"A Psalm of David.
1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 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.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah"
Psalm 24
The whole point of the second part of the Psalm - this is our second lesson - is that it is a chorus. There is a great host in this procession leading to the gates of the city. The King of glory is not alone, His people are with Him. And they enter in with Him and in Him, when the gates swing open to welcome Him. The old hymn pictures a great ransomed host with Christ 'sweeping through the gates of the new Jerusalem, washed in the blood of the Lamb'. That is the picture we have here. And this is the significance and importance of the doctrine of the Ascension of Christ. He entered in for us, as our Representative and our Forerunner. And we enter in Him. The representative character of His identification with us stretches from the Incarnation right through to the Ascension. He ascended for us, not for Himself. It was as the glorified God-man, as Man victorious and triumphant, that He stood outside the gates and bade them open to Him, and it was for us that He opened them. They that are Christ's, washed in His blood and saved by His risen life, go in with Him and ascend to the hill of God, clothed in righteousness divine (cf Ephesians 2:5, 6). This is the only way up, and the only way in. One thinks of Paul's metaphor in 2 Corinthians 2:14 in this connection. Paul's picture is of the Roman triumphal march and procession, with the victorious general leading his captives chained to his chariot wheels. Christ is the mighty Victor who leads Paul as his glad and willing captive, and gives him a share in His victory. And so it is in the Psalm. This King of glory is not ascending the hill to the gates of the city alone, He is leading His captives with Him, and they go in with Him, and up with Him to the throne of God.