Biblical Leadership Joy Grim 9

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Grade
Passage Analysis Essay

Historical/Cultural Analysis- Psalm 24 was written by King David between the time of
Moses (around 1440 B.C.) and the Babylonian captivity (586 B.C.). The intended audience that
David was writing to was to God as a way of saying that he was sorry for sinning with Bathsheba
and murdering her husband. The setting, for the most part, is not intended to be narrations of
historical events. However, they often parallel events in Bible history, such as when David was
running away from Saul and his sin with Bathsheba. The key place that the Psalms were mainly
written in was in Gods Holy Temple. Although Psalms has a unified plan, each individual psalm
can be read and understood alone. It is probably the most widely read book because it is easy
to relate to the writers emotions that they portray through their writings.
Structural Analysis- Psalm
Book One:
Psalms 1:1- 41:13 - Discussion that humans are blessed, fallen, and finally redeemed by God.
Book Two:
Psalms 42:1 72:20- Describes the nation of Israel as ruined and then recovered.
Book Three:
Psalms 73:1- 89:52 Discuss the Temple and Gods enthronement.
Book Four:
Psalms 90:1 106:48- Discusses the relationship of the nation of Israel to surrounding nations,
they also mention the relationship of Gods overruling Kingdom to the other nations.
Book Five:
Psalms 107:1 150: 6-These Psalms are like anthems of praise and thanksgiving for God and his
Word.
Keyword Analysis- Earth/World: 3 Doors: 2 Establish/Founded: 2
Lord/Lords: 5 Enter: 2
God: 2 Seas/Oceans: 2
People: 2 Open up: 4
Place: 1 Worship: 2
Who: 5 Gates: 2
King of Glory: 5 Ancient: 4
Psalm 24 is basically saying that everything in the earth and all people who live in it
belong to God. He made everything such as land and waters in the earth. It also asks Who is
worth enough to worship God because we are human and not worthy, but only the one who
has a clean heart and has confessed his sins. The one that has a good heart will receive the
blessing of God and the other with a filthy heart will not. When the phrase Open up the
ancient gates and let the King of Glory enter is written, it is saying to open your heart which
has hardened and let Jesus come and live in it. So basically this passage is saying that God is the
one and only God and he made the entire universe, so if you confess your sins you will be
blessed and can now enter the kingdom of Heaven, but if you do not let Jesus come into your
heart you will not receive Gods blessing and you will go to Hell.


Genre Analysis-
Naming:
In this passage, the earth and the seas and everything is specifically referred to as the
Lords. The Lord is also referred to as the King of Glory and God of Jacob. It also refers to a
mountain being Gods.
Repetition:
The phrase, Open up, Ancient gates, Ancient doors, King of Glory, are repeated
many times in various places throughout the passage. Other words such as people, earth, Lord,
God, who, worship, and place are also repeated many times.
No unimportant detail:
Throughout the passage it has a lot of description. It refers to the world and everything
in it and then it mentions the oceans and seas and the lands and mountains. Then in another
part of the passage it refers to Gods presence as a holy place and the only way you can get to
this holy place is to climb the mountain of God. The only people who can enter the holy
place are those with clean hands and pure hearts and who have a right relationship with God
their Savior. This passage also refers to the Lord as strong, mighty, and invincible in battle.





Theological Analysis:
Psalm 24 is basically about God saying that He created the earth and
literally everything in it, including humans, animals, plants, land, and water. Since
us humans have sinned and turned against God, it is only our nature to continue
to sin and since we are human everyone is unworthy to be in the presence of
God, even to have a relationship with him, but since God sent his son, Jesus, to
die on the cross and save us from sin we now have the opportunity to have a one-
on-one relationship with God. But there is a catch. Only those who have
confessed their sins and have excepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior are
able to have that kind of relationship. If you have clean hands and pure heart,
then you can partake of Gods free blessing and also have a relationship with Him.
So, if you have not yet excepted Jesus then your heart, which is also called a door,
may be ancient and hasnt been used in a while. If your door is ancient you need
to make use of it and open it up, like it says in the passage. Open it up, and let the
King of Glory enter in, which means to come into your heart and be the Lord of
your life and if you do so then you will be able to access all that God has to you
like Heaven.