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. (vs. 3-4)
Good question. What is it that God wants? Seems He is looking at our heart, our soul and our words.
First, the heart. It is, you know, deceitfully wicked and we don't even know the depths of its ability to turn us away from God. "Follow your heart" may not be the best adage for our age. I have followed mine pretty much into hell. As a matter of fact, our hearts are capable of the most heinous evil given the right amount of pressure on our feelings. Murder. Suicide. Corruption. You name it. The heart says it is okay because of how I feel. No wonder the Lord wants our hearts! Only He can manage their volatility. Because given over to Him they are capable of unfathomable good! The pursuit of justice. Care for the poor. Sacrifice. Joy. Obedience. Love.
Then there is the soul. Nephesh. The inner being with its thoughts and emotions. He wants truth here. Not our giving over our thoughts and emotions to some false god. I might be egged for this statement, but I think many in the Christian church are given over to a false god. A god who thinks for all their religious doings they are justified by Him. A god who looks at their "self" righteousness as a wondrous offering to him, when their true nephesh is a royal mess of judgment and hatred of all who transgress what they deem unholy. Then there are those of us who have created deadly soul ties with another human being, a drug, a fetish, a computer, a habit, or even a little statue to which we donate fruit and incense each morning. False gods that take up the room in our souls that should be housing the Holy Spirit. God wants a place to dwell among us. Always has. He wants to "tabernacle" in us. But He will not live in the same house as idols.
What are we doing with our mouths? By what do we swear? Mirmah. The word for swear. Intentional misleading of someone else through distorting or withholding the truth. Proverbs 6 has a list of the things God hates. Yea, even seven! Two of those have to do with lying. Imagine coming into the Lord's presence with your lying tongue. Especially telling Him you love Him when you have been living like the devil. Imagine your husband doing that to you. Kinda turns the stomach, huh? If you lie to someone even once, that person then has reason to believe you would lie about anything. How much more the One who knows our hearts and our actions. So, "I swear to God I'm telling the truth!" coming from the mouth of a liar is fodder for lightning bolts. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? God was not about to begin His Church with lying. He hates it! And when you lie to Him, watch out! He would much rather we come before Him with the truth about ourselves. He can take that because He is already aware of it! Just don't try to perform for Him because He knows when you are full of bull!
What we need are clean hands and a pure heart. I cannot do that for myself. I know me. My own righteousness is not enough. I need a heart change in order to have hands cleaned. That is why my God sent my Jesus. If ever I am going to come before Him in a way that honors His holiness, I must be covered in scarlet. Washed white by holy blood. I must accept the irony of red washing me white. For the sacrifice of the Lamb is the only one God recognizes. Here is what God says:
"What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I have had enough of burnt offerings...I do not delight in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this trampling of My courts? Bring no more vain offerings! ..I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates. They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless. Plead the widow's cause.
Come now!! Let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land."
What He wants is you. Me. The whole shebang. Nothing less. Nothing else. Our hearts, our souls, our wills. Sacrifice for sacrifice. The trade is flabbergastingly uneven. Miraculously, our selves upon the altar of His grace and mercy reap for us a life far more abundant than we could ever deserve. All our manmade sacraments and righteous activities are hateful to Him if it is not He whom we love above all else. You cannot clean up for Him. You must be washed first in the blood of His Christ. The only sacrifice He recognizes.
Come now. Reason with Him.
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. (vs. 3-4)
Good question. What is it that God wants? Seems He is looking at our heart, our soul and our words.
First, the heart. It is, you know, deceitfully wicked and we don't even know the depths of its ability to turn us away from God. "Follow your heart" may not be the best adage for our age. I have followed mine pretty much into hell. As a matter of fact, our hearts are capable of the most heinous evil given the right amount of pressure on our feelings. Murder. Suicide. Corruption. You name it. The heart says it is okay because of how I feel. No wonder the Lord wants our hearts! Only He can manage their volatility. Because given over to Him they are capable of unfathomable good! The pursuit of justice. Care for the poor. Sacrifice. Joy. Obedience. Love.
Then there is the soul. Nephesh. The inner being with its thoughts and emotions. He wants truth here. Not our giving over our thoughts and emotions to some false god. I might be egged for this statement, but I think many in the Christian church are given over to a false god. A god who thinks for all their religious doings they are justified by Him. A god who looks at their "self" righteousness as a wondrous offering to him, when their true nephesh is a royal mess of judgment and hatred of all who transgress what they deem unholy. Then there are those of us who have created deadly soul ties with another human being, a drug, a fetish, a computer, a habit, or even a little statue to which we donate fruit and incense each morning. False gods that take up the room in our souls that should be housing the Holy Spirit. God wants a place to dwell among us. Always has. He wants to "tabernacle" in us. But He will not live in the same house as idols.
What are we doing with our mouths? By what do we swear? Mirmah. The word for swear. Intentional misleading of someone else through distorting or withholding the truth. Proverbs 6 has a list of the things God hates. Yea, even seven! Two of those have to do with lying. Imagine coming into the Lord's presence with your lying tongue. Especially telling Him you love Him when you have been living like the devil. Imagine your husband doing that to you. Kinda turns the stomach, huh? If you lie to someone even once, that person then has reason to believe you would lie about anything. How much more the One who knows our hearts and our actions. So, "I swear to God I'm telling the truth!" coming from the mouth of a liar is fodder for lightning bolts. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? God was not about to begin His Church with lying. He hates it! And when you lie to Him, watch out! He would much rather we come before Him with the truth about ourselves. He can take that because He is already aware of it! Just don't try to perform for Him because He knows when you are full of bull!
What we need are clean hands and a pure heart. I cannot do that for myself. I know me. My own righteousness is not enough. I need a heart change in order to have hands cleaned. That is why my God sent my Jesus. If ever I am going to come before Him in a way that honors His holiness, I must be covered in scarlet. Washed white by holy blood. I must accept the irony of red washing me white. For the sacrifice of the Lamb is the only one God recognizes. Here is what God says:
"What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I have had enough of burnt offerings...I do not delight in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this trampling of My courts? Bring no more vain offerings! ..I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates. They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread your hands, I will hide My eyes from you. Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves clean. Remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless. Plead the widow's cause.
Come now!! Let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall become as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land."
What He wants is you. Me. The whole shebang. Nothing less. Nothing else. Our hearts, our souls, our wills. Sacrifice for sacrifice. The trade is flabbergastingly uneven. Miraculously, our selves upon the altar of His grace and mercy reap for us a life far more abundant than we could ever deserve. All our manmade sacraments and righteous activities are hateful to Him if it is not He whom we love above all else. You cannot clean up for Him. You must be washed first in the blood of His Christ. The only sacrifice He recognizes.
Come now. Reason with Him.
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