Psalm 24: The King Of Glory

A king dances in the street, the city gates swing wide, and a question echoes through Psalm 24 that still arrests us today: “Who is the King of Glory?” We lean into the story behind the song, where many scholars link this psalm to the Ark of the Covenant finally returning to Jerusalem. It’s more than a history moment. It’s a picture of what it looks like when God’s presence is welcomed back to the center of a people’s life and worship.

We read Psalm 24 closely and sit with its sharp honesty: the earth belongs to the Lord, and the ones who stand in His holy place have clean hands and a pure heart. That takes worship out of the realm of mere emotion and puts it into everyday discipleship: truth telling, rejecting idols, and living with integrity when nobody is watching. Then the psalm turns into a procession chant, calling “ancient doors” to open so the King of Glory can enter, reminding us that God is strong, mighty, and able to fight battles we cannot.

From there we talk about David’s unashamed praise and why it still confronts church culture. Some worship is performance, done to be noticed. But the kind of worship that honors Jesus forgets the room, stops chasing approval, and invites everyone else to look up. If you want a short, practical Bible study that stirs your heart and resets your focus, press play, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the podcast.

Transcript

Welcome And Daily Bible Rhythm

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey everyone and welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. In this podcast, we will be breaking down the Bible one chapter a day. Whether you are a new believer or have been following Christ for a while, we believe that you will learn something new and fresh every single day. So thank you for joining us and let's get into breaking down the Bible together.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Well everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, Psalm 24, and today's title is The King of Glory. The King of Glory. This one gets me so tickled because uh most scholars believe this may have very well been written at the time when the Ark of the Covenant was finally brought back to the city of Jerusalem during the time of David. And we're going to get into why this is funny and uh maybe uh help us with something

Psalm 24 And The Ark Returns

SPEAKER_01 0:53

along the way. So if you got your Bibles, want to get out with me to Psalms 24, you got your Bible journals out, get your coffee out. Also make sure you take just a moment to like, share, subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure to leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. And make sure you go into the Bible breakdown discussion on Facebook. There's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job. And you can get all that information by going to the Biblebreakdown.com because the more we dig, the more we find. Well, if you're with us over the past several days, we've been talking about how the book of Psalms can be thought of as a soundtrack for life because it is the greatest hits of the people of God. And so just like how every generation has, you know, the 80s has those songs that kind of stood out, the 90s has have those songs in the 2000s. This was a collection of all the greatest hits from all the eras, and they are now in the Bible as they were inspired of the Holy Spirit. And this is one of those that would have stood out because this commemorated one of the greatest days in the nation of Israel's history. And here's the reason why. During the time of King Saul, and around that time before him, the nation of Israel was at war with the Philistines. And because they had not been following God and a whole bunch of other things, God allowed the Ark of the Covenant to be taken by the Philistines. And it was this crazy situation where it didn't go well for the Philistines. It was more about judging Israel, not honoring the Philistines. So it was this whole thing. And then eventually, uh, God got the ark back basically himself. It was one of those situations where Israel didn't go get it. God got it brought it back because of all this. You really got to read it in first and second Samuel. But the ark couldn't be brought back into Jerusalem because they they didn't know how to do it right. The Old Testament had talked about how to honor the ark, how to carry the ark on these different poles because of just, you know, when you get we get to the book of Exodus, we'll talk about how the electrical current that probably went through the Ark of the Covenant because of the conductor that it basically created. There's a whole lot there. But the bottom line is you had to you had to carry the Ark of the Covenant very, very carefully because it was a representation of the power and the presence of God. And so for a while it stayed in a guy's house called Obed Edom. And finally, they figured out how to honor God and to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to the city of David, the city of Jerusalem. And it was a big thing. They couldn't wait to bring the Ark of the Covenant back because once again, it is a symbol of the presence and power of God. And so it was a symbol of God coming back to the house of God. It was just an amazing moment. And so they are ready. They have been doing everything. And here's where it's funny: the Bible said that David was so excited that he began, he began to dance before the Lord with all of his might. And he was dancing before the Lord with just basically this linen ephod on. And he danced like so crazily, if that's a word, that his wife, Michel, was embarrassed. And she actually kind of had words with him afterward. But it's like, hey, listen, there's no way for a king to act. And David was like, uh, excuse me, God chose me to be the king, so I'm gonna worship him because he's the only reason why I'm here, right? But what's funny is this is the song that he may have been singing while he is dancing like a fool. Okay. And so I want you to get in your mind the king is dancing his happy dance while singing this song.

Reading Psalm 24 Line By Line

SPEAKER_01 4:24

So here we go. Psalm 24, verse one says this the earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all its people belong to him. I don't know. This might have been when he started the electric slide right here, verse two. For he laid the earth's foundations on the seas and built it on the ocean depths. Who may climb to the mountain of the Lord, who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord's blessing and have the right relationship with God, their Savior. Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob. Interlude, which means let the band play. Maybe this is where he started breakdancing. I don't know. Verse 7 open up ancient gates, open up ancient doors, and let the king of glory enter. Who is the king of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord invincible in battle. Open up ancient gates, open up ancient doors, and let the King of Glory enter. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of heaven's armies. He is the King of Glory. Let the band play.

Unashamed Worship Versus Performance

SPEAKER_01 5:40

And so David was so excited. And once again, after he gets through dancing, and it must have been a crazy dance. I mean, it was his happy dance, the electric slide, all the things. Because, like I said, afterward, his wife, who had been the daughter of King Saul, was saying, that is no way for a king to act. And David is looking at her and he is saying, God called me to be a king instead of your family. So I'm going to dance for the Lord because the Lord is the only reason why I am here. He is the only reason. So I am not going to be ashamed of my worship. And can I tell you that's one of the things I love about doing church together as a church community? I will be honest with you and tell you that I don't love it when people worship to be seen. I don't love it when you can tell people raising their hands to worship God, but then also looking around, make sure everybody sees them raising their hands. You know what I mean? I don't know if you've ever seen those people. Or, you know, I grew up in this Pentecostal church where people would get real excited and they'd they'd shout real loud, but you almost would notice that they they'd cut a glance, make sure everybody heard them shout. I don't like that at all. But you know what I love is I love when people lift their hands, lift their voices, shout to God, and they don't care who else is in the room because it's not for them, it's for the Lord. There's this old song that used to say, when I think of his goodness and all that he's done for me, when I think of his goodness and how he set me free, I will give him praise and I will praise him all night. I love that. I dream of a church where when we come to church on a Sunday or on a worship Wednesday, we come to church, nobody cares which song the band has decided to play. We don't care. As long as it's about Jesus, it's good enough. And even though the band has practiced and prepared and is going to do their best, I dream of a day when nobody cares if they miss a note. They don't care if they miss a word. They don't care if the person singing does the best job they've ever done. They don't care. Because it's not about the performance, it's about the opportunity for worship. One of the things I love about our church is there are some songs that we sing that there have been times when I couldn't hear the band because the congregation was worshiping so loudly that you couldn't hear anymore because it wasn't about the band, it was about Jesus. I dream of a church. When we go to a time of worship, we got folks singing as loud as they can, we got folks praising as loud as they can, and all of it is in order because all of it's for the king, because it's all about him. That's what I love about this, is first of all, it's funny because David is cutting himself a rug and he doesn't care what anybody else thinks, but it's all for Jesus. May we be a person that we never once try to, you know, get someone else's attention. We never worship to try to create a scene. You know, we're not trying to do any of that kind of stuff. And I'm not talking about do anything that's out of order or any of that kind of stuff, but I'm saying, may our worship be so pure that when people see us worship, it challenges them to worship. Because you know, I've seen that too. I've seen people that when they worship, it makes me feel uncomfortable.

unknown 8:56

You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 8:56

There's just something about it. I don't know what it is, but it's like something in my spirit goes, ooh, they need to stop. But I've also seen people that worship, and when I see them worship, it almost makes me start to cry. Just out of just, man, I want to love God like that. And it encourages me to worship God even more. May we be a church community that worships God like

Prayer And A Life Of Praise

SPEAKER_01 9:20

that. Let's pray together right now. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that you are worthy of all of our praise and even more. I pray, God, that you will give us the wisdom to worship you and the courage to worship you, and Lord, the ability to just give you what you are worthy of. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. And then what God's word says in Psalm 34, verse 1, say it with me, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Psalm chapter 25.