He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah  

Psalm 24:5-6 

Who receives blessing from Jehovah? According to David it is the person who has clean hands and a pure heart. This person has not worshipped false gods and has lived with integrity. How shall we who are born in trespasses and sins achieve such a thing? We are incapable of garnering the blessing of the LORD by our own demonstrations of good character and right behavior. Therefore to receive the blessing of the LORD, something else must become part of the discussion. As we have indicated before, Christ appears in this psalm as the King of glory. According to the types and symbols which the Old Testament sets forth only Christ can lead us into the land of blessing. Therefore David is associating the blessing which God’s people receive with Christ, the King of glory. He bestows His righteousness upon us. He makes us accepted with God and works by His Spirit to conform us to His image. Through Christ, the redeemed do have clean hands and a pure heart; they do worship the true and living God, they do live with integrity, but this is the result of the work of God in them. He does the work and gives the blessing. 

Our God of salvation, 
we rejoice that redemption is Your work from start to finish. 
We praise You that You have sought us  
and bought us with Your own blood. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah  

Psalm 24:5-6 

Who receives blessing from Jehovah? According to David it is the person who has clean hands and a pure heart. This person has not worshipped false gods and has lived with integrity. How shall we who are born in trespasses and sins achieve such a thing? We are incapable of garnering the blessing of the LORD by our own demonstrations of good character and right behavior. Therefore to receive the blessing of the LORD, something else must become part of the discussion. As we have indicated before, Christ appears in this psalm as the King of glory. According to the types and symbols which the Old Testament sets forth only Christ can lead us into the land of blessing. Therefore David is associating the blessing which God’s people receive with Christ, the King of glory. He bestows His righteousness upon us. He makes us accepted with God and works by His Spirit to conform us to His image. Through Christ, the redeemed do have clean hands and a pure heart; they do worship the true and living God, they do live with integrity, but this is the result of the work of God in them. He does the work and gives the blessing. 

Our God of salvation, 
we rejoice that redemption is Your work from start to finish. 
We praise You that You have sought us  
and bought us with Your own blood. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. 

Psalm 24:3-4 

How may we be acceptable to God? David is asking a pertinent question. The second portion of the text is the answer to it; however, it gives rise to more questions. Who actually has clean hands? Who has a pure heart? How do we who are born sinners by nature and by choice arrive at such a condition as our text describes? We cannot clean our own hands nor make our own hearts pure. These are things of which we are incapable. David understood that Christ is the answer. Later in the psalm he points out that righteousness comes from God. He goes farther to bring the discussion to Christ, the King of Glory in the last section of the passage. Therefore the answer to the question, ‘Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?’ rests upon our relationship to the One Who can give us clean hands and a pure heart. These are the results of His work, not the cause of His accepting us. Clean hands and a pure heart are the results of grace, and the work of God in us. David understood this. His life was marred by many things which would have militated against him describing himself as having clean hands and a pure heart apart from the grace of God in his life. Our acceptance with God rests upon grace. He makes us acceptable. He enables us to ascend into the hill of the LORD. 

Our Glorious, Saving God 
we rejoice that salvation is Your work. 
We praise You that from beginning to end, 
You are the author and finisher of it.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

The earth is the LORD’S, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. 

Psalm 24:1-2 

Creation is a fact. Because it is, there are far-reaching implications. As the first portion of our text puts it, ‘The earth is the Lord’s.’ What is more pertinent and personal is that it included, ‘The world and those who dwell therein.’ This means that all who dwell within the world are His. No amount of much-vaunted theorizing can erase this truth. The problem arises when those who are His attempt to avoid their responsibility to Him. This gives rise to the idea that all that is has come to be by some completely non-sensical random occurrences of chance.  This really just demonstrates the lengths to which we as humans will go to avoid this responsibility to the One Who has founded the earth upon the seas. The conclusion of the matter is that He will never come to call any into account. Peter refers to this idea and relates it to creation. He quotes the deniers, ‘where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water.’ He is saying that the denial of the fact of creation is the result of a willful ignorance. In a de facto way this is a denial of Christ, Who  is the Creator according to Scripture. For us to acknowledge and affirm creation is to acknowledge and affirm Christ and His rights as God. He has done the work. He deserves the glory. We owe our allegiance to Him. 

Great God of Wonders, 
we rejoice that You have created all things. 
We praise You that You 
rule over all You have created. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning