For those who want a change from the Gospel

Candlemas – Psalm 24

I’ve chosen to use the readings for Candlemas today, as I reckon many churches will celebrate this festival, when our attention turns from what has been happening over the Christmas period to what will happen at Easter. The Psalm is a well known one, but its original meaning is hard to decipher. There are two questions to ask of it: is it a literary unity, in other words was it written as a complete Psalm or collected together from three fragments, and when might it originally have been used?

It does fall neatly into three sections, each of a slightly different genre, but there is an overall logic to it too. V.1-2 are a short hymn which celebrates Yahweh as the creator, v.3-6 form what has been called a torah or law setting out the conditions for entry to worship, and v.7-10 are what has been called a ‘gate liturgy’ which looks as though it was used antiphonally between two groups of people, perhaps priests and congregation. The mention of ‘ancient doors’ suggests a date during the monarchy, between the time of Solomon, when the first Temple was built, and its destruction in 586 BC. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the OT, the Psalm is headed with a direction for its use on the first day of the week, but that would have been added some time later.

Two possible suggestions have been made for its original setting, both of which have problems. The first is that it was composed for the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant from the house of Obed Edom into the Temple, as recorded in 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13, and the second is that it was used as a processional liturgy for the Ark, which symbolised the presence of Yahweh, as it was returned to its place in the Most Holy Place. However, we have no evidence that once it had been placed in the Temple, it was ever carried about or used in processions again. So really we just don’t know.

But what we do know is that it is somehow about the presence of Yahweh coming to the Temple, where he could be met and encountered by worshippers. So the logic of the Psalm seems to be a reminder of who God is, seen in his creative power and his lordship over all that he has made, a reminder of his moral qualities and therefore the kind of people who may appropriately meet him in worship, and finally the arrival of his presence, or his glory, among the congregation. As such, it forms a good checklist for us as we come to worship, and ties in with the Candlemas theme of God suddenly appearing among his people, both for judgement and consolation.

For worship-leaders it’s not always easy to know how to begin services, and different people, as well as different occasions, demand different setting-off points. A joyful Easter shout of ‘Alleluia! Christ is risen!’ works less well on Good Friday! Some like to begin with silence to focus on God, others with a section of upbeat praise. But maybe this Psalm provides a helpful reminder of what is really important. Before we let God into our presence it’s good to focus first on who he is, and then on who we are, probably in that order. To remind ourselves that we come into the presence of a mightily powerful God, who made and sustains all that exists, is not only good for us but also subverts all those voices which would seek to marginalise our faith as a hobby for a few weird people who happen to like that sort of thing. It restores our perspective. And then secondly we come conscious of the righteousness of God and by contrast our own need of repentance, or realigning our lives with him after a week when so many other pressures may have caused our awareness of him to slip. The words give us a chance to make sure once again that our hands are clean and our hearts pure. V.5 also reminds us that to meet with God means to be blessed.

So while we may not know what kind of an entrance liturgy this Psalm was, it can certainly help us in our approach to the worship of our God.