Psalm 24

1 The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;

2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.

3 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.

6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

8 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.

10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Selah

The first verse of this psalm is really a humble statement. The psalmist acknowledges that everything belongs to God. Man like us cannot claim ownership to the things that we have.

When I come to the conclusion that God is the Giver and Provider of all, I stop striving to earn as much money as possible. I just do my best right where I am in school, and God will give me whatever I need. His blessings will come - as stated in verse 5.

But to receive the blessings, the psalmist also mentioned a few conditions in verse 4.

1. We need to have clean hands.
I think this is talking about deeds. Are we doing things that please God?

2. We need to have pure hearts.
In the Bible, hearts often refers to the mind, soul and spirit. I think having "pure hearts" means we're always thinking and contemplating about things that please God.

3. We should not put our faith in things that are false.
Are we putting our confidence in the things of the world - like career, studies, even ministry? Our confidence should be in the Lord. Always.

4. We should not make false promises.
Do we often promise before man or before God, and yet fail to deliver the promises?


Personally, I think I struggle the most with having a clean heart. Many times, whether I'm driving, teaching or doing other things, I sometimes find myself having negative emotions - like anger, jealousy, prideful spirit, etc. Today I pray that to the Lord that my heart will always be clean, just like what Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:8.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. "

There's this song called Give Us Clean Hands by Chris Tomlin. It totally talks about Psalm 24.




Things to ponder
1. Out of the 4 conditions mentioned, rate yourself from 1 to 10 (10 being the best!).
2. Which is the one with the lowest rating? Elaborate why you think it's the lowest.
3. Pray and ask God to give you the breakthrough that you need in the above-mentioned item.

Click here for Pastor YC's reflection