God Promises the Pure Will See His Face

Psalms 24:1-6 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. 3 Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
 
WE’LL look at Psalm 24 in two parts. David wrote this as a directive to the Jews to prepare them for the ark of the covenant – the symbol of God’s presence – to be established in the tabernacle on the holy hill in Jerusalem. Remember, there was no temple until God directed Solomon to build it.
   As a righteous king, David was serving a priestly function to prepare his people to worship. See David’s directives as essential for us as we prepare to worship God in our churches or wherever we gather to do so.
   David began by identifying who we worship. He is the one who has created the world, and all who live in it. That knowledge alone should cause us to bow down in wonder as we enter his church.
   David continues. How can one go “up” to God, so we are present with our Creator? This was a literal hill for the Jews. It is a reminder our hearts must be prepared to go “up” to God as we go to worship. Jesus said this in the same way in Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” David says a pure heart is one that worships God only and does not lie. A pure heart strives to obey Gd’s commands. A pure heart seeks forgiveness and knows God will forgive. A pure heart believes in God’s justice to redeem those who seek him.
   This is the way David wanted the Jews to prepare for worship. He wanted them to know God is their God. He urged them to trust that truth, to believe God will welcome them into his presence as they worshiped him.
   This is the same for you. When people focus on faithful obedience to God’s commands, his truth will persist. There will be generations of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. To seek God’s face is the image of intimacy and confidence. When you can stand before God and look directly in his face, you are confident he is your benevolent Father. You understand he is your servant Savior and your helper Spirit. You know the Creator has graciously formed you and called you unto himself. You have accepted his call. And you celebrate being in his presence. Being face-to-face with God is loving God because he has revealed his face to you through Jesus Christ. In heaven you will continually worship in God’s presence: 1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.