Psalm 24:1-6

Our responsorial this week comes from Psalm 24, which celebrates the Lord as Creator and sovereign King and asks who may worthily enter his presence with clean hands and a pure heart.

It reminds us that as God comes to dwell with us, we are called to make our hearts ready — living with integrity, trust, and openness to his saving presence.

The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it.

The psalm opens by affirming God’s absolute sovereignty over creation.

Everything — land, life, and all who inhabit the world — belongs to God, not as a poetic idea but as a statement of divine ownership and authority.

For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

This recalls the ancient Near Eastern imagery of chaotic waters and portrays God as the one who brings order, stability, and structure to the world by his creative act.

Such a claim presupposes absolute sovereignty: the LORD reigns precisely because he is the victorious one who has subdued these powerful chaotic forces and established the world upon secure foundations.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Or who may stand in his holy place?

With God’s divine sovereignty established, the psalmist shifts from cosmology to liturgy.

The question posed would have come from an entrance rite at the temple, which begins with an exchange of questions and answers. As pilgrims approached the walls of the city, they put this question to the Levite priest at the gate.

Access to the holy place is not assumed; it must be fittingly prepared for.

One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.

The priest answers in moral and spiritual terms, uniting outward conduct (“sinless hands”) with inward disposition (“clean heart”).

For those who would encounter the presence of the holy God, ritual participation alone is insufficient; the whole person — actions, intentions, and allegiance — must be oriented toward God.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his savior.

Divine blessing is the natural outcome of living in harmony with the God who created and governs all things.

Such is the race that seeks him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

The passage concludes by identifying these faithful ones collectively. Notice that they are not defined by ancestry alone but by their orientation toward God — a people characterized by desire for his presence and fidelity to the covenantal God of their forefathers (“the God of Jacob”).

The pursuit of God’s face becomes the distinguishing mark of those who may stand in His holy place.