Thursday, December 8, 2022  

Today’s Scripture Reading
Psalm 24

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;

for he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.

They will receive blessing from the Lord, and vindication from the God of their salvation.

Such is the company of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.

Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. (NRSV)

Reflection

The opening verses of this psalm evoke the majesty of “The Creation,” a James Weldon Johnson poem that begins as follows:  

“And God stepped out on space,
And he looked around and said: 
I’m lonely –
I’ll make me a world.” 

Per Johnson, God smiled after that, thereby creating light that pushed the darkness “on one side,” and light “on the other.” And:  

“Then down between 
The darkness and the light
He hurled the world;
And God said: That’s good!”

Johnson affirms God’s holy handiwork, which created our abundant and diverse physical world, including, ultimately, human inhabitants. He concurs poetically with the psalmist: the “earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” The poem ends there, but the psalmist continued, urging humans who seek God’s face to have “clean hands, and a pure heart.” We must not lift “up [our]. . . soul unto vanity,” or swear “deceitfully.” This is the path toward “the blessing from the Lord and vindication from God [our]. . . Savior.”

A commentator writes that the closing verses of this psalm have been incorporated into music related to the Ascension (e.g., Handel’s Messiah [“Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, he is the King of Glory”)] and Advent (e.g., “Come Thou Almighty King”).

May the Advent season allow time to celebrate both Christ’s position at God’s right hand via music and by contemplating “The Ascension,” Gerald Griffin’s culturally inclusive painting mounted in the Gratz Commons, and the coming and return of Christ as Advent candles are lit.

Prayer

Almighty God, magnify our focus on the perfection of your creation. Grant us the discernment, grace, and courage to restore right relationships with you, all people, and the environment. Amen.

Written by Jeanne Griffin, Member of Fourth Church

Reflection and prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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