Psalm 24:3-6 (NIV)
"Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 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. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob."
Followers of Jesus Christ are the ones blessed with a right standing. We are the ones made worthy to come humbly before the throne of the Lord in worship. We are the ones who stand before the Lord without suffering God's wrath. The New Testament teaches that this right standing is given freely by God only through faith in Jesus Christ.
David asks a very important question, one which haunts every person. "Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?" He answers, "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."
Of course, there's a big problem with David's response. Since everyone sins, how will we know we've cleaned ourselves up enough to rightly come before the Lord? How can we know if God will accept us? Truthfully, the matter becomes painfully clear. No matter how hard we try, we can't ever be clean and pure enough on our own to have a right standing before God.
We need the blessing of God upon us. We need God's holiness to overshadow our lives, to be covered in his righteousness and not our own. Through faith in Jesus, God promises to change our sinful natures, with the result being that God declares us clean and holy.
This is the blessing of a right standing before God--a way to come into his presence through the power of the cross to atone for sins.
And it all begins by seeking the Lord's face. God wants to be found, so when we seek him, he gives his blessing!
No comments:
Post a Comment