You know, I love to read the
book of Psalms, and I encourage you to read the book of Psalms. I think it's the best material
for personal devotion and times of meditation, instruction, the
book of Psalms. And I'm going to preach today
from the book of Psalms. I like to preach from the book
of Psalms. You know, in Luke 24, when our Lord was talking
to the two disciples, on the road to Emmaus, this is what
he said to them. He said, These are the words
which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses,
in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. The things written
in the law of Moses, in the prophets, and in the Psalms are concerning
me. And the reason I love to read
the book of Psalms and study the book of Psalms and preach
from the book of Psalms is because they reveal the person and work
of our Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. The old timers, the old
writers used to call these the Messianic Psalms. And truly they
are. David speaks from his own heart. through the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit, but he also speaks the words of the Son of David,
our Redeemer. And here in the book of Psalms,
I have selected Psalm 24. I wish you'd take your Bibles
and open to Psalm 24. Now, this Psalm is not as familiar
as some of the other Psalms, and I'll tell you, I think, one
reason why it's not so familiar and so well-known. is because
it's right next to the most familiar Psalm of all. I'm preaching this
morning from Psalm 24, but it's right next to Psalm 23. And everybody,
when they open the Bible in that particular area, they'll read
Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. You see that
frequently. You read it often. You hear it
preached quite a bit. Well, right next to it is Psalm
24, and that's where we're going to be today, Psalm 24. Now, someone said this, Psalm
22 is the psalm of the cross. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? And all the way through Psalm
22, we have the scene at Calvary prophesied, dealt with at Calvary,
the psalm of the cross, Psalm 22. Psalm 23 is the Psalm of
comfort. The Lord Jesus Christ purchased
redemption and comfort for His people. Because of the cross,
the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not
want for rest or peace or restoration or eternal life. It's all in
my shepherd who died on the cross for His sheep. I lay down my
life for the sheep. Psalm 24, now Psalm 23 is the
Psalm 22 is the Psalm of the Cross. Psalm 23 is the Psalm
of Comfort. And Psalm 24 is the Psalm of
the Crown. The Cross, the Comfort, and the
Glory, the Crown. And we'll call this message today,
The King of Glory. The King of Glory. Now you open
your Bible there to Psalm 24. And let's begin with verse one.
I'll try to go all the way through this psalm. There's just a few
verses, seven verses, seven, eight verses. And I'll go through
all of it, the Lord willing. All right, verse one says this,
the earth is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's. Now,
men divide the earth into nations and they make a flag. They name
their countries, their nations. They elect rulers. They get armies
and they fight over the boundaries. They say, this is our country.
That's your country. Well, let me tell you this. This
is the Lord's country. That's what this psalm says.
It says, the earth is the Lord's. It's not yours. It's His. And
men also divide their countries into states, and their states
into cities, and their cities into communities, and their communities
into lots and ranches and farms and all of these things. And
they say, they cry, this land is my land. No, it's the Lord's
land. That's what we're reading here.
The earth is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's. Over
in the book of Job, the Lord said this in Job 41 when He was
speaking to Job. He said, Who hath first given
to me that I should repay him? What do I owe you? Who hath ever
first given to me that I owe him anything, that I should repay
him? Whatever is under the whole heaven
is mine, saith the Lord." That's what David is saying in this
psalm, the earth is the Lord's. And my friends, we're but tenants.
We're living on God's earth. We're breathing God's air. We're
eating God's food. We're wearing God's clothes made
from God's wool and cotton. We're subjects. We're subject
to eviction at any time. We're subject to leave here this
earth, that is the Lord's, and return to the earth from which
we came. Isn't that correct? So the earth
is the Lord's. Let that be established first.
The earth is the Lord's. Now watch the next line, verse
1. Not only the earth is the Lord's, but the fullness thereof. Now listen carefully to me. The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof." Have you thought about
this? God made the earth full before He ever made man, before
Adam was ever created, before Adam ever stepped on this earth. It was ready for habitation.
God made the earth. He made everything absolutely
full, full, complete, ready for habitation. And then He put man
on this earth. He not only made the earth full
and fit for habitation, but He keeps it full. The earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof. Now listen to me. The seas and
the rivers and the lakes remain full of water. No matter how
much we drink, no matter how much water we use, no matter
how much water evaporates, the seas and the lakes and the rivers
stay full. the fullness thereof. The earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof is His. We can't produce
water or make water. God keeps it full. Listen to
this, the waters remain full of fish despite all that are
caught, eaten and die. Millions every day, millions
of fish are caught every day or die. And yet The waters remain
full for all these millenniums. The air is full of oxygen, notwithstanding
the billions of lungs that breathe this air and contaminate it.
Billions of lungs of people and animals and insects breathe this
air, this oxygen, and yet all these thousands of years, it's
remained full. The soil is full of life. Have
you thought about the trillions and trillions and trillions of
trees and plants and flowers and vegetables that have grown
from the soil and taken their nourishment and their life and
their power to produce out of the soil and yet the soil stays
full? We don't have anything to do
with that. The earth is full of minerals. We're using coal,
we're using oil, we're using gas, we're using all these things
that have for all these centuries and yet it remains full. The
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. It's so vast my mind
can't even comprehend it. But I do know this, by Him, Paul
said, Colossians 1, by Him were all things created and by Him
all things are held together. and in him all things consist. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof." Now listen. I'm not through with that verse.
"...and they that dwell therein." They that dwell therein. The
old Israelites used to have a saying, the holy land is the Lord's,
and Israel is His only people. How foolish. Did you hear that? That was an old saying of the
Israelites. The holy land is the Lord's and
Israel is only people. Oh, no. The earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof and all they that dwell therein,
nations, tribes, kindreds, tongues unto heaven. The Gentiles, we're
just as bad. We organize a church. We bring
together a denomination, association. We build some buildings. We call
them God's houses. This is God's house. And I say
we're God's people. How foolish. The earth is the
Lord's. And the fullness I love, the
world and they that dwell therein, they're His, the Lord's. Capital
L-O-R-D. You see that word? That's Jehovah.
That's God my Savior. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's His. The world is His, the fullness
thereof, and every living person therein belongs to Him. First
of all, it's His by creation. Now listen, I'm talking about
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's His. The earth is the Lord's.
In John 1, verse 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word,
that's Christ. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God, and all things were made by Him. Without Him
was not anything made that was made. It's His by creation. Secondly, it's His by decree.
He prayed in John 17. He said, Father, glorify Thy
Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee. Thou hast given me power
over all flesh. authority, power, dominion over
all flesh, that I should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given me. He has total dominion over all
flesh, Jesus Christ the Lord." That's what Scripture said. He
said to His disciples in Matthew 28 when He sent them out to preach,
He said, You go into all the world and preach the gospel.
because all authority, dominion, is given unto me in heaven and
earth. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof, the world, and all they that dwell therein. It's His by creation. It's His
by decree. It's His by death. It says in
Romans chapter 14, verse 9, He died that He might be Lord, King,
Lord of the dead and the living. That's right. He's King of kings
and Lord of lords of the dead and the living. Everybody's under
His dominion. It's His by administration. In
Isaiah 9, 6, when the prophet told about the birth of the Son
of God, he said this, unto us a child is born, unto us a son
is given. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting
Father. and the government and the administration
shall be upon his shoulders. He is the Lord. He has a name
written, King of kings and Lord of lords. That's right. Every
creature is his. Now, hear me. The earth is the
Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell
therein, they're either his sons and daughters or His servants,
but they're His. They're either His sheep or His
goats, but they're His. They're either His vessels of
mercy, and in a great house, they're vessels of mercy and
vessels of wrath, but they're either His vessels of wrath or
His vessels of mercy, but they're His. He said to Pharaoh, and
this is quoted not only in the Old Testament but in the New,
For this same purpose I raised you up, that I might show my
power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth." Pharaoh belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
right. The earth is the Lord's, the
fullness thereof, the world, and all they that dwell therein.
Look at verse 2. Now here's the chief reason that
the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. and they that
dwell therein, all they that dwell therein." It says in verse
2, because He founded it. He founded it upon the seas. He established it upon the floods. All things are His because He
made them. He founded them. He established
them. They came from Him, from His
mind and purpose and from His Word and hand. They're His. Revelation
4 says this, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, honor,
and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure. Thou hast created all things,
and for Thy pleasure they are and were created. They were created
for Him. Did you hear that? God created
the earth. It's His. God created it and
founded it upon the seas. There's water above it and beneath
it, and water all about it, and itself is two-thirds water. He
founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods,
water above and water beneath. And one day, He destroyed this
earth by water, but He said, never again. And as a token and
as a sign, that he would never destroy the world by water again,
he put a rainbow in the sky. That's right, he said, look at
the bow in the sky and remember that the world will never again
be destroyed by water. Thou, O Lord, art worthy to receive
glory, honor, power, praise, thanksgiving, because thou hast
created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. All right, look at verse 3. Now
you see why I love the Psalms? Why we should read the Psalms?
They're all like this. In verse 3, David, you see, was
a man after God's own heart and had a ready pen, a ready pen
to write of the glory of His Lord, the majesty and grace of
His God. Verse 3, look at it carefully.
David, already now having established the glory of the Lord and the
power and the honor and the majesty and ownership of God, He asked
a question. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein, for
He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods. Then the question, who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall ascend into the hill
of this great God of honor, glory, and majesty? The hill of the
Lord is His throne. The hill of the Lord is his dwelling
place, his heaven. He said, I've set my king on
my holy hill. Isaiah 6 said, I saw the Lord
high and lifted up on the holy hill of Zion. Who shall ascend
into the holy hill? Second question, who shall stand
in such a holy place? One thing to ascend and be annihilated
It's one thing to ascend and be cast out. It's another thing
to ascend and stand. David said, Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord and stand there, dwell there, abide
there? Oh, that's different. Who can
dwell in the secret place of the Most High God under the shadow
of the Almighty? Who? The question is answered
in verse 4. The answer comes. and describes
that one who can stand, who can ascend and dwell and abide in
that holy place. The answer comes, he that hath
clean hands and a pure heart, who has never lifted up his soul
to vanity, who's never sworn deceitfully. That's not us. That's not any creature on this
earth. That's not any son of man or
daughter of man. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the Holy One of Israel. That's God's Savior, God's Son. He that hath clean hands, never
sinned, knew no sin, had no sin, did no sin. Clean hands, pure
heart. He had a pure heart, pure in
thought, pure in love, pure in motive, pure indeed. So that
the Father said, this is my beloved Son, whom I'm well pleased. never lifted up his soul to vanity.
He's the only person who truly said, not my will, but thy will
be done. There was no vanity, no covetousness,
no dissatisfaction, no ingratitude anywhere in him, of him, about
him. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in that holy
place? He that hath clean hands, a perfectly
pure heart, who never, never, never, ever, ever had a thought
of covetousness or dissatisfaction. He said, Lo, I come in the volume
of the book. It's written of me. I come to
do thy will, O God. Christ, listen to the next line,
who has never sworn deceitfully, never sworn deceitfully, never
exaggerated, perfect truth, of Him it's written, He is the truth.
He not only spoke the truth, my friends, He is the truth.
This is Christ. No one else in human form ever
could lay claim to any of those things, much less all of them,
but this can be said of Him. And listen, wait a minute, hold
on. It can be said of all believers who are in Him for what He is
and what He has and what He does. and where He is is ours. He is
our righteousness. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made in Him the righteousness of Almighty
God. He's called the Lord our righteousness,
Jeremiah 23. We're called by the same name
in Jeremiah 33. the Lord our righteousness. And John said, My little children,
I write unto you that you sin not. But that's a tall order,
isn't it? Too tall for any of us. But if
any man sin, we have an advocate who is with the Father, and that's
Jesus Christ the righteous. And He was made of a woman and
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law.
And He took from us that curse and made us in God's sight righteous. so that we can ascend in Him
into the hill of the Lord, and we can abide there. For blessed
is that man who abides in the presence of the Lord, dwells
in His presence. Christ Jesus, born of woman,
Christ Jesus, made under the law, Christ Jesus, perfect obedience,
Christ Jesus, who died under the curse and judgment of sin,
Christ Jesus arose from the grave. Christ Jesus received up into
glory. He ascended into the hill of
the Lord. He dwells within the veil, our forerunner. He ascended
to the holy place, and He abides there, and us in Him. Blessed is that man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts. That's Christ. And that's every
believer in Christ. Blessed is the man, O Lord, whom
Thou choosest and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may
dwell in Thy courts. Dwell there. Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? Who shall dwell in His holy place? Clean hands, pure heart, never
lifted up his soul to vanity, never sworn deceitful. And my
friends, that is not mine or yours by nature, by religion,
by choice, by practice, by thought, in any way except by Christ,
substitution. Christ took our place and gave
us that righteousness. Oh yeah, this, verse 6 says,
this is the character of the people who seek thy face, O God
of Jacob. This is the generation that seeks
thy face, O God of Jacob. Now look at verse 7 through 10.
Let me just go through this in the next few minutes. And then
the cry goes forth. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? He's
the Lord strong and mighty. He's the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates, be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord of hosts. He's the King
of glory. Who shall ascend? Who shall dwell? He, the King of glory. All right,
listen. The gates, lift up your heads,
O ye gates, the gates of the city of God. Be ye lifted up,
ye everlasting doors. These have been shut for a long
time. shut ever since man's sin. The gates shut, the doors shut
to the kingdom of God, to the way, to the kingdom of God and
to the presence of God. Lucifer said, I'll ascend into
the hill of the Lord. No, you won't. Down he went.
Adam said, I'll be like God. No. The builders of the tower
of Babel said, we'll ascend into heaven. No. The Pharisees said,
we'll get there by works. No. But here comes the Christ.
Lift up your heads, O ye gates. Be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors. The King of Glory is coming in. Who is this King of Glory
that's coming in? He's the Lord. He's the Lord
strong and mighty. He's able to save. He has a perfect
holiness. He's able to redeem. He's able
to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him. He's
able to stand in the presence of the Lord God and sit at His
right hand. Who is this King of Glory? He's
the Lord mighty in battle. He cried, it's finished. Conquered
Satan, defeated sin, conquered death in the grave. He's mighty
in battle. Who is this King of Glory? He's
the Lord of hosts. H-O-S-T-S. He's bringing with
Him a host of people with a number which no man can number. He's
coming. Open up your gates. Open up your
doors, the King of glory is coming in. Who is He? The Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. Oh, what a blessed hope that
we have in Him, in Him. The earth is the Lord's. I'm
glad. So is the kingdom of God, and
I'm glad. And I want a part in that kingdom,
and my only way of having a part in that kingdom is to be found
in Christ, not having mine own righteousness, but His. You want
this tape? Call the King of Glory. The King
of Glory. Write for it. Send two dollars.
We'll mail it to you. And join us next Lord's Day for
this, for the program at this same time. Until then, I bid
you a pleasant good day.