Christianity

Psalms 24Lift Up Your Heads, O Gates

Summary

Psalm 24 declares that the earth and everything in it belong to the LORD, who founded it upon the seas. It asks who may ascend God's holy hill and answers: those with clean hands and a pure heart. It closes with a dramatic call for the ancient gates to lift their heads so the King of glory may enter. Scholars think it accompanied a procession of the ark into Jerusalem. Traditionally ascribed to David.

Key verse

“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”

Psalms 24:1

Themes

God Owns the Earth
Purity of Heart
Procession
King of Glory

The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

Who is this 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 this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Judaism
Tehillim 24 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh
The Mishnah (Tamid 7:4) lists this as the psalm the Levites sang in the Temple on the first day of the week, and Jews still recite it as the Sunday psalm and when returning the Torah scroll to the ark.
Islam
Surah Al-Baqara (2): Unto Allah Belongeth All
Quran 2:284 opens Unto Allah (belongeth) whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, a declaration of God's ownership of creation close to Psalm 24:1.
Christianity
1 Corinthians 10: The Earth Is the Lord's
Paul quotes Psalm 24:1 in 1 Corinthians 10:26 to argue that food sold in markets may be eaten, because everything belongs to God.

Questions about Psalms 24

Who is the King of glory in Psalm 24?

The psalm answers itself: the LORD strong and mighty, the LORD of hosts. Christian tradition also applies the gates passage to Christ's ascension, and it is set to music in Handel's Messiah.

What does clean hands and a pure heart mean?

Psalm 24:4 requires right action (clean hands) and right intention (pure heart), along with honesty and refusing to swear deceitfully.