God of Jacob (Psalm 24)

The name, God of Jacob, is ripe with meaning for the people of God. When we cry out to the God of Jacob, we are calling upon centuries of history and relationship – on deep oceans of faithfulness and steadfast love. This is the God who made covenant with His people and keeps it still today; this is the God who blessed an undeserving people in order to accomplish His glorious purposes in and through them; this is the God who would allow His people to wrestle with Him so that they might come to the end of themselves, recognizing their need, and then receive His favor as He saw fit. The God of Jacob is trustworthy, merciful, and immeasurably mighty.

This is the God of whom we sing in Psalm 24.

God of Our Fathers

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,

    the world and those who dwell therein,

for he has founded it upon the seas

    and established it upon the rivers. - Psalm 24:1-2

Creator God, You’re the maker of the heavens,

Of water, sands and branches; You made time.

I will trust You, God of Jacob;

I will trust Your heart.

This is the God of our fathers – He who was and is and is to come. His hand brought forth all of creation, breathed life into every creature, and sustains each one for its appointed time. This is the same God who took pity on humanity’s lowly estate and sought to pursue them in lovingkindness, making a covenant promise to bless and keep them into eternity.

The reason we can sing with great conviction, “I will trust you, God of Jacob,” is because He has, in fact, proven Himself trustworthy! We have all of Scripture to inspire great depths of confidence in God’s ability to keep promises. We have seen that He is who He says He is; He was for those who went before us, and He is for us today.

Blessing for the Righteous

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

    And who shall stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

    who does not lift up his soul to what is false

    and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the Lord

    and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Such is the generation of those who seek him,

    who seek the face of the God of Jacob. - Psalm 24:3-6

My righteous God, who can stand before Your presence?

With hands and hearts in reverence, purified…

I will seek You, God of Jacob;

I will seek Your heart.

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts have God and only God to thank for such a state. Surely purity cannot be achieved by human strength – no amount of sacrifice is sufficient to make us clean or righteous. What is sufficient? Only the perfect work of Christ.

Those who seek the face of God do receive blessing, but not because they are deserving or capable; instead, it is because their blessing has been bought, and its Giver has been merciful. God has lavished His love on us and asked us simply to receive it.

So we can stand before His presence with great confidence and gratitude, because we have been purified and invited to seek the heart of the God of Jacob.

King of Glory

Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord, strong and mighty,

    the Lord, mighty in battle!

Lift up your heads, O gates!

    And lift them up, O ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of glory?

    The Lord of hosts,

    he is the King of glory! - Psalm 24:8-10

My faith made sight, when I see You coming for me,

Riding on the clouds of glory…

And on that day, when we’re gathered in the throne room,

Together we’ll behold You as You are.

Holy, holy, only You are worthy!

Holy, holy, Jesus King of Glory!

Someday, in the culmination of this centuries-long story, we will see our God face-to-face. We will behold His glory and we will partake in His beauty and we will drink of the fountain of His goodness into eternity – His promise ultimately realized for us.

This is what we cling to today. For now, we will only see in a mirror dimly (1 Cor 13:12), and when we struggle to understand, we will look on the history of the God of Jacob and take heart in who He has been. But not only that, we will also look ahead to the promise of what will come, and we will rejoice in the hope that has been set before us.

We will see You, God of Jacob;

We will see Your heart.

We will see You, God of Jacob,

See You as You are.

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