The Kingdom Presence: Old Testament (11)

Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
The LORD mighty in battle.|
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
He is the King of glory. Selah Psalm 24.7-10

The LORD said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Psalm 110.1

The Kingdom is a gift from God
David understood the coming Kingdom of God as an incredible, wondrous, mysterious, and glorious gift from God.

Who was he? And who was his household, that God should seek him out to be king over his people (2 Sam. 7.18)? Granted, God had declared through Jacob that a king and dynasty would descend through Judah to rule all the nations (Gen. 49.8-10), but there was no reason for David to think, growing up in a common household in Bethlehem, that somehow that blessing might descend to him.

The giving of God’s Kingdom to and through David is thus an act of sovereign grace. We can see David reflecting on the wonder and implications of this gift in various of his psalms.

God comes to His people, the King of Glory, to enter among them and establish His good and perfect rule in righteousness and peace (Ps. 24). Their duty is to open to Him and submit to His rule, so that His blessings may flourish among them. He Who chose Abraham and graciously redeemed Israel from slavery was now intending to come to them and establish His rule of glory and power in their midst, through a king selected by His own sovereign grace and wisdom (Ps. 144.9-15).

As God had led Israel through the wilderness and the conquest of Canaan, now He would also establish His Presence among them, receive their glory and praise, and continue to subdue the nations to His divine economy through the Kingdom He establishes with His people (Ps. 68). This unfathomable, good, and glorious gift is to be received with praise and thanks by Israel and all the kingdoms of the earth: “Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;/O sing praises to the Lord...who gives strength and power to His people./ Blessed be God!” (Ps. 68.32, 35)

This Kingdom is grounded in eternal verities and conditions
David understood the progress of God’s rule and blessings on earth to be the direct result of His rule in heaven, beyond the material plane, where He is seated in glory and power, exercising dominion over all the earth and all creation (Pss. 9.7-20; 10.16-18). God is unchanging; His rule is settled and fixed in heaven. Whatever may be His will there is what He intends to accomplish on earth as well—justice, righteousness, and abundant blessing for those who trust in Him.

God’s Kingdom is “an everlasting kingdom” and His dominion “endures throughout all generations” (Ps. 145.13). Changing conditions on earth, the indifference or rebelliousness of men, or even the unfaithfulness of His people do not change what God intends to do. His determination will be done on earth, as it is in heaven, for, as an eternal King, He will not suffer the wickedness of men to continue forever before His eyes.

David understood that the Law of God was thus critical for bringing the will of God to pass for the blessing of His people (Ps. 19). The Law of God encodes the mind and will of God. Only by reading, meditating on, studying, and obeying the Law of God could God’s people obtain all that He had promised them and all that He was resolved to do by bringing His eternal reign to bear on earth as it is in heaven. The prayer of God’s people should thus ever be, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart/Be acceptable in your sight,/O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19.14).

The Kingdom is to have earthly expression
The rule of God, which David saw, was to be extended beyond Israel as a blessing for all mankind (2 Sam. 7.19). Centered on God’s rule from within the midst of His people (Ps. 24), the Kingdom God was establishing called for the subjection of all nations to the holy and righteous and good purposes of God (Ps. 2). God rules over and judges all the nations; those that submit to Him know true blessing and happiness (Pss. 9.7, 8; 33.10-12).

The King of this expansive reign is regarded as the Son of God (Ps. 2). He rules over the nations at the right hand of God, subduing His enemies and advancing His reign, through His obedient people, like the refreshing dew of the morning (Ps. 110). All creation comes under the rule of God and His King (Ps. 29), and wherever the rule of God spreads on earth, it brings prosperity, justice, and peace to the nations (Ps. 72).

David got it. The promised kingdom had come with him, at least, in some form. But there was more to come, a Kingdom that would extend to all the earth and all creation, and a King, seated at the right hand of God, Who would advance that Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Thus, the people of God should ever pray, “Give the king Your judgments, O God,/And Your righteousness to the king’s Son.” (Ps. 72.1)

For reflection or discussion
1. “On earth, as it is in heaven...” How does the rule of King Jesus operate in heaven? How do heavenly beings respond to His rule?

2. From Psalm 24, how did David see the impact of God’s rule on His own people?

3. From Psalm 110, what would be the impact of God’s rule on the nations?

Next steps—Preparation: Use Psalms 24 and 100 to pray from the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study.