THE HILL OF THE LORD.

written by charissa griffith

Who can ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who can stand in his holy place?

 Psalm 24:3

This is a scripture we tend to sing and pray around a lot in the prayer room and I am not sure we even know what we are singing about a lot of the time.
I recently caught a fuller revelation of what it actually means as we were singing around it a couple weeks ago and I want to help unpack it further.

While there are many layers and levels of revelation found in the scriptures and things can be applied in prophetic and spiritual ways,
the hill of the Lord is not primarily about some ethereal, spiritual ascent.
Ascending the hill isn’t just about experiencing intimacy or revelation in a moment in worship or through reading the Word.
This scripture isn’t just talking about ascending His hill and viewing Him in His throne room in the spirit or with the eyes of our heart.

The hill of the Lord is a real place that is supremely important to the Lord. 
It is a place of great significance in the story and redemption of God. 

This hill spoken of in Psalm 24 is the same hill referenced in Psalm 2.

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 
The kings of the earth set themselves, 
and the rulers take counsel together, 
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 
“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 
He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 
Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 
“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.””

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This hill stands as a statement, a signal and a warning to the kings of this earth of where everything is going.
It is the place where Jesus has been securely set. It is the place where God’s throne is and will be forever. It is the place of God’s authority and rule and supremacy.
It is the place where many kings get trumped by one King and the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our God.

This hill is the hill of Revelation 21. 

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬-‭3‬, ‭9‬-‭11 ESV

It is a place of convergence and unity. It is the place where the groan of all creation is finally satisfied.
It is the place where heaven and earth will meet, and God and man will dwell together.

If you need further convincing, Isaiah 2 does a great job of tying the imagery of Psalm 2 and Revelation 21 together:

“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The hill of the Lord, beautiful Zion, shall be His dwelling place forever.
He shall dwell there and He shall reign from there with justice, equity and righteousness.

So who can ascend this hill? 
This hill that is holy to the Lord.

Psalm 24 tells us, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (v 4-5).

The ones who have been made righteous by the salvation of God get to ascend this precious hill. Those who have been made clean.
Those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and have not soiled them with sin, deceit and falsehood. 

Those who have clean hands:

One who has clean hands has clean deeds. Their hands are not defiled with bloodshed or wickedness. They walk in the righteousness they have received.
Revelation 19:8 talks about the bride, who has made herself ready, being given the right to clothe herself with fine linen; and we are told that this linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. Righteous deeds follow righteousness. He has robed us with his righteousness and salvation, by which we are empowered to walk obediently, steadfastly and righteously.
Those who abide and endure and walk by Him, the true sons of God, it is they who are granted to wear the linen. 

Those with pure hearts:

Those whose hearts are pure are this way because they have been seeking the face of and beholding the God of Jacob, the Holy One of Jacob. Those who keep the One Thing ever before them will be purified (Psalm 27:4). Those who behold Him and are transformed by Him, being sanctified from glory to glory to glory continually, it is they who will be conformed into Him, who is the purest One who has ever been (2 Corinthians 3). Seeking Him and hoping in Him and in His return keeps us pure (1 John 3:3).

Those who do not lift up their soul to what is false:

One who lifts up his soul to what is false is one who gives himself over to anything other than the living God. The deceiver and the spirit of the age are seeking to get their grip on and destroy those who would call themselves followers of Jesus. I see more and more Christians dabbling in compromise, worldliness and carnality. I see more and more hearts getting stained by bitterness, offense, pride and deception. 2 Corinthians 11 is a reminder to flee from false gospels, false testimonies, false spirits, and false versions of Jesus and to give our pure and sincere devotion to our one and only Bridegroom King. May we never be the ones who soil our robes with compromise or falsehood, but may we be those who stand firm in the grace and truth that is in Jesus Christ. May we never be those who lift up or give our souls over to anything else but the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

Those who do not swear deceitfully:

Those who ascend the hill have integrity in the words, the vows and the testimonies they utter. They do not give false testimony of the Lord, His words and His ways. Their confession of the faith is pure and washed by the water of His Word. Additionally, they do not give false testimony concerning a brother. Those who do not swear deceitfully don’t embrace and partner with the voice of the accuser, but the voice of the Advocate. Their words are purified by the coals of God and humility. They are able to go for Him because they have been undone and ruined by Him. May grace and peace be upon our lips. The true testimonies of God and the grace of His Word is that which flows out of the mouth of the clean ones. Nothing detestable or deceitful shall be in the mouth of the generation that seeks Him.

““Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭12‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Lift up your heads, O gates! 
And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! 
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is this King of glory? 
The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭24‬:‭7‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Those who are clean get to follow the King of glory up His hill and into His dwelling place.
That which is clean gets to enter into the city by its gates.

In regards to the city that is on God’s hill, Revelation 21:27 says,
“But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false,
but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Nothing unclean gets to enter His gates or ascend His hill, for this hill is holy unto the Lord.
Nothing unclean shall come into it ever again. No one unclean shall come into it ever again.
The righteous, who have clean hands, get to ascend and dwell with God forever. 
The Lord’s redemption and light and glory in salvation shall shine and go forth from Zion, the Holy Hill, forever.

“The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? 
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 
who does not lift up his soul to what is false  and does not swear deceitfully. 
He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. 

Lift up your heads, O gates! 
And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is this King of glory? 
The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 
Who is this King of glory? 
The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! 

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬