Clean Hands and Pure Hearts

Please read Leviticus 23-24, Psalm 24, and Acts 21 if you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. -Psalm 24:3-4 (NIV)

I remember two things most about Helen. The first thing I remember is that it was in her living room that we watched the World Trade Center Twin Towers collapse on 9/11. The second thing that I remember about Helen is that she refused to wear slacks in the sanctuary of our church; she always wore a dress or a skirt.

Helen wasn't one of those legalists who lived by the strict letter of the law. She just believed that when you approach God in worship, you need to do so thoughtfully, prayerfully, and intending to wear and to offer God your very best. For Helen, that meant no slacks in the sanctuary.

In the psalm this morning, the writer (presumably David) is preparing to worship God on His mountain and in His holy place. David is mindful that the earth and everything in it is the Lord's and that God is the creator of all. And in approaching God to worship, David has his own idea of what it looks like to offer God his very best: clean hands and a pure heart.

If you know me, you know that I'm going to approach God with clean hands. I always have a bottle of hand sanitizer with me. But somehow I don't think that's what David means.

If you know me (and some of you reading this really do), you know that I am no different than anyone else: I don't always have a pure heart. Sometimes I think things I shouldn't think (thank goodness I don't say everything I think).

So what does David mean in saying that clean hands and a pure heart are important in standing before God in worship? Well, I think he means that worship begins long before 8:30 or 11 on Sundays. I think worship really begins long before we walk into the gym or the sanctuary. We prepare for worship by examining what's going on inside us (in our hearts) and outside us (with our hands). Seeking clean hands and pure hearts is a pre-requisite for authentic worship.

Have you looked at your hands today? What about your heart? May God grant you the grace to examine your life, inside and out, before arriving in God's holy place to worship. In so doing, may you receive a special blessing from the Lord.