Psalm 24 Bible Study

Dear friend,

We trust that you have encountered the Lord here at Selah this weekend. Did you know you can help make space for people in your community to encounter God powerfully through Psalm 24 too? Below is a 3-week Bible study guide you can use to lead your friends to encounter Jesus. We hope and pray that this guide will allow you to return home refreshed, renewed, and ready to love and serve your community.

Week 1

1 The earth is the LORD’s, and all it contains,

The world, and those who live in it.

2 For He has founded it upon the seas

And established it upon the rivers.

  • This psalm was written by King David and was traditionally associated with David’s relocation of the ark of the covenant (a representation of God’s presence) to Jerusalem (the city in which they were to worship). (2 Samuel 6) This was a momentous occasion for the Jewish people, one that would have held incredible spiritual significance to them. A procession would have accompanied the ark with singing and music. (1 Chron 15:2-28) Likely, the psalm was composed for a choir, inviting the people into worship and song.

  • This psalm opens up almost as if it were a legal document, declaring that the earth and everything in it belongs to God because He's the one that created and founded it. (Similarly, if someone built and paid for a house, a deed would detail their ownership of the house.)

    What are some of the earth’s contents that belong to the Lord? Answer: plants, animals, people etc.

    Why is it important that everything belongs to the Lord?

    What does it mean for your life that YOU, personally, belong to the Lord? What does God want you to know in that?

    We see here that bodies of water are mentioned twice regarding how the earth was founded upon them. This is a reference back to Genesis 1 that reads: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was a formless and desolate emptiness, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”

    What is the significance of the earth being founded upon waters?Answer: waters represent chaos and formlessness.

    What does this tell us about God’s power and desire to create order?

    What’s an area of your life that you long for God to bring restoration from chaos? How can you reflect God’s unhurried, harmonious design in your life this week?

    The rest of the story of Scripture shows how the brokenness in our world and within ourselves has created chaos in our relationship with God. Jesus comes to bring order and reconciliation to this, and to give us the opportunity to enter into abundant life with God.

    What does your relationship with Jesus currently look like? Are you skeptical of him? View him as simply a moral teacher? Finding yourself in the process of learning more about him? Is he King of your life?

    How do you hope your relationship with Jesus will grow as a result of this 3-week bible study?

    What could you do this week to explore that more?

  • David writes God is Creator of all in order to invoke worship so that creation would have the proper view of God and receive Him as King. We’ll continue to explore who God is and what that means for us in the coming weeks of our study.

    Pray to Close

Week 2

3 Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord?

And who may stand in His holy place?

4 One who has clean hands and a pure heart,

Who has not lifted up his soul to deceit

And has not sworn deceitfully.

5 He will receive a blessing from the Lord

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation of those who seek Him,

Who seek Your face—even Jacob.

Selah

  • Last week we talked about how everything on the earth belongs to the Lord (including you!) and that God has the power and desire to create order from chaos. Most notably, Jesus comes to bring restoration and reconciliation in our relationship with God. In these verses today, it’s helpful to note that the hill of the Lord is referring most likely to Mount Moriah, the place where the temple was built. The temple was a place where the Jewish people would go to worship God, and some priests would even be in God’s presence in the holy place. Being in the temple was being in God’s presence, so people had to be ceremonially clean.

  • This passage starts with a crucial question: Who may ascend onto the hill of the Lord?

    According to this passage, who can stand in God’s holy place? Answer: Verse 4

    Why do you think people need to have clean hands before they come into God’s presence? Answer: God is holy. That means he is set apart, and not just anyone can enter into his presence.

    But this presents us with a problem. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” None of us have clean hands and a pure heart.

    What are ways that you’ve noticed falling short? (Leader’s note - share vulnerability and personally here, too.)

    Something has to happen for us to enter God’s presence and worship. If God determines who can come into his presence, and none of us have clean hands and a pure heart, there is no way for us to know God. The very next verse in Romans offers us the solution. Let’s continue to read: “And all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom 3:24). Jesus took on our sin and paid the price of our sin by dying on the cross. And he rose from the grave, conquering sin and death forever. Romans later goes on to tell us: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (10:9). When we believe in Jesus, he cleans us, once and forever. Praise God!

    What blessing does God then give to those whom he has cleaned, to those who believe? Answer: righteousness, salvation, ability to worship God, ability to be in God’s presence.

    The psalmist has just described the people who seek God. Notice that the verse ends with “even Jacob.”

    Who was Jacob in the Old Testament? Was he known as someone who followed God perfectly? Answer: Jacob was one of the patriarchs. He was known for deceiving his brother.

    What does Jacob’s inclusion tell us about the grace of God? Answer: he shows mercy to those who seek him.

    Do you believe that God wants to know you? Have you received clean hands and a pure heart from Jesus? (Leaders note - let the questions sit).

  • When we earnestly seek God, we will find him. And when we encounter the risen Jesus and internalize this good news, we cannot help but worship him! David writes to help refocus the attention of the community to God's authority and power and our privilege to worship Him.

  • How does this hope stir in you a deeper worship of God?

    What does it look like for you to seek God, wholeheartedly? Is there a next step he is inviting you into this week, to seek him more?

    Pray to Close

Week 3

7 Lift up your heads, you gates,

And be lifted up, you ancient doors,

That the King of glory may come in!

8 Who is the King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty,

The Lord mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, you gates,

And lift them up, you ancient doors,

That the King of glory may come in!

10 Who is this King of glory?

The Lord of armies,

He is the King of glory.

Selah

  • Previously in our study of this Psalm, we discussed verses 1-6. We meditated on the fact that we belong to God, that our sin separates us from being able to stand in His presence, and that Jesus paid the price of our sin in order to cleanse us. All of this leads us into true, authentic worship of God! Today, we’ll close our study of this Psalm by discussing the authority, holiness, and coming of the King of glory.

    Let’s begin with some historical context that will help us understand our text today. In ancient times, walls surrounded cities and had fortified gates. As a reminder from Week 1, this psalm was written by King David and was traditionally associated with David’s relocation of the ark of the covenant (a representation of God’s presence) to Jerusalem (the city in which they were to worship). David imagines a festive procession entering the city of Jerusalem. At the center of the celebration is the Lord of glory, and David calls the gates to open wide to let everyone into the city. It’s a scene filled with energy and joy.

  • If you were among the crowd, what would you be thinking and feeling as the gates lifted?

    The psalmist asks a question: “Who is the King of Glory?”

    What does he tell us about the King of Glory? Answer: he is strong and mighty, mighty in battle, the Lord of armies.

    Why is it important for Israel to have a God who is mighty in battle? Answer: Israel often needed to be saved from their enemies.

    Knowing that God is strong and mighty, how does that impact your life personally?

    What is significant about the gates and doors being opened? Answer: So that the king can come in; the psalmist wants the whole city to participate in welcoming the king.

    Doors and gates are barriers that had kept the King of Glory out of the city. They were lifted so that He could enter.

    What barriers are currently keeping you from letting the King of Glory fully into your life?

    If you could ask Jesus one question that would help you trust him and fully let him in, what would you ask?

    Leaders Notes:

    Invite the person into one simple, next step related to their question.

    Some examples:

    Invite them to pray with you daily for the next seven days about that one question [i.e. “God, are you trustworthy?”]

    Invite them to have a follow up “apologetics” conversation to help bring clarity to a tough question they might have

    Invite them to study the gospel of Mark with you every week for the next month if they want to know more about God’s character and who Jesus is; or [if no significant barriers are identified…]

    Invite them to follow Jesus right then as the King of their life.

  • This psalm declares that we belong to God, that (through Jesus) he has made a way for us to be in his presence by “cleaning our hands,” and invites us to remove barriers from our lives so we can welcome and worship this King of glory. Let’s turn our hearts to worship, and give thanks to the Lord for these wonderful truths!

    Pray to Close