The King Is Coming: A 10-Day Devotional From Red Rocks WorshipSample

Scripture inspires our imagination with countless ways we can praise the Lord; we can lift our voices in songs or shouts, we can partner with creation, and we can move our bodies by dancing, bowing low, raising hands, or playing instruments. “Gates” was derived from the language found in Psalm 24 and Psalm 118, which offer us a beautiful picture of doors being thrown open wide to welcome and receive the King of Glory. The psalmist was using poetic language that would have evoked specific images and meaning for his contextual audience: the Israelites would have been thinking of their fortified city walls and their custom of welcoming their ruler with respect as they passed through the city gates. The psalmist utilizes this familiar Ancient-Near Eastern idea to underscore that Israel has a true King that is worth their highest praise.

While Yahweh may have not been physically walking through their city gates, the psalmist seems to be implying that the people of God are “gates” in and of themselves — hearts that should be poised to recognize the glory of God, acknowledging His arrival and His authority, and ready to pour out their honor and praise. Speaking of the heart as a gate helps us understand that we can choose whether we will be open or shut. We can remain closed to the glory of God, shielding our inner being from the reality of His presence and His sovereignty, or we can choose to fling our gates wide open and welcome our King with praise and thanksgiving.

Our collective praise is beautiful to God, and while it is our primary aim to bless the Lord with everything within us, He also has a purpose for His praise upon the earth: it undermines the authority of the enemy, and it identifies who the King of Glory is to the world. May our gates swing wide as we welcome the King of Glory!

Reflection Questions:

1. If you imagine your own heart as a gate, do you think it most often opens or most often closes? What things in your life do you feel have the most impact on this?

2. Read Psalm 24. Afterwards, listen to “Gates” and try to engage your heart; acknowledge that God is present with you, and practice giving God praise.