Psalm 24:9
Lift up your heads, O gates! Be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may enter!
Lift up your heads
This phrase is a call to action, a command for the gates to rise in anticipation. In the Hebrew context, "lift up" (שׂאו, sa'u) implies an elevation or raising up, often used in the context of lifting one's eyes or voice to God. The "heads" here symbolize the topmost part of the gates, suggesting a readiness to welcome something or someone of great importance. Historically, city gates were not just physical barriers but also places of judgment and commerce, representing the heart of a city's life. Spiritually, this can be seen as a call for believers to prepare their hearts and minds to receive the presence of the Lord.

O gates
The "gates" (שׁערים, she'arim) in ancient times were crucial to a city's defense and were often the site of significant events, such as the arrival of a king or dignitary. In a spiritual sense, gates can represent the entry points of our lives—our hearts and minds. This phrase encourages believers to open these gates wide, allowing the King of Glory to enter. Theologically, it suggests an openness to divine influence and a readiness to embrace God's presence.

be lifted up
This repetition emphasizes the importance of the action. The Hebrew verb used here (וּשׂאוּ, u'se'u) is a call for the gates to rise higher, indicating an expectation of something grand. In a spiritual context, it suggests an elevation of one's spiritual state, a readiness to transcend the mundane and embrace the divine. It is a call to rise above earthly concerns and focus on the heavenly.

O ancient doors
The "ancient doors" (פּתחי עוֹלָם, pitchei olam) refer to the long-standing, enduring entrances that have witnessed the passage of time. These doors symbolize the eternal truths and the timeless nature of God's kingdom. Historically, ancient doors would have been massive and formidable, signifying strength and permanence. Spiritually, this can be seen as an invitation to open oneself to the eternal and unchanging truths of God, allowing His timeless wisdom to enter our lives.

that the King of Glory
The "King of Glory" (מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד, Melech haKavod) is a majestic title for God, emphasizing His supreme authority and splendor. In the Hebrew tradition, "glory" (כָּבוֹד, kavod) conveys a sense of weightiness and honor, often associated with God's manifest presence. This title underscores God's sovereignty and the honor due to Him. Historically, kings were seen as the ultimate authority, and this phrase elevates God above all earthly rulers, highlighting His divine majesty and power.

may come in
The phrase "may come in" (יָבוֹא, yavo) signifies the entrance or arrival of someone significant. In the context of this psalm, it is the anticipated arrival of God's presence into the city, or metaphorically, into the hearts of believers. This is an invitation for God to dwell among His people, bringing His glory and transforming power. Theologically, it speaks to the readiness and willingness required from believers to welcome God's presence into their lives, allowing Him to reign supreme.

Persons / Places / Events
1. King of Glory
This title refers to God, emphasizing His majesty and sovereign power. In Christian theology, it is often associated with Jesus Christ, who is seen as the ultimate revelation of God's glory.

2. Gates and Ancient Doors
These are metaphorical representations of the barriers or entrances that must be opened to allow the presence of God to enter. In the historical context, they could refer to the gates of Jerusalem or the temple.

3. Jerusalem
The city where the temple was located, often seen as the dwelling place of God among His people. It holds significant spiritual symbolism as the city of God.

4. David
Traditionally attributed as the author of this Psalm, King David is a central figure in the Old Testament, known for his heart for God and his role in establishing Jerusalem as the spiritual center of Israel.

5. The Temple
While not explicitly mentioned in this verse, the temple is the place where God's presence was believed to dwell, making the opening of gates a symbolic act of welcoming God's presence.
Teaching Points
Welcoming God's Presence
Just as the gates and doors are called to open for the King of Glory, believers are encouraged to open their hearts and lives to God's presence. This involves a conscious decision to invite Him into every aspect of life.

Recognizing God's Sovereignty
The title "King of Glory" reminds us of God's supreme authority and power. Acknowledging His sovereignty should lead to a posture of worship and reverence in our daily lives.

Spiritual Readiness
The call to lift up gates and doors symbolizes the need for spiritual readiness. Believers should prepare their hearts through prayer, repentance, and obedience to receive God's work and guidance.

Christ as the Fulfillment
In the New Testament context, Jesus is seen as the fulfillment of this Psalm. Recognizing Him as the King of Glory who enters our lives brings a deeper understanding of His role as Savior and Lord.
Bible Study Questions
1. What does it mean for you personally to "lift up your heads, O gates" in your spiritual life?

2. How can you ensure that the "ancient doors" of your heart are open to the King of Glory?

3. In what ways does recognizing Jesus as the King of Glory impact your daily decisions and actions?

4. How can the imagery of gates and doors in Psalm 24:9 enhance your understanding of other biblical passages that discuss access to God?

5. Reflect on a time when you felt God's presence entering a situation in your life. How did it change your perspective or actions?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 118
This Psalm also speaks of gates and the entry of the righteous, drawing a parallel to the welcoming of God's presence.

Revelation 3
The imagery of doors and gates is used to describe the invitation to fellowship with Christ, emphasizing the need for openness to His presence.

Isaiah 60
This passage speaks of the glory of the Lord rising upon Jerusalem, echoing the theme of welcoming God's glory.

John 10
Jesus describes Himself as the gate for the sheep, highlighting the concept of entry and access to God through Him.
A Triumphal EntrancePsalm 24:9
An Urgent Demand, and an Earnest InquiryD. Thomas, D. D.Psalm 24:9
Christ Demanding Admission into Sinners' HeartsT. Boston, D. D.Psalm 24:9
Christ the High Priest of Our Profession in HeavenT. Huntington, M. A.Psalm 24:9
Man's Brother in HeavenR. H. Conwell, D. D.Psalm 24:9
The Ascension of ChristExpository OutlinesPsalm 24:9
The God Who Dwells with MenA. Maclaren, D. D.Psalm 24:9
The Triumphant Ascension of Christ into HeavenWill. Dealtry, D. D.Psalm 24:9
The King of GloryW. Forsyth Psalm 24:1-10
Appeal for God's Entrance into the Heart of ManC. Short Psalm 24:7-10
People
David, Jacob, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Age-during, Ancient, Doors, Eternal, Everlasting, Gates, Glory, Heads, Lift, Lifted, O, Yea, Yes
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 24:9

     5299   door

Psalm 24:7-10

     5323   gate

Library
A Great Question and Its Answer
'Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in His holy place?'--PSALM xxiv. 3. The psalm from which these words are taken flashes up into new beauty, if we suppose it to have been composed in connection with the bringing of the Ark into the Temple, or for some similar occasion. Whether it is David's or not is a matter of very small consequence. But if we look at the psalm as a whole, we can scarcely fail to see that some such occasion underlies it. So just exercise your imaginations
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The God who Dwells with Men
'Lift up your heads, O ye gates: and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall 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 ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 10. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.' --PSALM xxiv. 7-10. This whole psalm was probably composed at the time of the bringing of the ark into the city of Zion.
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Ascension of Messiah to Glory
Lift up your head, 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. T he institutions of the Levitical law were a "shadow" or "sketch" of good things to come. They exhibited a faint and general outline
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

June the Fifteenth the King's Guests
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?" --PSALM xxiv. Who shall be permitted to pass into the sanctuary of the cloud, and have communion with the Lord in the holy place? "He that hath clean hands." These hands of mine, the symbols of conduct, the expression of the outer life, what are they like? "Your hands are full of blood." Those hands had been busy murdering others, pillaging others, brutally ill-using their fellow-men. We may do it in business. We may do it in conversation. We may do
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Climbing the Mountain
Behold, then, before your eyes believer, the hill of God; it is a high hill even as the hill of Bashan, on the top thereof is that Jerusalem which is from above, the mother of us all; that rest "To which our laboring souls aspire, With fervent pangs of strong desire." This mount of which we speak is not Mount Sinai, but the chosen hill whereon are gathered the glorious company of angels, the spirit of the just made perfect, the Church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. And we are
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 7: 1861

For Ascension Day. --Ps. xxiv.
For Ascension Day.--Ps. xxiv. Lift up your heads, ye gates! and wide Your everlasting doors display; Ye angel-guards, like flames divide And give the King of Glory way. Who is the King of Glory?--He, The Lord, omnipotent to save; Whose own right arm, in victory Led captive death, and spoil'd the grave. Lift up your heads, ye gates! and high Your everlasting portals heave; Welcome the King of Glory nigh; Him must the heaven of heavens receive. Who is the King of Glory?--who? The Lord of Hosts;-behold
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Letter Xliv Concerning the Maccabees but to whom Written is Unknown.
Concerning the Maccabees But to Whom Written is Unknown. [69] He relies to the question why the Church has decreed a festival to the Maccabees alone of all the righteous under the ancient law. 1. Fulk, Abbot of Epernay, had already written to ask me the same question as your charity has addressed to your humble servant by Brother Hescelin. I have put off replying to him, being desirous to find, if possible, some statement in the Fathers about this which was asked, which I might send to him, rather
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Influence of the King James Version on English Literature
THE Bible is a book-making book. It is literature which provokes literature. It would be a pleasure to survey the whole field of literature in the broadest sense and to note the creative power of the King James version; but that is manifestly impossible here. Certain limitations must be frankly made. Leave on one side, therefore; the immense body of purely religious literature, sermons, expositions, commentaries, which, of course, are the direct product of the Bible. No book ever caused so much discussion
McAfee—Study of the King James Bible

His Future Work
The Lord Jesus Christ, who finished the work on earth the Father gave Him to do, who is now bodily present in the highest heaven, occupying the Father's throne and exercising His priesthood in behalf of His people, is also King. To Him belongeth a Kingdom and a kingly Glory. He has therefore a kingly work to do. While His past work was foretold by the Spirit of God and His priestly work foreshadowed in the Old Testament, His work as King and His glorious Kingdom to come are likewise the subjects
A. C. Gaebelein—The Work Of Christ

The Holy Spirit in Relation to the Father and the Son. ...
The Holy Spirit in relation to the Father and the Son. Under this heading we began by considering Justin's remarkable words, in which he declares that "we worship and adore the Father, and the Son who came from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels that attend Him and are made like unto Him, and the prophetic Spirit." Hardly less remarkable, though in a very different way, is the following passage from the Demonstration (c. 10); and it has a special interest from the
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Dialogue ii. --The Unconfounded.
Eranistes and Orthodoxus. Eran.--I am come as I promised. 'Tis yours to adopt one of two alternatives, and either furnish a solution of my difficulties, or assent to what I and my friends lay down. Orth.--I accept your challenge, for I think it right and fair. But we must first recall to mind at what point we left off our discourse yesterday, and what was the conclusion of our argument. Eran.--I will remind you of the end. I remember our agreeing that the divine Word remained immutable, and took
Theodoret—The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret

The Impossibility of Failure.
"But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak: for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which ye showed toward His name, in that ye ministered unto the saints, and still do minister. And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope even to the end: that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Christian Business World
Scripture references: Proverbs 22:29; Romans 12:11; Psalms 24:1; 50:10-12; Haggai 2:8; Psalm 49:6,10,16,17; 62:10; Matthew 13:22; Mark 10:23,24; Job 31:24-26; Proverbs 3:9; Matthew 25:14-30; 24:45-51; 6:19-21; Luke 12:16-21. THE IDEAL IN THE BUSINESS WORLD There is often a wide difference between the methods actually employed in doing business and when they should be. Good men who are in the thick of the battle of competition and rivalry with other firms in the same line of trade, are the quickest
Henry T. Sell—Studies in the Life of the Christian

Letter Xlviii to Magister Walter De Chaumont.
To Magister [75] Walter de Chaumont. He exhorts him to flee from the world, advising him to prefer the cause and the interests of his soul to those of parents. MY DEAR WALTER, I often grieve my heart about you whenever the most pleasant remembrance of you comes back to me, seeing how you consume in vain occupations the flower of your youth, the sharpness of your intellect, the store of your learning and skill, and also, what is more excellent in a Christian than all of these gifts, the pure and innocent
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

The Glory of Penitents and Pious People.
Who are they that compose yonder bright multitude? They are headed by a queen who does not wear a virgin's crown; and yet, she is so beautiful, and enjoys so intimate a union with Jesus. Who is she? She is Mary Magdalen, the bright queen of Penitents, and the star of hope to all who have grievously sinned in this world. She was once a sinner, and such a sinner! Her soul was the home of seven devils! She was a hireling of Satan, to catch the souls of men. But a flash of light came forth from the Heart
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

Sense in Which, and End for which all Things were Delivered to the Incarnate Son.
For whereas man sinned, and is fallen, and by his fall all things are in confusion: death prevailed from Adam to Moses (cf. Rom. v. 14), the earth was cursed, Hades was opened, Paradise shut, Heaven offended, man, lastly, corrupted and brutalised (cf. Ps. xlix. 12), while the devil was exulting against us;--then God, in His loving-kindness, not willing man made in His own image to perish, said, Whom shall I send, and who will go?' (Isa. vi. 8). But while all held their peace, the Son [441] said,
Athanasius—Select Works and Letters or Athanasius

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

Question of the Division of Life into the Active and the Contemplative
I. May Life be fittingly divided into the Active and the Contemplative? S. Augustine, De Consensu Evangelistarum, I., iv. 8 " Tractatus, cxxiv. 5, in Joannem II. Is this division of Life into the Active and the Contemplative a sufficient one? S. Augustine, Of the Trinity, I., viii. 17 I May Life be fittingly divided into the Active and the Contemplative? S. Gregory the Great says[291]: "There are two kinds of lives in which Almighty God instructs us by His Sacred Word--namely, the active and
St. Thomas Aquinas—On Prayer and The Contemplative Life

The King --Continued.
The second event recorded as important in the bright early years is the great promise of the perpetuity of the kingdom in David's house. As soon as the king was firmly established and free from war, he remembered the ancient word which said, "When He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety, then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there" (Deut. xii. 10, 11). His own ease rebukes him; he regards his tranquillity
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

Destruction of Jerusalem Foretold.
^A Matt. XXIV. 1-28; ^B Mark XIII. 1-23; ^C Luke XXI. 5-24. ^a 1 And Jesus went out from the temple [leaving it to return no more], and was going on his way; and his disciples came to him ^b as he went forth ^a to show him the buildings of the temple. ^b one of his disciples saith unto him, Teacher, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings! ^c 5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said [The strength and wealth of the temple roused
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Election Confirmed by the Calling of God. The Reprobate Bring Upon Themselves the Righteous Destruction to which they are Doomed.
1. The election of God is secret, but is manifested by effectual calling. The nature of this effectual calling. How election and effectual calling are founded on the free mercy of God. A cavil of certain expositors refuted by the words of Augustine. An exception disposed of. 2. Calling proved to be free, 1. By its nature and the mode in which it is dispensed. 2. By the word of God. 3. By the calling of Abraham, the father of the faithful. 4. By the testimony of John. 5. By the example of those who
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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