The Psalms open with Psalm 1 describing the ways of the righteous man, who sounds a lot like the blameless man in Psalms 15 and 24, and who looks like the ideal king of Israel. Both are said to dwell, or be seated, on the hill of the Lord.Īnd that is because they are same person. So what is the connection between the chosen king and the blameless man? Both are associated with God’s dwelling place. Let the gates swing open! Open up you ancient doors! Here comes the King! This sounds like the king described in Psalm 2. There’s this chosen king again, and this time he’s the one who is entering the throne room, the dwelling place of God, as it were. If we keep reading in Psalm 24, we see the epic refrain: “Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in” (Psalm 24:7). Which sounds like the blameless man described in Psalm 15. And the answer, like in Psalm 15, comes in the next verse: “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” (verse 4).

Then in Psalm 24, the passage we’re looking at, the question comes again: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?” (verse 3). But according to Psalm 15, the blameless man dwells on the hill of the Lord. So, according to Psalm 2, God’s chosen king dwells on the hill of the Lord. It’s the place where God dwells, the place of his presence - the place where he has set his king, the human ruler over his chosen people.īut then, a few pages later in Psalm 15:1, we find this question: “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” The answer comes in the next verse: “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend” (Psalm 15:2–3). God’s holy hill - “the hill of the Lord” - is also called Zion. If we turn back to the very beginning of the Psalms, back to Psalm 2, we see this unmistakable declaration from God: “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill” (Psalm 2:6). In fact, this isn’t the first time we find this very question. This isn’t the first time “the hill of the Lord” is mentioned in the Psalms. It’s a simple question, but its conclusion is profound. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?” David asks in Psalm 24:3. 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.

Clean hands and a pure heart verses