November 2, 2015

“Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted 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.” Psalm 24:7-10

“Psalm 24 was a processional psalm built in a call-response format. 24:1-2 was a universal call to worship YHWH. He created the world and all its inhabitants; he controlled the flow of the water which defined the dry land. The questions of 24:3 set up the response: if YHWH was the God of all, who should follow the procession to his Temple? 24:4-5 answered the questions with a definition of the faithful. The true believer followed the Law completely (“has kosher hands”) and worshiped with a single intent (“has a pure heart”). The believer’s relationship with YHWH was reflected in his relationship with his neighbor; he does not aspire to a false ideal and does not mislead with false oaths. In return, this believer would enjoy blessings from his Maker.

In 24:7-10, the subject of the psalm shifted from the follower to the worship of the community. The psalm called out to the Jerusalem twice to raise it’s voice in praise, then phrase the response with a question: Who is the King of glory? (24:7-8a, 24:9-10a). The call to Jerusalem (“lift up your heads, O gates, lift up, O ancient doors”) could not refer to the city gates because a fortified entrance that rose upward did not exist in the ancient world. The response to the call defined YHWH, the King of glory, as a warrior deity (“YHWH, strong and almighty, YHWH, strong in battle”). The God of Israel triumphed over his foes. In sum, Psalm 24 was hymn of victory sung by a jubilant procession. We can easily see this psalm on the lips of the army as it returned to Jerusalem after a successful campaign.” (Following the King of Glory, Larry Broding, word-Sunday website)

Who is the king of glory? We do not have a history of good relationships with kings in this country. We are a people, the people of these United States, born out of a rebellion with a king. So when we call G*d the “king of glory”, I am not so sure we know how to live into this relationship. To be fair, should we consider our G*d our “king”, or is there another word we should use? This is usually part of my conversation when Christ the King Sunday rolls around. They even have renamed this festival “The Reign of Christ” Sunday. I don’t believe this clarifies the issue. We have no kingdoms in this country, except “The Magic Kingdom”, and we have not had someone reign over us as Lutherans since the 17th century. So, I ask again, is there a different word, other than King, that can describe our relationship with G*d? We could use Father, but that word has its detractors. Friend is out because G*d is more than just our friend. How about we just talk about G*d in the terms of what G*d does – G*d is the author of life, the presence we covet, and the savior we all need. The important thing is not what we call G*d, whether it is King of Glory, or King of Kings, or even Creator, Redeemer, or Sanctifier. What is important is how willing we are to name G*d as the ruler of our lives?

Pastor Dave