Psalm 24 (Earth Dwellers Before a King of Glory, Jeff Kliewer)

The Earth Is the Lord’s and Human Beings Are Mere Earth Dwellers

Lord, my cup is full, my cup runneth over. You are so good, Lord, I've seen a glimpse of your glory already this morning in the congregational worship. To see hearts lifted up to you, voices raised because there's delight in who you are.

We are delighting in the King of glory. You have made yourself known to us. Your name is Jesus. King of kings, Lord of lords, the Lord of our hearts, this morning we pray you would open our hearts more than ever to the understanding of your word, and especially this morning to the 24th Psalm.

Let us see you more clearly, to love you more deeply, help us to walk in your ways. We need you here, God. We cannot do this without you. Lord, I confess as the preacher this morning, I cannot do this without you.

I need you desperately to come and fill me with your precious Holy Spirit, that we could see the wonders that are in your word, in Jesus' name, amen. When I was young, like the boys at camp, I thought like a child and I reasoned like a child.

I notice now that I'm older that I see things differently than the kids did. We were at camp this week and it was literally zero degrees outside. With the wind chill, it was probably negative 10, and it was late at night and the kids just wanted to be outside.

I remember when that would have been my reaction. In fact, I would look at the temperature and see, you know, just hoping for it to get up a couple more degrees, and they were rooting for it to drop a couple more degrees.

They just wanted to see how low it could go. And they would look at these big hills and the snow that comes down it, and they would see an opportunity to sled. And I would look at it and think, oh man, we got to get down this thing and get back in that cabin before a little kid gets frostbite on the tip of an ear or something.

You look at the world differently as you grow and mature, but the eyes of a kid are filled with wonder and excitement. I remember when I was about 8, 9, 10 years old, somewhere in that range, and we went to what Florida had, which is not a snowy mountain.

It was a water park. And at the water park as a young kid, I was told by my parents, you are not to go down the Tampa Typhoon. This was the biggest of all slides at Adventure Island, and it just looked a little too big and intimidating.

And my parents just said, no, that one's off limits. We could go on other slides, just not the Tampa Typhoon. So of course, what does the sinful heart of a child want? The Tampa Typhoon. And when I noticed that my parents weren't looking, off I went.

And I climbed up the stairs, and I thought, this is going to be awesome, amazing. The higher I ascended, waiting in line, finally got to the top, this is going to be awesome. Got on the Tampa Typhoon and slid down with joy and delight.

Came to the bottom thinking that was not awesome, because my mom was standing at the bottom of the slide with her hands on her hips, waiting for it. What I didn't calculate was that my bright neon yellow shorts were visible anywhere in the park.

She could see me. I looked like the sun glowing up on top of this Tampa Typhoon. So she was able to walk over. By the time I got to the front of the line, she was waiting at the bottom. I look at the world differently, but here's the point of my illustration.

There's a lot of teachers that will say that sin is when we do something that God knows is not good for us. So God will give laws, and His laws are to protect us from things that will hurt us. Well, in my childish mind, I thought, you know what, the Tampa Typhoon is not going to hurt me.

My parents are being overprotective. I can do it. I'm going to do it because I know I'm not going to get hurt. It will be fine. Let me tell you this. The definition of sin given by the Bible, 1 John chapter 3, sin is lawlessness, breaking the law, whether it's laid down by parents when children are under the authority of their parents.

Lawlessness would be law-breaking, and the issue is not if it's going to hurt you. The issue is not how it makes you feel. The issue is not whether you would be happy to do the thing that you want to do.

The issue is what God has said. Lawlessness is breaking God's law. Sin is breaking God's law. Even though I didn't get hurt on the Tampa Typhoon, I was guilty of law-breaking. Breaking my parents' law and honor your father and mother, I was breaking God's law in that sinful behavior.

The definition of sin is lawlessness because God is God in heaven, and here are we on earth. All things belong to him. This world is his world. The rules that he sets for it to govern the world, that it would run the way he chose it to run, are his rules, and the moral laws that he lays down are his.

In fact, did you know that not all of the laws in the Old Testament are moral? There are some laws that are moral in essence. There are others that are given without any particular moral reason for it that we can ascertain.

Let me give you an example. In the book of Leviticus, there are many laws that have to do with diet. The Israelites were under the law of Moses and were not allowed to eat certain foods. Not because those foods would make them sick necessarily, not because it would poison them or harm them, but simply because God said, this is what you're allowed to eat and this is what you're not allowed to eat.

The clean foods and unclean foods. The priestly offerings of sacrifices had to be done in a very certain way. Priests couldn't just come in there willy-nilly and do whatever they wanted. In fact, when Nadab and Abihu tried that and offered some quote-unquote strange fire on the altar, the fire from the altar came from the altar and consumed them.

God was so serious about this law, but we don't understand what is it that made the exact details of how the offering was to be made God's choice. We don't know that. When the tabernacle was made, the details of how the tabernacle was to be fashioned were laid out to the finest, most minute detail and they were required to build it exactly according to prescription.

The issue, brothers and sisters, was not what was best for us, even the issue of morality. The issue was what God said. His word was the issue and sin was the breaking of His law. I love Psalm chapter 24.

One of my favorites, probably because that's the one I was in all week studying and hopefully you guys have read it a little bit. But turn with me now to Psalm 24. It reminds us, this big theme, that the earth is the Lord's.

This world is His. The laws that govern the world that we live in are given by Him and He has the right to prescribe them. Psalm chapter 24, son, the earth is the Lord's in the fullness thereof. All of this is His, but not only the law, not only the world, but especially we see.

The gift.

We see a beautiful gift in Psalm 24. And then finally, the fourth part, we see a King of glory. His King, the one sent for us. So we're going to look at the sovereignty of God in Psalm chapter 24, His absolute rule, His absolute dominion, who He is and how we as people ought to think, how we ought to live before Him.

Psalm 24 gives us a guide for that. Let's read it. 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 as the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, O gates, 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. Amen. Verses 1 and 2, I want you to see that all things are His. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. That means not only is all of the earth His, but every little thing that dwells on the.

Earth.

Undoubtedly, that includes you and I, people, because the next part says the world, and those who dwell therein. The title of my sermon today is Earth Dwellers Before a King of Glory. We are mere earth dwellers.

If you've ever stopped to consider the size of the earth relative to the sun or relative to the galaxy, let alone the universe, you begin to recognize how microscopically small each of us are. And yet, we think of ourselves as kings.

I mean, you've watched television, you've seen Fox News with Jesse Watters. He goes around, and what does he call his show? Watters World. And as he interviews somebody and he talks to them, they'll give an answer, and at the end he'll say, thank you for being on my show, and this is my world.

This is Watters World. I was listening to sports radio a little bit, which I do from time to time, not as much as I listen to Christian radio, but no, just kidding. It's okay to listen to a little ESPN, but I listen to Gullick and Wingo talking about this new superstar quarterback coming out, and he's a great quarterback.

He's gonna get drafted in the NFL, but what's unique about him is that he also has the choice to play baseball. He can go pro in baseball or he can go pro in football. His choice, and the comment of the commentator was, the world is his.

The world is at his fingertips, but think about that. Whether he goes left or he goes right, what really belongs to him? While that game is going on, the football, this tiny piece of leather, or while he's playing baseball, the round ball, and the adoration of people, perhaps millions of people for a very short time.

That will belong to him, but is it an exaggeration to say the earth is his? The world is at his fingertips. According to our scripture, the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. We, born into this world, are born by nature, because we're sons of Adam, to have a self-centered.

Mindset.

A child, a baby, literally believes that the entire world revolves around him or her, doesn't it? Cries to get what it wants, and as we grow, sometimes we never mature out of that way of thinking, but it's true of all of us that we tend to see the world through our own eyes and see ourselves at the center.

Psalm 24 refuses us that right. It reminds us, the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, for he has founded it upon the seas. That means that everything that you have is not your own, it's not your life, it's not your body, it's not your money, it's not your house, your kids, your car, nothing is yours, and nothing is mine.

The earth belongs to him. So I like to think of what we have in terms of the three T's, time, talent, and treasure. All the time that you have been given to live on this earth, the number of days that have been appointed for you to dwell as an earth dweller, are his.

All of the talent, every skill that you've been given, that intellect that's in your mind, and there's a lot of smart people in this church. That intellect, that talent, is his. And that treasure, whatever money you have, or car, or any physical thing that you possess, you own it not absolutely, but as a manager.

We are only managers of everything that we have been given. And managers for a short period of time, because naked we come into the world, and naked we.

Go out.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are managers and stewards for a short period of time. The earth is the Lord's. This needs to become the starting point of all righteous thinking. If we begin with God, if our world view, our way of thinking starts with him, we'll do.

Well.

Things will unfold naturally from there. But most people get things twisted right here at the beginning, refusing to understand that all things are already his. We don't offer him anything that he needs.

We have nothing in our hands to bring him. No offering, nothing to please him. He is the center of all things, and we're the desperately needy. So continue on with me, verses three and four. If God is the one who owns everything, who has the right to say what is true and what.

Is right?

God alone, verse three. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? This is the question. Who can go before him? Who can enter into heaven and see God face to face? Who can climb Mount Zion? Who can ascend?

Who can make it there? Who is worthy to go there?

Who?

By his rules, it's who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands. And a pure heart. And does not lift up his soul to what is false. And does not swear deceitfully. When I read verse four, there is a part of me that screams, yes!

I love this!

This is right!

The God who makes everything, who made the universe, who is perfect in holiness, pure in every thought and in every way, full of love and compassion and kindness, he deserves clean hands and pure hearts in his presence.

I like that heaven is a pure place and there is no sin there. It is a glorious place where there is no weeping, there is no pain, there is no sin. There's nothing unrighteous there.

I love that.

But then I stop and think, that doesn't include me. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands, but mine are not. And a pure heart, but mine is not.

I'm born into this sinful world with sin in my heart. And I desire to serve myself and chase my own glory. That's what's natural to me and it's been like that since I was born. So this isn't me, who does not lift up his soul to what is false.

And I remember when I was only 10, and I said, yes mom, I'll avoid the Tampa typhoon. I'm going over here. I'm just going to ride that other slide. And sure enough, I deceived her. I probably would have sworn, oh yeah, mom, I promise.

I promise I will not do it. You can trust me. How many times have we lied? So who in this room qualifies to ascend the hill of the Lord? Brothers and sisters, the moral law of God is his to give. We live in a culture that desires to define morality according to our own ways.

In Leviticus chapter 18, the Israelites are being brought into the promised land. And as they come in, God in his righteous judgment will judge a sinful people, the Canaanites. And they have many abominable practices, too many and too severe to even mention in the company of children.

But in the 18th chapter of Leviticus, God says you are not to be like them. In other words, what they approve of, what they consider moral or right or worth anything is not God's ways. He says, no, not you.

You must walk in my statutes. And he gives in that 18th chapter a moral code of sexual ethics. Now, the culture that we live in will say God does not have a right to say that. And the 18th chapter of Leviticus is scorned and hated by the world.

Because there is a fundamental clash in the world between God's word and man's word. Man creates their own morality, their own systems of religion, whatever it is to make them feel good and acceptable to themselves.

But it doesn't change God's right to dictate what is true. And so there's always a fundamental clash in the world between God's word and man's word. He is the one who says what is sinful, what defiles hands and hearts, to what we're not allowed to lift up our soul.

What is false in the swearing of deceitful things? God is the one who tells these things. So what we've said so far is that this is God's world. The fullness of it belongs to God. Secondly, it's his rules.

He has established rules and we've left it kind of in a bad spot at this point. So I know sometimes I was listening to a preacher this week and sometimes I noticed my mind was drifting. He's up there preaching and I like what he's saying by the way, but I'm thinking about what I'm going to preach tomorrow.

And I thought, wow, I need to pay attention. If you check out right now, at the midpoint of this sermon, you will miss the best news in the history of the world. Because not only does God have a world that he runs and rules that he gets to describe, but he offers a gift.

It's his gift to offer. He could have done something else, but this is what he does. And I see in these verses 5 and 6 a prelude to a full New Testament understanding of the gospel. Nobody can ascend the hill of the Lord because nobody even seeks God according to Romans chapter 3.

But verse 5 says he will receive blessing from the Lord. So somebody's ascending this hill. And righteousness from the God of his salvation. And there's the key word. Verse 6, such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

The best news in the history of the world is that God offers a gift of salvation to those who come humbly to him. He draws them and so they seek him. But the blessing, the ultimate blessing here in verse 5, look at the second part, is righteousness.

My problem is that I don't have clean hands or a pure heart. My tongue has spoken deceitfully. That's our problem. So I don't have any righteousness. I can't stand righteously before God. I can't climb that mountain.

I can't do it. But the beautiful and amazing news of this Bible, as far back as the Old Testament but fully explained in the New, is that righteousness is a gift by faith. The gift of salvation. He offers this gift.

It's something that we receive, verse 5. He will receive blessing from the Lord. And righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the gift of God. It's the generation of those who seek him. This promised blessing, this inheritance that we get.

We are counted righteous how and when. When we come humbly seeking him. Seeking that mountain that we cannot ascend. He condescends to us and rescues us out of our sin. He saves us. He is the God of our salvation.

Selah. Now why did I just say Selah? Look at the end of verse 6. It was probably a marker for the congregation in singing. It was kind of like many of us say the word Hallelujah. Well we know that means highest praise.

But many people just say Hallelujah. Well we don't know exactly what the word Selah means. But it's some kind of rejoicing, some kind of delighting in the message that was just spoken. So I hope you didn't miss it.

Not only does God run the world. Not only does he describe the rules. But he offers a gift. And now finally verse 7 to 10. David only gets a glimpse. But we can see it more clearly. There is a king of glory.

Lift up your heads O gates. And be lifted up O ancient doors. That the king of glory may come in. Now let me pause there for a moment. Notice when it says lift up your heads O gates. If you look back at verse 3.

The question is who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? So picture this. God in his might is atop the mountain. In the holy city of God. And this holy city has gates.

The new Jerusalem.

And the question is who will ascend? So the answer in verse 7 is lift up your heads O gates. In other words, there's a personification of the gates. Follow me with this. Somebody is able to ascend this mountain.

Romans chapter 9, chapter 10 verses 9 and 10 explain that Jesus is the one. But notice this. It is not only a personification of those gates that open up. When the king comes in. It's a gateification of persons.

Look at this.

In verse 7, lift up your heads O gates. Remember, this is a psalm. Sung by the congregation. David is writing it. And as he writes, what he's saying is you. You who are looking at me right now. Lift up your heads.

He's talking to people. He's talking to the congregation. And he compares people to gates. So how am I like a gate? Well, there's times I'm really close to the things of God. Especially before I knew him through his son Jesus.

My heart was callous and cold and dry and closed. But what this psalm is calling us to do is to lift up our heads. To open up like a gate. To lift up our hands in worship. To respond to the king of glory who's coming in.

So the gates lift for the king. But what we're being told in verse 7 is that we are to open up. We're to begin to worship now. Not just passively. But actively. In verse 7 it says, and be lifted up, O ancient doors.

That's passive. Be lifted up, right? The gates are to be lifted. A force is exerted on the gates to lift them. That the king of glory may come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty.

The Lord, mighty in battle. Look at verse 9. Verse 9 and 10 are a repetition of verse 7 and 8. You need to see this poetry here. This is some Hebrew parallelism that's meant to strengthen what's being said the first time.

The first time is repeated the second time. But with even greater force. So in verse 7, be lifted up passively. Verse 9, lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up. That's the active voice. The active voice.

Lift them up. Why do I stress that? Because when you begin to see who is the king of glory. When you begin to see that it's Jesus. When you recognize who the king of glory actually is. Every fiber of your being belongs to him.

And you need not only to praise him because that's what's there to do. You need to actively turn every fiber of your being over to him. The only appropriate response for an earth dweller like me. Is absolute openness.

Complete praise. Fullness of joy. All of my heart. All of my soul. All of my mind. All of my strength. Brothers and sisters. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God. With all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

To love others as yourself. That's active. You have to turn that. So in verse 7. Lift up your heads, O gates. Be lifted up, O ancient doors. That the king of glory may come in. David is writing this psalm around the year 1000 BC.

He doesn't know the name Jesus. That name will not be given until Luke chapter 1 we read. They shall call his name Jesus. He already sits as the son of God at the right hand of the father. But he's not yet been incarnated.

He hasn't come in the flesh and dwelt among us. Tabernacled among us. He is yet to be crucified and risen from the dead. But I want you to notice the exclamation points. At the end of each phrase here.

David is asking a question. Who is this king of glory? In other words, prophetically, by the spirit, he is getting a glimpse of the coming king. Now this king has to be both God and man. The true king of Israel was God.

There came a point where Israel rejected God as their king. And desired to be led by a human king. A man. God rebuked them for that in the book of 1 Samuel. Nevertheless, he said, I will give you a king.

It just won't be Saul. It will be David's son. It will be David and his line forever. 2 Samuel chapter 7. So this idea that God is really the true king. But he has a human king that he himself has planned to send.

As far back as Deuteronomy, we were told that Israel would have a human king. How do you bring these two strands of thought together? That the only true king is God. But there's a human king coming to rule.

And David is looking at that question. Who is this king of glory? He knows it's his son. Because a son of David will always sit on the throne. But he's more than a man. And he's beginning to catch a glimpse of God's plan here.

He cries out, who is this king of glory? Then here's the exclamation point. He says, the Lord. When you see that capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That stands for YHWH in the Hebrew.

Yahweh.

Jehovah is the Latin transliteration of that. This is God. This is more than a human. This is God. He is strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. So David is looking to God as his king. And yet there's coming a human king.

The only answer to this riddle. Who is this king of glory? The only answer is Jesus. Only Jesus is king of glory. He's the promised seed of the woman of Genesis 3 .15. The seed of Abraham. Who would then be passed through the seed of Isaac.

And then Jacob and then Judah. Genesis 49. The scepter would not depart from Judah. And out of that clan among the 12. Out of Judah's line would come King David. And from David's line would ultimately come Messiah.

Jesus is the promised king. And when he stood before Pontius Pilate. In the flesh. Beaten and bruised. Wearing a robe. Being mocked by soldiers. Being spit upon. A crown of thorn pressed on his head to mock him.

And Pontius Pilate looking down his nose at Jesus. Says, are you a king then? Jesus made the good confession. You say that I am. And as you see me now. You'll see me coming on the clouds of glory. Jesus is the king of glory.

You got to keep reading the story through to the end. In Revelation three times we see him pictured. In the first chapter he appears to John on the beach. And he's glowing with passionate fiery eyes. And he's so just amazing.

That John can hardly look at him. But then John is eventually brought up into heaven. And in the fifth chapter we see Jesus appear as the lamb. Who's also a lion. And he's presented with the kingdom. And all the nations and all the peoples.

And all the angels they worship him. Because he's worthy to take the scroll. And to open the scroll. And the scrolls bring judgment on earth. But then at the end in the 19th chapter. We see he's riding on a white horse.

Who is this king of glory? His name is Jesus. With robe dipped in blood. The blood of judgment as he judges the nations. And king of kings and lord of lords. Written on his thigh. With fire in his eyes and a sword from his mouth.

Which is the word of God. For his name is the word of God. He comes in power to reign. And to rule and to conquer. He comes the second time in glory. The first time he came to be killed. And mocked and beaten and to die.

To suffer to be buried.

To rise from the dead.

But at his second coming he comes in the full display of glory. And oh it's a sad thing when your eyes can't see it. David saw it before it happened. Before he came the first time. Psalm 24 asks a question.

And it calls for the answer. Jesus. Who is the king of glory?

Jesus.

So.

So here's the application. The final thing.

So.

Lift up your hands.

And your heart.

And your soul and everything you are.

Be lifted up.

Open to him.

The gates of your life. Give him everything. If you see it give him everything. If you don't see it then why would you give him everything? You still run your world. But if you recognize that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.

And he is the one who says who can ascend his holy mountain. And you're humble enough to say it's not me. I cannot ascend that mountain. I have no righteousness to give. I have nothing to bring.

No offering.

And I can't get up that mountain.

It's too high for me.

He's too holy for me. Then you realize I need him to save me. You humble yourself. You seek him. He makes you righteous. He blesses you with righteousness. He saves you. The only thing left to do is to praise him.

For the rest of your life. From the bottom of your heart. So let's do that. Worship team will you come up. We'll finish with one last song. I'm going to give an opportunity now. If you've never trusted the king of glory.

If you've never said his name is Jesus. And I need him. Just do this in your own heart. Let's just all bow our heads. Close our eyes. If you would like to accept the king of glory. Then just confess it with your mouth.

Believe it in your heart. And you will be saved. Right now even in the quietness of your heart. You can just say. Just in your own thoughts. Say this to God. God I need you. I am a sinner. I have impure hands.

An unclean heart. I've deceived. I've lied. I cannot ascend your holy hill. But I believe that Jesus is the king of glory. He came to die for me. He rose from the dead. So I call on Jesus. To take my sin away.

To save me. And I give you my life. You are my Lord. I open my life to you. The gates of my life are open. I receive you. As my Lord and personal savior. Jesus. You rose from the dead. You are coming again.

You are king of kings and Lord of lords. I confess this. Right now. In Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen.