Returning to Psalm 24, we note that verse 6 speaks of those who seek the face of the Lord.) Also note one of Jesus' beatitudes, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" ( Matthew 5:8), which reminds us that, in ancient Israel, God frequently appeared to the prophets in his temple. (Compare Doctrine and Covenants 88:74: "purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean." Doctrine and Covenants 88 contains many temple elements. The message of the Psalm is clear: In order to enter into the temple (the "hill of the Lord," called "the mountain of the Lord's house" in Isaiah 2:2), one must have clean hands and a pure heart. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Parry, " Temple Worship and a Possible Reference to a Prayer Circle in Psalm 24," BYU Studies 32/4 (1992): 57-62.) Parry has suggested may relate to a prayer circle: (Donald W. This is reflected in one of the temple hymns found in the Bible, Psalm 24, which Donald W. The gesture exposes to God both the breast and the palms of the petitioner to show that they are pure (clean). There is symbolism in raising the hands in prayer. Tvedtnes in Temple Prayer in Ancient Times explains how: My prayer is from Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me!” Clean hands. He finds pleasure in His kids when they desire to please Him. We get to sit at the “adult” table where the benefits are so many. We do our best to keep our hands and hearts pure and clean, because the rewards for being God’s good kids are so great. Those are the hands and hearts who know better than to allow the stains and dirtiness of the world – lying, dishonesty, cheating, envying, complaining, and deceiving – to “mess up” our relationship with God. Of course all those ways help our physical and mental thoughts, but when we let God use His super-powerful cleaning system do the work in us, then we’ll show up with those “clean hands and pure hearts”.Ĭlean hands and pure hearts. How can we clean up our hearts? There are many ways: medications, self-help books, therapy, counseling, and mental affirmations. Psalm 24:3, 4 says “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord and enter where He lives? Who may stand before the Lord? ONLY THOSE WITH CLEAN HANDS AND PURE HEARTS, who do not practice dishonesty and lying.”Ĭlean hands. But, really – I’m not talking about those little dirty hands. And, many of us carry little bottles of hand sanitizer. Today, even grocery or big box stores, provide antibacterial wipes to clean off that grocery cart before you use it. We do pretty well with keeping our hands clean. Now, that we’re all grown up - we know better. It took some repetitive correcting and maturing for them to finally learn to use a napkin or washcloth to wipe away the evidence. Those were the times when those little ones had no idea of what those little finger prints could do. They were placed there by some little person that we loved. Little chocolate, play dough or muddy hands had left their imprint. No sooner do we get those glass doors cleaned, than a little one comes along and puts his hands all over the door again. We’ve all found little finger prints on our glass doors or windows or walls.
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