Amen. All right. Well, we're there in Psalm 24. And of course, on Wednesday nights, we've been making our way through the book of Psalms and we're studying the Psalms together. And tonight we find ourselves in Psalm 24. And Psalm 24 is a psalm that has a lot of well-known verses and some iconic verses in it. And we're going to walk through this. It's not long, 10 verses. And this psalm is divided into three different sections, or we can study it under three different headings. And maybe you can jot these down. We'll just jump right into it. And I'd like you to notice the first point or the first heading that we see in the psalm is the ownership of God and this is kind of what the psalm is known for the fact that it declares the ownership of God. We see that in verses one and two. You notice there's Psalm 24 and verse one. The Psalm is identified as a Psalm of David. And then it says this, the earth is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. You've probably heard that verse quoted or read many times if you've been around Christian people or in church and it's a powerful verse. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. What we find in this verse is outlined for us in detail what it is that God owns. We see what He owns because this verse and the next verse have to do with the ownership of God And it describes what He owns. And I want you to see it here. Because it's easy. It's so beautifully written. I think sometimes we could just read it and it's so beautiful just the way it sounds. That we don't give too much thought as to what it's actually saying. It is beautifully written. But I want you to notice that not only Is it poetic? Not only is it powerful, but it's actually telling us and it's detailing for us what it is that God owns, what He owns. And I want you to notice there's four things in this verse that are outlined for us with regards to what He owns. Number one, and maybe you want to jot these down in your notes as well, God owns the physical earth. The physical earth is God's. That's what the Bible means here when it says the earth is the Lord's. I want you to notice that this verse has two words that are similar. You use the word earth and then it uses the word world. It says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. And when we see this word earth here in this verse, in this context, what is being referred to is the physical planet. So the actual globe, the ball of earth, the ball of dirt that you and I live on, the Bible is telling us is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's. Now keep your place there in Psalm 24. That's our text for tonight. We're of course going to come back to it, but let's run some verses just real quickly. And if you would go with me to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 9. Let me just give you some cross-references and some proof texts for these thoughts. Exodus chapter 9 and verse 29. Of course, towards the beginning of the Bible, you've got the book of Genesis and then the book of Exodus. Exodus chapter number 9. And we begin with this idea, the earth is the Lord's. And again, we're talking about the physical planet, the ball of dirt that is Flying through space belongs to God. The physical earth is God's. The earth is the Lord's. In Exodus chapter 9 and verse 29, I want you to notice what Moses said. Of course, this is Moses speaking to Pharaoh. This is right in the midst of the 10 plagues that God is bringing upon Egypt as judgment. And of course, Pharaoh is trying to negotiate with Moses and trying to get him to stop. And I want you to notice what the Bible says in verse 29, Exodus 9, 29. And the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail. I want you to notice the last part of verse 29. Here's what Moses says to Pharaoh. And of course this is what's being quoted in Psalm 24 1. And what Moses is saying is this. Moses is saying God is bringing hail, God is bringing thunder, God is bringing of course these natural disasters to Egypt at this time. The river has been turned into blood, and there's been frogs, and all sorts of different things. And Moses is telling, he's negotiating with Pharaoh. Pharaoh's asking for these things to go away. And Moses says, when I walk out, I always like it that he says, as soon as I am gone out of the city. Moses was smart enough to realize that he needed to put some distance between him and Pharaoh, and make sure that Pharaoh didn't try to arrest him or something after he got what he wanted. He said, as soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the Lord, and the thunder shall cease. Now why is He saying this? He's saying God is the one that controls the weather. God is the one that controls the thunder. God is the one that controls this earth. It belongs to Him. He says the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail. And He says, and when I ask God to stop it, and He stops it, He's going to do that, that thou mayest know How that the earth is the Lord. So we see, again, that the physical earth is God's. God controls this earth. He controls the weather on this earth. He controls everything on this earth. Go back to the book of Psalms if you would. But this time go to Psalm 50. Psalm 50. While you turn there, let me read to you from Matthew chapter 8. This is of course the famous story of Jesus when He is with His disciples in the midst of a storm. And the Bible says, And of course, why did the winds and the sea obey Him, obey Jesus? Because, Psalm tells us, because Moses tells us, that the earth is the Lord's. I don't want to spend a lot of time on it, but I want you to notice that both in Exodus 9, 29 and in Psalm 24, 1, when it says the earth is the Lord's, we see again that Old Testament name of God, the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That's the I am that I am. That's Jehovah's God. What the Bible is telling us is that the earth is the Lord's. What Moses is telling us is that God is proving that the earth is the Lord's by his control of the earth, by his control of weather. The thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail, that thou mayest know that the earth is the Lord's. And then Jesus also controls these things and with his words he controls the winds and the sea. And his disciples said that the Bible says that the men marveled saying what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him. And what that shows us is proof that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He is the Lord. He is Jehovah God. He is the I am that I am. He controls the things on this earth. We're talking about the physical planet and the things on this earth because He's God. So we see the ownership of God. What does He own? He owns the earth. The physical earth, the globe, the planet, The ball of dirt that you and I live on belongs to God. Then I want you to notice secondly, now you're there in Psalm 50, but let me just read to you again from Psalm 24. It says this, The word fullness there is saying that everything that it's filled with, Everything that's what filled it with. Well the word that's used is thereof. We're told the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Now the word thereof means of the thing just mentioned. The of there is what thereof means and it's referring to the thing that was just mentioned. What was just mentioned? The earth. And again, we're talking about the physical planet. The earth is the Lord's. But then, the psalmist tells us, don't just think the earth is the Lord's. Also, the fullness thereof, everything that the earth is filled with, everything that the earth is full of, that also is the Lord's, belongs to the Lord, is owned by the Lord. So here's what we need to know. The physical earth is God's. The earth is the Lord's. And the things that fill the earth, those are God's as well. And, the Bible says, the fullness thereof. Now there in Psalm 50, we see a psalm that reiterates this as well. Look at verse 10. Psalm 50 and verse 10. The Bible says, This is God speaking. Every beast, that's an animal, of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. So God says, look, every beast in the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills is mine, is the idea, verse 11. He says, I know all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field. Notice these words, are mine. This is God speaking and He's telling us that not only is the earth His, not only is the sky His, not only is the continents and the oceans and the rivers and all those things belong to Him, but also what that earth is filled with also belongs to Him. Every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. Look at verse 12, Psalm 50 verse 12. If I were hungry, I love this. Because God is kind of, and I mean this in a reverent way, but God kind of has an attitude with us here. He says, If I were hungry, I would not tell thee. For the world is mine, notice the words, and the fullness thereof. God says, I don't need you. And I don't need anything from you. He says the earth is mine, the world is mine and not just that but all the fullness thereof. Everything that it's filled with. There when it says and the cattle upon a thousand hills. There's a song that says he owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the gold in every mine. And this ought to be of comfort to you and it should be of encouragement to you. If you ever find yourself praying and we should pray about everything. The Bible says that we should pray about all things. But oftentimes the things that we pray about, a common thing that we pray about is financial problems and financial situations when we need God to maybe step in. This should be of comfort for you when you're praying about financial problems, when you can pray to God. I've literally prayed to God and said, you own the cattle upon a thousand hills, God. You can take care of this bill. You can take care of this problem. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. So we see what he owns. What does he own? He owns the physical earth. It's God's. He owns the things that fill the earth. They belong to God. Then I want you to notice the third thing. Go back to Psalm 24. Look at verse 1. Psalm 24 verse 1. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. We've talked about that. Here's number 3. The world. the world and they that dwell therein. Now, when the Bible says here the world in this verse, in this verse, in this context, there is a differentiation between the earth and the world and the words are being used differently. In this context, the earth refers to, as I've already said, the physical planet itself. The world here signifies the systems and the social structures that exist on earth. See, what God is telling us is He's telling us, I own the real estate and I own the renters. I own the actual earth and I own the animals, I own the minerals, I own the resources, and not just that, but I'm in charge and I'm in control of the world. Not just the earth, but the world, the actual social structures, the government systems. He says that belongs to me as well. Now let me just give you, I've preached on that in the past, and I'm not gonna take a lot of time with that, but let me just give you a cross-reference for that. Go with me, if you would, to the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter number four. Towards the end of the Old Testament, of course, you're there in Psalms, you're gonna go past Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel. Daniel chapter four in verse 32, This is God speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, who at the time is the most powerful man on earth. He's the king of Babylon. And this is the nation that is controlling, the universal nation that's controlling the world pretty much. And here's what God says to him in Daniel 4.32. And they shall drive thee from men. This is God speaking to Nebuchadnezzar. And God is telling Nebuchadnezzar, I'm going to make you go crazy. And you know, if you don't think God does these things, look at Joe Biden. I mean, this is pretty much his life verse. Because Joe Biden is kind of Nebuchadnezzar right now. He's in charge of the greatest, most powerful nation on Earth. He says, Now why is God doing this? He's doing this because we're not going to take the time to develop it. But Nebuchadnezzar is really arrogant, really prideful about his successes, and his government, and his wealth, and his kingdom. And God says, they're going to drive you. He said, Notice these words. What Nebuchadnezzar did not understand was this. The reason that he was in the position he was is because God had put him there. God had allowed him there. And what we learn is this. God does not just own the earth. He owns the social systems. the government structures, the social structures that exist on earth. And he tells Nebuchadnezzar, I'm going to put you in time out, I'm going to let you go insane for a little while, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The Bible says that promotion comes from the north. The Bible says that God puts some people up and he brings some people down. He is the one that is in charge. So there's the political and social systems of the world and they are owned by God. Now let me just say this, the Bible does teach that the devil is the god of this world, the lowercase g god of this world, and that he has control over this world at this time, the rulers and the darkness of this world. But even that is only because God allows it. because God has permitted him to have work and ministry on the earth at this time. Now keep your place right there in Daniel 4. We're gonna come right back to it, or don't even leave it, but let me read to you the fourth thing that's outlined in this verse about what God owns in verse 1. The earth is the Lord's, that's the globe, the planet, the fullness thereof, everything it's filled with. The world, that's the social structure, the societal structures, the government structures, God owns that. And, then he says this, they that dwell therein. That's us. Every human being that lives on earth, God owns. Those who live on earth belong to God. And Daniel highlights this as well. Now in verse 32, we read these words. That shows that God has control over the government social structures of this world. But look at verse 35. Daniel 4, 35. This is after Nebuchadnezzar gets his mind back and gets right with God. Daniel 4, 35, he says this. And all the inhabitants of the earth That's they that dwell therein. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand. Look, you ought to really consider what you're reading here. These are beautiful words about our God. None can stay his hand. or say unto him, what doest thou? The idea is this, that if someone was reaching out to do something that you did not want them to do, they were reaching out to grab something or take something that you did not want them to, that you would then take your hand and try to hold their hand back. And that's what you and I might do as human beings. But the Bible says that about God, that none can stay his hand. Or say unto him, What doest thou? You might question someone and say, why are you doing that? But you can't question God. The potter cannot say to the creator, what doest thou? And the idea is this, that all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can say his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? So what do we learn? That God owns everything. God owns the earth you live on. God owns all the resources on this earth. He owns the governments and the political structures that we live under. And He lives. He owns all the citizens of every nation, every human being. He owns it all. That's what this one verse tells us. And then in verse 2, if you can make your way back to Psalm 24. In verse 1, we're told what He owns. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. And then in verse 2 we're told why he owns it. So you say, I want to see the deed. I want to see why is it that God owns me? Why is it that God owns us? Here's why. For he hath founded it upon the seas. He's founded what? The earth. For he hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. Why does God own everything? Real simple answer. Because he created it. Because he's the creator, he owns everything. Now let me just give you a cross-reference for this wording of founding it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. In Psalm 136, in verse 6, the Bible says this, Psalm 136, in verse 6, This is a theme that's brought up throughout scripture. Psalm 136 says, So we see that He is the owner thereof. Go back to Psalm 24. Psalm 24. So we see the ownership of God, verses 1 and 2. What does He own? Everything. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. Why does He own it? Because He founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods, because He is the Creator, therefore He owns everything. We see the ownership of God. Then, in verses 3 through 6, we see the companionship of God. Now here's what's interesting about this psalm. is that what the Bible is about to tell us is this, that the God who created everything, who created you, and who created me, also desires to have a relationship with us. He desires to walk with us. He desires to have companionship with us. I want you to notice that for the rest of the psalm there's a series of questions asked. And I'll highlight them for you as we go. But we find the first question here in verse 3, and the question is this. And of course, with scripture there's often multiple applications. There's a primary application, a secondary application, and an argument could be made that this is Messianic and it's referring to the Lord Jesus Christ and I wouldn't argue that but I just want to highlight for you the practical application. There's a practical application here about those who can ascend into the hill of the Lord. Of course when David is writing this and he says who shall stand in his holy place, the holy place would be a reference to the tabernacle or to the temple to the Holy, of course, if you remember, the tabernacle was divided into two rooms. There's a bigger room that is called the Holy Place, and then there's a smaller room where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, which is called the Holy of Holies, or the Holiest Place, and it's where they had the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the presence of God. The idea is that someone was going to go up to the tabernacle, go up to the temple, and dwell with God, have companionship with God. And the question is this, who? Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Because we of course know that the tabernacle was placed and the temple was built upon Mount Moriah. And it was, excuse me, not Mount Moriah, but on Mount Zion. And it was built on this hill. Now in verses 4 and 5, he explains to us and he answers the question of who. And we're going to come back to that in a minute. But I want you to notice in verse 6, he explains, what does that mean? When he says, who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place, what does he mean by that? And what he means by that is found in verse 6. This is the generation of them, notice these words, that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob, Selah. And what we're being told here is this, that God created Everything. God created all of us. God created the earth. He created the animals. He created you and I. He even instituted government. He owns it all. It all belongs to Him. Here's what the interesting thing about this is, that His creation, most of His creation, does not seek Him. We're talking about human beings now. They don't seek the Lord. They have all gone out of the way. They are not looking for Him. They are not desiring Him. And when the question is asked, who shall ascend into the holy hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? The answer is them that seek Him that seek Thy face. The word seek means to search after. And it's really interesting and a little bit of a play on words, but it's interesting because if you consider what the Bible teaches about these things, the Bible teaches this, that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. That we were lost and that He came to seek us. He came to bring us salvation. He sought us. But do you understand that once He sought us and we were found, now there is an expectation that we would seek Him. That we would search for Him. That we would try to find Him. And what the Bible is telling us is this, those who seek God find Him. Look, the truth is this, that you can have as close a relationship to God and as close a walk to God as anyone else. As any character in the Bible, Abraham, Moses, Paul, You have access to the God of the universe. The Creator Lord. The Lord who owns everything. I mean, people often talk about having friends in high places. And that'd be nice to have friends in high places. And if you just had some friends that had some money, or had some friends that had some connections, or had some friends that could maybe pull some strings and do you some favors, wouldn't that be great? Hey, you've got the friend in the highest place of all! You've got access to the God who owns the earth, and the fullness thereof, the world, and all they that dwell therein. And He says, if you seek Me, you'll find Me. If you search for Me, I will be found. Who shall ascend into the holy hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? Them that seek Him. God says, I want to fellowship with you. I want you to ascend to my presence. I want you to stand in my presence. I want to walk with you and talk with you. And I understand that what I'm saying to you might just sound like preacher talk or sermon talk. It's just sermon talk. But I'm telling you, the Bible is telling you and the Bible is telling me that the God of the universe desires to spend time with you. And he says, I sought you, but now I want you to seek me. So there's a question. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? What that means is found in verse 6. Them that seek him, that seek thy face. But the answer to the question, the who, is found in verses 4 and 5. Let's look at it real quickly. Here's the answer. He doesn't tell us a name. He gives us characteristics. Because this can apply to anybody. But it has to apply to people who want to do certain things. I want you to notice there's three things here in this verse. Number one. He highlights for us what they do. The people who are going to ascend up to the Holy Hill, the people who are going to stand before the Lord, they do certain things. They seek the Lord. But what does that look like? What does that mean? What does it mean to seek the Lord? Well here's what they do, verse 4, Psalm 24, verse 4. He that hath clean hands, I want you to see how consistent this is in scripture. He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. There's two things being highlighted here. The clean hands represent the exterior. We actually talked about this on Sunday morning. The exterior. But the pure heart represents the interior. And you know what God wants is someone who's clean and pure from the inside out. You say, well what if I have clean hands, but I don't have a pure heart? Well that's where you end up with what we talked about on Sunday, being this holier-than-thou Pharisee. I mean literally that's what the Pharisees were. Jesus said about the Pharisees that they're whited sepulchres. You ever say what a sepulchre is? It's where you keep corpses. And He says, you're whited sepulchers. He said, on the outside, you're beautiful and decorated, you're painted, you're beautiful on the inside. On the outside and the inside, you're full of dead men's bones. That's what it means to be a Pharisee. God says, if you want to come close to Me, yes, you have to have clean hands, no doubt about it. He that hath clean hands, exterior, but don't forget about the interior and a pure heart. Your interior has to be pure. Now we've seen this verse a lot recently, and I don't mean to keep bringing you to this verse, but I think God does because He keeps bringing us to this verse. But I want you to see how this correlates to James chapter 4 and verse 8. If you would, just real quickly, James chapter 4 and verse 8. If you start at Revelation and head backwards, you got Jude, 3rd, 2nd and 1st John, 2nd and 1st Peter, James. James chapter 4 and verse 8. And remember the context. The context of Psalm 24 is verse 3, What does that mean? This is the generation of them that seek Him and seek thy face. How do we get there? You need to have clean hands and a pure heart. James 4.8, draw nigh to God. That's the who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord or who shall stand in His holy place. Draw an eye to God. That's seek after God. And when you seek after God, He will draw an eye to you. But when you do that, look at it, you must cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. So notice there's this exterior cleansing and also this interior cleansing. Look, God's all for the exterior being clean. The Bible says that when men pray, It talks about lifting up holy hands. And God is interested with the things we do with our hands and the things we do in the exterior. He wants us to make sure, look, you can't go to God, you can't ascend up to the holy hill of God when your hands were just stealing something. Or fornicating, or holding alcohol, or holding drugs. But if you think, well, I'll just get my hands clean and then that'll solve the problem. No, it must come from a pure heart. See, when your heart is right, you don't need a lot of lists. This is what the Bible says. The Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance. And then he says this, against such there is no law. And when you and I are filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit actually is producing its fruit in us, then you don't need somebody to tell you, hey, don't go there. Don't do that. Don't look at that. Don't drink that. Don't act that way. You don't need somebody to tell you, forgive, love, be kind. You don't need, you don't need all these rules if the Holy Spirit of God is controlling you from the inside out. So we see that there's an exterior cleansing, and there ought to be an exterior cleansing, of the hands. And it comes from a pure heart. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners. Purify your hearts, ye double-minded. In Matthew 5 and verse 8, you don't have to turn there, but Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, He said these words, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. See, I don't feel like God's close to me. I don't feel like I've ever experienced God or seen God and you're not going to see God physically. We're not talking about that. But the Bible says when you are pure in heart, you'll get to see God. You'll get to see Him work in your life. So we see what they do. What do they do? Go back to Psalm 24 if you would. They have clean hands and a pure heart. Then I want you to notice what they don't do. We find that in the last part of verse 4. What they do, He has clean hands and a pure heart. Number one, exterior, which flows out of. Number two, interior. Then we're told this. Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity? You know what the people who are going to ascend up to the Holy Hill, who are going to stand before God, who are going to seek God, who are going to seek God, you know what they do? What they do is they have clean hands and a pure heart. But you know what they don't do is they do not allow themselves to be lifted up. His soul lifted up unto vanity. What is that talking about? It's talking about pride. And what it's telling us is this. Here's what they don't do. They don't allow themselves to get a wrong view of themselves. This person has the right view of themselves. They're not lifted up with pride. Because look, all of our problems pretty much come from pride. I mean, even Adam and Eve would not have been tempted by a serpent in the garden if that serpent hadn't said, I shall ascend into heaven, I shall be like the Most High. Pride is what has brought all conflict, and all problems, and all issues. And what this person does, look, here's what the Bible is telling you. If you want to get close to God, and if I want to get close to God, we need to practice, on purpose, humility. We cannot allow ourselves to get lifted up. We cannot allow our hearts and our souls to be lifted up unto vanity. We must have a proper view of ourselves. You say, how do I get a proper view of myself? Well go back to verse number one. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He belongs, and the inhabitants, the world and the inhabitants thereof, get a proper view. You are a possession. You belong to God. So don't get lifted up in your soul to vanity. So notice they have the right view of self, but number two, they have the right view of others. Who hath not lifted up his soul into vanity, nor, look at these words, sworn deceitfully. What does that mean? It means they treat people right. It means that they don't do people wrong. It means that they don't swear deceitfully. They don't try to get away with things. They don't try to hurt people. They don't try to get ahead. So what do they do? They have clean hands exterior, a pure heart interior, they do not allow themselves to be lifted up, proper view of themselves, and they do not swear deceitfully proper treatment of others. Look, the Bible's not that complicated. These are all just different ways of saying the same thing, but over and over and over the Bible, God says the same things. Clean your hands, purify your heart, humble yourself and treat people right. It's really not that complicated. We like to make it complicated. It's not that complicated. Then I want you to notice what they get. We saw what they do. We saw what they don't do. But then in verse 5 we're told, here's what they get. He. Who. This person. This person who's going to ascend up to the holy hill, who's going to stand before the holy God, who's going to clean his hands and purify his heart, who's going to have the proper view of self and not be lifted up, who's going to treat people properly, this person, the Bible says in verse 5, he shall receive the blessings from the Lord. He got his friend in high places. He shall receive the blessings from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Look, I don't know about you, but I'd sure like to keep the God who owns everything happy and have the God who owns everything want to help me. He shall receive blessings from the Lord. I want blessings from God. We'll follow the steps. He that hath cleaned hands, and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Draw nigh to God, and he'll draw nigh to you. So we see, number one, the ownership of God. We saw that in verses 1 and 2. And then we see the companionship of God. You say, I want to be friends with God. Great! Verses 3 to 6, it outlines it for you. Then I want you to notice in verses 7 and 10, we see the kingship of God. This is again where it gets, maybe it's easy to draw the to not focus on what's being said here, because just the beauty of the language. Verse six says this is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face. O Jacob, see love. We've talked about that. Look at verse seven. Then the Bible says this. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Now, it's interesting, because here's the thing about gates. They don't have heads. Gates don't have heads to lift up. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors. Doors do not have heads to lift up. Do you understand? The idea is lift up, like pay attention. They're saying look up. Pay attention. But who's he talking to? Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors. These are objects that are being personified. We're being told that the gates should look up. Because we're about to be told that someone's coming. And when this person comes, even the gates, even the doors should wake up and pay attention. Now you might say, well this is poetic, and I do believe it's poetic. I do think it's a personification. And I don't know that it's literal, but let me just say this. What we're going to see here is a description of the King coming in. Look at it again, verse 7. Now you might say, well this is just poetic, and this is not literal, and I would agree with you. I think it is poetic, but let me just go ahead and say this. When the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of Kings, who is the Lord of Lords, entered into Jerusalem, and they began to praise Him, and they said, Hosanna, Hosanna, and they praised His name as He came in. Remember the Pharisees got all bent out of shape, and they said, forbid them, stop them from saying these things. And Jesus said, if I were to stop them, the rocks themselves would cry out. The rocks would open their mouths and begin to speak and say, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Here we're being told that the gates should lift up their heads, that the everlasting doors. Why? Because when the king comes, he's not just coming for you and I. Praise God he's coming for you and I, but he owns the whole earth. He owns the whole world. He owns all the real estate and all the buildings and all the government. And listen, when He comes, yes, you and I, like we're told in the Gospels, need to lift up our heads for our redemption draweth nigh. But every animal will be looking up as well. And even the doors, and even the gates, and even the rocks will be excited. Why? Because the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. It all belongs to Him. The sad thing is that I think he says the gates and the doors should get excited because there might not be that many people who are excited. In fact, Jesus asked the question, he said, when the Son of Man returns to the earth, he wondered if there would be any faith. So we see here that the King is coming. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Now let me just give you this, and you can write this down for your notes if you'd like. This psalm, Psalm 24, is actually the third part of a trilogy of sorts. In fact, there's been three psalms in a row that have all been characteristics of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Psalm 22? We were in Psalm 22 on Christmas Day. Christmas happened to fall on a Wednesday this year, and we're in Psalm 22. Do you remember what Psalm 22 was all about? It was all a descriptive prophecy of the crucifixion of Christ. Remember that? Psalm 22 highlights the cross. And then of course you have Psalm 23. What is Psalm 23 all about? The Lord is my shepherd. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. In Psalm 23, if you want to give it an alliterated title, Psalm 22 deals with the cross. Psalm 23 deals with the crook. And a crook, of course, is like a staff or a cane for a shepherd. If you can envision those canes that had like the hook on the top. Psalm 22 describes the crook, the cross. Psalm 23 describes the crook, the shepherd. Psalm 24 describes the crown. These are all characteristics of Jesus. He is coming. He came for a cross. He shepherds us now with a crook. But you know, when he comes back, he's coming back with a crown. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. So we see that the King is coming, but then I want you to notice verse 8, we see that the King is the Lord. Because remember, there's a series of questions, and they're being asked here. Verse 8, here's the next question. Who is the King of Glory? So they're saying, hey, the King is coming. The King of Glory is coming. Oh ye gates, lift up your heads. Oh ye gates, be ye lifted up, ye everlasting door, and the King of Glory shall come in. And then the question is asked, well, who is the King of Glory? And then the answer is given. Look at these beautiful words. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. Look, He came as a lamb. He's coming back as a lion. Who is the King of Glory? They're going to say, you're not going to be able to miss Him. It's the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, Jehovah God, the great I am that I am, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle, lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts. The word host means army. He is the King of Glory, Selah. And if you remember Daniel, you don't have to turn back there, but let me just read it for you. In Daniel chapter 4 and verse 35, it said this, So heaven is described as an army. He is the Lord of hosts. He doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. So when he comes back, he's coming back as a great king, as a great general, as a great warrior king. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord Strong and Mighty. The Lord Mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory. See you later. Let me just give you a couple of verses real quickly just for application and we'll finish up. But if you would, go with me to the Old Testament book of 1 John, 1 John chapter 3. Let me give you just a little bit of application. We've seen God's ownership and we've seen God's kingship. And we've seen the fact that this owner king is coming back. And when you and I understand, when we properly understand the ownership of God and the kingship of God. And look, what I like about this psalm is that it really highlights how God owns you. How does he own you in so many ways? He owns you just because you're his creation. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. But then he also owns you because he's your king. Because when you got saved, you were brought into the kingdom of God. Remember, the kingdom of God is in you. And you are His subject. You are His citizen. So when we understand God's ownership through creation, and God's kingship, which could be creation as well, you could apply it there, but I think the application here is through salvation. And when you understand that He's coming back, then it helps us with our stewardship. His ownership, our stewardship. His kingship, our accountability. He said, what do you mean? Well, 1 John 3, look at verse 2. 1 John 3, 2. Lift up your heads, ye gates. Doors, look up. The King is coming. When He shall appear. You see, we don't know. We know that we're the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. Why? Because this mortal will put on immortality. This corruption will put on incorruption. We'll be transformed and changed in the twinkling of an eye. When He shall appear, we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is. Isn't that beautiful? Now look at verse 3. And every man that hath this hope, what hope? The hope that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Every man that hath this hope in him, look at these words, purifies himself, even as he is pure. See a proper understanding of the ownership and the kingship of God, and that Jesus is the owner and the king of everything, including you and me, and he's coming back, it should create in us this idea of stewardship. That when he comes back, he's going to want to know what I did with my life. And every man that had this hope in him purified himself, even as he is pure. Let me just read to you from Matthew 24, and if you'd like to go there, you can just go there quickly. First book in the New Testament, Matthew 24. I'll just read this for you, and we'll finish up. Here's the idea. God owns everything, and he's coming back one day, and he's gonna judge you. And he's gonna judge me. And if we're mindful of that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, and every man that hath this hope in him purify themself, even as he is pure. If you and I are mindful of that, Then we're going to seek Him, we're going to clean our hands, we're going to purify our hearts, we're not going to allow ourselves to get lifted up with pride, we're going to treat people right, we're going to do all those things with the understanding that one day the King is coming and He's going to hold us accountable. Matthew 24 verse 42, just another passage that kind of highlights the same thing. Matthew 24 verse 42, Jesus said this, watch therefore. For you know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore, here's what Jesus says, The King is coming. And then, excuse me, verse 45. And the idea is this, God owns everything and he's coming back. So we need to be faithful and wise servants. We need to make sure that when he comes, that the Lord, when he cometh, shall find you and I so doing. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. And we thank you for the psalm and just the beauty in it, the power in it. It's beautiful poetry, of course. But also, Lord, help us to look at the things that it's actually saying and help us to remember the ownership of God, the companionship of God, The kingship of God and the stewardship of man, we're going to be held accountable. Lord, help us to remember these things. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, we're going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. Just want to give you a couple of reminders.