Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Psalms 24:3-4a
God has rigid requirements for those who want to enjoy intimate fellowship with Him. There is no easy access to God for those with unclean hands or an impure heart. It is an affront to holy God to assume that we can indulge in our sin and blatantly disobey His word, then brazenly enter the holy of holies. In Old Testament times, one’s hands represented one’s activities. Clean hands symbolized pure activities. Priests washed their hands before serving in the temple to symbolize that only those who were cleansed could worship holy God.
There are levels of intimacy with God. The moment you become a Christian you begin a relationship with the Lord. However, if you persist in your sin, sin will separate you from God and keep you from enjoying close fellowship with Him. If you follow only God’s basic commandments but resist every time God gives you specific, personal directions, you will never fully experience the depths of God’s Person. If, however, you are like the psalmist and understand the holiness of God, you will adjust your life to His standards and respond to His prompting so that you may have deeper fellowship with Him.
The closer you get to holy God, the more obvious even your smallest sins become. The more you know of God’s character, the more you will realize the need to wash your hands and purify your heart before you can get close to Him.
Are you willing for almighty God to make you absolutely pure before Him so that you can enjoy the maximum possible relationship with Him?
4 Comments
Fredrick
August 4
Amen brother
They will receive a blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their saviour.
Psalm 24:5
Kenneth
August 5
Amen
JVC
August 4
I AM WILLING!!!
AMEN, AMEN, and AMEN!!! ⚓️🤲🏼🙏🏼
JHONATAN TORRES
August 4
Thank you! We sing a song with the words of verse 3 and 4 that you used. I always liked Psalm 15 and thought the song came from that Psalm. I now realize and like Psalm 24. Thanks for sharing this devotional. I translate it into Spanish and share it with our church.
Psalm 15
New Living Translation
Psalm 15
A psalm of David.
1 Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
2 Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right,
speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
3 Those who refuse to gossip
or harm their neighbors
or speak evil of their friends.
4 Those who despise flagrant sinners,
and honor the faithful followers of the Lord,
and keep their promises even when it hurts.
5 Those who lend money without charging interest,
and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.
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