There is work to be done before coming before the Holy God of our salvation. We can be liars by the way we behave, our actions will tell whether we are pure or not.
Verse 4 gets more specific – one who has not lifted his soul to falsehood – in other words not a hypocrite, not a liar! I have witnessed people who intentionally lied about who they are, pretending to be something they are not. God knows our motives and attitude – If I regard iniquity in my HEART, He will not hear me. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The second requirement to WORSHIP the LORD is to have a “pure heart.” I take this to mean that I am right with God and mankind. When I do have “dirt” that i must deal with, well it takes more than running water over my hands! I don’t have to handle dirty or mud to get dirty. I have noticed that my hand naturally get dirty when I walk around in this world. The Holy Spirit is our guide to us, letting us know whether we are really cleansed for worship. I hand to “get ready to eat.” Washing my face and hands was my responsibility – of course I got inspected and if I was not clean I had to do it over. “come to the dinner table” with dirty hands. We must have clean hands – I never was allowed to c As a pastor I love hearing the wonderful worship songs and the genuine praise of people toward God – I’m just not sure it is accomplished by strobe lights and fog machines! We come sliding into the pew and are no more ready to worship than the man on the moon – then the music guy is trying to “pump us up to sing louder” – truthfully I’m not ready to sing many times until after the song service is over. I am not sure how many believers think about what they are doing when the “go to church.” Usually there has been a lot of activity and emotions in trying to get the family ready on time. If we are to “approach the House of the LORD if we are to come into His presence,” we must be cleansed and pure. Feelings lie all the time to us they cannot be trusted to verify a godly experience. If a person knows the Lord Jesus Christ – they should already KNOW the Spirit and not need to “feel” the Spirit. I hear too much about people wanting to “feel” the Spirit. I believe that we have made worship all about us, rather than about God and His majestic power and love. Thinking of God on His throne who is worthy & righteous, holy or without guile to stand before the Holiness of God Almighty ? Of course the rhetorical questions have the same answer 0 no one. “Who may stand in His holy place?” The second question makes us evaluate if we are worthy to stand in his presence. Coming to the Temple – more importantly before the LORD’s sanctuary, people did not nonchalantly rush into the presence of the LORD. The Jews had a very rigid practice of ceremonially “washing” in large vats to cleanse themselves before worship.
The author asks us some questions – Who may ascend to the hill of the LORD – in other words who can come to the LORD’s Temple – thinking of Jerusalem and Temple Mount. Psalms 24 – I don’t normally post twice in one week, but Psalm 24’s message of clean hands & a pure heart compel me to do so.