Psalm 24

Psalm 24:7-8
Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O 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, Ye Mighty Gates WOV 631

 1    Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates; behold, the King of glory waits!
     The King of kings is drawing near; the Savior of the world is here.

2    Oh, blest the land, the city blest, where Christ the ruler is confessed!
      Oh, happy hearts and happy homes to whom this King in triumph comes!

3    Fling wide the portals of your heart; make it a temple, set apart
      from earthly use for heav’n’s employ, adorned with prayer and love and joy.

4    Redeemer, come! I open wide my heart to thee: here, Lord, abide!
      Let me thy inner presence feel: thy grace and love in me reveal.

5    So come, my Sov’reign; enter in! Let new and nobler life begin;
      thy Holy Spirit guide us on, until the glorious crown be won.

Text: Georg Weissel, 1590-1635; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878

       Psalm 24 is attributed to King David, a song he sung as he arrived at the gates of Jerusalem.  This Psalm was chosen by Georg Weissel as the text for this hymn, it is often found in the Advent or Christmas part of the hymnal.  Weissel was a German Lutheran pastor who died in the midst of the 30 Years War, a calamitous time in the history of Germany.  The population of Germany was reduced by 60% due to famine, disease and warfare.  Yet despite the horrors around him, Weissel found reason for hope, and at Christmas time, offered up this hymn as a way of expressing that hope in a hopeless time.  His faith was that Christ’s coming into the world would also extend to his coming into our hearts, that we might be transformed.  “Redeemer come!  I open wide my heart to thee, here, Lord abide!  Let me thy inner presence feel, they grace and love in me reveal!”

Prayer:  O God of hope, in dark times help us receive the gift of your presence in Word, Sacrament, and your gathered people.  And in that presence, enable and ennoble us to be your Holy People. Amen.