Tuesday, March 27, 2018

A VERSE AND A THOUGHT: PSALM 24:7 - "OPEN UP THE GATES...OF YOUR HEART"

Photo Credit: Gray-Grant Communications
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in....(Psalm 24:7)
THOUGHT:
In ancient times, up to the Middle Ages, these huge things called “portcullis” hung over the entrances to towns, castles and other such fortifications. This word is hardly used now and neither are the "gates" they were, except in some medieval type movie. It is derived from a combination of French words "porte" (gate) and “coleice” (sliding, flowing etc…source: Dictionary.com).  The portcullis is basically a vertical sliding gate, made of metal and/or wood, latticed and run on metal tracks which allow for lowering and raising, as the case may be. These portcullises provided a second layer of protection for cities or towns or castles, many hundreds of years ago. You may have seen them in some movie about King Arthur, or the Knights Templar or something like this.

While some castles and fortifications had double portcullis, for double protection as well, some also had massive wooden gates. In ancient bible times of 3000 years ago, this would be the case in the old cities of Israel around 1000 BC, when King David ruled during the best days of the Holy Land.

David, God’s instrument used to pass on the inspired words of the Psalms, was responsible for the Ark of the Covenant of God. The Ark represented the very Presence of God. The Ark is a copy of the one that is in Heaven as we know from Revelation 11:19. But this copy is still filled with the Spirit of God and He was literally present wherever the Ark was, just like Jesus was present in the Pillar of Fire by night and the Cloud by Day, that led Moses and the Israelites during the Exodus.

Psalm 24:7 tells the gatekeepers in Israel to be on the alert as the Ark is coming through!  David shouts ahead “throw open the gates of the city…..raise the other one….the portcullis…because THE LORD, THE KING, THE ALMIGHTY (via His Ark) is coming into the city!”

ACTION:
Many people, especially including those calling themselves Christians, wall themselves off from the comforting and transforming Holy Spirit of God. Some may actually be saved, but keep telling the Spirit of Jesus that He can’t go here, or “I will handle this one myself” or “I was too hurt by XYZ situation and don’t want to hear ‘what the Bible says’”. There are church-going people who actually talk this way. If you or someone you know – a “friend of a friend” – is in this situation, where the comfort of Scriptures is ignored, it is time for some soul-searching. Do this three-step heart check:
  • Does Jesus have access to every corner of my life?
  • If not, where have I closed off to Him and why?
  • Then, I must look in the mirror of my soul, pray Psalm 51, repent and open the gates to let the King in!

No comments: