Psalms 24:1-10·~1 min

The Earth Is the LORD’s

The psalm begins by declaring that the earth and all its fullness belong to the LORD because he founded and established it over the seas. Before anyone ascends his hill, the song establishes that all reality already stands under his ownership and creative authority.

A¹ Psalm of David. ²For He has founded it upon the seas

The question of who may ascend the LORD's hill is answered with a portrait of clean hands, pure heart, truthful worship, and true seeking. Those who come in this way receive blessing and righteousness from God, and they are identified as the generation that seeks the face of Jacob's God.

³Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? ⁴He who has clean hands and a pure heart, ⁵He will receive blessing from the LORD ⁶Such is the generation of those who seek Him,

The final movement becomes a call-and-response at the gates, commanding them to lift up their heads for the entrance of the King of Glory. The repeated answer identifies him as the LORD, strong and mighty in battle, the LORD of hosts, who alone is the King of Glory.

⁷Lift up your heads, O gates! ⁸Who is this King of Glory? ⁹Lift up your heads, O gates! ¹⁰Who is He, this King of Glory?

Section summaryThe psalm opens with the LORD's universal ownership over the earth and all who dwell in it, because he established it over the waters. It then asks who may ascend his hill, answers by describing the purity and truthfulness of those who seek him, and ends with a call for the gates to lift up their heads so the King of Glory may enter.

Role in the chapterThis single section presents worship in its widest frame: the Creator owns all things, the worshiper must come in integrity, and the final center is the coming of the LORD himself. It moves from cosmic lordship, to ethical fitness, to triumphant divine kingship.