THE KING OF GLORY

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty — He is the King of glory.

Psalm 24:7-10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The word “glory” as it pertains to God plays prominently in the scriptures as God displays His glory over and over again. Just taking a look at the Book of Exodus gives us a glimpse of God’s glory on full display.

The first mention of God and glory comes in Exodus as He delivers His people from the hands of Pharoah in Exodus, Chapter 14. You’ll recall that the people of Israel were able to escape the pursuing leader of Egypt and his army when God drove back the sea so the Israelites could cross on dry land. Imagine you were there to witness this. Would you not have been amazed? I know I would have. I would have been awestruck as God revealed His glory in such an incredible way.

How did the people of Israel respond to this? Moses and the Israelites sang, “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you — majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

Indeed, no one else could have done what saved the Israelites. Only God.

Then consider what happened when the Israelites began their journey to the Promised Land. They were hungry and the land was barren, yielding little food. And so they began to be hungry and grumbled, and in the midst of their need, God provided through His glory.

Look at Exodus, Chapter 16. In the evening, God provided the people of Israel quail and in the morning manna, food from heaven from the One who sustains His people. He did in the days of Moses as He has done throughout the history of mankind. And He still does so today. God never ceases to display His glory, a glory that delivers and provides aid to His people when in need.

We find the glory of the Lord in display in other parts of the Old Testament. God shows His glory to Moses in Exodus, Chapter 33 just before He delivers His ten commandments. The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle of the people of Israel in Chapter 40 of Exodus and then guided them - as a cloud by day and fire by night - to the Promised Land, dictating when the people of God traveled and when they rested.

A suddenly dividing sea. Quail and manna from heaven. A cloud and fire to lead and guide. These are just a few ways that God revealed His glory before David even penned one word in the Psalms. There was little question at that point that God was truly the King of glory. Look at the words of David at the end of the 24th Psalm:

Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

Who is He, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty — He is the King of glory.

There were many kings in David’s time, he being one of them. But David wasn’t just any other king. He was the king appointed by THE King, the Lord Almighty, the King of glory. Indeed, David had witnessed God’s power first-hand, how through His strength and might, He empowered David and his people to gain victory over their enemies. Through the glory of God, David knew he and the people could do all things. That was the confidence they gained. And this was the confidence David wished for all to have, that all would lift up the gates that guard their hearts and allow the King of glory to enter in and abide.

Perhaps, that’s the message God wants you and I to receive today. He wishes for you and me to experience His glory, the glory that fully shows us His strength and might, the glory that fully reveals the love He has for us.

For when we open our hearts and minds to receive God’s glory, we see our world in a different light for we see the glory of the Lord in everything. We see it in the sky above us as we marvel at the clouds and the wind and the rain that sometimes is accompanied by claps of thunder and bolts of lightning. We see it in the birds of the air, the animals of the land, and the fish of the sea. We see it in the eyes of the people we meet every day, all carefully fashioned and created by the hands of the King of glory.   

Friends, there is little doubt that God places His glory on display each and every day. There is no shortage of beauty and splendor, no scarcity of magnificence as we live in the world He made. With this, we should show no shortage of gratitude and adoration toward Him, no scarcity of praise and honor given unto Him. For no one is more worthy of receiving all we are and all we have than God.

Who is the King of glory?

He is the Lord Almighty and He wants to abide within our hearts and reign over our lives. My prayer is that you will receive Him and experience His glory today.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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