Psalm 24 (KJV):Who shall stand in his holy place?

From Psalms

Psalm 24
(Of David. A psalm)


¹The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof;
      the world, and they that dwell therein.
²For he hath founded it upon the seas,
      and established it upon the floods.

³Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD?
      or who shall stand in his holy place?
⁴He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
      who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
      nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵He shall receive the blessing from the LORD,
      and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶This is the generation of them that seek him,
      that seek thy face, O Jacob.                     Selah.

⁷Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
      and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
      and the King of glory shall come in.
⁸Who is this King of glory?
      The LORD strong and mighty,
      the LORD mighty in battle.
⁹Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
      even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
      and the King of glory shall come in.
¹⁰Who is this King of glory?
      The LORD of hosts,
      he is the King of glory.                   Selah.

Verse 4 of Psalm 24 has meaning for me that I'd like to share today.  Who shall stand in God's Holy place...as I understand it.  The people with clean hearts, don't lie, and do not lift his soul to vanity or false idols.

Let's begin with clean hands.  Notice the psalmist doesn't say people who have never had dirty hands.  So, how do you get clean hands.  I believe this is what is happens in steps 4-9 of AA.  First, as in Steps 4 and 5 we admit to our faults, sins and dirty hands.  Second, as in 6 and 7 we ask for forgiveness for our faults and dirty hands - in this asking for our forgiveness, we realize that God only forgives those who are willing to forgive others.  Third, we make amends, as we do in steps 8 and 9.  Through these steps we clean our hands of our past sins.

Next, no lying.  Not just no lying.  Being completely honest and open.  No covering up.  No playing dumb.  The whole truth and nothing but the truth.  This is incredibly hard.  No white lies.  No lies to protect other people, or telling them what you know what they want to hear.  The truth.  It is easy to understand but much more difficult to live by.  It requires true strength, true self control and often true faith in God.

Lastly, no false idols (as it is translated in NIV) and no lifting our souls unto vanity (KJV).  In this day and age there are false idols that take higher importance than God everywhere.  We are inundated with messages of how worldly items will bring us instant happiness.  Cars, Money, Homes, Electronic Gadgets.  We are sold on sex, and inundated with porn.  Many rely on alcohol to calm our nerves and give us strength - instead of God.  Coffee, instead of prayer, is the source of strength of many in the morning.  Money and Career is often more important than God, too.  Whether you call it vanity or false idols the answer is clear.  The solution is losing the idea of self and living a life centered around God; not around selfish pursuits.

None of those objectives comes easily.  All of those needs something special to support those goals.  That's where the rest of the psalm comes in.  God is strong and mighty.  God is a king of glory.  With God we can achieve these things.  Through God we can live a life of truth, without vanity and false idols, pure heart and clean hands.  Only through God will you live a life worthy of living in His holy place.

Thanks for letting me share.