![]() ![]() You reward those who diligently seek you. Response: LORD, I want clean hands and a pure heart before you. How about you? Are your hands clean? Are you trusting in the LORD or settling accounts your way? Faith in God calls us to a higher standard. That takes faith-faith in the unseen hand of God at work in the affairs of men. It takes a godly conviction that God is keeping score, and He will reward the man with a clean heart and clean hands. Sometimes it takes more courage to hold your fire than press your advantage. He attempted reconciliation with the enemy who sought his life. When the opportunity arose, David refused to kill jealous King Saul despite the urging of the men who were with him. Why were clean hands so important in David’s ultimate victory? Why are clean hands so important to the LORD? Twice when David had the opportunity to cut down his enemies-the enemies who were in pursuit to kill him-David kept his hands clean. Twice he makes this claim, “ The L ORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.” He brought me out into a spacious place he rescued me because he delighted in me.”ĭavid then goes on to assert the reason why he believes the LORD did not allow him to perish at the hands of his mortal enemies. In triumph David declares, “ They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the L ORD was my support. In this portion of Psalm 18, the enemy is routed and David is rescued. In the previous reading, David depicted the LORD as riding the wings of the wind on a thunderstorm to rescue him from his enemies. Lord, give us the courage to be your hands and feet in this world and serve you with a pure heart and clean hands.Saskatchewan sunrise - photo by David Kitz ![]() Lending a hand to those who are in need for Christ’s sake, even when they look or smell dirty, is one of the cleanest things we can do. The Lord considers unclean those things that come from impure heart and unclean motives. I only want to consider unclean what God calls unclean. I want to touch those that God wants me to touch. Our hands may be busy with many things, but I want my hands to be busy with those things that matter in the Kingdom. He ended up having a place to stay with his sister and will begin looking for a job in Tennessee. It would have been a lot easier to write a check to a homeless shelter than doing what these two did! What a blessing for these two ladies to bring joy in this man’s life and see his need fulfilled. However, they were willing to reach out to him and lend him a hand. That would have meant that they needed to spend sometime with this homeless man who, most likely, did not look good nor smelled good. The two ladies bought him clothes and a bus ticket, so he can visit his sister. He had not been in contact with his sister for a couple years. He desired to see his sister who lived in Tennessee but had no means to get there. Recently, I heard a story of two ladies who helped a homeless man. I want to repent from anything that He wasn’t pleased with, and put it behind me, so I can be free to move forward in what is before me. ![]() My goal is to meet with him frequently and hear His voice. A pure heart is a singleminded heart whose attention is only on pleasing the Lord. ![]() He is looking for a pure heart and clean hands. Who desires to ascend the mountain of the Lord? Those who desire to get closer to the Lord, don’t need to take anything up the mountain with them. To begin with a clean slate, it’s good to t reasure the memories made and let go of all the disappointments and frustrations from the previous season. Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin. The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, Verse 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. The busyness of the season can also clutter our hearts, hence the need to set it back on the right focus. Our psalm (Psalm 24) answers the question in a single verse, but the answer is exactly the same: only the righteous are qualified to stand before God and render worship. As we enter the New Year, most of us clean up our homes from all the activities and bring things back into order. During the holidays, life has a tendency to get busy with all the festivities, decorations, gifts, and gatherings. ![]()
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