Tag: Psalms of ascent

  • Sing Praises

    This morning I was reading in the Psalms. Psalms 120-134 is a group of 15 psalms, traditionally sung by the Jews when going to the temple, the Shir HaMa’alot (literally the songs of going up or the songs of ascent). I picture a crowd of worshippers climbing the road to Jerusalem, singing together, like a group of Christians might sing familiar hymns a cappella.

    There is something moving when a group of believers gathers and praises corporately. I remember a Promise Keepers rally decades ago; I can’t remember who spoke or what they spoke on, but I do remember tens of thousands of men, their voices united, singing praises to the Lord. What a moment.

    The Christian faith is both highly personal and communal. Each of us has a personal relationship with Jesus, but that relationship is designed to function in a larger body of believers. A solo Christian, outside the body, is not functioning as God designed us. 

    We serve one another, bless one another, love one another. We grow together, hold each other accountable and learn to extend and receive forgiveness and grace. We worship together, sing together and encourage each other.

    When the congregation sings a familiar tune, and every voice is lifted in praise, it moves us, and I am certain it praises the Lord. Now, certainly not all of us have great singing voices. My voice was once compared to a bear in work boots walking through a gravel pit. I don’t know exactly what that sounds like, but I know it wasn’t complimentary.

    The point isn’t how well you sing. It’s about opening your hearts and voices to the one who loved us beyond measure and deserves all honor, glory and praise. That’s what the Jewish people would do on the way up to Jerusalem.

    The Word encourages us to sing praises to God.

    Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Psalm 95:1 ESV

    And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Ephesians 5:18-19 ESV

    Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16 ESV

    To borrow a line from a children’s song, ‘Don’t worry that it’s not good enough for anyone else to hear, just sing.” God knows your voice; He gave it to you, and He delights in hearing your song.

    Sing His praises.

    Be blessed

    Kevin

    SUMMARY

    I’ve been struck by the power of believers lifting their voices together in praise. Our voices don’t have to be beautiful for God to delight in them.

    TAKEAWAY

    A solo Christian, cut off from other believers, isn’t functioning the way God designed you to.

    Your voice doesn’t need to sound good for God to delight in it.

    Scripture commands you to address other believers in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

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  • Open Gates – Welcome the King of Glory

    I have been reading in the Psalms and stopped to meditate on Psalm 24. It’s a Psalm of ascent; that is, it was sung on the way up to the temple and is often overshadowed by its more well-known neighbor, Psalm 23.

    The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,

        the world and those who dwell therein,

    for he has founded it upon the seas

        and established it upon the rivers.

    Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

        And who shall stand in his holy place?

    He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

        who does not lift up his soul to what is false

        and does not swear deceitfully.

    He will receive blessing from the Lord

        and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

    Such is the generation of those who seek him,

        who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

    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, strong and mighty,

        the Lord, mighty in battle!

    Lift up your heads, O gates!

        And lift them 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! Selah Psalm 24 ESV

    The Psalm opens with the recognition that everything that exists belongs to God. He is the creator and sustainer of everything in the created universe. With that recognized, the psalm moves quickly to God’s calling for personal righteousness.

    Who can come before the Lord and receive His blessings? Only “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.“

    Of course, we know, as did the ancient people of Israel and Judah, that no one can meet those requirements. They trusted in YAHWEH by faith to redeem them and take away their sin, so they could stand before the Lord. They did not yet know Jesus by name, as He had not come, but they knew the Lord had promised a savior and trusted that promise.

    The very city itself is called to open its gates for the coming King. The King of Glory, the Lord of Hosts, is coming. Jesus has come now, but we know He is returning. The King of Glory is coming back to the place He owns.

    Will we have clean hands and hearts to be in His presence and receive His blessings?

    Will we open our hearts and gates? Will we make Him welcome, or will we close up and try to hold out against His undefeatable power?

    With Christ’s imputed righteousness, we too can come before the Lord and be blessed. We must trust in what He has done by faith. He’s coming for the believer and unbeliever, one to eternity in His presence and blessing, the other to eternal separation and damnation.

    Let’s be found with open gates, clean hearts and singing praises in anticipation of the day He comes back.

    Be blessed, Kevin

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    SUMMARY

    As I sat with Psalm 24, I was struck by how quickly it moves from declaring God’s ownership of all creation to asking who is fit to stand in His presence, and the answer is a standard none of us can meet on our own. I’m reminded that only through Christ’s imputed righteousness can we approach the King of Glory with clean hands and open hearts, ready for the day He returns.

    TAKEAWAY

    Everything that exists belongs to God as Creator and Sustainer, which sets the stage for the Psalm’s call to personal holiness

    No one meets the standard of clean hands and a pure heart apart from trusting in the Lord’s promised redemption, first by faith in YAHWEH’s promise and now through Christ

    The ancient call to “lift up your heads, O gates” points forward to Christ’s return, and the question becomes whether our hearts will be open or closed when the King of Glory comes back

    Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone) 

    © 2001, 2026 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, “Gleanings From the Word.” All rights reserved. 

    From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.