That doesn’t mean that his blessings stop there as Jesus said, God knows how to give good gifts to his children ( Matthew 7:11). What further blessing could we ever hope for? When we recognize our complete inability to make ourselves right with him, he blesses us by calling us righteous. God declares us to be righteous – to be in a right relationship with him. When we read verse 5, do we hone in on receives blessings from the Lord or do we turn to and righteousness from the God who saves? The fact is that the blessing that we receive is righteousness. I fear that too many times we read a passage like this and focus on the wrong things. Application – Clean Hands and a Pure Heart That kind of person receives blessings from the Lord and righteousness from the God who saves. We long to experience his presence, and we do whatever it takes to come before him rightly. In fact, that’s how we know that we are seeking God. “Pure heart” means that the Spirit cleanses us and brings our will into alignment with God’s will.Īnd that’s how things are with the generation that seeks him. “Clean hands” denotes that our sins have been forgiven. Clean hands and a pure heart – that means that both actions and motives are surrendered to God. Only the one with clean hands and a pure heart the one who hasn’t made false promises, the one who hasn’t sworn dishonestly. What must we do to be able to come into the Lord’s presence? Who can ascend the Lord’s mountain? Who can stand in his holy sanctuary? Surely, if the whole earth is the Lord’s, then the sanctuary – the place of worship, where God dwelled among his people – would be particularly important. It’s interesting that immediately after affirming that the earth is the Lord’s, the psalmist asks some questions. And what if we really believed that? What if we treated everything that we have as belonging to God? What if we treated everyone else consistent with an understanding that they belong to God? Clean Hands and a Pure Heart He also declares that everything in it, the world and its inhabitants too belong to God. In Genesis 2:15, we read: “The Lord God took the human and settled him in the garden of Eden to farm it and to take care of it.” It still belonged to God – and still does.īut the psalmist doesn’t only say that the earth is the Lord’s. We need to take care of it, not use it up for our personal benefit. That means that we need to treat it well. God has not given us the earth it’s still his. What if we actually believed that? And by “believe that,” I mean “acted in accordance with it.” I’m sure most Christians would say they believe it, but do we live that way? Do we really treat the earth as the Lord’s? The psalmist begins with a reminder: The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants too. Mighty gates: lift up your heads! Ancient doors: rise up high! So the glorious king can enter! Who is this glorious king? The Lord – strong and powerful! The Lord – powerful in battle! Mighty gates: lift up your heads! Ancient doors: rise up high! So the glorious king can enter! Who is this glorious king? The Lord of heavenly forces – he is the glorious king! Observations: The Earth is the Lord’s And that’s how things are with the generation that seeks him – that seeks the face of Jacob’s God. Who can ascend the Lord’s mountain? Who can stand in his holy sanctuary? Only the one with clean hands and a pure heart the one who hasn’t made false promises, the one who hasn’t sworn dishonestly. Because God is the one who established it on the seas God set it firmly on the waters. The one who harbors these things in their heart cannot enter into God's presence, and so they are the opposite of the one with clean hands.The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants too. Verse 19 says, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts-murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." These are what defiles a person, and gives them dirty or unclean hands. Rather, it was what came out of their mouths, from their hearts, that made them unclean. Jesus took this occasion to explain to the Pharisees that it wasn't what people took into their mouth, assuming with dirty hands, that made a person unclean. Jesus spoke about "unclean hands" in Matt 15:1-20 where he addressed the accusations made against his disciples that they didn't wash their hands before they ate. This is someone who is in a right relationship with God and can fellowship with him, and this means one whose sins are not counted against them a forgiven Christian. Al Mark The one who has "clean hands and a pure heart" is spoken of in Psalm 24 as one who is able to ascend the mountain of the Lord and enter into his holy place.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |