Psalm 20 & 24

Silent Reading Time: 7 minutes

Happy New Year! I pray 2024 will be a year of joy and blessing as we open the gates of our hearts and let the King of Glory have full reign in our lives! There will be trouble in the earthly realm, but with the Lord as King of our lives we can live in victory and be His light in a dark world! Psalm 20 & 24 are powerful scriptures for 2024 and beyond! I hope they will bless and strengthen you!

Psalm 20

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. (verses 1-5 NIV)

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright. Save, Lord! May the King answer us when we call. (verses 6-9 NKJV)

A Psalm of Blessing, Declaration & Prayer

Psalm 20 is a beautiful blessing, declaration and prayer to our King Jesus, for 2024! The Lord is our help in times of trouble and He will see us through this year. Anyone who trusts in God’s forgiveness through Jesus is a child of God and a recipient of God’s gifts of grace– His blessings. When we set out to walk in step with the Holy Spirit, His plans for us will succeed, much joy follows and God is glorified. But we must always remember that it is not because of our works that we receive God’s blessings. They are freely given to us because our faith is in Jesus Christ. We follow Him because we love Him and have come to know who He is.

Jesus has taken us to be seated spiritually in His holy heavenly realm, so if we pay attention to Him by the Spirit, we will not fall! Our journey with God may not be perfect on our part, but God is patient as we grow in faith! Everything is taken care of so don’t give up on Him and His promises. We are forgiven and regret is not a word in the heavenly realms where we are seated. Thank You, Jesus!

Psalm 24

The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his. He built it on the deep waters beneath the earth and laid its foundations in the ocean depths. (verses 1-2 GNT)

Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob. Interlude (verses 3-6 NLT)

Lift up your heads, you gates, and be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates, and lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of armies, He is the King of glory. Selah (verses 7-10 NASB)

A Psalm of Glory!

Psalm 24 is a psalm of glory! I believe those in the Body of Christ who have been obedient to God have felt the intense heat of His refining fire. If that’s you, don’t be discouraged and don’t give up. God is so proud of you for wanting to be closer to His wonderful fiery presence.

When Christians desire to be more like God it’s not so we can earn our salvation. Jesus already sees us as forgiven and perfect by His blood. But God wants us to be free from the lies that keep us from living in spiritual victory and fulfilling God’s purpose on earth. We belong to God now and He, the King, calls the shots. Those who truly have faith in Jesus have met Him spiritually and desire to follow Jesus through the Holy Spirit. They have an ongoing relationship with Him and have found that He is a personal and loving God!

Where we have doubted God’s love and allowed other things to take His place, we need to change the way we think. In this process of communing with God we may not feel it or see it yet but God is transforming our hearts from glory to glory. Our hearts are becoming more like Jesus and able to worship God truthfully in the Spirit. Hard times will come for all of us, so we will keep trusting God’s love! Jesus, the King of Glory, is our reward!

Yielding Our Hearts to the King

This process of refinement is sometimes called “sanctification”, where we become more and more “set apart” from worldly mindsets/behavior and we live from the Spirit. There is no fear or condemnation in this process. The Lord is refining us for His glory here on earth, but we are already safe in His care. Sanctification is not optional for those still blessed to be living on earth. It is part of being in Christ. He leads and we follow. But there is no reason to fear as we follow the Holy Spirit in God’s Kingdom! We can rejoice even as He shows us where we need to renew our minds and change our behavior. He shows us because He loves us and wants us free! So rejoice! You are on a journey with the Holy Spirit!

If you died tonight (and I trust that you won’t), if your faith is in Jesus and you are following Him, He will take you straight to Heaven to live with Him forever. You don’t have to have every part of your life worked out and perfect. However, because we are still living here on earth, God always has more for each one of us.

Psalm 20 & 24 show us His plan is to engage with us in prayer and His Word so He can set us free from “spiritual gates” that have kept us from victory in Christ. As we open all the gates of our hearts to Him, King Jesus can have His way in us! If Jesus truly is King of our lives, we will want to yield to His Spirit until the day we die and go to be with Him forever. So we pray for soft hearts filled with God’s wonderful, powerful presence– His glory!

A Prayer to the King of Glory

Lord, we give You everything! Show us any iron gates in our hearts, thoughts and actions that we have not surrendered to You. It is our desire to adore You, obey You and worship You with all our hearts. We open every door and give You full reign over our lives! Come in, King of Glory! Command Your angel armies and slay the enemy of our souls. Deliver us from evil! Fill every dark place with the light of Your presence until we are saturated with You. Then we will shine with Your love by the power of Your Spirit– and You will receive all the glory!

There are so many people in this dark world who are hopeless without You. They need You, Jesus! Thank You for Your undeserved grace through the cross that covers our sin and weaknesses! Come to us in Your ever-increasing glory as we long to see Your face in 2024. Oh, King of Glory, You deserve what you suffered for on the cross! You deserve our whole hearts. May we bless others as You have blessed us!

We give 2024 to You and rejoice in the salvation You have freely given to us! Thank You, Jesus, for lifting us up to the Father and to our new Family in Christ. We sit together at Your Table in the heavenly realms and glory in Your presence. Our attention is upon You, Jesus! As the world desires earthly pleasures, power and treasures, King of Glory, we just want You! We pray this in Your powerful name, Jesus, amen!

Enjoy a Very Blessed 2024!

I use several different translations in order to comply with Bible translation copyrights, permissions, regulations etc.