Journal for Christ: Lift Up Your Head!

January 26, 2016

Worship: Glory by Hillsong

[Verse 1:]
Great is the Lord
God almighty
Great is the Lord on high
The train of His robe
Fills the temple
And we cry out
Highest praise

[Pre-Chorus:]
Glory to the risen king
Glory to the Son
Glorious Son

[Chorus:]
Lift up your hands
Open the doors
Let the king
Of glory come in
And forever be our God

[Verse 2:]
Holy is the Lord
God almighty
Holy is the Lord on high
Let all the earth
Bow before you
And crown You Lord of all

Songwriters
KIRKPATRICK, WAYNE / MORGAN, CINDY

Published by
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group

Read more: Hillsong - Glory Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Video: https://youtu.be/qNjJRbZgypY

Witness:

Dizzy and tired from a cold and very little sleep I enter into this time of worship and meditation. I have struggled to get to this point having started around 7 pm and now it’s a little past 8:30 pm. I have been struggling to find a song that went along with this portion of psalm 24. I found one, I thought, but it was not complete. In fact, no matter where I searched, there was not a full video of the song. There was only one video of the song and it cut out abruptly before the last verse of the song. I “perchanced” upon this video that I discovered on a website as I was searching with the phrase “lift up your heads”. It listed the songs I had found already, but it also listed this one. Now for the second part of the problem. As I was searching, my computer kept hanging up. When I tried to play the song to worship, it kept buffering. I finally got up and went to my new computer, which does not have the software on it yet to transfer my journal to it, and what a blessed difference. No buffering and mouths and bodies that moved to real time, no stuttering of movement. My soul soared as the song was sung and I decided to include only this song in my worship time.

My old computer is slow and buffers a lot because my hard drive is almost full (it is only an 80-gig hard drive) and my ram is too small for today’s programs (only 2-gigs). So, I run out of cache quickly and everything runs too slow. I think my spiritual life is sometimes like that. I fill my mind up with cares and worries and other distractions and I run out of cache for worship; so, my mind begins to buffer, as it were, and my worship begins to suffer. It is imperative then, that I clear out the useless cache, and begin afresh and focused. How will I do this? Not sure yet all I must do. Anyone reading this may have some suggestions. For now, I believe that deep and earnest prayer is the answer. Coming before the throne of grace and asking God to clear all thoughts and distractions from my mind and asking Him to keep me focused on Him.

WORD:

Ps 24:7-10 NIV

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?

The LORD strong and mighty,

the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;

lift them up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?

The LORD Almighty —

he is the King of glory.

Selah

Ps 24:7-10

7 Open up, ancient gates!

Open up, ancient doors,

and let the King of glory enter.

8 Who is the King of glory?

The LORD, strong and mighty;

the LORD, invincible in battle.

9 Open up, ancient gates!

Open up, ancient doors,

and let the King of glory enter.

10 Who is the King of glory?

The LORD of Heaven's Armies—

he is the King of glory.

Interlude

It is known that the gates of Jerusalem swing open outwardly, so why are they asked to be lifted up? And what is meant by head here? Gates don’t have heads!

The NLT doesn’t translate it literally here. Instead, they translate it as some understand it to mean. “Open up”. It is possible, from archeological evidence, to take this somewhat literally. The IVP background commentary notes:

Psalms 24:7

24:7. gates and ancient doors. In a Hymn to Shamash, the Babylonian sun god, various parts of the temple are said to rejoice over Shamash, including the gateways and entrances. A Nabonidus text refers to the gates of the temple being open wide for Shamash to enter. These would occur in the context of regular processions of the statue of the deity into his temple. If the "head" of the gates refers to an architectural feature, it would most likely be the beam or projection across the top of the gates that served as a cornice. This was a common feature in Egyptian and Mesopotamian architecture, and the Akkadian word for it, kululu, also refers to a headdress or turban.

Hence the Wycliffe Commentary:

The Divine Entrance. Lift up your heads, O ye gates. The lintels or tops of the portals are pictured as being too low for the divine king to enter.

However, the previous authority cited, goes on to say this:

The idea that these would be lifted off the posts of the gates to allow something large to pass through is ingenious but not persuasive in that the usual design of gates would not have unencumbered cornices that could be so easily moved. The alternative, that the lifting of the heads is metaphorical, seems more likely. In Ugaritic literature the gods lower their heads when they are being humbled, and they raise up their heads when they have reason to rejoice.

Literal or figurative, it really does not matter, does it. The object is not the gates, it is the “King of Glory”. The command or exhortation given is for the purpose of welcoming this King with the proper respect and attitude. To lift up one’s head, to me portrays:

1. Expectancy – the gates personified are asked to lift up their heads. When one is exhorted to look for the arrival of someone coming they lift their heads and strain to see who is coming.

2. Joy – a sad head is hung in sorrow and a joyful head is raised in celebration.

3. Welcome – To look away or down is a way of saying one is not welcome. To look up is to say one is welcome here.

4. Respect – To avert our gaze at someone or to turn our backs, is to communicate contempt

Note what some commentators say:

24:7 Lift up your heads: The gates of the city seem to sag; the doors appear loose. But they must rouse themselves for the King of glory. One is coming who is worthy to stand in the holy place. As He nears, the gates raise themselves to honor His entry. Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Ps 24:7). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.

24:7. The psalmist offered an exhortation (v. 7) and then an explanation (v. 8). If lift up your heads, O you gates refers to the city of Jerusalem then he was calling for the ancient gates to open wide for the triumphant entry. This was a poetic way of displaying the superiority of the one entering. They should lift up their heads because the King of glory is about to come in.

(from Bible Knowledge Commentary/Old Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries; Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament Copyright © 1983, 2000 Cook Communications Ministries. All rights reserved.)

Psalms 24:7

Lift up your heads, O ye gates - i.e., Be elated with the high honour which you have, in the entrance through you of God's own ark.

Psalms 24:7-10

The gates of Jerusalem opened outward, so what is meant by "be lifted up"? Certainly there would be plenty of headroom for the Levites to carry in the ark, and it wouldn't be required to raise the lintels of the gates. Martin Luther translated it, "Open wide the portals," that is, "Give a hearty welcome to the Lord!" Bringing in the ark may have reminded David of what Moses and the leaders of Israel sang when the ark was carried in the wilderness (Num 10:33-35; Ps 68:1-3; 132:8). The administration of an ancient city was transacted at the city gates, so the gates were to those people what the city hall is to citizens in the western world today. David was commanding the whole city to welcome the Lord and give honor to Him.

I will end this portion, that has taken me days to compose due to lack of sleep (even now my eyes are heavy), with a song in honor of our Great God. I heard this song while finishing this portion of my entry. May we lift our heads in honor our Great God! May we lift our voices in Praise!

Our Great God as sung by Fernando Ortega & Mac Powell

Eternal God, unchanging
Mysterious, and unknown
Your boundless love, unfailing
In grace and mercy shown
Bright seraphim in endless flight
Around Your glorious throne
They raise their voices day and night
In praise to You alone

Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!
Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!

Lord, we are weak and frail
Helpless in the storm
Surround us with Your angels
Hold us in Your arms
Our cold and ruthless enemy
His pleasure is our harm
Rise up, O Lord, and he will flee
Before our sovereign God

Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!
Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!

Let every creature in the sea
And every flying bird
Let every mountain, every field
And valley of the earth
Let all the moons and all the stars
In all the universe
Sing praises to the living God
Who rules them by His Word

Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!
Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!
Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!
Hallelujah!
Glory be to our great God!
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Video: https://youtu.be/jdtHwaNUZho

Journal for Christ

Monday, January 9, 2017

Lift Up Your Head!

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