most interpreters posit that this psalm was part of a distinct temple liturgy. The details of the liturgy are fuzzy, however; the particulars have been covered by the dust of centuries. To start out, then, what we can say with more assurance is that Psalm 24 is about entering the temple. It is an entrance ritual for the sanctum of Zion. From this outline, the words of the psalm will color in most of the rest.
Psalm 24 charges through the door by announcing the Lord’s ownership. Yahweh is the sole proprietor of the earth and all its fullness. From birth, property is inherently part of our thinking. Some of the first words of tikes are “mine.” Sharing has to be taught, but claiming something as yours, this is innate, inborn. The truth of the matter is, though, that whatever we own, all of our property is on lease. We are but tenants stewarding the property of another; all that the eyes can see, every tasty treat we enjoy belongs to someone else, Yahweh himself. From the oil we pump out of the bowels of the earth to the marbled ribeye we grill, this is God’s. From the good microbes for a healthy gut to the glaciers of Denali, it is all the Lord’s. Butterflies and Gucci bags, rare earth metals and coral reefs, fast cars and slow snails, Yahweh possesses it all. We enter and exit life naked, with nothing, but the vast cornucopia of the world rests in the treasury of God. In the divine portfolio, also included are the inhabitants of the earth, namely humans. We are not our own, but we belong to God. Pagan and believer, man and woman, Russian and Taiwanese, all homo sapiens are the Lord’s.
And of course, he sovereignly possesses all for he fashioned everything. Yahweh founded the earth upon the seas; he established it on the nether-streams. Now, the cosmology here is fit to the olden days. In the ancient Near East, the common understanding was that the solid earth rested upon the vast ocean of the underworld. The dry ground was sort of like an island; it rested on waters with anchoring pillars holding it steady. The force of this image of verse 2 is one of order over chaos. The turbulent depths of the nether-waters brooded with chaotic danger, but the Lord cemented the earth safely on its pillars to restrain and overcome the evils of chaos. Yahweh owns all; he created all, and he is the master of the dark forces.
Moreover, these awe-inspiring truths of God’s proprietorship have a built-in application. If Yahweh owns all, if we humans are his, then we are morally obligated to him. This can be forgotten in modern times, but it is axiomatic that the creature must obey the Creator. Kids are obligated to their parents; dogs must obey their masters; and we humans owe obedience to the Almighty who gave us breath.
It is this implicit duty of God’s sovereignty that forms the logic between verses 2 and 3. At first read, these verses strike us as disconnected, a rough gear-grinding shift. But moral obligation is the lubricant for a smooth transition. Thus, verse 3 puts in the spotlight Yahweh’s mountain, his holy place, which is of course, Zion, the temple mount. The Lord created all; he is the master of everything; yet, in his wisdom, the Lord chose to have a local capital, to reveal himself in a special and holy kingdom. The universal realm of providence is God’s common kingdom, but he fashioned a sacred and redemptive kingdom, whose constitution is the covenant and whose capital is in Zion. Within the abundance of creation, it is the glory of God to be hidden, but in Zion, his glory is to reveal himself. The only way to God, the sole avenue to achieve the Lord’s favor is through Zion; it is found within the holy kingdom. Creation imposes obligation, but the only way to turn this into a blessing is to come to the sacred mountain of Yahweh.
Hence, this verse imparts the questions: Who may ascend? Who may stand on holy ground? And with these questions, the liturgical features of this psalm come to the fore. In fact, it is likely that verses 3–6 are a dialogue—not certain but likely. As in Psalm 15, this is a gate liturgy. It is a conversation between a priest and a worshipper about who is worthy to enter the temple. Verse 3, then, is uttered by the worshippers at the temple gates. The priest answers in verses 4–5, and the worshippers respond in verse 6. Therefore, the worshippers stand at the portal of Zion, and they inquire about who can enter the holy realm of God. What moral worth does God require to draw near to him?
The doors of Zion are not free access; they only allow the godly to enter. The holy does not suffer the impure to pass. The worshippers ask what is required of them to come inside. Then, the priest provides the answer. He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Hands represent actions and deeds. Hands are our number one external tool to get things done. Innocent hands are blameless behavior; they are the symbol for guiltless action. No sin or guilt stains these palms, from business to home, from family to strangers, from the public to the private. Next, there is the heart, which is the seat of our being, our inner life. The heart is the organ of our thoughts, intentions, and desires. A pure heart loves the noble, aims for it, and prizes it. A sterile heart beats with sincerity uninfected by duplicity, hypocrisy, and suppressed perversions. So then, as a pair, hands and heart cover our whole life and being, the entirety of moral godliness, inside and out, purpose and action, feelings and deeds. Needless to say, innocent hands and a pure heart is a towering standard, a high bar that permits only the finest quality of piety.
However, this more comprehensive morality is followed by two concrete transgressions. In order to enter, the person must not have taken a false oath in God’s name or sworn deceitfully. There is play on terms here that allows for a double meaning. First, to swear falsely is a reference to the third commandment—not taking the Lord’s name in vain. This is to swear an oath in God’s name and then to break it. Secondly, the words for false and deceitful can be concrete terms for idols. This is the sin of taking an oath in the name of a false god. But why mention these two specific sins? Because as the priest asks the questions, the worshippers answer with oath. They take an oath of innocence—I am not guilty, but pure. In short, the priest is saying, “You must be ideally pure and do not lie to me.” Do not swear a lie in God’s name and do not invoke an idol-god’s name.
The priest, though, has more to say. He states the moral requirements to enter, and he voices the reward if you are pure. The benefit for a clean heart is that the person will, literally, bear a blessing and righteousness. If you are godly, then you receive a beatitude and a righteous standing. The force of righteousness, here, is that of merit; it is the standing of having earned favor from the Lord. This is an echo of Deuteronomy 6, where it says the people’s obedience to the law will be their merit, their righteous privilege and worth. The priest affirms that the one who is pure of heart will be blessed with meritorious worthiness and so can enter. The earned worth of godliness is their access card to ascend the holy hill of Yahweh.
With the priest having said his piece, the worshippers respond in verse 6. Literally, they say, “This is the generation of those who seek him, of those who strive for his face, O Jacob.” This is a self-referent. It is the worshippers saying, “This is us.” We who seek Yahweh’s face in worship, we are innocent of hand and pure of heart. We are the true Jacob; we are God’s people, the offspring of Israel, not due to birth or genealogy primarily, but due to godliness and a sincere desire for God. The worshippers take the oath that they are righteous, inside and out.
And with a sworn righteous, they enter. These worshippers ascend the holy hill to stand within the sacred courts of Yahweh, the God of salvation. Priest and people are in the temple, glorious worship can commence. Or it can after one more essential ingredient, which is where we will pick up in part two.
©Zach Keele. All Rights Reserved.
You can find the whole series here.
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Zach Keele
Rev. Zachary Keele grew up on a ranch in a small town named Crawford, Colorado. He attended Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and received his Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary California. He has served as the pastor of Escondido OPC since 2006.
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