Psalm 24

Psalm 24 says:  “The earth is the LORD’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.  ² For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the rivers.  ³ Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place?  ⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, And has not sworn deceitfully.  ⁵ He shall receive a blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.  ⁶ This is the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Thy face—even Jacob. Selah.  ⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates, And be lifted up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!  ⁸ Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle.  ⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in!  ¹⁰ Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory” (NIV 1984).  You can read more at BIBLEGATEWAY.

Psalm 24 asks a profound question in verse 3: “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?”  The Psalm asks it again using other words in the same verse: “Who may stand in His Holy place?”

Another way: Who gets to be on God’s side and with Him?

Psalm 24 describes those who follow God in a very descriptive manner.  These are the faithful.  These are the remnant.  These are the ‘few the proud, the Godly.’  These are those who take God seriously.  Psalm 24 explains to us that only those who confess God can stand in His presence and receive LIFE from Him.

Clean hands.

When I think about this, I think of what makes our hands dirty… or unclean.  Have our hands been raised in anger or struck someone in anger?  Have we flipped the bird to someone on the highway?  Where have our hands been?  Who have we touched that we should not have?  This is not an issue to be taken lightly.  What our hands find to do is important in God’s eyes because they often follow the heart in action (Matthew 15:18-20).

Pure heart.

I honestly don’t know if it is even possible to have a pure heart (Jeremiah 2:22).  The sinful nature inside us puts blotches on our hearts that all of us deal with.  I think the point Psalm 24 is making is that you and I do not leave our hearts blotchy.  We seek purity in Christ (Ephesians 5:27).  We seek God to remove the stains upon our heart.  We seek forgiveness.  We don’t let sin remain and weigh down our hearts, but seek Him (1 Peter 3:15).

True soul.

Truth is often hard to find in our society.  Truth is hard to find because it is deemed relative.  Truth is not relative, but objective and defined by the Lord God.  A true soul is one who seeks Him until answers are found (Deuteronomy 4:29, Proverbs 8:17, Jeremiah 29:13, Matthew 7:7, Acts 17:27).  A true soul does not settle for the lies of Satan.  A true soul seeks honesty in speech and in action.  Are we that type of person?  Are we committed to Truth within ourselves and with God?

Psalm 24

May we be the type of people Psalm 24 calls out for.  May we be the generation who seeks the Lord and finds His face!

TMB