Psalm 24: Blessed by God

Psalm 24    A Psalm of David    (NRSV)

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;
for [God] has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? 
And who shall stand in [God’s] holy place?

Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.

They will receive blessing from the Lord,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
Such is the company of those who seek [God],
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.          Selah

Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors!  that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory?  The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors! that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?  The Lord of hosts, [God] is the King of glory.                              Selah

Context:  Through Psalm 15 we asked “Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?  Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?”   (Psalm 15:1)  This week, through Psalm 24 we ask, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?  And who shall stand in [God’s] holy place?” (Psalm 24:3)  Both Psalm 15 and Psalm 24 were entrance liturgies, which mean they may have been used by worshippers as they approached the temple.  The psalms refer to the “hill” which was most likely Mount Moriah.   The First Temple which was built by Solomon with precise instructions from God through the prophets was an ornate and royal tribute to God.  Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, rebuilt more simply by the returning exiles and dedicated in 515 BCE but desecrated in the course of history, finally to be known as Herod’s Temple and destroyed in 70 CE.  Only the western wall of the Jewish Temple stands on the hill of the Lord today in the section of Jerusalem known as the Old City Section.  The “Wailing” Wall shares that mountain space on the “hill” with the Dome of the Rock which is an Islamic shrine.  Pilgrims still make their pilgrimage to “God’s holy place” today and pray at the Wailing Wall … for people still feel God’s presence at this sacred place. 

At the height of Temple worship, the people would approach the temple and pose these dual questions: “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?  And who shall stand in [God’s] holy place?” (Psalm 24:3)    It is a way of preparing to seek God through worship.  The priests would respond with an answer:  Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully … etc.

Psalm 24 provides us with a good example of parallelism in Hebrew poetry.   Dennis Bratcher, of CRI/Voice Institute writes about Parallelism, which refers to two or more lines that are complementary.   See “The Voice” Website for a good look at several different types of this literary technique called parallelism.   In the case of Psalm 24, the lines are what Bratcher refers to as “synthetic,” which means the line that follows the first expands it.  Through parallelism, the poet, or psalmist, both reiterates his thoughts and clarifies her meaning.  The use of parallelism can mean that the core message of the text is in the larger passage.  Overall impact is felt through the larger picture rather than in individual words or single lines of writing. 

In addition to its parallelism, there is a 3-fold structure to Psalm 24:
1.    God is creator of all … people and things.  This gives us context for the relationship between God and humans
2.    The people who enter into God’s space.  This sets the parameters of human behavior before God
3.    The God who enters into human space.  This puts God firmly above and beyond the human sphere of being 

Going Deeper:  When the Psalmist uses the expression “clean hands and pure hearts” to refer to those who are able to seek God … to seek the “face of the God of Jacob” (can you see the parallelism here) he is talking about our need to take care of both the inner life and the outer life.  It is important to keep balance between the inner and outer person that we are and that we are becoming.

Although I am sure the Hebrew people knew this inner/outer balance was necessary on some level, there was an emphasis on outer cleanliness, or ritual purity.  Remember how hard it was for the Pharisees to let go of their overwhelming sense of ritual purity?  Entrance to the Temple precincts required ritual purity.  In front of the Temple stood an immense bronze water basin and along the east front of the building stood ten smaller water basins.  However, in Psalm 24 we find the expression “clean hands AND pure hearts.”  The psalmist insists that the ethical behavior he refers to as “clean hands” must be accompanied by a “pure heart.”  If our heart is pure, our actions will be right … and this has nothing to do with water.

How do you take care of your inner life?  How is your inner life manifested in your behavior?   How does this impact your understanding of the balance between inner and outer life?

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 4:23-7:29) Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”   This is one of what we call “the beatitudes,” a word emerging from the Latin word beatus which means blessed.  It has also been translated “happy.”  In psalm 24 we find our closest parallel to what Jesus is talking about.  The psalmist is saying that “Those who have clean hands and pure hearts … will receive blessing from the Lord … those who seek [God], who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”   Jesus understood very well what the psalmist is saying and interpreted what God wants from us and for us.

Have you ever “seen” the face of God?   Can you describe what your experience was like?   What does a “pure heart” mean to you?   How can we test our heart in our efforts to grow?       

There is a certain sense that when we come to the presence of God our Creator, we must leave all of our “less than honorable” tendencies behind … we must allow our behavior to change so that we are worthy to enter into God’s presence.   We must “let go.”  This is a hard concept for human beings.   However, if we are holding on too tightly to what is in our hands, we’ll never be able to pick up anything new … blessings will always lie just beyond our reach!

What are your “less than honorable” tendencies?  (hint:  we all have them!)
How are you working to let those old habits go?  
If so, have you noticed a deeper level of peace in letting go?
What are the greatest blessings you receive from instances of letting go?
If you haven’t been able to let go of something, what is your fear or your resistance?
Where do your feelings emerge from?  
What would need to happen in your life so that you can let go in order to receive the blessings God has for you?

Pondering the Scripture: 
Lectio=Listen to the words of Psalm 24:1-6 as you read them to yourself.  Read them aloud if you can.  Read the words slowly, repeating them again and again and allowing them to linger on the tongue, savoring their beauty. 

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it;
for [God] has founded it on the seas, and established it on the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?  And who shall stand in [God’s] holy place?
Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.
They will receive blessing from the Lord,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
Such is the company of those who seek [God], who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Meditatio=Prayerfully listen as you read until a small portion of the psalm (a word or a thought or a phrase) begins to draw you deep within.  Turn your “portion” over and over in your mind and consider what God may be inviting you to think or feel or do or be … Write down what Spirit has given you so you can remember.  Stay with your “portion” and commit it to memory as your thought for the day …

Praying the Scripture:  
Oratio=Spend some time in prayer responding to God’s invitation … allow prayers of confession, petition, intercession, thanksgiving, praise, or ... to emerge in this time you are spending with God.

Contemplatio=When you runs out of words to say, simply rest in the presence of God, lingering with God in loving companionship … Amen!

Listen to Clean Hands by Chris Tomlin
Listen to The Blessing Song by John Waller on YouTube