When Eden’s Gates Swing Open, Day 11
Advent is the season when the King of Glory draws near to the house we lost in Adam. And in His coming, the very gates that once barred us now welcome us home forever.
The King of Glory and the House of the Lord
We often treat the Psalms like little devotional stones, each with a private lesson. Yet the Psalter sings as one story. The Psalter belongs together, and the series of songs leading to Psalm 24 sounds like Advent. Psalm 21 imagines a mighty King. Psalm 22 shows a suffering King. Psalm 23 comforts us with a Shepherd/King who walks beside us and leads us through the valley of the shadow of death.
Then we reach that astonishing line at the end of Psalm 23: “I shall dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.” It sounds hopeful, but something feels broken. Eden was God’s house, and Adam was cast out. Angels guarded the mountain of God with flaming swords. The first Adam wanted to play God in God’s house and was excommunicated from it. Humanity has longed for home since.
So the Advent question emerges with force: who can bring us back into the presence of God forever? Psalm 24 begins to answer. It points to a different kind of King, one who formed the world; One who loves and plays with His creation. “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” God founded the house and knows the house intimately.
Yet delight is not enough. The one who ascends the holy hill must have clean hands and a pure heart. His works must be unblemished.
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
Unclean sacrifices cannot corrupt his hands but must bring life to the dead and remain undefiled. Advent whispers His name as the only One fit to ascend.
The Advent King Who Ascends
Psalm 24 builds like a liturgy. “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?” The answer is not Adam’s sons or Israel’s priests. The One who goes up must already belong there. The true builder of the house must be the One who enters it.
When temptation comes, He does not lift His soul to vanity. When kingdoms are offered, He refuses, for they are already His by right. His hands stay innocent and His heart remains pure. His words never swear deceitfully. He does not burden those under His care but His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Here Advent asks a second question: could the King we long for also be the Shepherd who leads us beside still waters? Psalm 23 and Psalm 24 answer yes. The Shepherd is the King. The One who comforts is also the One who ascends the holy mountain.
The closing verses picture a grand approach to Eden’s gates. John the Forerunner calls, “Lift up your heads, O gates.” The angel inquires, “Who is this King of glory?” And the earth replies: Yahweh, strong and mighty. He is the King of Glory! What was once shut is now open to all believers.
The Advent of the King of Glory
Advent tells us this King arrives as a baby, so few days old, yet greater than every king before Him. He comes not to terrify but to dwell. He steps inside our exile so He can bring us home. The flaming sword gives way. The cherubim step aside. The gate that shut out Adam opens for David’s Son, yet David’s Lord.
The Lamb without blemish becomes the Shepherd who keeps us. The child born in Bethlehem becomes the King of Glory. Because He has come, Eden’s gates stand open. Humanity no longer waits outside, for He is the ladder of Jacob’s dream and the ark of salvation.
So Advent teaches us to wait with hope. We wait because He already stands in the holy place. We wait because He keeps the door open. We wait because He will come again. Lift up your heads. The King of Glory approaches, and because He comes, the house of the Lord becomes ours forever.
Notations
Gratitude to Matthew Fuller for this theological and biographical interview.
Pastor Uri Brito @UriesouBrito, Presiding Minister of Council for the CREC and Pastor of Providence Church in Pensacola, sits down for a wide-ranging, joy-filled conversation following his life’s journey from growing up in Brazil as the only Evangelical, Protestant kid in a poor oil town to leading a church and a denomination. Uri’s story is captivating and full of great advice on a wide range of subjects from culture wars to education to Taylor-Swift-style replicas to practical advice for young women wanting to get married. You will not want to miss this conversation!