2nd Tuesday of Lent (February 27). The Lord of Hosts

Prepare to Listen.  The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it.
 
Prayerfully Read Psalm 24:1-10
1The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
   the world, and those who live in it;
2for he has founded it on the seas,
   and established it on the rivers.
3Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
   And who shall stand in his holy place?
4Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
   who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
   and do not swear deceitfully.
5They will receive blessing from the LORD,
   and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6Such is the company of those who seek him,
   who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
7Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
8Who is the King of glory?
   The LORD, strong and mighty,
   The LORD, mighty in battle.
9Lift up your heads, O gates!
   and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
   that the King of glory may come in.
10Who is this King of glory?
   The LORD of hosts,
   he is the King of glory.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
The other day I read that an evangelical pastor said, ‘God was kicked out of the White House; Trump took God with him.’  I said to myself, ‘A god subject to the whim of some human, so weak and small is a god I can’t believe in.’  How about your God?  Worth believing in?
 
The God of this psalmist is a God I can believe in.  There is nothing small or powerless about his God.  The whole psalm is about God’s off-the-chart greatness, beginning with the claim that everything belongs to God who founded, created all things and all peoples.  Who can enter this God’s presence, God’s ‘holy hill’?  The answer shouldn’t surprise us: “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.”
 
The choir in Handel’s Messiah sings the awe-inspiring words of the final stanza (vv. 7-10) that highlight God’s greatness.  In poetic language, the poet calls the doors and gates to lift up their heads to let our majestic God in.  This is a reference to the temple, but not the brick-and-mortar building in Jerusalem.  God’s temple is the universe God created.  Lifting up heads is symbolic for standing tall and proud to receive the King of Glory, the one who is strong and mighty, mighty in battle, the Lord of hosts (that is, all armies on earth and heaven).
 
The one John identified as the Lamb of God is also the Lord of Hosts.  The one who is gentle and meek is also, at the same time, strong and mighty.  No human can kick this Ruler out of any place.  God in Christ rules with sovereign power over all and calls us to live holy, obedient lives, submitting fully to his power.
 
Think again about your view of God.  Is your God worth believing in?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, give me the vision of the psalmist to see you in all your sovereign glory and may it lead me to a more sincere, passionate and obedient way of being in the world you founded.  Amen
 
Live obediently.  Submit to the Lord to Hosts.