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 … – Psalms 24:3-4
In these days, there are two things which are missing: clean hands and a pure heart.
Clean hands represent the work of our hands. What we do and how we do, are they clean before God and others.
A pure heart represents the purity or integrity of our thoughts and motives that stirs us to act.
Sadly, many people seem to possess only one, not both. Some perform Godly works, yet those works do not spring from a pure heart. Beneath the works (or service) lies a hidden motive: a personal agenda, a desire for recognition or gain, rather than a sincere love for God. The works or services are done with some hidden agenda and not from a position of pure love to God.
Others carry a genuine love toward God in their hearts, yet their hands tell a different story, and their lives do not reflect the devotion they feel within. They have a pure heart but no clean hands.
But God desires both. The psalmist reminds us that only the one with clean hands and a pure heart may ascend the hill of the Lord. Right actions without a right heart are lifeless (or superficial), and a right heart without right actions is incomplete. Let us seek the Lord for both, that our lives and our motives might be wholly surrendered to Him.