According to one ancient source, the daily psalms that were chanted over the Temple’s morning offerings echo the themes of each day of creation. Thus, the psalm for the first day, Psalm 24, begins with an image of God alone, majestic over all creation —not yet having created angels or any other beings with whom to share it (Rosh HaShanah 31a).
After the opening verses introduce God’s sovereignty, we shift to images of “going up onto the mountain of God” and “entering the gates.” That’s why some suggest this psalm was chanted as pilgrims ascended to the Temple. Structured as a series of questions and answers, it may have been performed as a call-and-response, with Levitical musicians taking one part and pilgrims responding with the other.
“Who shall come up to God’s holy place?” asks one voice. “Only one who has clean hands and a pure heart!” responds the other, emphasizing not just the mechanics of pilgrimage but its ethical and spiritual components. This is a verse dear to my family and inscribed on my grandfather’s gravestone, honoring his scrupulous honesty in business. “He shall receive blessing from the Eternal,” affirms the psalmist, “And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”
Personal connection aside, Psalm 24 is actually one of Judaism’s most familiar psalms. Not only is it said every Sunday, but also during weekday Torah services when the Torah scroll is returned to the ark. Fascinatingly, some people believe that this echoes a much older use of this text, which may have accompanied the movement of the Ark of the Covenant itself.
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Before the Ark had a settled resting place, it would lead the Israelites into battle. Indeed, Numbers 10:35-36 explicitly tells us this. It begins va’yehi binsoa ha’aron (“when the Ark would go forth”) and continues u’v’nocho yomar (“And when it would come to rest”). To this day, these words are used at the start and end of every Torah service. Our own human-fashioned Torah scrolls implicitly parallel the ancient and mysterious Ark, which contained two stone tablets inscribed with the 10 Commandments.
In ancient times, the Ark was Judaism’s most powerful and precious artifact. Over the centuries, it underwent many adventures, including being captured in battle. Some of these sojourns are detailed in the books of Judges, Samuel and Kings. In the Jewish Bible Quarterly, scholar Arthur Sandman offers a close literary analysis of Psalm 24, showing how its language precisely echoes these tales. Sandman thus suggests that it may be this very text that King David used to “bless the people” when he finally returned the Ark to Jerusalem (II Samuel 6).
A later Talmudic legend also shares how verses from this psalm were used as the Ark was moved (Shabbat 30a). During the Ark’s installation in the Temple King Solomon had built to house it, the building’s doors at first would not open, and Solomon quotes Psalm 24:7, “Lift up your heads, o gates, and be lifted up you everlasting doors” in an effort to open the way. However, his efforts are not successful until he invokes the merit of his father King David (II Chronicles 6:42).
We may never know whether Psalm 24 was originally used to accompany the Ark. I will note, as Sandman does, that it not only seems to announce the imminent presence of the Divine, but that, paralleling the 10 Commandments, Psalm 24 has 10 verses, and, paralleling the two stone tablets, the psalm is arranged into two sections. Each section concludes with the exultant Hebrew word Selah: Raise up!
