Job 24

Passage overview

Psalm 24 is a short psalm made up of 10 verses, but it has a structure in which the theme and flow are clearly revealed. The whole piece can be divided into three main parts:

  • Verses 1-2: a declaration of God’s lordship as Creator
  • Verses 3-6: the qualifications of those who seek God and His blessing
  • Verses 7-10: a hymn of praise for the entrance of the King of Glory

1verse“Why aren’t times laid up by the Almighty? Why don’t those who know him see his days?

2verseThere are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them.

3verseThey drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

4verseThey turn the needy out of the way. The poor of the earth all hide themselves.

5verseBehold, as wild donkeys in the desert, they go out to their work, seeking diligently for food. The wilderness yields them bread for their children.

6verseThey cut their food in the field. They glean the vineyard of the wicked.

7verseThey lie all night naked without clothing, and have no covering in the cold.

8verseThey are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for lack of a shelter.

9verseThere are those who pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor,

10verseso that they go around naked without clothing. Being hungry, they carry the sheaves.

11verseThey make oil within the walls of these men. They tread wine presses, and suffer thirst.

12verseFrom out of the populous city, men groan. The soul of the wounded cries out, yet God doesn’t regard the folly.

13verse“These are of those who rebel against the light. They don’t know its ways, nor stay in its paths.

14verseThe murderer rises with the light. He kills the poor and needy. In the night he is like a thief.

15verseThe eye also of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me.’ He disguises his face.

16verseIn the dark they dig through houses. They shut themselves up in the daytime. They don’t know the light.

17verseFor the morning is to all of them like thick darkness, for they know the terrors of the thick darkness.

18verse“They are foam on the surface of the waters. Their portion is cursed in the earth. They don’t turn into the way of the vineyards.

19verseDrought and heat consume the snow waters, so does Sheol those who have sinned.

20verseThe womb will forget him. The worm will feed sweetly on him. He will be no more remembered. Unrighteousness will be broken as a tree.

21verseHe devours the barren who don’t bear. He shows no kindness to the widow.

22verseYet God preserves the mighty by his power. He rises up who has no assurance of life.

23verseGod gives them security, and they rest in it. His eyes are on their ways.

24verseThey are exalted; yet a little while, and they are gone. Yes, they are brought low, they are taken out of the way as all others, and are cut off as the tops of the ears of grain.

25verseIf it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”

Verses 1-2: God’s Ownership and Cosmic Authority

The psalmist declares that “the earth and all its fullness, the world and all who live in it” belong to the LORD. This proclaims that every creature is God’s possession, and it sings that the Creator God established the world and is the basis for all existence. A confession of God’s absolute authority and sovereignty is the starting point of this psalm.

Verses 3-6: The Qualifications of Those Who Will Meet God

It asks who may go up to the LORD’s hill (the holy place) and who may draw near to Him. The answer is, “those whose hands are clean, whose hearts are pure, and who do not put their trust in what is false”. It emphasizes inner purity and sincerity rather than formal conditions. The message that blessings come to those who seek God with sincerity is the core of it.

Verses 7-10: The Entrance of the King of Glory

Beginning at verse 7, it cries out that the gates will lift up, and the King of Glory is coming in. It repeatedly asks, “Who is the King of Glory?” and answers by stating that He is “the LORD, strong and mighty,” and “the LORD, mighty in battle.” The psalm ends by praising the glory of God’s presence and victory.

Points for Reflection

  • Who is the owner of this land and of my life?
  • Can I truly look back and say that my heart and life are clean?
  • I can pay attention to whether I have the attitude to receive God’s glory and whether I’m ready to welcome His presence.

Apply It to Yourself

  • You can acknowledge that everything belongs to God and live with humility.
  • Check whether the purpose, motivation, and actions of your life are clean before God.
  • You can open the doors “wide open” to invite God’s presence and rule into your life.

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