Open the Gates of Humility and Healing
Psalm 24:8-9
So much of this struggle and yearning is as old as those hills, older than these gates. Whoever wrote the Psalms, around 2,400 years ago, already knew too well the tug between days of war and peace, projecting the rough reality on the cosmic order of things, leaving us with blueprints for going beyond the ongoing battles and imagining gates that open up to the day after.
Imagine a triumphant procession, the army won its bloody battles and now coming home, tired, but proud, entering the gate of the capitol city, the captives in chains in the rear, the soldiers march according to rank, and leading them is the victorious leader, the king-general, the war hero who will be remembered in busts and coins and streets names. Mothers weep in the shadows, with them wives and orphans who will never see their men, but their voices are not part of this chapter. This poem is about lifting up the victorious, no matter the cost.
The city gates open up, the crowd goes wild and bows in gratitude, flowers are handed, hail the savior!
This is the scene many military and civic leaders wish for when war happens, and it rarely happens and more often a foolish fantasy that costs too many lives.
And yet this fantasy of victory is what is driving many military campaigns at this moment all over the world.
It’s happening right now and is heartbreaking.
Such is the vision found in today’s psalm, although with built-in safeguards and protest against excessive power and disregard for human lives.
Chapter 24 begins with the announcement - the Creator is the only one to rule the earth, all rivers and all seas, and only those with clean hands and hearts may climb the mountain to bow before their deity.
And then the scene becomes this threshold moment - the great king warrior himself approaches and the gates open as if by themselves:
מִ֥י זֶה֮ מֶ֤לֶךְ הַכָּ֫ב֥וֹד יְ֭הֹוָה עִזּ֣וּז וְגִבּ֑וֹר יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה גִּבּ֥וֹר מִלְחָמָֽה׃ שְׂא֤וּ שְׁעָרִ֨ים רָֽאשֵׁיכֶ֗ם וּ֭שְׂאוּ פִּתְחֵ֣י עוֹלָ֑ם וְ֝יָבֹ֗א מֶ֣לֶךְ הַכָּבֽוֹד׃
Who is the King of glory?— GOD, mighty and valiant, GOD, valiant in battle.
O gates, lift up your heads! Lift them up, you everlasting doors, so the King of glory may come in
Psalm 24:8-9
The Spanish-Jewish sage Abraham-ibn-Ezra who lived during the crushing crusades of the 12th century knew a thing or two about bloody battles and conquering monarchs - and not from the side of the winners.
He comments on these verses:
“ Should one ask, who is the king of the glory? The response should be - not a mortal but our god, whose glory and heroism is in the way of his deeds and he fights for his holy people. When will that happen?
When there will be respect among the people of Israel, when they will respect each other - they will dwell in peace and not fear their enemies.”
Through the centuries we hear the musings for how to manage years of yearning and times of war, why it is wiser always to engage with others respectfully and kindly - avoiding inner schism and strife that will eventually lead to inner and outer wars.
In this way this psalm, so wistful and bombastic, is also a protest call against corrupt leaders, mortal kings of glory who assume big roles at so many people’s expense.
Will the gates open for them, for those whose hands are not clean and who do not respect human life? Not always.
There is this curious legend, found in the Talmud, with a narrative of rebuke that names these gates, and blames the first kings of the davidic dynasty for the innocent blood they have spilled:
“When King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem and sought to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies, the temple gates clung together and could not be opened. Solomon uttered twenty-four songs of praise, as in his prayer there are twenty-four expressions of prayer, song, etc. (I Kings 8), but his prayer was not answered.
He then said: “Lift up your heads, O you gates, and be you lifted up, you everlasting doors; that the King of glory may come in” (Psalms 24:7). Immediately, the gates ran after him to swallow him, as they thought that in the words: “King of glory” he was referring to himself, and they said to him: “Who is the King of glory?” (Psalms 24:8).
He said to them: “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle” (Psalms 24:8).
And again he said again: “Lift up your heads, O you gates, yea, lift them up, you everlasting doors; that the King of glory may come in. Who then is the King of glory? The Lord of hosts; He is the King of glory. Selah” (Psalms 24:9–10), and he was not answered.
But when he said: “O Lord God, turn not away the face of Your anointed; remember the good deeds of David Your servant” (II Chronicles 6:42), he was immediately answered, the gates opened, and a fire descended from Heaven (II Chronicles 7:1).
Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 30.
According to tradition, David was not able to build the temple because there was too much innocent blood on his hands, including that blood of the man who was Solomon’s mother’s first husband - Uriah the general, slain to cover up for the abduction of Bathsheba.
Guilt is passed through generations but it also be admitted, faced, processed, and healed.
The gates can open for those who honestly deal with the darkest stains of their past and rise up to the occasion of remorse and repair, replacing adversity and war with truth and peace.
Only then do the gates open up to let us into the sacred, victorious.
The mystics will delve deep into this chapter to remind us that each and every one of us is this valiant heroic figure, dealing with our demons, fighting our urges, curbing our enthusiasm zeal and rage to show up with humility, as Solomon eventually had to to, and be admitted into the sacred domain with gates wide open.
May the gates open today - the gates of mercy and compassion, consolation and care, humility and healing.
It’s mothers’ day in the US and we need all the parental wisdom of the generations to help us get beyond this pain, honoring those who labor to give us life.
May the memory of all whose lives were lost on the battlegrounds for a safety for the children of Abraham, and to all children of all fathers and mothers, be honored and a be a blessing. May the mourners be held with care and consolation. May there be less among of us who weep for their loved ones.
Open the gates of our hearts to each other’s pain and pleas for peace, on this and on every day.
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