Clean Hands & Pure Heart

³ Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ Only those whose hands and hearts are pure,
    who do not worship idols
    and never tell lies.
⁵ They will receive the Lord’s blessing
    and have a right relationship with God their savior. – Psalm 24:3-5

My hands and my heart are not pure.  Never have been.  If I am left to myself, I will corrupt myself and everyone around me.  It is distressing to know how painfully evil I am.  I will never be allowed to stand with God. … Except that God knew this before He even made me.  He knew I would not rule over my heart to only follow Him in all things from my birth.  So He loved me enough to send His Son Jesus to live and to live that perfect life that I cannot.  Yet Jesus was requested by God to die so that I might not die in relationship with Him.  Because of that and my belief in it as reality, my hands and my heart are seen by God as pure and I may stand in His holy place.

The Christian band Mercy Me sings the song “Give Us Clean Hands” and it is written around these verses.

We bow our Hearts
We bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
…
And God let us be
A generation that seeks
That seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob

My thoughts this morning are on the devotion I read for today from Billy Graham.  Unfortunately, my thoughts are also on those who tirelessly pretend, who purposely do not see, and who consciously refuse the truth.  I am weary from those who tell lies to others and themselves so often that they believe them.  They lift themselves up with no concern for those who do not idol them.  I pray for my heart to only want for them to hear God clearly and to not want to destroy them.  I do pray earnestly now, however, for God to destroy their lingering connections to me so they will no longer disturb my walk with Him.  May any person against me be against God.

I pray this morning that the desires of my heart are the desires of God; that His Spirit would rule over it.  I pray this morning that the thoughts in my mind would be the thoughts of God; that His Spirit would rule over them.  Do not let me fall into worship over anything but You my Lord.  "Create in me a pure heart, O God" (Ps 51:10).  Guide me so I do not desire anything for anyone else except what You desire for them.  Help me to not seek anything over others.  Lord, deliver Your servant from those who seek to tear down and to destroy, who worship idols and don’t follow Your voice.  Bind them so that they will see clearly, even if they don’t want to, that You are the One true living God and You and You alone stand over Your children and bless them and protect them.  I pray that everyone will clearly see that You are my God and Savior and You are the One true living God and there is no other!  Amen.