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Psalm 24 Bible study: The King of glory will come in
"Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood" (24:4) has the same two Hebrew words as "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:7). And that verb, lift, runs through the psalm: he "shall receive a blessing" (24:5), and the gates are told to lift up their heads for the King of glory, whom the psalm names: "The LORD of Armies" (24:10).
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“Who may ascend to the LORD’s hill? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.”
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“Psalm 24 says the one with clean hands and a pure heart shall receive righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
Is that in Psalm 24, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
The whole earth is the LORD's
Psalm 24 is titled "A Psalm by David" (24:1), and it opens with the whole earth: "The earth is the LORD’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it" (24:1) (tap fullness, world). It gives the reason: "For he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods" (24:2). Here is what almost everyone misses: the New Testament uses this line. Paul (1 Corinthians 1:1), writing about food, says, "Whatever is sold in the butcher shop, eat, asking no question for the sake of conscience" (1 Corinthians 10:25), and gives the reason in the psalm's words: "the earth is the Lord’s, and its fullness" (1 Corinthians 10:26). The WEB has the words again two verses later: "the earth is the Lord’s, with all its fullness" (1 Corinthians 10:28). Paul doesn't name the psalm, and the WEB words the line a little differently each time: Psalm 24:1 has the LORD’s, with its fullness, 1 Corinthians 10:26 the Lord’s, and its fullness, and 1 Corinthians 10:28 the Lord’s, with all its fullness.
Where it leads to Jesus
The pure in heart
Psalms 24:4leads toMatthew 5:8
Seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up onto the mountain, and when his disciples came to him, he taught them (Matthew 5:1-2). He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Psalm 24 asks, "Who may ascend to the LORD’s hill? Who may stand in his holy place?" (Psalm 24:3), answers, "He who has clean hands and a pure heart" (Psalm 24:4), and calls such people "the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face" (Psalm 24:6). Jesus doesn't cite Psalm 24, and no link between the Hebrew and Greek words is claimed, so setting them together is a reading. It rests on a shared subject, a pure heart and coming before God, not on a shared English word: in the WEB, "pure in heart" is the wording of another psalm (Psalm 73:1), and Psalm 24 speaks of seeking God's face where Jesus speaks of seeing God. One reading hears Jesus speaking of the one Psalm 24 describes, and saying what is promised to the pure in heart: they shall see God. Another reads Jesus's words in their own setting, one of the blessings he spoke on the mountain (Matthew 5:3-10), without pointing to this psalm. Neither reading says who the King of glory is (Psalm 24:7-10).
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 24
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 24 is waiting in Favor
- Clean hands and a pure heart
- One verb, six times
- Asked twice, answered twice
- Seek his face forever more
- The world and its fullness
- 5 questions as you read
- 13 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
נָשָׂאnasa'say na-SA
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "lift, carry, take", and in the form of 24:7's Be lifted up, "be lifted up". Strong's: "to lift, in a great variety of applications". It comes six times in Psalm 24's Hebrew: "has not lifted up his soul" (24:4); "He shall receive a blessing" (24:5); "Lift up your heads, you gates! Be lifted up, you everlasting doors" (24:7); and "Lift up your heads, you gates; yes, lift them up" (24:9). The Psalms have it 48 times in Hebrew.
For your group
Psalm 24 Bible study questions
- 1"He who has clean hands and a pure heart" (24:4). Which is harder for you to keep, clean hands or a pure heart? Why?
- 2"Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood" (24:4). What empty things do you find yourself lifting your soul to? What would it look like to lift it to the LORD instead (Psalm 25:1)?
- 3"The earth is the LORD’s, with its fullness" (24:1). If you held everything you have as the LORD's, what would change in your week?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 24 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 24 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home