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Psalm 24:3 Questioning the questions

Finally caught up for now.

Meditation is the part of Luther's Simple Way to Pray that still challenges me.  Sometimes, like today, asking questions and waiting for the Spirit's response is the result.  I like to have answers, but wisdom literature doesn't always give simple answers.  I hope these short devotions encourage you to wait for the Lord.

Blessings,

Jeff

Questions in wisdom literature can be hard to figure out.  Let's interrogate the text.

To whom is David addressing these two questions?  Are they merely rhetorical so that he can provide his answers?  Or is he speaking to God and waiting for His answer?

Why is David asking these questions? 

Surely he has watched all sorts of people walk up Mt Moriah where the tabernacle was located. So this isn't a physical ability question.

And everybody knows that it is just the Levites who can actually enter the tabernacle.  So this isn't a ritual practice question.

I think we can conclude that he isn't looking for factual information, but pondering the spiritual qualifications that prompt people to go to the tabernacle and be close to the ark of the covenant.

What do the questions tell us about David's spiritual condition?

Seems that he is not content with the superficial explanations and is aware that there is more to worship than ritual.

Presuming that he is asking God for an answer, he believes that God can and will respond.  A deist would not ask these questions.

What does he intend to do with the answers?  Are they for his personal use or does he intend to share with the people?  

The three offices (prophet, priest and king) were not united in one person in the OT.  Each was a mediator but in different ways for different purposes.  Was David trying to understand why one office (priest) could do things that the other two offices could not.


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