Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

December 4, 2023

Clean hands and a pure heart. These are the terms and conditions Psalm 24 rightly applies for the person wanting to ascend the hill of the Lord. What does it mean to ascend the hill of the Lord? To simply walk in step with Him where He is. Who may stand in His holy place? Those that have denied their flesh and live their lives according to the Spirit.

You see, as Christians, when we accepted the call to follow Jesus Christ and love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength,
In essence, we also made a decision to deny our past way of thinking which was mudded with sin and adopt a new way of thinking, one that aligns with keeping with God’s commands.

In 1 Corinthians, we witness Paul the Apostle provide instructions to a church community that have accepted the call to follow Jesus, but their actions and life did not follow suit. There was division amongst them, lusts of the flesh, sexual immorality, and all sorts of sin happening, but in all of this, Paul still called them who God called them to be: Saints.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians Chapter 1 verses 4 to 9:

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

He acknowledges the work of God in their lives, but as you continue to read on, Paul has to clean house throughout the rest of the pages.

Our walk in Christ can look like that in the beginning of our walk with Him, but we shouldn’t remain in that state.

We’re not meant to live as we lived formerly, such as:

Lusting sexually after someone
Lying to one another, even if it appears as a small white-lie
Having sex outside of marriage, or committing adultery in marriage, or engaging in pornographic material
Idolizing the things of this world
Being jealous over another person’s life and stuff they have
Being greedy and selfish with our money
Giving ourselves to drunkenness with alcohol and drugs, and yes, that includes getting high with weed and any other substance
Stealing from one another, cheating on your taxes or exams

The list goes on and on. We are to no longer engage in any impure and wicked behavior because our lives are hidden in Christ now. We are called children of the light, and light can never mingle with darkness. We’re called to live our lives with clean hands and a pure heart.

Let’s read Psalm 24:3-6:

Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah

We have a decision to make today. Blessing and righteousness from God are at stake. We have become the righteousness of God by accepting Jesus and giving Him our lives, but only if our lives are truly His. Are your hands clean? Is your heart pure? Do you have any idols? Do you live a life of deceit? We must ask ourselves these questions and humbly seek the face of God in much prayer, worship, reading of the scriptures, and meditation on His word. In the seeking, we will find the answers to our questions. God loved us while we were yet sinners caught in a web of darkness, and He accepted us in the beloved. How much more then will He shine His light in areas of our lives that are not yet submitted to Him and gently correct us and align us into the right form of thinking and living for Him?

Jesus lived a pure and holy life, and we are invited into the same. Jesus promises us life and life much more abundantly. Let’s seek Him with our everything, and look toward our Savior on His hill, with clean hands and a pure heart, trusting that He will establish us in Him and keep us until the end.

This artwork came about when praying about a birthday gift for a friend. You can watch the process of the artwork being done below. If you enjoyed the content, be sure to like, subscribe, and share it with a friend who needs to hear it.