Psalm 24 is considered a royal psalm. It speaks of God as the Creator and returning King. The psalmist draws on the Genesis account of creation when he states that God "founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters" (verses 1-2)

David asks who is worthy to worship such a great Creator God (verse 3). Who could ascend to the tabernacle—or later temple—in Jerusalem? This recalls the theme of Psalm 15. "Together with Ps 15 it frames the intervening collection of psalms and with that psalm sharply delineates those who may approach God in prayer and 'dwell in the house of the Lord' (23:6...)" (Zondervan NIV Study Bible, note on Psalm 24).

"It may be that the instructions on moral purity were originally part of a ceremony before completing the last leg of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem [for the annual festivals].... However....the hymn instructs God's people wherever they may be to live in the presence of the Creator King in order to receive His blessing" (Expositor's Bible Commentary, note on verse 3).

Some commentators believe this psalm was composed by David to be sung by a procession of Israelites when the Ark of the Covenant was at last brought to Jerusalem (see 2 Samuel 6). The mercy seat atop the ark was a physical representation of the throne of God on earth—so that the King of glory in verses 7-10 was represented by the ark. The King of glory here, the one the Israelites knew as God in the Old Testament who descended to the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies, was the preincarnate Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 10:4 and our booklet Who Is God?).

This would mean that the first part of the psalm concerns the preparation of those permitted to accompany the King of glory up His holy hill.

Continuing with a processional interpretation, many propose two choirs singing verses 7-10 as the ark reaches the gates of Jerusalem or the tabernacle. The first choir accompanying the ark says, "Lift up your heads, O you gates!" (verse 7). This addresses either the gates themselves in a personified sense or the gatekeepers—commanding the gates to be roused and at attention, to rejoice (being no more downcast apart from God's presence), or to be lifted out of their locked position and opened. In any case, the gates opening up to receive the King of glory is implicit.

The second choir, stationed at the gates, intones, "Who is this King of Glory?" (verse 8)—to which choir one responds, "The Lord strong and...mighty in battle" (same verse). The sequence is then repeated (verses 9-10). Yet regarding the closing words of Psalm 24:10, George Knight in his Psalms commentary suggests: "Probably the whole concourse of priests and people now joyously shout these last two lines in one voice. 'The Lord of hosts' (meaning the armies both of Israel and of the heavenly beings) 'that God is the King of glory!'"

This song has long been used in Christendom as celebratory "of Christ's ascension into the heavenly Jerusalem—and into the sanctuary on high" (Zondervan, note on Psalm 24). Yet the image of His returning from battle to enter His sanctuary probably better fits, in an ultimate sense, the time of the end—when Jesus Christ will enter the millennial Jerusalem temple following His triumph over His enemies in the Day of the Lord.