Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates, 12 April 2026
12 04 26
Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates
Handel’s Messiah
Kirk Schneemann
College First Church of God
April 12, 2026
Psalm 24:7-10
Series Big Idea: Handel’s Messiah may be the greatest work of music ever created, bringing praise and glory to the Creator.
Big Idea: Jesus is the King of kings and LORD of lords, worthy of our praise and obedience.
Our nation’s 250-year history has been one without a king. We have had presidents and governors and mayors lead us, but none of had the role of royalty.
Our text for today speaks of a king…the King…the King of kings, the King of glory. His name is Jesus.
We’re continuing our series on the lyrics of Handel’s Messiah. Our song today is entitled Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates.
In the beginning God…created…the heavens and the earth. He had a beautiful relationship with Adam and Eve until they disobeyed, sin entered the world, they hid, and were expelled from paradise. Generations later, God told Abram he would become the father of a great nation despite being childless in his nineties. Later, Moses was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land while God served as their leader, guiding them through a cloud in the daytime and fire at night as they journeyed for forty years in the wilderness. Despite many warnings, the people wanted a king because…all their neighbors had a king. God wanted to be their king, but they insisted and God gave them over to a series of kings, most of whom did great harm to the Israelites.
David was a shepherd who wrote about the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23, and he was one of the good kings…who wrote about the Great King in today’s text, the very next Psalm.
The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2)
Everything we have belongs to the LORD. We are His stewards. We worship the God who created and owns everything, including you and me!
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god. (Psalm 24:3-4)
Literally, this is none of us, but because of Jesus, we can be made clean. Even today, God is searching for men, women, and children who have clean hands, who do no harm to others. They also have pure hearts. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” in Matthew 5:8. They also avoid idols, trusting only in God.
They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob. (Psalm 24:5-6)
I pray this would be us…the generation who seeks God, those who receive salvation and redemption from Him. God will declare righteous and save those who are committed to Jesus and trust him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and body.
Now we come to today’s scripture.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. (Psalm 24:7)
What do gates and doors have to do with a king?
It is believed this psalm was used after battle when the ark of the covenant returned.
The ark—not Noah’s ark—was a sacred box containing the Ten Commandment tablets, a jar of manna God used to feed the people while they were journeying for forty years in the wilderness, and Aaron’s rod. It was the most sacred object of the Israelites, so when it was
The temple doors open for the King.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle. (Psalm 24:8)
David was a strong and mighty king, conquering the giant Goliath as a young boy and proving to be such a skilled solider that his predecessor, King Saul, felt threatened by his success. So David knows about victory, yet he is describing the Victor, the one who conquered sin and death and the cross, King Jesus. He fights our battles.
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
He’s our King. He battles for us. Hallelujah!
I know the news these days is scary, with war in Iran and Israel, among other places. It’s easy to feel afraid, anxious, and worried, but our world is not ruled by presidents, prime ministers, Democrats or Republicans. King Jesus is LORD! Even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. (Psalm 24:9)
The King is coming. Are you ready? He said in the book of Revelation,
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelation 3:20)
I love the next verse.
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:21)
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:10)
If you think there’s repetition here, you’re right.
If you think there’s repetition here…
David did not have the options of bold, italics, underlining, or highlighting when he wrote this, so the common way to emphasize was to repeat.
Jesus is the LORD Almighty, the King of glory!
So What?
Hail to the King! He is worthy of our praise and worship, not just on Sunday, but every day.
Author and Pastor Mark E. Moore just published a book with Kyle Idleman entitled The Missing Messiah: The Jesus We Can No Longer Ignore. He said on a recent podcast,
Jesus is not your therapist. He's not your life hack. He's not your guru. He is your king. He's your Lord. And until you make him Lord, you're missing half of him.
He continues,
In the church, if you look at the history of the church, the Jews missed the Messiah because they were wanting a king. They were not expecting a savior. When the Gentiles came in, they didn't know what Messiah was. And so they translated it as Christ, but they didn't know how to define the word Christ. So they defined it as savior, not as king.
The American church, based on Gentile culture, we have made Jesus our savior and not our king. So the Jews missed him for one reason, we've missed him for another.
Someone said there are vampire Christians who only want Jesus for his blood. They want to avoid hell, but they don’t want a King, they don’t want a LORD, they don’t want to submit and surrender to God, they just want a Savior.
What about you? During this season of Eastertime, we’re celebrating the cross and the empty tomb and all that Jesus accomplished, but while it’s true that our redeemer lives, he is also King. He is LORD. A Christian is not someone who believes in historic events intellectually. They follow. Christian means “little Christ.” We’re not saved by our works, but our works validate our faith. We’re all on a journey, but true spiritual growth means becoming more like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The role of the king is to take care of his subjects.
The role of the subjects is to follow, to submit, to obey.
King Jesus knew we would not be perfect, which is why he came and died, to forgive our sins and reconcile us to the Father. But our faith is not based on morality, but a relationship…with our Creator. Our King got off the throne, became a baby, lived to die, and rose from the dead. Hallelujah!
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:10)
Jesus is the King of kings and LORD of lords, worthy of our praise and obedience.
Is He your King?
Handel’s Messiah
Kirk Schneemann
College First Church of God
April 12, 2026
Psalm 24:7-10
Series Big Idea: Handel’s Messiah may be the greatest work of music ever created, bringing praise and glory to the Creator.
Big Idea: Jesus is the King of kings and LORD of lords, worthy of our praise and obedience.
Our nation’s 250-year history has been one without a king. We have had presidents and governors and mayors lead us, but none of had the role of royalty.
Our text for today speaks of a king…the King…the King of kings, the King of glory. His name is Jesus.
We’re continuing our series on the lyrics of Handel’s Messiah. Our song today is entitled Lift Up Your Heads O Ye Gates.
In the beginning God…created…the heavens and the earth. He had a beautiful relationship with Adam and Eve until they disobeyed, sin entered the world, they hid, and were expelled from paradise. Generations later, God told Abram he would become the father of a great nation despite being childless in his nineties. Later, Moses was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land while God served as their leader, guiding them through a cloud in the daytime and fire at night as they journeyed for forty years in the wilderness. Despite many warnings, the people wanted a king because…all their neighbors had a king. God wanted to be their king, but they insisted and God gave them over to a series of kings, most of whom did great harm to the Israelites.
David was a shepherd who wrote about the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23, and he was one of the good kings…who wrote about the Great King in today’s text, the very next Psalm.
The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2)
Everything we have belongs to the LORD. We are His stewards. We worship the God who created and owns everything, including you and me!
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god. (Psalm 24:3-4)
Literally, this is none of us, but because of Jesus, we can be made clean. Even today, God is searching for men, women, and children who have clean hands, who do no harm to others. They also have pure hearts. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” in Matthew 5:8. They also avoid idols, trusting only in God.
They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob. (Psalm 24:5-6)
I pray this would be us…the generation who seeks God, those who receive salvation and redemption from Him. God will declare righteous and save those who are committed to Jesus and trust him with all of their heart, soul, mind, and body.
Now we come to today’s scripture.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. (Psalm 24:7)
What do gates and doors have to do with a king?
It is believed this psalm was used after battle when the ark of the covenant returned.
The ark—not Noah’s ark—was a sacred box containing the Ten Commandment tablets, a jar of manna God used to feed the people while they were journeying for forty years in the wilderness, and Aaron’s rod. It was the most sacred object of the Israelites, so when it was
The temple doors open for the King.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle. (Psalm 24:8)
David was a strong and mighty king, conquering the giant Goliath as a young boy and proving to be such a skilled solider that his predecessor, King Saul, felt threatened by his success. So David knows about victory, yet he is describing the Victor, the one who conquered sin and death and the cross, King Jesus. He fights our battles.
He is risen! He is risen indeed!
He’s our King. He battles for us. Hallelujah!
I know the news these days is scary, with war in Iran and Israel, among other places. It’s easy to feel afraid, anxious, and worried, but our world is not ruled by presidents, prime ministers, Democrats or Republicans. King Jesus is LORD! Even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in. (Psalm 24:9)
The King is coming. Are you ready? He said in the book of Revelation,
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. (Revelation 3:20)
I love the next verse.
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Revelation 3:21)
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:10)
If you think there’s repetition here, you’re right.
If you think there’s repetition here…
David did not have the options of bold, italics, underlining, or highlighting when he wrote this, so the common way to emphasize was to repeat.
Jesus is the LORD Almighty, the King of glory!
So What?
Hail to the King! He is worthy of our praise and worship, not just on Sunday, but every day.
Author and Pastor Mark E. Moore just published a book with Kyle Idleman entitled The Missing Messiah: The Jesus We Can No Longer Ignore. He said on a recent podcast,
Jesus is not your therapist. He's not your life hack. He's not your guru. He is your king. He's your Lord. And until you make him Lord, you're missing half of him.
He continues,
In the church, if you look at the history of the church, the Jews missed the Messiah because they were wanting a king. They were not expecting a savior. When the Gentiles came in, they didn't know what Messiah was. And so they translated it as Christ, but they didn't know how to define the word Christ. So they defined it as savior, not as king.
The American church, based on Gentile culture, we have made Jesus our savior and not our king. So the Jews missed him for one reason, we've missed him for another.
Someone said there are vampire Christians who only want Jesus for his blood. They want to avoid hell, but they don’t want a King, they don’t want a LORD, they don’t want to submit and surrender to God, they just want a Savior.
What about you? During this season of Eastertime, we’re celebrating the cross and the empty tomb and all that Jesus accomplished, but while it’s true that our redeemer lives, he is also King. He is LORD. A Christian is not someone who believes in historic events intellectually. They follow. Christian means “little Christ.” We’re not saved by our works, but our works validate our faith. We’re all on a journey, but true spiritual growth means becoming more like Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The role of the king is to take care of his subjects.
The role of the subjects is to follow, to submit, to obey.
King Jesus knew we would not be perfect, which is why he came and died, to forgive our sins and reconcile us to the Father. But our faith is not based on morality, but a relationship…with our Creator. Our King got off the throne, became a baby, lived to die, and rose from the dead. Hallelujah!
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:10)
Jesus is the King of kings and LORD of lords, worthy of our praise and obedience.
Is He your King?