Psalm 24:3-6   3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?  4 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.  5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.  6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Can I ascend the hill of the Lord? Can I stand in His holy place?

David here presents us with a picture of a pilgrim ascending the hill to the temple in order to engage in the privilege of worshiping God. The temple is a picture of God’s presence with His people. So the question is: Can I stand in God’s presence? Am I qualified to worship and praise Him?

Psalm 1:5 tells us that “the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.” No, the wicked could never stand in the presence of a holy God – they can only fall on their faces before Him, and be overwhelmed by His righteous wrath. Only the righteous, those with clean hands and pure hearts, can stand.

But consider verse 4: How clean must my hands be? How pure must my heart be? If my heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9), what hope is there for me to stand before God? How could I be clean enough to worship Him?

Verse 6 provides the hope that verse 4 seems to preclude: Those who seek His face, who desire to know Him, are among the generation of those who receive the blessing of worshiping Him. Such people desire above all else to see the fulfillment of the High Priestly blessing in Numbers 6:25-27, by which God’s Name is put on His people: “The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Such seekers, identified with God, subsumed under His Name, will receive God’s blessing: His own righteousness (verse 5). Therefore, to them He will become a God of salvation, not a God of wrath. Thus, they can indeed stand in His presence, in the assembly of the righteous.

But verse 4 still bites:

• Do I have clean hands? Water does not suffice to clean them, as Pilate found out (Matthew 27:24).
• Do I have a pure heart? Jesus echoes this psalm in saying the pure in heart will have the blessing of seeing God (Matthew 5:8). Yet my heart goes astray.
• Do I lift up my soul to what is false – that is, do I long for what will never satisfy? That may be longing for the promise of power from a literal false god, a carved idol, but it also includes the longing for any goal in my life other than knowing God. The judgment must be, “Guilty!”
• Do I mislead others with my speech? Do I want others to think more highly of me than I deserve? Do I twist facts and accomplishments so that I look good? Is my yes always yes, and my no always no (James 5:12)? Once again: Guilty.

So if I don’t have clean hands, if I don’t have a pure heart, if I do long for what will never satisfy, and if I do mislead others with my speech – where does that leave me? Can I climb God’s holy hill? Is there any chance I can stand to worship Him in the assembly of the righteous?

I want to seek His face. And yet, I have no ability to clean my hands. Where does that leave me?

My only hope: Receiving a pure heart as a gift. Receiving clean hands that are, indeed, Jesus’ clean hands. Having Him incline my heart to Himself (1 Kings 8:58). Having my lips purified by a coal from His altar (Isaiah 6:6-7).

That is, my only hope is God’s gift of grace through the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross: “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Timothy 1:15).  And then, because Jesus rose from the dead and lives in His people, by His grace I can and must strive to live each day with clean hands, with a pure heart, with a soul not lifted up, and with edifying speech that gives “grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29). I thus strive not to gain access to the holy hill, but, having been granted access to His presence, I strive to present evidence that He is worth more than everything else in this world.

Then I can ascend the hill of the Lord. Then I can worship Him. Then I can rejoice in God, my Savior. Then I will be among His people. Then He will be my God.

So I ask: How clean are your hands?