Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty— he is the King of glory.

This Psalm was likely written as the Ark of the Covenant was being transported back home to Jerusalem. In ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬, it says: “The man who brought the news replied, ‘Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured.’” So earlier the Philistines had captured the Ark in battle. They paraded it around from city to city, but everywhere it went, sickness followed. So the Philistines gave it back to the Jews. It ended up being transported to Jerusalem under King David.

In the past, under King Saul, the worship of the Lord languished. But David brought back the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem as a symbol of his commitment to worship the one true God.

The Ark of the Covenant contained Moses’ staff and the tablets that the Ten Commandments were written on. It was placed in the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelt among his people. And so as David writes this Psalm, he is likely picturing God’s return to Jerusalem.

Back then, when a king came into a city, they would raise the gates high. This would often involve a portcullis (pictured in this devotional) being raised up to allow entrance. This was the metal drop-gate that blocked entrance into the city. The lifting up of the heads of the gates is probably a reference to raising the portcullis so high that the top of it (its head) peaked over the top of the wall. This was a signal of honor to a high dignitary or ruler.

It was also likely a figurative expression. The people of Israel had been led by Saul, a leader who didn’t honor God, and they had not had the Ark of the Covenant in their temple in Jerusalem. They lived in a figuratively downcast state — they held their heads low.

But now, as David celebrates the return of the Ark and the return of worshiping the one true God in the temple, he tells the gates and ancient doors to “lift up your heads” and “be lifted up”! The gates and doors represent the people of Israel. He tells them to look up to God, their King who goes before them. He is possibly saying something like this: “Be uplifted and full of joy, because God is back in the city and we have our allegiance and worship directed towards him once again”.

Have you been living life in a downcast manner? Has life seemed to get you down, or do the current struggles seem too much to handle? (I have been here before.)

I am here to tell you, the King of Glory is ready to enter your heart. He is ready to make his home in you and me. So LIFT UP YOUR HEAD and BE UPLIFTED! When we claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, repenting of our sin, we welcome God into our hearts. We must do this discipline of repentance daily. And we will find that he is strong and mighty, he is strong in battle! Claim it! The God on our side is going before us into battle and he is always victorious!

Lord, thank you for this encouragement: to show you the honor your glory deserves. You are the King of Glory and I worship and acknowledge you as my King. Go before me, strong in battle, and fight my spiritual battles for me and with me. I will choose to look up and recognize you in the middle of tough times. I will choose to be uplifted by the King of Glory!