Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (7c, 10b)

“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?” (Psalm 24:3)

Psalm 24 is an entrance liturgy, almost certainly sung as a procession climbed to the temple, and it falls into three parts: the claim that the whole earth belongs to the LORD (vv. 1-2), the question of who may go up and the answer to it (vv. 3-6), and the dialogue at the gates with the King of glory (vv. 7-10). The selection stops before the gates, but the antiphon is drawn from them (vv. 7 and 10), so the question of admission is framed by the arrival of the King. The requirements in v. 4 are moral rather than ritual, clean hands and a pure heart, and the same short catechism of entry appears in Psalm 15 and at Isaiah 33:14-16. What the seeker receives is not access but blessing and vindication from God (v. 5), and the closing line makes those who seek God a “generation” (v. 6), a company rather than an individual.

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