November 1, 2020
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3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. – Psalm 24:3-6
If you were to read a commentary on Psalm 24, most would agree that Psalm 24 is read or recited as an entrance liturgy. The idea of the question and answer is to help the person entering into the temple put themselves in the right head and heart space as they come to give their offerings or prayers to God. The heart of the psalm describes the contrasting nature between God who willingly enters into human space and the nature of humans who are able to meet God – the King of glory. The essence is that God accepts those who “seek the face of the God of Jacob” often seen as a heart that truly desires God.
In the given portion of the psalm, the liturgy moves to a very specific purpose of those who would be entering the Jerusalem Temple – in the minds of Hebrew people, this would have been the place that heave and earth intersect, where they could go and literally be with God. The surprise of the requirements to go and be with God is that they are not ritual (which is what most of the Old Testament Law was made to be). Instead these questions and responses are of a moral nature.
The requirement that the people do not lift their souls to what is false or do not swear deceitfully is that they are doing what they can to be in the nature of God, and being honest, with great integrity, and showing God’s loving kindness.
As this psalm indicates those who understand this are able to receive the blessing of God’s salvation. As we look at from the day we celebrate the saints of God who have received their reward, and now rest from their labor with God, I see this as the culmination to the journey of faith.
The whole understanding of our faith is it get into a place where we are constantly seeking to do the will of God. If we haven’t figured that out yet, the will of God is to act in a way that is loving towards our neighbors. In fact the very nature of God’s saving grace is to bring us into a community where love is spread from the grace of God to everyone. The culmination of this journey is when we arrive with those who have been on this journey before us, in the arms of an ever-present, all-loving God. We find that we have become a part of something, we are more than just ourselves, and we have our eyes opened to the reality that we truly are one body in Christ.
The end our journey in this lift has us ascend to the greatest heights of heaven to be face-to-face with the God whom we profess and love.
Today, we celebrate those who have made it to such heights, we give glory to God for their shining example, and pray that we may ascend to be with them and God when our journey is complete.
Grace & Peace,
Sam