Psalm 24 Continued…
Psalm 24:3 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?
Now it is true that the earth is the Lord’s, that every nook and cranny is His, “He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine: He owns the rivers, and the rocks and the rills, the sun and stars that shine.”
But there is one spot on earth to which He holds special claim—the land of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, and the PLO say it belongs to them and are prepared to perpetrate any act of terrorism to advertise their claim. It doesn’t belong to them at all! It belongs to God. It is called His land, and He has deeded it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to Isaac, not Ishmael. No world conference is ever going to change that—no summit meeting of the superpowers. The land of Israel is God’s land.
There is one spot of land which the Lord has singled out—the city of Jerusalem. The United Nations can declare Jerusalem an “International City,” but God says that Jerusalem is His. He calls it “the city of the Great king.”
In Jerusalem there are two special spots: the hill and the holy place. The “hill” is Mount Zion crowned in David’s day by the great Jebusite fortress, sometimes called “the citadel of David.” The “holy place” is Mount Moriah, where later the Temple was to stand. God claims both these places in Jerusalem for Himself.
Verse 3 is in the form of a question, and the answer is in the next verse. With the mind’s eye we can visualize the procession stopping at the entrance to the tabernacle (and later, to the Temple) where they recite in singing tones the question of who may be permitted to enter the sacred area.
Psalm 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
From within the sanctuary, a voice chants the answer and states the requirements of the true worshiper. We note that the requirements are not: (a) “Have you kept the Law?”, or (b) “Have you performed the required sacrifices?” The qualifications have to do with a persons will. He must not desire to possess anything which God hates or calls evil. When he takes an oath he must swear in sincerity with no deceit in his heart—he must have clean hands and a pure heart—The hands are stained by such sins as murder, theft, taking a bribe, greed for personal gain; the heart is made impure by evil thoughts (Matthew 15:19).
If the only ones who are going to ascend into the hill of the Lord are those who have “clean hands and a pure heart”, and those who does not “lift up” their souls “to an idol,” I guess I won’t be there. That leaves me out.
But I AM going to be there, because I am going to be there in Christ. He has undertaken to present me before the throne of grace in His present priestly office because I have trusted Him as my Savior. I read of an ancient inscription on the walls of a tomb from the Old Kingdom of Egypt: “He who enters here must be pure, and he must purify himself as one purifies himself for the temple of the great God.”
The Levites carrying the ark had to be ceremonially clean, and God’s people must be clean if they wish to worship the King and please Him. “Clean hands” speak of righteous conduct (Isaiah 1:15-16, 18), and a “pure heart” of godly character and motives (Matthew 5:8).
It might seem that these people qualify for the kingdom due to their good character, but this is not the case. Their character is the result of their new birth from above, for unless a man is born again, he can neither see nor enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5). Only through Christ Jesus is this possible for any of us!
PRAY
Father we thank you for what you have done for us in Christ. You have poured out His righteousness on us.