Psalm 24:3-5 - February 8, 2009

Ps 24:3-5 "Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 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. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. " NIV

This question, “who may ascend, who may stand in the holy place”, is by its very nature, both the raising of a standard, and an invitation to come. Ascend the hill of the Lord, come up higher, live a life that is elevated by your encounter with God! The invitation to come raises up for the people of God a standard for coming to him. We are invited to a place of intimacy and elevation, ascending the hill, standing in his presence. These images are reflections of the ascent unto God and the holiness of the ground we are standing on. They are a reminder that even in the midst of grace God is holy and to come to him is to rise up above the things of this world. Is this your desire before God today, to arise and draw near?
Access to God is held out to us as a destination of glory and worth, but it is also held out to us as one that is conditional. Clean hands and a pure heart, reflected in the desires that inhabit our soul and the words that flow from our mouths is the standard of God. Relationship with God is centered on the direction of our hearts. David, the psalmist, understood the nature of purity. Ps 19:14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight”. He cared greatly that his words and his desires brought pleasure to the Lord. We are invited into this same place of encounter and intimacy, this place of experiencing God. Coming near to God is a matter of the heart. God is very gracious with human weakness, yet he looks upon the heart with a standard of holiness that we can only achieve through grace empowered yielding to God. Clean hands, a pure heart, a soul that is aligned with godly desires, and a love for the truth, expressed in how we speak are the standards that God is looking for.
The great news that comes with these standards is that for those who choose to ascend a blessed life is waiting. For those who choose to leave behind the things of this earthly values system and rise to the heights of glory with the living God there is waiting the favor of God poured out on you. This is not to say that life will have no struggles, but that in the midst of our struggles, in the midst of this dark world there will be the presence of an abiding grace that enables us to stand in his presence even while faced with the circumstances of this life. This is so beautifully reflected in Jesus when we see him faced with persecution and coming death, yet he is living constantly before God, not before man. Out of pain, God brings glory, out of suffering God brings victory. This is the favor that is upon those who dwell in the secret places of our God.