May 6, 2023 — Psalm 24 

“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it; for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully. They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation. Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. 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 

“The 24th psalm is a prophecy of the coming worldwide kingdom of Christ. It calls on the “doors” of the world, that is, the kings and princes, to make way for the kingdom of Christ. They and those who for the most part rage against Him (Psalm 2) ask, “Who is this King of glory?” as if they were to say, “This beggar! Yes, this heretic! This criminal! Shall he be a king and shall we yield and submit to him? We shall not!” In this way the psalm shows that God’s Word will certainly be condemned and persecuted.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther) 

To serve our Lord Jesus, to serve the King of Glory, we face a spiritual battle every day. Paul says we are in a spiritual battle—but G-d provides our armor and our battle instruments. And not only the armor, but our Lord provides the strength to endure. So how do we endure? Well, I would say that the beginning of our spiritual battle and will to survive is through prayer.

It is so interesting to me how similar we are to our Christian brothers and sisters from so many years ago. Yes, our technology has taken us to so much understanding of the world and the universe that our ancient brothers and sisters would just not understand. And yet, we still need the strength of the Lord and the armor of faith to help us get through each and every day. Why? Because we are in a battle between G-d and the Devil. Satan is so prevalent in our world, and so many people do not realize the power of evil that permeates our society. And, we could take the easy way out saying that Satan is not real. Or we could take a stand and fight in the army of Jesus. Satan will make his side appear to be winning and he will make it look glamorous. But through the resurrection of Jesus, we are assured that G-d has already won the battle. This means that no matter what we face and how dark our days may be, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 

Prayer:

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child, 

Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled, 

A quiet chamber set apart 

For You to dwell within my heart.  

Amen. 

Pastor Dave